Thursday, November 02, 2006

Kyle Snyder, Cindy Sheehan and more


Thursday. Almost Friday, but not quite. Kyle Snyder's where we'll start because it's where independent media can't seem to go.
If you've been following the story, you know that Snyder served in Iraq and then self-checked out in April 2005 and went to Canada. He's a war resister opposed to the illegal war. He decided to come back to the United States. He came back Saturday, turned himself in at Fort Knox on Tuesday and then found out the deal worked out wasn't for real. So he checked out again.

There's a story there, there are about 50 stories there. But where is the independent media?

That's the question to ask and C.I.'s been asking it for some time. "War in Iraq bad." That's what independent media says but they don't cover it. They don't cover the war resisters.

Kyle Snyder is the story of today's military. He comes from a troubled home where his mother was beaten and he was as well. He was placed in foster care. The recruiters came to pounce. They promised him the world and delivered nothing.

He thought he was going to be doing reconstruction in Iraq and was trained for that but there was no reconstruction in Iraq, just construction of US bases and the US embassy.

He saw an Iraqi shot by a buddy who was serving. And the Iraqi shouldn't have been shot. So he reported it and it was ignored. No investigation. The message was that the military can do whatever it wants to Iraqis.

In the meantime his girlfriend lost their kid, his grandfather died and the war was all one big lie. So he self-checked out.

Where's the media? I guess it's self-checked out as well. Did you see C.I.'s answer to Zach's question in "Other Items"?

Dona's already asked that I talk about the Goodmans' new book for The Third Estate Sunday Review. Readers of TTESR don't want to wait until after the election for book coverage so we'll be discussing an art book and I'll address the Goodmans' book -- the good, the bad, the typos. On the latter check out page 53 (if I'm remembering correctly). (I was asked because no one else has read it.)

Dona's actually been asking that all week. She learned it was a go when she read "Other Items." :D Well, when you can't cover Kyle Snyder, you piss C.I. off. I'm not expecting C.I. to go to town on the book but I am expecting to hear about some serious flaws so I'm really looking forward to this edition. Nobody else read it. The days when we would get all excited faded in the heat of the summer when Goodman & co. couldn't find Iraq with both hands. C.I.'s the only one who regularly listens to the show. Dona says she thinks C.I. wouldn't be discussing the book at all this weekend if Democracy When had bothered to cover Kyle Snyder. He didn't even rate the one-day-baby-cried-the-day-the-circus-came-to-town coverage the others got. Democracy When has been too busy doing voting drives to cover Iraq. I also know from Jess that C.I. was outraged by a deaf member. He wrote to C.I. because he was furious that the Galludet students were ignored until after the fact. If C.I.'s always on the road, it's not always possible to catch Democracy When so C.I. wasn't aware of that but checked it out and it is true. That was why there was such a hug gap between the two entries. C.I. came across that e-mail right after posting "Kyle Snyder self-checks out again after the military tries to burn him again" and looked to see if the program had ever offered anything more than a headline here and there? While C.I. was looking through the program's archives, everyone was getting quizzed about whether or not they remember any stories on Galludet? No one did. It was like Abeer all over again.

Back on October 22nd, the core six wrote "The students of Gallaudet University are standing up" and that was supposed to have been covered the week before. There were too many problems with the website to do it then. The core six worked on it because there was something else we were all doing together and C.I. said fine but if we stay up until 6:00 p.m. we are writing about Gallaudet. That's one of the places C.I. had talked with students and then C.I. wrote about what was going on there for Polly's Brew the first Sunday of October. The deaf and hearing impaired members of the community really responded to that and were e-mailing to say how it just seemed like there was time for everything in the world to be covered by independent media except Gallaudet. So C.I. was trying all month for that feature. I don't even remember what got traded. But I know C.I. pitched in with at least one story that otherwise would have been written without. And when it couldn't make it into the October 15th edition, C.I. was very clear that it would be covered the next week.

Which is how you have to be because we're all working at once during the marathon session and there are times when we really have to start cutting out pieces because there's not time or making them for the print edition only because there's not time to polish them. So if someone forgets something, someone else has to remember or it gets forgotten.

By the way there's a site I just heard about and it's www.warslavery.org which sounds pretty cool. If I don't write about it by Tuesday, somebody remind me.

So I'm looking forward to the book discussion and I'm also reading a book so I can be ready. No, not the Goodmans' book. I don't need the headache. I'm reading Cindy Sheehan's Peace Mom which I think everyone else has already read. It's really a great book, which doesn't surprise me, but it does surprise me how strong it is. It really speaks to you.

I'm up to the part where she's responding to some Congress guy with "King" in his last name. I think that's the half-way mark. My only suggestion would be for some pictures. :D

Seriously, I wondered what Casey looked like out of his uniform (she holds a picture of him in his uniform in the cover photo) and what Andy, Carly and I forget her other daughter look like. The part where she goes back to work a few weeks after Casey dies is probably what stood out most to me so far. The drive back after the first day of work and I don't want to spoil it for you.

But she's Cindy Sheehan and when I say that I mean she's just putting it out there, not trying to pretty it up, just telling it like it is. There are probably fifty books I have from C.I. that I haven't had time to read and when I decided to grab a book, I was actually thinking I would grab something else. But I was going through the stacks and that one just said "Read me" for some reason. I'm really glad that I listened because it's really a powerful book.

If I'm rushing the entry tonight it's because I want to get back to reading it. I probably won't have time tomorrow. Fortunately, I read fast even though I type slow. :D

If you haven't read the book yet, you should but if you're not sure, check out the book discussion Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review and I bet you'll be going, "Okay, I've got to read this." By the way, check out Rebecca's "dear john."

