Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Glen Ford, Media Lens

scarybullymas

That's Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Scary Bullymas" and I was wondering what it was going to be. I knew from Cedric that Isaiah had discussed it with C.I., Wally and him. He figured he should check with Wally and Cedric to make sure they weren't planning on doing something similar at their site since they were both trying to think of a Christmas type thing. Cedric would only tell me on the weekend that it was "great" and not anything else. (Wally was even more tight lipped!) So it's great. :D

Hump-day, hump-day. But Leigh Ann e-mailed that she was off yesterday and Monday so it's only a half week for her. So good for her and anyone else in the same boat. It doesn't feel like Wednesday, does it? If I could pick a day for Christmas, it would be Friday. That way, if you celebrated, you could snack on food the next day and then get back into the groove on Sunday for work on Monday.

Nicola Gutgold has an essay at The Women's Media Center on Hillary Clinton. Of the 'front runners,' I would lean only to John Edwards. But I'll link to the essay because it's making the point about the different standards that women are held too.

Okay this is from Glen Ford's "Condoleezza Stokes Flames of US Wars in Africa :"

Vowing to wipe out "terrorists" in Somalia, Condoleezza Rice last week surrounded herself with key African proxies in an effort to shore up the American-instigated Ethiopian occupation of Somalia, and to further U.S. military dominance of the Horn of Africa. The Ethiopian invasion, backed by U.S. air power, intelligence assets and close collaboration with ground forces, one year ago, faces increasing resistance by Somali nationalists from a range of political and religious persuasions. The resulting military "quagmire" has left at least 6,000 civilians dead in the capital city, Mogadishu, and displaced over a million more, half of whom face imminent death in what the United Nations calls the "worst humanitarian crisis in Africa."
But civilian suffering wasn't high on Secretary of State Rice's agenda when she met last week in Addis Abba with Ethiopia's foreign minister and Nur Hassen Hussein, prime minister of the puppet Somali "government" installed by the Ethiopian occupiers - a gaggle of warlords and supplicants that virtually all observers are convinced would "not last a day" on its own.
"Counter terrorism requires good intelligence sharing and good training of forces that can deal with bad elements," Rice told her junior partners in the bogus "war on terror" that threatens to set East Africa - and beyond - aflame. "It would have been extremely difficult to make any progress in terms of fighting extremism in Somalia without your support," replied Seyoum Mesfin, ministerial mouthpiece for Ethiopian dictator Mele Zenawi, whose forces are also waging scorched earth warfare against the ethnic Somali majority in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, and priming for renewed conflict with Eritrea, its northern neighbor.

There are wars we're fueling (and starting) in Africa and that's why US bases are moving out of Europe and into Africa. It's the next target. Not just of Republicans, but of Democrats as well. It's part of the non-stop American Imperial Project brought to you by believers in 'bipartisanship.'

One of my favorite movies this year is The Shooter. Did you see it? In it, Mark Wahlberg's character learns that the president of Ethiopa is shot because of one of the US' 'little' wars in Africa. That's a movie, I know, and not a documentary but I think if people watch it and think about it, it's as effective as a lot of documentaries. Danny Glover is in it too and he's great in it. I haven't hated him onscreen in anything -- his character -- except for The Color Purple. In this one, I was just rooting for him to get what he had coming (and a senator too) by killing people in the name of profits. Glover's a good actor but I'm used to him playing likeable characters for the most part and he really made that evil character believable. I wasn't watching and thinking, "Oh, it's the guy from The Royal Tennenbaums." Or, "Oh, it's the guy from the Lethal Weapon movies." Or any of that. The first time he was on, I thought, "It's Danny Glover!" And then I never thought about it good. Wahlberg and Glover do a great job in that movie. If you haven't seen it, Wahlberg was in the military and lives alone with his dog in the mountains now. He gets asked to stop the president from being shot. Because it's the president and all he ends up agreeing. Then he gets to Philadelphia and learns there is one lie after another and it moves really fast. So check it out if you missed it at the movies, it's on DVD now, The Shooter.

Media Lens is a site I'm just learning about. They have a "MEDIA ALERT: MANUFACTURING THREATS - SUDAN, IRAN, AND THE WAR FOR CIVILISATION:"

News that British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons had been jailed in Sudan after allowing her pupils to call a teddy bear Mohammed fed straight into the UK media’s hate factory and its "war for civilisation". The Gibbons story was mentioned in a massive 257 articles in UK national newspapers in the first week, providing an excuse to boost claims of "genocide" in Sudan in 10 of these. The suffering in Sudan has certainly been appalling - it is estimated that the conflict has cost the lives of 100,000 people with two million made homeless. But Iraq is far worse - the occupation has so far resulted in the deaths of 1 million people with more than 4 million displaced from their homes. Whereas, over the last year, the term "genocide" has been used in 246 articles mentioning Sudan - many of these affirming that genocide has taken place - the results of the US-UK invasion of Iraq, and of the earlier sanctions regime, are essentially never described in similar terms. To its credit, an Independent leader warned that it would be wrong "to treat Ms Gibbons' case, as some have done, as a harbinger of the supposedly inevitable clash between the 'enlightened' West and 'primitive' Islam". (Leader, Ms Gibbons and a teddy bear named Mohamed,' The Independent, November 30, 2007)
The advice was largely ignored, however. Following Gibbons' release after eight days in jail, a December 4 Telegraph leader described how the "delight and mutual congratulations that have characterised the agreement between the Sudanese dictator and the British authorities... presents a nauseating picture". The arrest being, after all, "testimony to the danger of allowing a rogue state to proceed unchecked". (Leader, ‘Sudan's grotesque stunt,’ Daily Telegraph, December 4, 2007)Is Sudan, then, to replace Iraq as the third "rogue" member of the "axis of evil"?

Media Lens is a site C.I. added to the permalinks at The Common Ills and recommended a week or so ago that I check it out. I didn't until tonight. I'm glad that I did. It's a British site and, of course, in England they can have a real discussion about Sudan.

Here we just the get the Modern Day Carrie Nations saying "Out of Iraq and Into Darfur!" Or we get the crowd thinking, "This get me press and I won't have to explain about my personal life!" They're doing nothing but getting into bed with the same group that pushed for the US to go to war with Iraq. They're doing it again and it's really past time that they got told to shut the hell up with their lies. I called out that nonsense about the teacher and of course heard from the Carrie Nations about how awful I was and blah, blah, blah. Boo-hoo. Try learning a little bit about the country you're going to be living in. She wasn't vacationing, she was living there. We expect ambassadors and embassy staff to learn about country's before they visit, forget being stationed there, and she was going there to teach. It was incumbent upon her to learn what was and was not considered offensive. And saying, "Well the kids told me it was okay . . ." We had a substitute one year and told her every Friday we got to have class on the roof. She believed it! And let us get up on top of the school's roof! Kids lie. That's what we do when we're little. We're always putting one over on somebody. If she didn't know and had to depend on kids, she should have immediately checked it with the principal. She didn't. That's bad teaching.

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

December 26, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, mass corpses are discovered, bombings result in mass deaths, tensions continue between Iraq and Turkey and more.

Starting with war resistance, an AP story filed in Honolulu looks back at 2007 biggest stories for the stae and includes among their top stories "the attempted court martial of Hawaii 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada for his refusal to deploy to Iraq in February, the deaths of ten Schofield Barracks soldiers and four other troops when an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq in August" and other non-Iraq related stories. Ben Hamamoto (Nichi Bei Times) also notes Watada:

The more I look at 2006, the more I realize that the Center for Asian American Media was right and it was indeed the "year of the Asian man." Yul Kwon won the racially-themed season of "Survivor" and put his celebrity to great use, tabloid-y accounts of C-Net commentator James Kim's heroics gave America a fully formed image of an Asian man, the hugely successful "Letters from Iwo Jima" contained the best portrayals of Asian men we've seen in the mainstream media, like ever, and Lt. Ehren Watada broke numerous stereotypes by becoming a major figure in the Peace Movement.

Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. After months of acting in good faith and attempting to work towards a solution with the military (who indicated that they wanted to work this out privately) and with his unit due to deploy in a matter of weeks, Watada went public (June 2006). In August 2006, an Article 32 hearing was held. Following that it was stated that the military intended to court-martial Watada. The court-martial took place in February 2007. At that point, Watada's service was up (December 2006) but the military was keeping him to court-martial him. The Feb. court-martial was provided over by Judge Toilet (John Head) who refused to allow Watada to present a defense (not being allowed to explain motive is being refused a defense) and who, in the end, refused to obey the Constitution. On Monday, February 5th, Watada's court-martial began. It continued on Tuesday when the prosecution argued their case. Wednesday, Watada was to take the stand in his semi-defense.Over defense objection, Judge Toilet ruled a mistrial thus ending the court-martial. In doing so, the legal reading should be Watada walks. Double-jeopardy should take care of that. Judge Toilet stated Watada would be court-martialed again in March of 2007. Didn't happen. Judge Toilet said it was coming, just you wait. November 8th Judge Benjamin Settle, a US District Court judge, put Head's planned court-martial on hold where it currently remains.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