That's it for me tonight. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, November 2, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, war resister Kyle Snyder self-checks out again, polls in the United States continue to demonstrate the opposition to the illegal war, a Saudi report says the war is over and lost, and England's Ministry of Defence cautions us all to stop worrying and embrace depleted uranium.
Starting with war resistance. Kyle Snyder self-checked out of the US military in April 2005 and moved to Canada. Saturday, Snyder returned to the United States with the intent of turning himself in at Fort Knox under the deal the military had worked out with Snyder's attorney, James Fennerty. The military elected to burn Snyder yet again and did not move to the agreed upon dishonorable discharge but towards deploying Snyder back to Iraq.
Kyle Snyder didn't sit around passively. He's checked out again. Brett Barrouquere (AP) reports that Snyder checked out "Tuesday after being dropped of at the Greyhound Bus station in downtown Louisville," Kentucky and Synder explained to Barrouquere, "I realized this deal was going to go bad." A longer AP version notes Synder explaining, "I came back in good faith. I put my trust in them one more time. Why should I put my trust in them again when I can just go back to Canada?" Also noted is that Snyder is traveling with activist and Vietnam war resister Gerry Condon who is hopeful that this was a misscommunication. Condon wrote on the subject of war resisters to today's illegal war in the July issue of The Objector [PDF format].
James Fennerty also acted as war resister Darrell Anderson's attorney. (Anderson turned himself in October 3rd. He was released October 6th.) Claudia Bayliss (South Bend Tribune) examines the roll of faith and service in Anderson's stand and speaks with Anita Anderson (Darrell's mother), Margaret Pfeil ("professor of moral theology" at Notre Dame), Lt. Col. Kelly Jordan and Mike Schorsch (Catholic Peace Fellowship in South Bend). Schorsch states: "Kids like Darrell go through military training, they go to war, they change, they grow up -- but they never lose their humanity. And sometimes their humanity boils up inside of them and causes them to say 'No,' even if it means personal risks." More information on Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson and other war resistors who have gone public can be found at Courage to Resist.
War resistance among the general public in the United States continues (as it will continue to do, the opinion hardened against the war some time ago, there will not be a softening). Adam Nagourney and Megan Thee (New York Times) report on the latest NYT/CBS News poll which found only "29 percent of Americans approve of the way President Bush is managing the war, matching the lowest mark of his presidency. Nearly 70 percent said Mr. Bush did not have a plan to end the war, and 80 percent said Mr. Bush's latest effort to rally public support for the conflict amounted to a change in language but not policy." Those polled cited the illegal war "as the most important issue" -- if only the media, big and small, felt the same. AFP notes the Wall St. Journal/NBC poll released Wednesday which found: "54 per cent of [US] voters saying it had not been worth the human and economic price to remove former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power."
This comes the same week, as reported by The Turkish Press, that a study by the Saudi government finds that the illegal war to be a "lost battle" and the ethnic conflicts (which the illegal war brought to the forefront) to have created a "dire" condition. The Magaing Director of the Saudi National Security Assessment project, Nawaf Obaid, declared that the war "has failed by every single measure that you can think of. . . . The failure is only compounded by the fact that we just don't know what the endgame is."
Meanwhile, in Iraq, Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports on concerns among "the Shia community that the US would like to ally itself more closely with the Sunni Arabs" and see that as the reason for the helicopter gunship attacks on the Medhi Army. Cockburn notes that despite the past concilliation talks between the US and leaders of the resistance "in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the US has yet to make any headway in negotiations to end the fighting." The AP reports that the puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki, is considerning "plans to reshuffle his 39-member Cabinet, possibly this month". Nouri al-Maliki has been flirting with this for months now and it's been reported to be 'about to happen' since it was first reported. It'll happen at some point, probably as a last-gasp measure from al-Maliki when he fears the US is replacing him with a new puppet. (And notice how the 'four-part' 'plan' has been dropped from coverage as well? Guess they could only cover steps one and two for so long.)
Also reporting from Iraq, Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) report on the crackdown in Al-Anbar Province and notes that the fire fighters killed by US forces (admitted, the US military says it was a 'mistake') were not accidnetal killings, according to eye witnesses ("They were not killed by mistake, they were killed in front of many people," says one witness) and that "Ramadi has been facing electricity and water cuts for about two weeks now. Most residents believe this is punishment for the popular support for Iraqi resistance."
Bombings?
Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports a motorcycle bomb in the Sadr City section of Baghdad took the lives of seven people and left forty-five wounded. Al Jazeera, qutoing an Interior Ministry source, notes that the bomb was "detonated by remote control".
CBS and AP note two died (25 wounded) from a roadside bomb "in Baghdad's al-Jaeeda district". Reuters reports, in Baghdad, mortar rounds resulted in four deaths and eleven wounded; a car bomb in Mahmudiya took one life and left four wounded, and a roadside bomb in Baghdad killed one and wounded 22.
Shootings?
Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports that "the Shiite dean of Baghdad University's school of administration and economics" was shot dead and became "the 155th Iraqi academic murdered in sectarian violence and revenge attacks since the 2003 U.S. invasion." CBS and AP note that the dean's name was Jassim al-Asadi and that his wife and son were also killed. AFP reports that Amal Ahmed ("pharmacist and former army officer") was shot dead in Kirkuk "one of a series of attacks on female professionals by suspected Islamists. Reuters reports that a judge, Tariq Abid Ali, and his son were shot dead in Baquba which was also the location for the shooting deaths of two police officer; just outside Baquba, two truck drivers were shot dead and three people were kidnapped; in Udhaim, five truck drivers (in two fuel trucks) were shot dead, a guard was shot dead in Kirkuk, and that three police officers were shot dead in Baghdad.
Corpses?
Reuters reports that four corpses ("blindfolded") were discovered in Mahmudiya and three were found in Yusufiya. CBS and AP note that two corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("bound and blindfolded").
In other news from the ground in Iraq, John Ward Anderson and Saad al-Izzi (Washington Post) report that the US military has confirmed that the missing US soldier Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie had married an Iraqi woman (in February 2005, not three months ago as previously reported), that her name is Israa Abdul-Satar (she is 26, he is 41) and that he was visiting her when he was kidnapped ("two of her siblings had tried to fight off te adbudctors when they came to grab him"). Claudia Parsons (Reuters) reports that the couple married before Qusai al-Taayie deployed to Iraq. He remains missing and the US military has announced the death of another US soldier: "A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad Soldier died at approximately noon Wednesday when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised-explosive device west of Baghdad." The death brings the total number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 2819.
In Oh-Boo-Hoo news, AP reports that little Lt. General Ricadro Sanchez has ended his military career and is whining that Abu Ghraib is the reason: "I was essentially not offered another position in either a three-star or four-star command." Poor, poor, pitiful Sanchez. It's not like he's behind bars like Lynndie England or Charles Graner or dead like Alyssa Peterson whom Greg Mitchell (Editor & Publisher) notes killed herself following her objections to the torture at Abu Ghraib being used according to the reporting of Kevin Elston: "Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to."
In Don't-Believe-It-For-A-Minute news, Michael Evans (Times of London) reports on the claim put forward by England's Ministry of Defence that "firing of depleted uranium (DU) shells in Iraq had caused no long-term health problems either for British soldiers or for Iraqi civilians". In September of 2004, Juan Gonzalez (New York Daily News and co-host of Democracy Now!) reported on Victoria Claudette Matthew, the daughter of Gerard Darren and Janice Matthew who was conceived shortly after Gerard Darren returned from Walter Reed after being sent there (from Iraq) because: "One side of Matthew's face would swell up each morning. He had constant migraine headaches, blurred vision, blackouts and a burning sensation whenever he urinated." Victoria Claudette Matthew was born "missing three fingers and most of her right hand." That is but one example. In 2005, Dahr Jamail (Iraq Dispatches) reported on Iraq Veterans Against the War's Nicolas Prubyla who had blood in his stool, hair loss, numbness in his right arm. Jamail has also noted the effects of DU on Iraqis and, at the end of 2003, noted that "many areas in the south are unihabitable by the use of Depleted Uranium" and, in 2004, noted, "Dr. Jawad Kadhim Al-Ali, Director of the Oncology Center in Basra, has theorized depleted uranium as a reason that the death rate from cancers in Basra has now reached 19 times that of 1988."
In legal news, the Times of London reports a development in the court-martial of seven British soldiers accused of abusing Iraqis when they were in charge at a Basra prison. One of the seven, Stuart Mackenzie, kept a journal which was read aloud to to the court and "described attacks on Iraqi prisoners, some of whom were dubbed 'Ali Babas' in the accounts." An entry from 2003 recounts: "Beat them up with sticks and filmed it. A good day so far." Mackenzie denies any memories of the events he recorded in his journal.
Zolton Grossman (CounterPunch) examines the peace movement and offers some hypothesis on what can be done. There's no mention of the role of the media. There rarely is. In fact, Danny Schechter's action last March seems more and more needed today (Schechter targeted the mainstream media for their coverage). (For those wondering, Democracy Now! didn't have time to even make Kyle Snyder a headline today. Aileen Alfandary noted it during the headlines on today's KPFA's The Morning Show.)
In election news, CODEPINK discovers candidate Charlie Brown is no Peanuts character but he is a fairweather friend. Dan Bacher (Indybay Media) reports that Brown's spokesperson has stated he (Brown) does not support CODEPINK and that "CODEPINK does not belong in the 4th district." Apparently, there's plenty of room in the 4th district for the spineless like Brown. This follows Stephen Pearcy (Indybay Media) report on Monday of Charlie Brown's wife attempting to pressure Cindy Sheehan into not attending a war protest last weekend. (Sheehan ignored the unsolicited 'advice.')
Lastly, refusing to count on others to do the work that needs to be done (smart move), Ehren Watada's father Bob Watada and his step-mother Rosa Sakanishi continue their speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Upcoming dates include:

Nov 2, TBA Cincinnati, OH Meet Dr. Victoria (Vic) Wulsin, candidatefor congress 2nd district Ohio currently leading Jean Schmidt whocalled Rep John Murtha from PA. a coward. Sponsor: Vietnam Veterans Against the War Venue: TBA
Nov 3, TBA St. Paul MN. Location: Quaker Peace Center -- 1725 Grand AvenueSponsors: Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 Contact: Barry Reisch, (H) 651-641-1087 © 612-269-8934 bwrvfp@earthlink.net

Nov 4, 11AM Milwaukee, WI. Location: Great Lakes Arlington EventContact: Mark Foreman, 441-760-9991, bethmark@execpc.comSponsor: VFP Chapter 102 * See the unveiling of a new "Arlington"
Nov. 5, 2PM Boston, MA Encuentro 5 33 Harrison Ave. 5th floor (Chinatown)Sponsors: Asian American Movement Ezine Asian American Resource Workshop Boston Hawaiian Club Chinese Progressive AssociationMassachusetts Global Action New England Japanese American Citizens League
Nov 5, 7PM Cambridge, MA. Location: Unitarian Church, Harvard SquareSponsor: Veterans for Peace Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade and Chapter 45, Samantha Smith Chapter Contact: Lee VanderLaan, 978-257-2350
Nov 6, 2-4:30PM Boston, MA Location: University of Massachusetts/BostonSponsor: The Institute for Asian American Studies William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequence Time: 2-4:30 pm
Nov 6, 7PM Worcester, MA. Location: Clark University University Building, Lurie Room Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapter 10 Contact: Bob Flanagan, 508-755-1479, IrishBob54@aol.com

A full schedule can be found at Veterans for Peace and those interested in hosting a Bob Watada speaking engagement in their area are urged to contact Doug Zachary.























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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

No bravery

Hump day, hump day, can't trust that day. John Kerry crumbled. He served up his own ass and it wasn't pretty. I had three text messages from C.I. to call immediately and when I did, I heard what was being e-mailed out: Did anyone have a problem with the 2008 election being brought up re: Kerry and re: Iraq.

I didn't. I hadn't heard what happened because I was at work. C.I. filled me in and wanted to touch base with those in Kerry's state to make sure there wasn't a problem especially. I felt really bad because I didn't see the text messages forever and I was one of the people holding up the snapshot.

My vote was the same as everyone who voted, let it rip. What John Kerry did, over and over, today was disgusting. "No bravery," like the James Blunt song says, "I see no bravery."

Forget, I don't trust him to stand up for anyone, not even himself. He apologized for being right. He didn't say "I was right," he just apologized. And he shucked and jived with Don Imus while Imus was bringing up all the smear tactics from 2004 including wind surfing. I have no respect for John Kerry right now.