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

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

While the above event takes place in March, Mike Sievers (Silver City Sun-News) writes a rah-rah press release on Ted Polanco and his "newly opened office" where the sergeant will be recruiting and intends "to distribut information about the Army through posters, cards, and brochures, and also to deliver presentations at area high schools." Polanco explains the New Mexico city "was a good recruiting town before, and we shut down for a few years, I'm not sure why, but it has always been a good location." He thinks it's ripe location "for recruiting because it is a small town with fewoptions when it comes to finding work. Incentives like money for college are among the reasons people join the Army, he said." To provide context, the New Mexico city is the county seat (Grant County) and the most recent national census (2000) found that while the national median household income was $41,994, in Silver City is is $25,881. In 2005, the median for Silver City was estimated at $25,000 and New Mexico's median was $37,492. Over 52% of the citizens are Latino, 2% Native American, less than 1% is African-American, etc. You have an economically depressed area and that's why the recruiting center has reopened. IVAW has a Truth in Recruiting campaign: "Every day, all across this country, there are military recruiters lying to persuade young people to sign up for the military. Proponets of the policy in Iraq are quick to point out that everyone in the military volunteered, but what does that mean if most soldiers were tricked into enlisting by the lies that recruiters tell? The Truth in Recruiting campaign challenges those lies and the recruitment machine which depends on them. We have developed actions and materials for our members and for the general public so you can participate in our campaign. Together we will share the truth about recruiting and the truth about the war that we must end now. To learn more about the Truth in Recruiting campaign click here." In addition, Aimee Allison and David Solnit inspiring, easy to understand and hands on Army Of None [which Emily Drabinski (Left Turn) recently reviewed] provides students with ways to ensure that their campus is one that protects students' rights as opposed to be an extension of a recruiting center. The Quaker House of Fayetteville provides an outline of the basics and resources here. Resources can also be found at The National Network Opposing Militarization of Youth, Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools and Counter-Recruitment and Alternatives to the Military Program.

Yesterday, violence rocked Iraq. Bob Strong (Reuters) reported a Baiji car bombing claimed at least 23 lives (with 77 wounded) while a bomber exploded himself at a funeral in Baquba claiming the lives of at least 10 other people (with five more injured) and the thuggish Interior Ministry 'celebrated' the Baiji bombing by ordering the police cheif of the region fired.Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported the Baiji car bombing on the checkpoint's death toll has risen to 25 (with the wounded toll rising to 80). Today, Stephen Farrell (New York Times) quotes Khalaf Jabbar, a witness to the Baiji bombing, who states, "I was driving with my brother in his pickup truck when there was a huge explosion 10 meters ahead from us. My brother's vehicle was burned and my brother is missing. Maybe his body has been destroyed." Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) also reports on yesterday's bombings and notes the Baquba bombing follows reports that the US military "executed two members of American-backed volunteer force" -- 27-year-old Uday Hassan Hameed and 60-year-old Haji Basim al-Bayiati whose corpses were photographed by the Post, their hands still "bound with plastic handcuffs" and it was their funeral being held that the bombers attacked. (The US military's version of events can be found here.) Charles Tripp (Le Monde Diplomatique via CounterPunch) observes that in arming the the Sunnis thugs (after having armed the Shi'ites) observes, "Al-Maliki heads an insecure, dependent government, resentful of foreign protection but unable to survive without it; this government protests feebly at repeated infringements of Iraqi soverignty and is subjected to the patronizing imposition of benchmarks by the US Congress as part of a domestic political game within the US. Meanwhile the protecting power, as well as sponosoring local militias and asking few questions if they seem to be keeping the supposed threat from al-Qaida in Iraq at bay, is also forging a close relationship with the Iraqi armed forces. This is reminiscent of the close and often sinsister relationship between Latin American military institutions and the US military, and is set against a backdrop of insecure and corrupt political elits, sham representative institutions, resitve provinces and the potentially violent politics of a class-divided society. Some may use anti-Americanism to overcome these differences, particularly if this can be focused on the continued presence of US military bases." Meanwhile Con Coughlin (Telegraph of London) notes the British handover of the Basra Province took place at Saddam Hussein International Airport (renamed ) and included the reigion's governmor, Muhammad Wa'ili, issuing a cry for "local militias and terror groups" to lay down [lay down, lay down lay it on down (to quote Melanie)] their arms and Coughling points out, "This might seem a bit rich, coming from a man who only a few months ago was unceremoniously dumped out of office by Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, for refusing to disband his militia amid allegations of corruption."

Also yesterday, Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported a bombing attack on a Tikrit bridge and the following:

At 3 am morning, the US troops raided the office of the Iraqi Red Crescent in Sab'aa Nisan neighborhood (the 7th of April neighborhood) downtown Baquba city arresting 3 guards. While doing a walking patrol in the area, the US troops arrested a member of the local committees. After a while, the US troops killed the man. Another member of the local committees who was in the scene was killed also by the US troops, Iraqi police said. The US army said in a press release that his troops were attacked while conducting a raid early morning and the forces engaged killing two criminals arresting four.

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

Bombings?

Reuters reports a Baquba bombing that claimed the lives of 3 Iraqi collaborators with the US military and left two wounded when they entered "a booby-trapped house," a Mosul roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 3 children and left two more injured,

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an attack Kanan that left 2 Iraqi soldiers dead and nine more wounded. Reuters notes the dead in the Kanan attacks has climbed 1 to three Iraqi soldiers dead and that "tribal leader" Ali al-Igaidi was shot dead in Baiji.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses discovered in Baghdad and 17 corpses discovered in the Diyala Province. Reuters notes 2 bodies were discovered ("bound and shot" in Latifiya.

Today the US military announced: "Two Multi-National Division - North Soldiers died from wounds sustained from small-arms fire while conducting operations in Ninewa Province Dec. 26. Additionally, three more MND-North Soldiers were injured in the attack and evacuated to a Coalition hospital." The two announced deaths bring the ICCC total to 3899 US service members announced killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war. One away from the 3900 mark.

Tensions continue between Turkey and northern Iraq. Yesterday, Turkish military planes flew over Iraq. Sebnem Arsu and Stephen Farrell (New York Times) report that the US military (specifically Rear Adm. Greg Smith) confirms that Turkish planes flew into the air space of northern Iraq yesterday but does not confirm that any bombs were dropped. Yesterday, Damien Cave and Stephen Farrell (New York Times) quoted an unnamed US military official who explained, "We do get advance warning" from Turkey and "We do not think there was any operation on Sunday." Ayla Jean Yackley (Bloomerg News) reports this morning that "Turkish jets bombed eight sites in norhtern Iraq today". Reuters reports that the northern Iraq region's spokesperon Jabbar Yawar has stated that the bombings have not resulted in any deaths. CNN notes that Yawar states "the bombing lasted about an hour". AFP reports that the Turkish government "confirmed its third" bombing "in 10 days" and "praised the United States" today "for providing intelligence in support of attacks against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq". Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) notes that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, has stated the military attacks will continue "despite protests from the Iraqi government." Whether bombings are yet again taking place or not, the fly overs are having an economic impact.

Never forget that there's money to be made on the illegal war. Manash Goswami and Nesa Subrahmaniyan (Bloomberg News) report, "Crude oil rose for a third day in New York on concern shipments from Iraq may be disrupted after the Turkish military attacked bases of Kurdish rebels in nothern Iraq." Alex Lawler (Reuters) noted the price per barrel continued to rise and reached "a one-month high abvoe $96 a barrel on Wednesday ahead of a U.S. goverment report expected to show crude inventories in the world's top consumer fell for a sixth straight week." Conden Nast's Porfolio.com provides this context, "Crude oil futures, which fell below $90 a barrel earlier this month, have been climbing back in recent days" just ahead of the release of the US Energy Department's report (tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.) and "Oil, which passed $99 a barrel on November 21, is up 57 percent this year." Ye Xie (Bloomberg News) notes the effect today's prices have had in Canada -- their "dollar rose to the highest level in a month . . . The Canadian currency has gained 18.7 percent this year as crude oil futures increased 55 percent." While money's being made, IRIN reports, "Nearly 4,000 people have fled their homes in Iraq's northern semi-automous region of Kurdistan over the past two weeks in the wake of Turkish bombardments of rebel hideouts, a local official said on 26 December."

On the issue of economics, Naomi Klein will be on PBS' The Charlie Rose Show this Friday. Klein's new book is The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism. PBS recently aired the documentary on the life of Ralph Nader, An Unreasonable Man, on Independent Lens (for those who missed it, it's streaming at the PBS show's website, it's also available on DVD). John V. Walsh (CounterPunch) writes about the documentary noting Lawrence O'Donnell's remarks ("If you want to pull the party -- the major party that is closet to the way you're thinking -- to what you're thinking, YOU MUST, YOU MUST show them that you're capable of not voting for them. If you don't show them you're capable of not voting for them, they don't have to listen to you.") as well as Toad and Alterpunky whom Walsh notes "are given considerable time to dispense their venom . . . come across as very bitter man, capable of nothing more than ad hominem attacks on Nader. It is quite a disgusting sight . . ." Or as Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude) noted last week: "an unreasonable man is a wonderful documentary. if you (wrongly) blame nader for al gore's suck-ass campaign, you've got toad and eric alterpunk ranting and raving like 2 old queens about 20 minutes after midnight when they grasp that another night's come and gone and they'll be going home alone. why not go home with each other? they're both bottoms." Jamal Najjab (Washington Report On Middle East Affairs) reports on an October 11th showing of the documentary (to benefit Democracy Rising) featuring Nader, Kevin Zeese, Patti Smith (who gave a spoken word performance of the lyrics to her amazing "Radio Baghdad" from 2004's Trampin'), Iraqi-American Andy Shallal and Tina Richards:


Her son [Cloy Richards] has brought back experiences from the war, Richards told the audience. He remembers, for example, the day he saw a young girl laughing with her brother and sister in a field near their village in Iraq. "Seeing the joy in her face caused him to feel proud that just maybe their being there had made a difference in this girl's life," Richards related. At that moment, however, he discovered why she was smiling: in her hand was a brightly colored metallic cylinder with multi-color streamers. Her son knew at once that it was a droplet from a cluster bomb, but before he could warn the girl it exploded, killing her brother and her sister and blowing half the girl's face off. Her son is now consumed with guilt, Richards said, knowing that, as a soldier, he assisted in bringing that bomb to the village "He sits every day debating whether to commit suicide or go on living," she said.