I won't vote for him for president in 2008. I'd never vote for him for president.

All we've heard is that he's not going to take any crap anymore but he caved right out of the gate. Yesterday, he was all big talk. Today he was running to Imus, issuing statements, whine, whine, whine, cry, cry, cry.

He wasn't wrong. His 'joke' wasn't wrong. And if he really cared about the military, and not just hiding behind it, he would have stood strong. He would have made the point that Rumsfled (I'm using C.I.'s term) is destroying it.

He's lowered standards repeatedly and it does matter. That was the point of the joke. Rumsfled has made the military the joke.

That's what John Kerry should have been talking about today. Instead, he buckled like a belt.

After all his talk about how he wasn't going to wuss like he did in 2004. And this was his first big chance to prove that. Tuesday he talks big and blah blah and he's not backing down. He starts out today acting like the biggest coward in the world. It was embarrassing and disgusting.

As soon as I got out of class this afternoon, I got online to try to find something redeeming in what he did today but there's nothing.

He's a coward. He wouldn't fight for himself and he won't fight for us. He won't even fight for the military that he can't shut up about. If you're in Iraq serving right now, you don't need someone serving with you because they busted and didn't want to get sentenced. You don't need someone who couldn't pass the basic competency test. But to meet quotas, Rumsfled has repeatedly lowered the requirements. And when it all gets ugly (it's ugly now but wait until 2007), we can look back and remember when John Kerry could have fought back but instead went around whining like a little girl.

Screw the big cry baby. Meanwhile, if you missed it, Kyle Snyder is getting screwed. His attorney reached a deal with the military where Snyder would turn himself in (he did on Thursday) and he would get a dishonorable discharge. Instead, the liars are trying to send him off to Iraq. I was so pissed about John Kerry that I forgot all about that until Elaine just called to say her post is up and she's really just covering John Kerry and Kyle Snyder. Be sure to get your butts over to Like Maria Said Paz tonight.

Synder was stabbed in the back. Lied to by the military again. Quick, look and see if Rush Limbaugh or Tony Snow just said something nasty about me for telling the truth! If so, I can back off like John Kerry! Screw that shit, kiss my Irish ass. Synder was screwed over, the war is illegal and Donald Rumsfled has lowered the standards so low and most people don't want to sign up so the military is degraded and destroyed. That's reality. No apologies.

Check out "Ruth's Report." Tracey called me about that and we were both talking about how great Ruth is. Tracey said the whole family is proud of Ruth on the latest "Ruth's Report." Tracey's Ruth's granddaughter and I'm sure they're all proud of Ruth everytime she does a report but I know what Tracey meant because this one was even more special.

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

Wednesday, November 1, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, American commanders appear to just notice that long established fact, Kyle Snyder is again lied to, John Kerry takes himself out of the 2008 race, and October's death toll for US troops continues to rise even though, yes, it is November 1st.
US war resister Kyle Snyder turned himself in at Fort Knox yesterday. After which, David Montero (Rocky Mountain News) reports, the army went back on their deal and Snyder was "shipped from Fort Knox, Ky., to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., possibly to face a full court-martial." Snyder's attorney, James Fennerty, told AP that after Snyder turned himself in, the military attempted to get him "to sign a form that would have hastened his return to his unit" and that "We wouldn't have brought him back here if we knew this was going to happen." As Katya Cengel (Courier-Journal) reports, Fennerty, who also represented Darrell Anderson, has stated, "We're going to make sure nobody comes back from Canada again because we were lied to."
Kyle Snyder self-checked out of the US military after serving in Iraq during which time he saw abuses that were not investigated, his girlfriend lost their baby, and his grandfather returned. In April 2005, he went to Canada. He returned last Saturday and turned himself at Fort Knox yesterday with the understanding that he would discharged.
War resistance within the military is an under-reported story in small media as Ruth, Rebecca and Mike pointed out yesterday. But, in fact, all waves of the peace movement are under-reported in small media. For those within the military considering resistance, Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign are among the resources out there. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Elizabeth de la Vega (TomDispatch) reported on war resister Ricky Clousing yesterday and noted meeting him at Camp Democracy in September and he reasons that he led him to refuse to fight in the Iraq war and concludes: "Twenty-four years old, Clousing told the world in simple declarative sentences why he had to give up his college money, receive a dishonorable discharge, and go to jail to take a stand against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He'd make a very cool action figure. Come to think of it, Sgt. Ricky Clousing -- tattooed arms, Laguna Beach t-shirt, and all -- would make an awesome shepherd in that manager scene. Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are just going to have to move over."
Turning to England, poodle Tony Blair avoided the inquiry into Iraq in the House of Commons. Philippe Naughton (Times of London) reports that Blair says maybe later to an Iraq inquiry "hours after narrowly avoiding defeat on a Commons motion calling for exactly that." Patrick Wintour (Irish Times) reports that the vote has left prime-minister-wannabe Gordon Brown "anxious to restore the authority of parliament, and trust in politicians" so "he will be under pressure to hold an inquest into the wider foreign policy failures of the Iraq invasion." As the Guardian of London notes, the vote was 298 to 273 with "12 Labour MPs" voting "against the government." As noted yesterday, the Farewell Tour isn't going the way Blair's handlers planned it.
Neither is Iraq. From yesterday: "In addition CNN notes that 'at least 40 people' were kidnapped north of Baghdad." CBS and AP note that the 40 kidnappings are confirmed and that the death toll from the bombing of the wedding party yesterday has risen from 15 to 23 "including nine children." In addition, they report that two coaches were kidnapped in Baghdad today "by a group of men in SUVs". The violence and chaos continue daily and, as Michael R. Gordon (New York Times) reported, the US Central Command has just prepared a chart ("two weeks ago") to note that. It takes some a little longer.
Bombings?
Reuters reports many bombs: in Baghdad, 2 car bombs resulted in 7 deaths (and 7 wounded), one minibus bombing resulted in 3 deaths, and 1 roadside bomb resulted in 2 deaths (10 wounded); Ramadi, five dead three wounded from two car bombs; Mosul, two wounded from a roadside bomb; Baiji two wounded from a roadside bomb.
Shootings?
CBS and AP report that Izzaddin Abbas was shot dead in Baghdad and a Ministry of Industry employee was shot dead in Baghdad. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports four shooting deaths in Mosul. In addition, Reuters notes that a policewoman was shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?
CBS and AP note three corpses were discovered in Baghdad today ("blindfolded and bound at the wrists"). CNN notes that the number of corpses discovered in Baghdad grew to ten. And Reuters then updated to note thirty-five corpses were discovered in Baghdad, nine in Mosul, five in Falluja, and one in Numaniya. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) notes that five corpses were discovered in "the Tigris River near Suwayrah".
In election news, though he may not grasp it, US Senator John Kerry's just taken himself out of the 2008 presidential race. It wasn't the remark he made ("You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."), it was the fact that he went through a variety of positions on it including hedging it, distorting it, saying he wouldn't apologize for it until finally doing just that. And on Don Imus, of all places, where the supposed Fighting John allowed Imus to Swift Boat him with ha-has of "wind surfing" and more. It's over, 2008 is now officially over for John Kerry. Those willing to give him the benefit of doubt despite his caving in Boston in the early morning hours of the day after the election had been told Fighting John would never cave again. "Good of the country" was the excuse that morning. There is no excuse for not fighting this go round, there is only the admission that Fighting John will buckle each and every time and that Fighting John lacks drive, lacks leadership, lacks passion and lacks committment. Send him his "Dear John" letter, it's over.
He was unable to defend either himself or the military he's spent the last few years hiding behind. What should have been an opportunity for the American public to have a serious exchange about exactly what Donald Rumsfled has done to the US military instead became a case of Save-My-Own-Ass.
The conversation will be had and it will be had without John Kerry. As the Miami Herald reported in October of 2005: "Army Secretary Noel Harvey and Gen. Richard Cody, the vice chief of staff, said Monday that the Army is using loose Defense Department rules that permits it to sign up more high school dropouts and people who score lower on mental-qualification tests, but they denied that this meant it was lowering standards." In February of this year, Kelly M. Greenhill penned an op-ed for the New York Times noting: "The Army inducted both more recruits without high school diplomas and more youths scoring in the lowest category of the Army's aptitude test, so-called Category IV recruits. Welcoming more such recruits into the military has obvious appeal at a time when recruitment numbers are slipping, while manpower needs remain acute. But the adoption of lower standards to fill the ranks is shortsighted and imprudent. Moreover, continuing or expanding this policy would be a mistake for the Army and for the recruits themselves. Pentagon officials should know this better than anyone: their previous experiments with lower standards were clear failures." USA Today noted in July of 2005: "The Army in 2005 began accepting up to 4% of those who score in the bottom third on the Armed Froces Qualification Test. Previously, it had a limit of 2% from that category." In October of this year, AP reported that the "new lower aptitude standards" allowed the U.S. army to meet its target goal and noted "13,600, were accepted under waivers for various medical, moral or criminal problems, including misdemeanor arrests or drunk driving. . . . Of those accepted under waivers, more than half were for 'moral' reasons, mostly misdemeanor arrests. Thirty-eight percent were for medical reasons and 7 percent were drug and alcohol problems, including those who may have failed a drug test or acknowledged they had used drugs." In 2005, Fred Kaplan (Slate) raised some of the concerns career officers in the military have with these lowered standards.
Need a face on this issue? Try Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. In July of this year, AP noted that Steven D. Green (one of several accused in the rape of fourteen-year-old Abeer, her death and the deaths of three members of her family) was arrested in Janurary 2005 and "[d]ays later . . . enlisted in the Army."
The conversation will go on and will do so without John Kerry who may be next seen at a Democratic Convention saying, "John Kerry, reporting for wedgie." UPDATE: Reuters reports John Kerry is now going through a ceremonial ritual of apologies. Someone call Barbara Walters.
CNN reports two more US troop deaths were reported today bringing the number of US troops who died in Iraq in October to 105. The military tends to let those deaths trickle out after the press has done their monthly look back. Thom Shanker and David S. Cloud (New York Times) reported that the toll included forty who died in Baghdad and 37 who died in Al-Anbar Province. 'Conventional wisdom' (not speaking of the NYT report just noted) is that the deaths are up due to the 'crackdown' in Baghdad (that cracked up). Those spinning that conventional wisdom don't appear to be willing to address the whack-a-mole problem US Senator John McCain pointed out in August:

Senator John McCain: So, General Abizaid, we're moving 7,500 troops into Baghdad, is that correct?
General John Abizaid: The number is closer to 3,500.[. . .]
McCain: And where are these troops coming from?
Abizaid: Uh, the troops, the Styker Brigade, is coming down from Mosul.
McCain: From Mosul? Is the situation under control in Ramadi?
Abizaid: Uh, the situation in Ramadi, is better than it was two months ago.
McCain: Is the situation under control in Ramadi?Abizaid: I think the situation in Ramadi is workable.
McCain: And the troops from Ramadi came from Falluja, isn't that correct?Abizaid: I can't say senator, I know that --
McCain: Well that's my information. What I' worry about is we're playing a game of whack-a-mole here. We move troops from -- It flares up, we move troops there. Everybody knows we've got big problems in Ramadi and I said, "Where you gonna get the troops?" 'Well we're going to have to move them from Falluja.' Now we're going to have to move troops into Baghdad from someplace else. It's very disturbing.

Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) reports that "224 Iraqi security forces and 1,315 civilians were killed in October". That count seems low and the source of the figures isn't identified.
In Australia, the report from the military inquiry into the April 21st Baghdad death of Jake Kovco and the events after Kovco's death remains unreleased but remains in the headlines. Australia's ABC reports that Angus Houston has stated that the report maintains Kovco wasn't rushed home (which would explain the mix up that sent Juso Sinanovic's body to Australia and left Jake Kovco's in Iraq) to try to build on the Anzac Day coverage. Expect to hear a lot about what it reportedly says as opposed to what it actually says, AAP informs the report won't be released until next year.
Back in Iraq, the issue is over who's pulling who? (Sing it, Aretha.) Did Nouri al-Maliki manage to outsmart his puppeteers? The Australian reports that he did and that he's "exploiting Washington's vulnerability in the US congressional elections to flex his political muscle."
Closing with the reminder that Ehren Watada's father Bob Watada and his step-mother Rosa Sakanishi continue the speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Upcoming dates include:

Nov 1, TBA Miami, Florida Democracy for America Miami Dade and the South Florida Veterans For Peace Chapter 32 Venue and time TBA


Nov 2, TBA Cincinnati, OH Meet Dr. Victoria (Vic) Wulsin, candidatefor congress 2nd district Ohio currently leading Jean Schmidt whocalled Rep John Murtha from PA. a coward. Sponsor: Vietnam Veterans Against the War Venue: TBA

Nov 3, TBA St. Paul MN. Location: Quaker Peace Center -- 1725 Grand AvenueSponsors: Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 Contact: Barry Reisch, (H) 651-641-1087 © 612-269-8934 bwrvfp@earthlink.net

Nov 4, 11AM Milwaukee, WI. Location: Great Lakes Arlington EventContact: Mark Foreman, 441-760-9991, bethmark@execpc.comSponsor: VFP Chapter 102 * See the unveiling of a new "Arlington"


Nov. 5, 2PM Boston, MA Encuentro 5 33 Harrison Ave. 5th floor (Chinatown)Sponsors: Asian American Movement Ezine Asian American Resource Workshop Boston Hawaiian Club Chinese Progressive AssociationMassachusetts Global Action New England Japanese American Citizens League

Nov 5, 7PM Cambridge, MA. Location: Unitarian Church, Harvard SquareSponsor: Veterans for Peace Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade and Chapter 45, Samantha Smith Chapter Contact: Lee VanderLaan, 978-257-2350

Nov 6, 2-4:30PM Boston, MA Location: University of Massachusetts/BostonSponsor: The Institute for Asian American Studies William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequence Time: 2-4:30 pm

Nov 6, 7PM Worcester, MA. Location: Clark University University Building, Lurie Room Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapter 10 Contact: Bob Flanagan, 508-755-1479, IrishBob54@aol.com


A full schedule can be found at Veterans for Peace and those interested in hosting a Bob Watada speaking engagement in their area are urged to contact Doug Zachary.










Posted by at

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Kyle Snyder, Danny Schechter, John Kerry, Iraq

Kyle Snyder came
back to the United States from
Canada Saturday and he turned himself
in at Fort Knox. You'd know about that if
you read any of the following: "War resister Kyle Snyder returns to the US tomorrow"; "'I said NO and I will never regret it' -- Kyle Snyder, war resister"; "Iraq Snapshot"; "Editorial: Kyle Snyder's return to the US is part of a movement of resistance" and "AWOL U.S. Soldier Surrenders". That last one? It's an AP story at CBS. Where's indymedia? Go to BuzzFlash right now and see where the link for a story on Kyle Snyder is? You won't find one. Go to Truth Out, same thing. Common Dreams, same thing.

Does war resistance matter?

It matters to me and it matters to a lot of people. But the link-people can't find the time to cover it.

What does that tell you? If you figure it out, let me know. The AP story CBS is running is at like 63 mainstream news sites. Where's our left linkers?

It's really getting sick. We saw pretty much the same thing with Darrell Anderson and Ricky Clousing and Mark Wilkerson. We're seeing it now with Ehren Watada.

After the 2006 election, the US will still be in Iraq. In fact, the US will be in Iraq until people start getting serious. Propping up laughable Democrats (Harld Ford Jr. and all the rest) will just get you more of the same mess.

C.I. points this out in the snapshot but I want to note up here too because it really is some strong writing, Danny Schechter's "Time To Take The Iraq Quiz:"

What was once hailed as a heroic mission is now being dismissed as a fiasco, error and “mistake,” and to some former war boosters, even a "noble mistake."
In fact, that’s the view that seems to be framing what debate there has been on the war. It is still--AAU--All About Us. In this view, all that matters is our policy objectives but rarely our economic or geo-political agenda. Iraq as a nation, as a culture, and a people barely exists.
For the most part the American debate leaves out the Iraqis except as victims or killers. The leaders that they said to have elected don’t seem to count with Washington giving them orders and pulling their strings. Prime Minister Maliki had to have a press conference to announce he works for the Iraqi People, not the Bush Administration. He knows that if he is to survive politically and personally, he has to distance himself from his wannabe benefactors. How many of us know that the Iraqi Government we trained is running death squads? How many Iraqis do we ever see, or more importantly HEAR on the air?
The Democratic Party line mirrors this America First philosophy.. Never ready to challenge the deeper assumptions and interests guiding the war, most of the Democrats instead harp on the stupidity and failures of the war’s instigators and managers who are considered incompetent. According to the NY Times, The Democrats are "running to the right," self-consciously becoming conservative and moderate candidates who posture at being tougher on national security that the Repugs. (Oddly the International Herald Tribune ran almost identical stories ten days earlier.)
So in the same way that Fox News pushed all other news outlets to the right, the GOP has imposed its worldview on the whole political spectrum. As a result, many Dems are not challenging this distorted ideology, only the personalities identified with it.

That's what independent media should be talking about but it's not really happening. (See "'Independent' media?") I was talking to Rebecca and I'm just not even reading The Nation until after the election unless someone I trust says, "Go read . . ." It's just not worth it. Same thing with The Progressive. I'm just not interested in hearing how wonderful each and every Democrat is and how they are going to change everything when they get control of at least one House of Congress and how butterflies will fly out of butts instead of farts.

I always remember after the election of 2004, what I saw, what everyone saw. Rebecca talks about this speech C.I. gave that picked up spirits the day after and I can't believe that we're all being lied to and hyped again. Is it important to vote? Yep and I'll be voting. But it's not going to change the world and a lot of people on the left are going to be disappointed even if Democrats win because they've been sold and sold on all this fraud. That's really what it is, journalistic fraud. When people know better but won't say so, it's journalistic fraud.