On Sunday, CBS Elizabeth Palrmer joined Iraqi's Sunni vice president Tareq al Hashemi to visit the prison in Khadimiya: "Imagine women in prison because their husbands are accused of terrorism. Now imagine their infants and children in prison with them. Worst of all, it seems they have no way out." An estimated 200 prisoners are held in the Khamimiya prison, plus children including infants who 'were born behind bars." A woman is quoted stating, "They accused my husband. Then arrested me too but I've done nothing!" while another speaks of being raped and al Hashemi explains, "This is the most critical stage" after the arrest, "Where the torturing, the rape, everything, all these bad experiences, fraud malpractice is done at this stage." This is against every international law and international convention. As the occupying power, the United States has a duty to ensure this doesn't take place; however, the White House has allowed the US military to operate similarly, hauling in women who are not even suspected in order to 'get to' the male members of their families. IRIN reported earlier this month on efforts by the Iraqi Parliament's Committee for Women's and Children's Affairs demand of "the immediate release of female detainees in Iraqi and US-run prisons" quoting Nadira Habib stating, "The Iraqi government should expedite reviewing the files of these detainees by forming committees of laywers, judges and prosecutors, as the majority of them are innocent" and noting that approximately 200 were held in the Kadimiyah prison (the one CBS News visited over the weekend) but they cannot get a number regarding women held in US prisons because "they always refuse requests from our committee to visit them." Peter Graff (Reuters) reports that, "The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft law on Wednesday which could see thousands of prisoners freed, one of the main demands of Sunni Arab politicians boycotting the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad."

Finally, yesterday Bully Boy Press and Cedric's Big Mix reported on the latest 'terrorist' killed by US forces in the early morning hours of December 25th whom the US military is asserting is al-Qaeda and stating "Santa Clause" was only 'an alias'. (Wally and Cedric do humor sites for anyone who missed the joke.)











Charlie Rose Show








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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas (Talking Post)

Christmas Day. For a little while longer. Hope everyone had a good day whether they were celebrating something today or not.

I had a weird e-mail on that but I'll get to that in a bit and this is what Jim has dubbed "a talking post." Jim used to enjoy those, done by C.I., but would always be going, "You should have opened with ___ and then ___ and then ___." He didn't appreciate the beauty of talking posts from his journalism classes. :D Of course, by the time he started guest posting for the rest of us, he had discovered both their charm and their attraction. :D

It's just a way to talk. And The Common Ills is a conversation. If something gets too much outside attention, C.I. will deliberately pull back. When someone was kind enough to repost a thing I did and I got all this attention from people who do not normally drop by this site, I pulled back as well. And finally got the point about how you do not want too much attention because then you've got a whole crowd of people tuning in that you're really not trying to speak to. And then you can get a rush of 'fame' and start catering your posts to them. But most of them are just following whatever's 'hot' and they're e-mailing you telling you to talk about this or that and it's never the illegal war. Not trying to sound like an 'expert' here because while I never thought there wasn't a point to talking posts, I really didn't get why C.I. or Ava and C.I. for that matter would pull back from attention. I respected their view and didn't question it or mock it but I really didn't understand it until this Italian site reposted something I'd written. I didn't even know they had done that. I log into my e-mail account and instead of my usual e-mails, I've got all these e-mails. And it freaked me out.

But I remembered what Ava and C.I. had been saying all along and I thank them for that because otherwise this would be a different site today. It wouldn't be "Mikey Likes It!" that's for damn sure. That crowd hung around for about four posts and then were gone. But during that time they e-mailed non-stop with, "Cover this __!" and "Why aren't you covering that!" and "Enough on the war!" By day three they were threatening to never read again, by day four they were e-mailing me the kiss-off e-mails.

And I could have done what they wanted. But like C.I.'s says, "I'm not a jukebox." :D You can't just push a button and here the song you want to hear.

When an entry C.I. wrote early on got mentioned on NPR, right away, C.I. said, "Never again." Back then, I wouldn't have known how to write those things but I do know now. And it really is a weaker way of using your voice, obviously if NPR's citing something, it's not going to be hard hitting. So you can do that and flatter (C.I. wrote that thing tired and it only went up because there wasn't time to write anything else -- C.I. wasn't trying to flatter) and be part of the big echo chamber that acts like everything's just a little off but a quick fix will save us all or you can tell the truth.

And if you look at the response to The Common Ills, you know there is a big audience for the truth. They'll find you and they'll find you on their own and through word of mouth. If NPR's plugging you or the other institutions, you're being plugged because they think you're 'safe' and that you won't rock the boat too much. You'll say, "Oh, the sea is rocky today!" but you won't say, "And the boat's taking on water." You'll never note the leak in the boat or that it's sinking.
I think it's known that Jim's brother blogged for a little bit and was pretty big online back before the 2004 election and then packed it in because he didn't care for the echo chamber that was coming into being. And that's all that they gave us and all they still give us, linking to 'Ezra' and to 'Matthew' and you know the drill. Claiming that the country needs some changes but rushing off to Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic, etc. Because it was never about changing anything, it was about setting up a career for themselves.