John Kerry's one of my senators (Ted Kennedy's the other) and it was so disappointing when he lost in November 2004. (You can say the election was stolen and I'll agree with you but he didn't get inaugurated so it was still a loss.) I'm really not in the mood to see people feeling as low as I did then. And it wasn't just me, it was my whole family, all of my friends. Becoming a community member was a real education (and still is!) because I didn't know then about how Naomi Klein was saying in the summer of 2004 that we needed to keep up the pressure on Iraq.
I didn't know about that then. I do now. And I'm disgusted that we've done it again. As long as we keep giving passes and turning mini-moderates into larger-than-life heroes with hype, the war isn't ending.

And look what's happened with John Kerry, he speaks some truth and gets slammed. He even has to slightly back off. He shouldn't. Wally and Cedric wrote about it and I tried to call them both but they were already out doing their voter drive efforts. Wally called back as I was about to write and I go, "Cool catch on Boston Globe!" It was too. Wally goes, "We tried to give C.I. credit but C.I. goes, 'All I did was tell you a reference.'" I should have known that was a C.I. thing. "The computer." :D That's a nickname for C.I. Rebecca compares C.I. to Katharine Hepburn's character in Desk Set. :D That's a Christmas movie that's pretty funny. And the character Hepburn plays is a researcher in a network's library who always knows where to find everything. :D

But I love Wally's "THE FAUX LEFT 'ADVISES' JOHN KERRY" and Cedric's "Taylor Marshall, advise yourself" so I'm putting it in here in full (Wally goes, "Just remember to leave in the links!" :D):

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
IN CALIFORNIA ON MONDAY, U.S. SENATOR JOHN KERRY SPOKE TO STUDENTS AND SAID THE FOLLOWING, "YOU KNOW EDUCATION, IF YOU MAKE THE MOST OF IT, YOU STUDY HARD, YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND YOU MAKE AN EFFORT TO BE SMART, YOU CAN DO WELL. IF YOU DON'T, YOU GET STUCK IN IRAQ."
THOUGH IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT WHITE HOUSE SNOW JOB TONY SNOW IMEDIATELY STARTED SPUTTERING NONSENSE, IT IS SHOCKING HOW MANY IDIOTS ON THE SUPPOSED LEFT WENT INTO PANIC-MODE.
TAKE THE WOULD-BE-LEE-GRANT-LOOK-ALIKE (IF LEE GRANT WENT TO SUPERCUTS) TAYLOR MARSH WHO, WRITING AT THE HUFFINGTON POST, STATED: "KERRY SHOULD JUST ADMIT HE SCREWED UP HIS STATEMENT. IT MAY BE UGLY, BUT IT'S THE TRUTH."
QUEEN OF THE SURRENDERS AND ALWAYS TO BE FOUND AMONG THE FAUX LEFT, TAYLOR MARSH GLORIFIES IN THE ABSENCE OF FACT CHECKERS AT THE HUFFINGTON POST.
FOR TAYLOR MARSH AND ALL THE OTHER FAUX LEFT IDIOTS, KERRY IS 100% CORRECT.
PRESUMABLY, JOHN KERRY READS THE BOSTON GLOBE. THERE'S NO INDICATION THAT THE FAUX LEFT READS ANYTHING OR EVEN KNOWS HOW TO READ.
CHARLIE SAVAGE REPORTED IN THE BOSTON GLOBE NOVEMBER 29, 2004:

STUDENTS FROM MCDOOUGH ARE AS MUCH AS SIX TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN THOSE FROM MCLEAN TO JOIN THE MILITARY, A DISPARITY THAT IS REPLICATED ELSEWHERE. A SURVEY OF THE MILITARY'S RECRUITMENT SYSTEM FOUND THAT THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ZEROES IN ON SCHOOLS WHERE STUDENTS ARE PERCEIVED TO BE MORE LIKELY TO JOIN UP, WHILE MAKING FAR LESS EFFORT AT SCHOOLS WHERE STUDENTS ARE STEERED TOWARD COLLEGE.

TAYLOR MARSH SHOULD JUST ADMIT THAT, LIKE CAPTAIN LEWIS IN PRIVATE BENJAMIN, SHE SHOULDN'T BE SO QUICK TO WAIVE THE WHITE FLAG.
THE FAUX LEFT, DESTROYING AMERICA AND INTELLIGENCE 1 TOPIC AT A TIME.
JOHN KERRY SHOULD SHOW TONY SNOW, TAYLOR MARSH AND THE WHITE HOUSE THE MIDDLE FINGER AND NOT BACK DOWN. HE IS RIGHT.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:
War resister Kyle Snyder self-checked out of the US military in April 2005 and moved to Canada where he remained until last Saturday. Today, Brett Barrouqere (AP) reports is the day that Kyle Snyder will turn himself at Fort Knox. While serving in Iraq, Synder saw many actions go uninvestigated, he saw his girlfriend's pregnancy turn to tragedy -- "The military took my child," Snyder told Karen Button in an interview. He saw Iraqis died who shouldn't have, he saw Iraqi women brought on to bases as prostitutes. What he didn't see was reconstruction going on. As Courage to Resist notes Snyder saying, "The only reconstruction I saw was building Army bases."
In Canada, Synder attempted to be granted asylum. During the Vietnam era, the Canadian government had done that. However, the government has so far refused to offer refugee status. Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey are appealing decisions right now. Hinzman has been attempting to be granted refugee status since January 2004. At end of last month, war resister Darrell Anderson returned to the United States from Canada. Snyder, Hinzman, Anderson, Hughey, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Ehren Watada, Stephen Funk, Patrick Hart, Corey Glass, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Clifford Cornell, Katherine Jashinski, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Joshua Key, Joshua Despain, Kevin Benderman, are among those making up the growing movement of war resistance within the military. Last Friday, Different Drummer in Watertown, NY became the first G.I. coffeehouse of this war. David Zeiger's documentary Sir! No Sir! charts the resistance within the military during the Vietnam era. More information on war resisters can be found at Courage to Resist and at War Resisters Support Campaign.
[. . .]
In the United States, Bully Boy continues to attempt to elude consequences for his illegal war while others aren't as fortunate. The AFP reports that there are now 150,000 US troops in Iraq "the largest number reported this year" and the numbers are also "the highest levels since December 2005 when US commanders built up US troop levels for the Iraqi elections." In another report, the AFP attempted to get a response on the increase in US troop numbers from the Pentagon press secretary Eric Ruff. Ruff: "This is news to me. Talk to MNF-I (Multi-National Forces -Iraq). That's General Casey's decision." Again, the Pentagon's press secretary responds, when asked about the fact that the number of US troops has increased in Iraq, "This is news to me."
That head-up-the-ass moment is rivaled only by last week when Bully Boy, attempting to convince the American people that he's hands-on and following the war, stated "we've lost 93 service members in Iraq" when that day (Wednesday) the count was 91 and would remain 91 until the US military announced more fatalities on Thursday.In both cases, Ruff's and Bully Boy's, it's their job to know the numbers.
[. . .]
And Kyle Snyder has now turned himself in at Fort Knox. Prior to that, he held a news conference in Lousiville (at a Presbyterian church) and, Dylan T. Lovan (AP) reports, stated: "I don't see a lot of positive things coming from this war. I see it as a counterproductive mission." Lovan also reports that, according to his attorney James Fennerty, Kyle Snyder "will receive an other-than-honorable discharge. That would be the same punishment received by . . . Darrell Anderson".

Recommended: "Iraq Snapshot"
"'I said NO and I will never regret it' -- Kyle Snyder, war resister"
"US troops killed in Iraq hits 103 for the month of October"
"Reading and growing up (Betty)"
"Tina Turner, Ani DiFranco, & more"
"now celebrates 40 years"
"Third, Marjorie Cohn, Iraq"
"Bully Boy puts Americans last (parody)"
"THIS JUST IN! FAT AND FLUFFY, BULLY BOY 'FESSES UP"
"AWOL soldier expected to surrender on Tuesday"

Be sure to check out Elaine's thoughts at Like Maria Said Paz. She's here and we're going to a party so I need to wrap up pretty quick. But I forgot to mention Ma's "Appetizers in the Kitchen" Monday, so check that out too. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