Anyone telling the real truth isn't going to end up working for a MSM magazine. Don't fool yourself that it's 'breaking through.' As C.I. was noting as early as 2004, they've cut off the head of Cokie Roberts and a million new Cokies have sprung up in their place. There's been no media revolution, just a change of the occupants in the deck chairs.

They didn't value their power. Because truth telling and communicating wasn't enough for them. It was always about them wanting to be the ones invited to the chat & chews.

C.I. doesn't do interviews as C.I. and when Ava and C.I.'s stuff first started getting attention at The Third Estate Sunday Review (and for two years after really), requests for interviews would come in all the time and Ava, who never splits from C.I., would say "no." Jim would be going, "Okay, C.I. doesn't do interviews. But you can do interviews. They want both of you but they'll take either of you." And Ava would say no.

It's probably about once a month now that a request comes in. But their point was always, "Why would we need to do an interview? We have the space to say whatever we think already? You can quote from our writing, if you want, but we're not interested. Thank you."

But if you start getting on that media circus ride, you're not really going to say what you think. Either to the media or at your own site. You're going to start self-censoring because maybe Air America won't have you back on, or maybe you won't get on CNN again, or maybe . . .

You get the point.

So I'm really glad that we'll go out having maintained our independence. We didn't try to curry favor. We didn't pull punches. And when someone said, "You can't go there!" we went.

I really do like seeing the community members online as the Mamas and the Papas of the web. :D And that alone is a good enough reason to go out in November of 2008. :D

Let me talk about the e-mail. It was from someone who identifies as religious and wanted to know why we're ashamed of being religious. She wrote "all of you" and listed sites, so I'll answer for myself and then move to "all of you." I'm Catholic. I've never denied that. I've never pretended that wasn't the case. Anyone coming by picks up on that if they stay awhile and any regular reader knows it. Kat's Catholic as well and that's known and mentioned at her site and it pops up in some of her CD reviews. Ruth's Jewish. I don't know if Cedric and Betty have noted their specific denomination online but they have repeatedly talked in roundtables (and Cedric at his site) about their churches and Christianity. In terms of others with sites, I don't know if they have talked about in roundtables or at their own sites. One doesn't believe in any higher power which is certainly their right. Others do.

The e-mailer was thrilled that C.I. came out today as religious. The woman needs to re-read the site. C.I. will never use an 'crowd pleaser' to hide behind. C.I. will not hide behind God, the flag, the military or any other 'safe' topic to "couch my view on." For all the e-mailer knows, C.I.'s the one I spoke of who doesn't believe. (I'm not saying it's C.I.) "Ruth's Report" went up last night and Ruth had another report she planned to post. It was noting that she was Jewish and when her husband first started out as a doctor he was always working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Her point was why does independent media take days or a week off for Christmas? There are non-Christians, including Jewish people, in independent media. Some of them head magazines, some of them host programs. So why does independent media shut down completely for a Christian holiday? Her point was that the medical community had a higher degree of responsibility and professionalism.

She saw an e-mail right before she posted that let her have a way to weigh in on Iraq Veterans Against the War and how they are doing their Winter Soldiers Investigation in March (13th through 16th) and that's their day. So she wrote a new report and posted that.

In "Motor Scooters in Iraq" C.I.'s explaining how we will get softer stories in our papers on Christmas Day and that's because less people read the paper on Christmas Day so no one wants to break a big story then. While C.I. was typing it a friend who's visiting for the holidays, who used to be a daily newspaper reporter, pointed out that the writer of the story C.I. was talking about (Cara Buckley) would probably get a snide little remark from a media watchdog (like CounterSpin) about how it wasn't a hard article. It's not. It's not news. It's a feature story and that's what you get today. But little media's taking days or the entire week off so they really have no point to criticize and then C.I.'s bringing in the points from Ruth's report that didn't go up. That has to do with independent media. It shouldn't be read as anything other than a critique. And if you listen to Pacifica, you probably heard -- last week -- hosts saying, "We'll see you again next year." Hosts of once a week or daily programs who were taking off last week. Are they all Christians? No. In fact some are Jewish. Why do they need two week vacations to 'celebrate' a holiday they won't be celebrating and why do listeners need to be stuck with two weeks of repeats?

For the record, C.I. -- go back to the early days of The Common Ills -- called out the nonsense of Air America taking two weeks off for Christmas as well. So did Rebecca and Rebecca will tell you how shocked she was to hear Rachel Maddow show up after a two week vacation where repeats of Unfiltered were offered noting some story from the Saturday papers (that she wrongly said were in the Sunday New York Times and Washington Post) and telling listeners that the fact that Maddow was talking about proved how important Air America was and how needed. If it was needed, maybe the whole network shouldn't have taken two weeks off?