October 31, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, war resister Kyle Snyder prepares to turn himself in at Fort Knox, Tony Blair's long-goodbye continues to go off the rails, turns out the Pentagon's not sure how many US troops are in Iraq, Tony Snow Job attempts to attack (but comes off like he's humping Bully Boy's legs), and more tensions between the puppet (al-Maliki) and DC.
Starting in the United States. War resister Kyle Snyder self-checked out of the US military in April 2005 and moved to Canada where he remained until last Saturday. Today, Brett Barrouqere (AP) reports is the day that Kyle Snyder will turn himself at Fort Knox. While serving in Iraq, Synder saw many actions go uninvestigated, he saw his girlfriend's pregnancy turn to tragedy -- "The military took my child," Snyder told Karen Button in an interview. He saw Iraqis died who shouldn't have, he saw Iraqi women brought on to bases as prostitutes. What he didn't see was reconstruction going on. As Courage to Resist notes Snyder saying, "The only reconstruction I saw was building Army bases."
In Canada, Synder attempted to be granted asylum. During the Vietnam era, the Canadian government had done that. However, the government has so far refused to offer refugee status. Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey are appealing decisions right now. Hinzman has been attempting to be granted refugee status since January 2004. At end of last month, war resister Darrell Anderson returned to the United States from Canada. Snyder, Hinzman, Anderson, Hughey, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Ehren Watada, Stephen Funk, Patrick Hart, Corey Glass, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Clifford Cornell, Katherine Jashinski, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Joshua Key, Joshua Despain, Kevin Benderman, are among those making up the growing movement of war resistance within the military. Last Friday, Different Drummer in Watertown, NY became the first G.I. coffeehouse of this war. David Zeiger's documentary Sir! No Sir! charts the resistance within the military during the Vietnam era. More information on war resisters can be found at Courage to Resist and at War Resisters Support Campaign.
As Kyle Snyder stands strong, Bully Boy's poodle yelps. In England, Tony Blair's long goodbye continues to go off the rails. The glad handing, easy photo-ops and glossy stories that were supposed to abound as he entered his final months of prime minister just can't get traction. The Scotsman reports he spent "today fighting desperately to avoid a damaging defeat at Westminister over a deman for an immediate inquiry into the Iraq War and its aftermath. Labour whips were frantically trying to persuade rebels -- including Edinburgh East MP and former Cabinet Minister Gavin Strang and potentially Midlothian's David Hamilton -- not to back the Nationalists and the Liberal Democrats' call for an investigation." Nick Assinder (BBC) offers: "It is just possible that, more than three years after the Iraq invasion, Tony Blair will be defeated in the House of Commons over the war" and notes that Blair, like Bully Boy, is attempting to defocus by stating a debate on the war would be a 'victory' for terrorists. Nonsense, responds William Hague of the Conservative Party. AP quotes him stating: "A responsible government should want all possible lessons to be learned from the efforts to bring order and reconstruction to Iraq and should not be afraid of giving these issues the most searching examination."
The Evening Times notes "a possible Commons defeat tonight over the handling of the Iraq war" and Nick Assinder (BBC) notes that Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond states that "a defeat for Mr Blair would mean his tenure would be measure in hours and days rather than weeks and months. Yet even Mr Salmond believes defeat is unlikely". Regardless of the outcome, Blair's efforts to be Eco-Man of the People (this week's push) were destroyed as the War Hawk was once again confronted with the consequences of his actions.
In the United States, Bully Boy continues to attempt to elude consequences for his illegal war while others aren't as fortunate. The AFP reports that there are now 150,000 US troops in Iraq "the largest number reported this year" and the numbers are also "the highest levels since December 2005 when US commanders built up US troop levels for the Iraqi elections." In another report, the AFP attempted to get a response on the increase in US troop numbers from the Pentagon press secretary Eric Ruff. Ruff: "This is news to me. Talk to MNF-I (Multi-National Forces -Iraq). That's General Casey's decision." Again, the Pentagon's press secretary responds, when asked about the fact that the number of US troops has increased in Iraq, "This is news to me."
That head-up-the-ass moment is rivaled only by last week when Bully Boy, attempting to convince the American people that he's hands-on and following the war, stated "we've lost 93 service members in Iraq" when that day (Wednesday) the count was 91 and would remain 91 until the US military announced more fatalities on Thursday.In both cases, Ruff's and Bully Boy's, it's their job to know the numbers.
The rise to 150,000 US forces in Iraq comes at a time when, as John F. Burns and David E. Sanger (New York Times) reported, whispers among "American officials" are centered on talk of increasing the number of American and Iraqi troops patrolling Baghdad. The 'crackdown' cracked up, in all its forms. And three years after the illegal war began, the talk centers on how to 'pacify' the capital. David Martin (CBS) reports that George W. Casey Jr. ("U.S. Commander in Iraq") wants to increase Iraqi forces by 100,000 which would also mean increasing US forces to train them. (Remember, the US government decided not to continue training Iraqi soldiers in Jordan.)
The talk of Iraqi forces is misplaced as well. Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) notes George W. Casey Jr.'s optimistic predicition from last week (a year to a year-and-a-half before Iraqis can take over their country) and reports the reality on the ground as seen by the US military (which predicts that would take decades) and by Baghdad's chief of police, Salah al-Ani: "None of the Iraqi police are working to make their country better. They're working for the militias or to put money in their pocket."
Meanwhile, CNN reports that the checkpoints in the Sadr City section of Baghdad have been opened after Muqtada al-Sadr called a strike on Monday in which "[m]ost shops, schools and government buildings" closed down. To the surprise of only those who've been waiting each day since mid-June for the 'crackdown' to demonstrate positive results, the BBC reports: "The week-long restrictions, checks and searches caused increasing resentment in the densely-populated neighborhood." The puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki broke with the US over this and ordered the checkpoints opened. It's being seen as a victory for Sadr City residents; however, they, and all of Baghdad, remain under a nightime curfew. In addition, Lara Logan (CBS) reports that though the checkpoints are open, they are still physically present and that it "took weeks to put [them] in place . . . and it will take as long as that to dismantle them".
The Sadr City 'crackdown within a crackdown' began when a US solider went missing Monday night. AP identified him on Friday as Ahmed Qusai al-Taei. On Sunday, reports surfaced that the US soldier had left the Green Zone not to visit an aunt as previously reported, but, as Michael Luo and Qais Mizher (NYT reporters reporting in the Times' International Herald Tribune) explained, it was now being stated that he was "visiting an Iraqi woman whom he had secretly married three months ago" when he was kidnapped according to the woman's family. al-Taei remains missing.
And chaos and violence continue throughout Iraq.
Bombings?
In Baghdad, CNN reports a car bomb left members of a wedding dead or injured: 15 dead and 19 wounded. The dead included four children, as Aileen Alfandary noted on today's KPFA's The Morning Show. Also in Baghdad, Reuters reports, a car bomb and a roadside bomb left at least four dead and at least thirteen wounded. Outside of Baghdad, Reuters notes a roadside bomb in Falluja (two dead; two wounded);
Shootings?
Reuters reports a police officer was shot dead (and three wounded) in Baquba and that two shop owners (also in Baquba) were shot dead, an Iraqi soldier was shot dead in Falluja, and one in Tal Afar as well as four "gunmen".
Corpses?
CNN reports that ten corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters reports eight people were discovered in Suwayra and eight in Baquba.
In addition CNN notes that "at least 40 people" were kidnapped north of Baghdad.
In ridiculous news, CBS and AP report that the White House (which can't even give an accurate count on how many US troops have died in Iraq -- not even one that matches their own Pentagon's count) is attacking US Senator John Kerry as a 'troop basher' because he noted in a California speech on Monday: "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." The truth in those remarks (recruiters target the lower class with less hopes of a college education) struck too close to home with the White House leading Tony Snow to demand that Kerry apologize to all those serving. The apology should come right after Bully Boy apologizes for (a) starting the illegal war and (b) using Daddy's connections to get out of serving in Iraq and yet not even bothering to show up for his National Guard Training.
Instead of demanding apologies from John Kerry, the White House might be better off apologizing to the families lied to by their government. AP reports: "The families of seven soldiers who died in Iraq or Afghanistan were given incorrect or misleading information about the deaths, the Army has concluded after a review of war casualty reports." White House flack Tony Snow Job should grasp that lying to the families of the dead was the "absolute insult."
In reality news, News Dissector Danny Schechter examines the 'strategy' of those who (my summary, not his) kind-of-sort-of-maybe think the illegal war wasn't such a good idea but would rather talk 'strategy' than reality and reduce Iraqis to extras in the supposed story of their own lives and also notes the effects of this on the Democratic Party: "So in the same way that Fox News pushed all other news outlets to the right, the GOP has imposed its worldview on the whole political spectrum. As a result, many Dems are not challenging this distroted ieology, only the personalities identified with it. Bush's message points, Cheney contentiousness, and Rumsfeld's ravings make them a perfect foil for those who say what they want to do is right -- but the way they are going about it's wrong." Meanwhile Jack Randon (PEJ News) pens an open letter to Iraq's parliament: "You have a problem. The occupiers are pushing you to disarm the militias yet you are acutely aware that any community left unprotected will be swept away in the next wave of violence. Your people would hold you accountable for the bloodbath that followed. You cannot comply. Conseuqently, the Americans will accuse you of being unable and unwilling to govern -- yet if you did comply, there would be open rebellion. If you stand up to the occupiers, you will surely lose their support. You will be evicted from the Green Zone and cast out in the streets where the price of politicans and collaborators is cheap."
In other reality news, the US troops death toll for October has reached 103. That puts it behind three other months -- January '05 (107), February '04 (135) and November '04 (137). It also needs to be noted that 103 may not be the final toll since the US military has a way of releasing numbers a few days 'late' -- usually after the press has written up their "monthly count" story. If the number sticks, it's the fourth worst month of the illegal war for US troops. Three years-plus after the illegal war began. The worst month for Iraqis is each advancing month as The Lancet study pegs the number dead due to the war at approximately 655,000 and the UN has to update their estimates for daily deaths every few months.
Turning to Australia, a report has been handed to Angus Houston who is the Air Chief Marshal of Australian's military NEWS.com reports. The report is the product of the military inquiry into the April 21st Baghdad death of Jake Kovco and into the events that immediately followed. Throughout much of the summer, the inquiry heard testimony. Some witnesses 'testified' about things they never observed. When asked who had passed that on to them, in one instance, a witness was allowed to get away with offering up Nah-Nah-Nah-I-don't-want-to-say-and-you-can't-make-me. Theories were floated that had no basis in DNA science but it took a DNA expert's testimony to bury that nonsense. The proceedings included the testimony-counter-testimony of Houston and Brendan Neslon (Minister of Defence) over whether or not Nelson was warned not to be a Chatty Cathy. (Houston maintained Nelson was warned -- the larger question of why Nelson needed a warning not to talk to the press about things he knew nothing about went unexplored.) There is no word on when the report will be made public.
And Kyle Snyder has now turned himself in at Fort Knox. Prior to that, he held a news conference in Lousiville (at a Presbyterian church) and, Dylan T. Lovan (AP) reports, stated: "I don't see a lot of positive things coming from this war. I see it as a counterproductive mission." Lovan also reports that, according to his attorney James Fennerty, Kyle Snyder "will receive an other-than-honorable discharge. That would be the same punishment received by . . . Darrell Anderson".
In other war reistance news, Ehren Watada's father Bob Watada and his step-mother Rosa Sakanishi continue the speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Upcoming dates include:

Oct 31, 7-9PM Norman, OK Location: Cleveland County Fairgrounds - Lobby 615 E. Robinson Sponsor: Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War Contact: Jeri Reed, 405-307-0352, cell 405-606-9598, jlreed@ou.edu

Nov 1, TBA Miami, Florida Democracy for America Miami Dade and the South Florida Veterans For Peace Chapter 32 Venue and time TBA


Nov 2, TBA Cincinnati, OH Meet Dr. Victoria (Vic) Wulsin, candidate for congress 2nd district Ohio currently leading Jean Schmidt whocalled Rep John Murtha from PA. a coward. Sponsor: Vietnam Veterans Against the War Venue: TBA

Nov 3, TBASt. Paul MN. Location: Quaker Peace Center -- 1725 Grand AvenueSponsors: Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 Contact: Barry Reisch, (H) 651-641-1087 © 612-269-8934bwrvfp@earthlink.net

Nov 4, 11AM Milwaukee, WI. Location: Great Lakes Arlington Event Contact: Mark Foreman, 441-760-9991, bethmark@execpc.com Sponsor: VFP Chapter 102* See the unveiling of a new "Arlington"


Nov. 5, 2PM Boston, MA Encuentro 533 Harrison Ave. 5th floor (Chinatown) Sponsors: Asian American Movement Ezine Asian American Resource Workshop Boston Hawaiian Club Chinese Progressive Association Massachusetts Global Action New England Japanese American Citizens League

Nov 5, 7PM Cambridge, MA. Location: Unitarian Church, Harvard Square Sponsor: Veterans for Peace Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade and Chapter 45, Samantha Smith Chapter Contact: Lee VanderLaan, 978-257-2350

Nov 6, 2-4:30PM Boston, MA Location: University of Massachusetts/Boston Sponsor: The Institute for Asian American Studies William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequence Time: 2-4:30 pm

Nov 6, 7PM Worcester, MA. Location: Clark University University Building, Lurie RoomSponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapter 10 Contact: Bob Flanagan, 508-755-1479, IrishBob54@aol.com


A full schedule can be found at Veterans for Peace and those interested in hosting a Bob Watada speaking engagement in their area are urged to contact Doug Zachary.
























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Monday, October 30, 2006

Third, Marjorie Cohn, Iraq

Monday, Monday. Let's get right into it. This is new content at The Third Estate Sunday Review:


A Note to Our Readers -- Jim explains what's in the edition.

Editorial: Three Little Words -- This is really a great editorial. They were hoping to have news on Kyle Snyder and write about that but when that didn't happen, they didn't know what to cover. Jess said C.I. was planning on making the "three little words" topic part of "And the war drags on" but gave it to them so that they could finish up the edition. It's really cool.

TV: Kidnapped by the Water Cooler Set -- Ava and C.I. tackle Kidnapped and the Water Cooler Set.

Tina Turner: A retrospective -- This started from a thing Elaine did at her site and then Jim and Dona complimented her on it and she suggested the follow up be a group effort. Kat worked on this too.

'Independent' media? -- Tired of soft coverage of candidates and the non-stop rah-rah? Read this. I've got a highlight to go with this, by the way. So remember this.

Oh, that 'campus' beat -- Tired of campus 'activists' always being students working with the Democratic Party? (Someone's got to get the coffee!) Tired of coverage of 'activism' that always translates as servant? Read this.

13 Things You Can't Tell By Looking at Them (Movies) -- This is a roundtable where we talk about a movie that we watch that might surprise you.

Did war resister Kyle Snyder return to the US Saturday? -- I don't know. If he did, there was no coverage Saturday, Sunday or today.

Patricia Heaton's Pep Talk (parody) -- The nightmare continues off screen.

Gold Star of the Week: The Progressive -- They covered Ricky Clousing.

MyTV's Fascist House -- I think Kat (who thought this regular feature up back in September) is really the only one who gets how cool it is. :D Readers love it but when the core six are getting ready to put it together, they're always like, "Is it funny?" Yes! :D

So what's up? -- Explaining the nightmares of Blogger/Blogspot which put the edition behind and pretty much screwed up all sites this weekend over and over.

Okay, remember I promised you a highlight on the topic of vote-vote-vote!? This is from Lance Selfa's "Liberal Doormats: Tread on Us:"

On September 17, Carpenter presented Brown with a "Backbone Campaign" award as part of PDA-supported effort to reward Democrats who stand up against special interests, the Republicans and the White House. In Brown's case, the PDA was commending him for leading opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
A few days later, Brown's backbone crumbled. He was one of only 34 House Democrats to vote for Bush's torture bill.
Of course, Brown was in a difficult position. What's opposing torture and supporting the right of habeus corpus against the possibility of facing a Republican attack-ad melding his face with Osama bin Laden's?
The PDA continues to back Brown, which goes to show once again that liberal groups working within the Democratic Party end up as the "gofers." They work the hardest at inspiring people to vote for an uninspiring party, and receive little in return. Yet they redouble their efforts to elect the Democrats.
As the socialist Hal Draper wrote in 1967 about the "lib-labs" (liberal-labor) of his day: "The Democrats have learned well that they have the lib-lab vote in their back pocket, and that therefore the forces to be appeased are those forces on the right."
Don't the liberals ever get tired of being treated as doormats? How about calling another press conference and publicly rescinding the award to Brown? Now that would be a show of backbone.

I'd like to read a lot more article like that and a lot less ass-smooching. But all we're going to get is ass-smooching until after the election from most 'independent' outlets.

Check out Cedric's "Bully Boy puts Americans last (parody)" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! FAT AND FLUFFY, BULLY BOY 'FESSES UP" about Bully Boy's get out the vote appearance in Georgia today.

Sometimes, when the fluff gets too much and it depresses, you really need some good news. It's not always available but here is some:

PROFESSOR MARJORIE COHN BECOMES PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD
On October 20, 2006, Professor Marjorie Cohn assumed the presidency of the National Lawyers Guild. A member of the NLG since 1971, Professor Cohn is a criminal defense attorney and teaches criminal law and human rights at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Her articles appear regularly on AlterNet, Commondreams, CounterPunch, ZNet, Buzzflash and MWCNews. Professor Cohn lectures throughout the world on international human rights and U.S. foreign policy. A news consultant for CBS News, and a legal analyst for Court TV, she has also provided legal and political commentary on BBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Air America Radio, NPR and Pacifica Radio. Co-author of the book Cameras in the Courtroom: Television and the Pursuit of Justice, Professor Cohn's book, Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, will be published next spring by PoliPointPress. Professor Cohn is the U.S. representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She is the recipient of the San Diego County Bar Association's 2005 Service to Legal Education Award, was voted in 2006 by her peers as one of the top attorneys in San Diego, and serves on the Roster of Experts at the Institute for Public Accuracy.
Professor Cohn said, "The Guild was founded in 1937 as the first integrated bar association because the American Bar Association was an all-white organization. Since then, Guild lawyers, law students and legal workers have stood side-by-side with people struggling for the rights for workers, women, people of color, gays, lesbians and transgendered, the disabled, immigrants, the accused, GIs, and anti-war protestors. The Guild's guiding motto is that 'human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.' Becoming president of the National Lawyers Guild is the greatest honor I have ever received and the most awesome responsibility I have ever undertaken."
The National Lawyers Guild is headquartered in New York and has chapters in nearly every state, as well as over 100 law school chapters.