And that's a good point. Whether you claim to be news or public affairs, if you're considering yourself a professional (I'm not talking about blogs) where do you get off doing nothing for two weeks? They've already got their vacations during the year. But they all go dark and that's really nonsense.

So that was what C.I. was addressing, media.

In terms of me, I regularly make many points that acknowledge that I believe in Jesus. I'm not embarrassed about it. But Catholics don't try to convert (at least not in this country! or in this century!). And I wouldn't be interested in doing so regardless. People believe what they believe. Either because they were raised that or they thought about it on their own or both. So some people don't believe in any Higher Power and that's their right. And some people don't believe in Jesus and that's their right. And some people practice Eastern religions or other things and that's their right.

There was a comment in the snapshot yesterday that someone saw as C.I. believes in ghosts! :D That made me laugh because I was on the phone with Jess and C.I. was dictating the snapshot (they were running errands) on another cell phone and I go, "Jess! Tell C.I. to redo that statement. Someone's going to see it as religious!" So Jess tells C.I. and "eternally damned" (may the people trying to brain wash Iraqi prisoners be eternally damned) became "eternally haunted." And I thought that was a good save but I'm checking my e-mails this morning and someone's written that they believe in ghosts and they're so glad to know C.I. does too! :D (I'm not saying C.I. doesn't believe in ghosts. I'm not saying C.I. does. I'm saying that wasn't the point of the statement.)

I was checking my e-mails because all my relatives were over. And my great aunt on my dad's side, who doesn't usually come each year because she lives in Chicago and has some children there and it's a long trip when you get older, was there. And she goes, "Now Micheal, what is this 'web' I keep hearing about? I understand you are on it." :D

I was laughing so hard. Not at her. I gave her a big hug and we went into the kitchen to get on Ma's computer so I could show her what the web was and all. She wanted to see my site and Ma's too. And I showed her other stuff too. (She goes, "Don't show me anything dirty. I know there are a lot of dirty things online." :D) So we were looking around at different stuff and I was showing her how to use a computer mouse (I don't know why they call it a mouse -- she asked me that and I told her "I don't have that answer" :D). So she goes, "Well what sort of people read you and your mother?" So I got into my account and had to explain what e-mails were (I'm not making fun of her, the net is something that she's never seen). She said, "Oh that one looks nice." She was pointing to one that had a title of "Dearest." I explained that none of my readers would use that and when you get "Dearest" it is a spam e-mail. Then I had to explain spam and my brother helped me out by telling her it was like all the junk mail you get in your physical mail box. So we were looking and there was an e-mail from the vet I quoted and my great aunt was really glad about that (because of "manners" and because I had posted his comments so people could get the kind of stuff this bad media is causing). So she wanted to see the kind of e-mails Ma got and Ma is at the stove pulling together this feast so she shouted out her password and we log in and there's a woman needing help. She even put her phone number in. Because it was a Christmas cooking emergency, Ma called her. She wrote about it today in "My oven doesn't work!" and my great aunt said that between helping that woman and putting up the veteran's comments, Ma and I were "doing good work." So there you go. :D

All of Ma's relatives live close by but some of Dad's relatives live out of the city. The people on her side all know about the web and it was interesting today because I realized how much I take for granted. She'd been trying to remember, my great aunt, a movie she saw about Christmas that she just loved once upon a time but she couldn't remember the title and had tried to rent it at her local video store but only knew that Barbara Stanwyck was in. They kept telling her it was Christmas in Connecticut (sp?) and she kept going, "No." That's not the one she meant. So I showed her how we could pull up movies and just pull up Stanwyck's movies on IMDB. We were looking through the lists and she goes, "That's it! Meet John Doe!"

Dad's got that and I told him and he gave it to her. She tried to pay him for it and he goes no and goes for her to keep it cause it's at all the stores. But she was so excited to be able to find her answer online.

Her daughter told me they tried to get her a computer a few years back but she wasn't interested at all. She says now they're going to get it for her as a birthday gift (her birthday is January 11th). So that's pretty cool. But Elaine and I went into the kitchen with her and showed her different stuff. She wanted to see Elaine's site too. So we went there and she read Elaine's "Call out Katrina vanden Heuvel." She goes, "Good for you dear. There was a time when they wouldn't even let us vote." :D

So it was a pretty good Christmas. Got to see a lot of the family, got to stuff my belly full and then some, and I got to see some excited faces opening presents. And, we have my niece this Christmas, which is pretty cool. This was her first Christmas (she was born in July). And we all watched Meet John Doe after the excitement so it was just a really nice day.

I should probably add that we talk about Iraq in my family on Christmas. I hope others celebrating did as well. That was pretty much a two hour discussion around the table with everyone weighing in.

Regardless of whether you celebrated it or something else or nothing, I hope you had a good day too.