C.I. called to check and see how I was this afternoon. (Classes have been kicking my butt.) And I mentioned that I was kind of down and C.I. told me about the thing I put in. Cohn's been president-elect for awhile now and she's a really strong voice. I was really pissed about the Lynne Stewart sentencing. I know it could have gone worse but I was pissed that the judge didn't just say, forget it all. She was railroaded. I didn't feel like looking for the silver lining but that's all I was hearing. C.I. told me to go listen to the KPFA Evening News and I did (it was the show broadcast the day Stewart was sentenced) and Cohn was the guest. I wasn't really eager because there are a lot of strong voices and I really felt like they all went into silver-lining-territory. Then Cohn started talking and she wasn't in the mood for that crap. She was angry and you could hear it in her voice.

Someone asked why I never note Law & Disorder anymore? Well, I dropped everything that wasn't addressing Iraq during the summer vacation indymedia took. I'd listen again but Nina recorded it when we were a couple and I'd listen to it when she gave me the tape. Now I'm with Elaine. And I'm real busy and there's never time. I like the Michaels and Heidi and Dahlia but I just don't have the time these days. This really is a killer semester. Be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz and get Elaine's thoughts.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" and pay attention to the Watada news:

Monday, October 30, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; the US reaches a 'benchmark' but not one that will market well; Different Drummer opens to business; and war resister Ehren Watada's father and step-mother continue raising awareness on their son.

Today, the US military released a press statement announcing: "One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Sunday from injuries sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar province." That death brought the total number of US troops who have died in Iraq this month to 100. On that benchmark, John Ward Anderson and Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) reported that this month has been "the deadliest month for U.S. forces since Jan. 2005 when 107 U.S. soldiers were killed." Already, the number has climbed today to 101 (for the month, 2814 since the start of the illegal war). Reuters notes: "A sniper killed a member of the U.S. military police in east Baghdad, the military said in a statement. It was the 101st death in Iraq this month, making October the deadliest month for U.S. troops since January last year."



Meanwhile, in the United States, Different Drummer opened to business last Friday in Watertown, NY. Celebrating the first G.I. coffeehouse of the current war, included a free screening on Saturday of the films The Ground Truth and this Saturday will offer a free screening of Arlington West (2:00 pm). The coffeehouse, located at 12 Paddoack Arcade, 1 Public Square, provides music, coffee, counseling for soldiers and more. The mission statement reads: "TO PROMOTE the free and uncensored exchange of ideas and information among military personnel and civilians. This includes, but isn't limited to, issues of war and peace, foreign policy, the military mission of our soldiers both at home and abroad, and the proper balance between the rights of citizen soldiers and military authority in a democratic society. TO PROVIDE accurate information, referrals, and counseling regarding the rights and duties of America's service members under U.S. and international law. TO ENTERTAIN servicemembers, civilians, and their families with performances of music, dance, comedy rap, poetry, and authors' readings reflecting a wide variety of viewpoints." The coffeehouse is a project of Citizen Soldier.

In Iraq, chaos and violence continued today.

Bombings?

AFP reports "a deadly bomb attack" in Baghdad today and quotes Abu Zeinad ("eyewitness") stating, "The bomb was hidden in a plastic bag. It's the third time that an attack has hit this place this year". The BBC notes that the explosion took place "early in the morning in Mudhafa Square". Reuters counts 28 dead and 60 wounded.
In addition to that bombing, Reuters also notes 5 other car bombs in Baghdad today which left 13 dead and 43 wounded. Outside of Baghdad, the BBC notes a bombing in Kirkuk that claimed the lives of two police officer. Reuters adds that it also took the life of "a three-year-old girl" while 19 were left injured while, near Kahalis, a roadside bomb killed two workers and left three wounded while, in Mosul, five were wounded by mortar rounds.

Shootings?


CBS and AP report that Essam al-Rawi, "a leading Iraqi academic and prominent Sunni political activist," was shot dead outside of his home. Christopher Bodeen (AP) notes that appoximately "154 university professors have been killed since the March 2003 U.S. invasion." Reuters notes an attack by "gunmen" on a police station in Baiji which killed two police officers.


Corpses?

Reuters notes six corpses ("signs of torture, blindfolded . . . bullet wounds") were discovered in Mahmudiya, five corpses (ditto) were discovered in Suwayra. In an update, Reuters noted that four corpses were also discovered in Mosul.


Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that Iraq's foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari is stating that the United Nation Security Council resolution 1637 should be renewed and the occupation continued. Polling demonstrates that the Iraqi people do not support Zebair's conclusion. But the request comes one day after, as CNN reported yesterday, Nouri al-Maliki's convoy came under attack in Baghdad and one of his guards was wounded.


This also comes as the British consulate in Basra is being 'evacuated.' Thomas Harding reported the evacuation in The Telegraph of London noting: "Despite a large British military presence at the headquarters in Basra Palace, a private security assessment has advised the counsul general and her staff to leave the building after experiencing regular mortar attacks in the last two months." [Polly noted that yesterday.] David Sanderson (Times of London) reports that: "Civilian employees will be moved to the airport, eight miles outside the city" and that the evacuation will not include "the Counsul-General and other staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development". This follows the August 24th 'evacuation' of the British military base in Amara (also due to mortar attacks).


In peace news, Bob Watada continues his third speaking tour to raise awareness on his son, Ehren Watada, who is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. As Austin's KXAN notes, today Bob Watada is speaking "at Garza Independece High School.". Kim Miller (Austin's CBS 42) reports that Bob Watada and Rosa Sakanishi (Ehren's step-mother) also spoke in Austin Sunday with Sakanshi noting: "We know that he is taking the hardest way to do it. But he is eager to do it. Willing to do it because he thinks he's doing the right thing." Rudy Koski (Austin's KVUE) reports that at Sunday's gathering (Cafe Caffeine on Mary Street), Bob Watada stated of his son, "He is a patriot, by any definition he is a patriot because he is standing up for what is right in this country."

After Bob Watada and Rosa Sakanishi finishing speaking to students today, they next to head Oklahoma. Here are some of the upcoming dates of the speaking tour:


Oct 31, 7-9PM Norman, OK Location: Cleveland County Fairgrounds - Lobby615 E. Robinson Sponsor: Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War Contact: Jeri Reed, 405-307-0352, cell 405-606-9598, jlreed@ou.edu

Nov 1, TBA Miami, Florida Democracy for America Miami Dade and the South Florida Veterans For Peace Chapter 32 Venue and time TBA


Nov 2, TBA Cincinnati, OH Meet Dr. Victoria (Vic) Wulsin, candidate for congress 2nd district Ohio currently leading Jean Schmidt who called Rep John Murtha from PA. a coward. Sponsor: Vietnam Veterans Against the WarVenue: TBA

Nov 3, TBA St. Paul MN. Location: Quaker Peace Center -- 1725 Grand Avenue Sponsors: Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 Contact: Barry Reisch, (H) 651-641-1087 © 612-269-8934bwrvfp@earthlink.net

Nov 4, 11AM Milwaukee, WI.Location: Great Lakes Arlington Event Contact: Mark Foreman, 441-760-9991, bethmark@execpc.com Sponsor: VFP Chapter 102* See the unveiling of a new "Arlington"


Nov. 5, 2PM Boston, MA Encuentro 533 Harrison Ave. 5th floor (Chinatown)Sponsors: Asian American Movement Ezine Asian American Resource Workshop Boston Hawaiian Club Chinese Progressive Association Massachusetts Global Action New England Japanese American Citizens League

Nov 5, 7PM Cambridge, MA. Location: Unitarian Church, Harvard Square Sponsor: Veterans for Peace Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade and Chapter 45, Samantha Smith Chapter Contact: Lee VanderLaan, 978-257-2350

Nov 6, 2-4:30PM Boston, MA Location: University of Massachusetts/Boston Sponsor: The Institute for Asian American Studies William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequence Time: 2-4:30 pm

Nov 6, 7PM Worcester, MA. Location: Clark University University Building, Lurie Room Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapter 10 Contact: Bob Flanagan, 508-755-1479, IrishBob54@aol.com


A full schedule can be found at Veterans for Peace and those interested in hosting a Bob Watada speaking engagement in their area are urged to contact Doug Zachary.Brad Buccholz (Austin American-Statesman) interviewed Bob Watada for a piece that ran Sunday and wondered whether imprisonment was "a certainity" for Ehren? Bob Watada replied: "Well, right now, this is what the military wants to do. They have him for eight and a half years, for simply saying 'I do not want to go to Iraq to commit further war crimes. I don't want to go to Iraq to lead my men into commiting war crimes and putting their lives at risk, for nothing . . .' They (The Army) are basically trying to shut him up. They don't want their soldiers to tell the truth of what is going on in Iraq, though many, many are now. But (Ehren) is the first officer to publicly come out and say, 'This who war is based on a deception.' There were no weapons of mass destruction. There were no chemical and biological weapons. . . . There were no (9-11) terrorists in Iraq, and yet we're killing thousands of people over there, and getting ourselves killed (in violation of) the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Charter."
More information on Ehren Watada and other war resisters can be found at Courage to Resist.















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