Be sure to read Wally's "THIS JUST IN! U.S. MILITARY KILLS 'TERRORIST'!" and Cedric's
"Christmas in Baghdad"











Posted by at

Monday, December 24, 2007

Third, John V. Walsh

santa

Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve. :D The painting is by Betty's oldest son and he's made Santa a snowman because Christmas, like snowmen, doesn't last forever. He's a smart kid (and talented).

This is me talking in The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Roundtable:"

Mike: I put down "vets" and this does flow because my point here was that there are a few I talk to because they're Elaine's patients and I'm usally at her office Thursday evenings so I'm talking to them before the group session and after. I also hear from vets who see something at my site. And there is just so much disbelief and anger at ALL media for their lack of coverage. One guy was telling me Thursday, after the group session, that he has to remind himself not to get angry at people he bumps into who are focused on whatever or talking about whatever because he reminds himself how easy it is, even if you're reading the paper every day, to forget that the illegal war is going on. He thinks it's intentional on big media's part, and I agree, but he listed off a lot of little media, and he included blogs in that which we don't consider little media but just to note his point, and just noted how disgusting it is to, basically have a voice or platform, and not use it. When he was in Iraq, if he had computer access, which was often because if you're out in Iraq and not just stationed on a base, you're computer access is a lot less. But he did two tours of Iraq and he remembers some of the big names early in the illegal war who were strong voices and just calling it out. He said he hopes they don't expect credit for that because they've done nothing in the last year. I told him I'd talk about that in a roundtable that was planned here and then after I'd copy and paste that section at my site because he is really angry about that. He said if I did to add one more thing. He knows the war is illegal, he observed it, took part in it. But now he's back here and the easiest thing to do right now would be to deny that and go along with the lie that it's "noble" and the reason for that is because the only people who really seem aware of the war are the right-wingers. I grabbed paper and wrote this part down, this is him speaking, "Do you know what it's like to take part in something you're wrong and come home and want to, need to talk about it but find out that no one gives a __ damn ___? One thing to do is to stop talking and just shove it all inside. But the easiest thing to do is just sort of talk about it to war supporters because they at least listen." That's included with his permission. And before anyone e-mails to say, because Elaine's not going to say a word about it, not even to me, Elaine doesn't talk about her patients. I'm talking about him in terms of what he spoke to me about and with the understanding that he wanted it shared. I tried to think about a way to give an example all weekend and the only thing, which is probably a bad comparison but in case anyone can relate to the illegal war, I could come up with is you're mugged on the street. You've got a lot of pain, anger and other things from that. You want to talk about it. When no one cares except the group going, "You da man! They pulled a gun on you and you're still alive!" after awhile it probably is tempting to turn around and go, "Yeah, I am da man!" just because you need to talk about your experiences and no other group gives a damn. He's considering signing up for IVAW's event by the way. He is going but he's considering signing up to talk.

Thank you to C.I. for noting it at The Common Ills Sunday. I promised the vet I would note it here after it went up at Third. I figured it would work better there and think it did. That way it got up at two sites (and, thanks to C.I., three -- four if you count the mirror site for The Common Ills) so hopefully some people will see it and maybe stop a minute to think about how damaging their actions are and how they hurt.

Let's jump right into Third:

Truest statement of the week -- Elaine and she earned it. I know the week's just starting but Ava's already got my vote for next Sunday. If you saw it, you know what I'm talking about. If not, wait until Sunday.

A Note to Our Readers -- Jess, Ava and C.I. break down the edition.

Editorial: Should we pray to Santa? -- The painting at the top of my post is used here, the one Betty's son did. I like this editorial. I know it was a problem in terms of figuring out how to use Santa (we wanted the painting up). C.I. figured it out after someone said something. I can't remember what it was, but C.I. (joking) said, "Should we now pray to Santa?" And we all go, "That's it! That's the editorial!" :D This covers IVAW, Jamie Leigh Jones, Tracy Barker and a lot more. We didn't think we could pull it together around that phrase or going with that phrase but it worked out pretty good.

TV: The Weak Get Weaker -- Let me be Jim here (who took this weekend off), Jess read this to us when Ava and C.I. finished it and I was the one to say, "It doesn't matter what else we do, that covers it." Jim usually says something like that about their writing because it's always one of the strongest things every edition. This one is amazing. And they didn't know what they were writing about before they left to go off alone and write it. We were asking them and they listed off several shows and said they'd have to look at their notes. This is just perfect and you will laugh your ass off! :D

The Nation featured 491 male bylines in 2007 -- how many female ones? -- This one should you make you angry because Katrina vanden Heuvel (a woman as far as anyone knows) is in charge of The Nation magazine and despite the magazine saying they know there's problem there was NO improvement in the number of women they published. Look at the full year statistics and be disgusted. Way to go, Katrina, way to help out other women. What a Queen Bee.

Roundtable -- I quoted myself in the rountable already. The big deal here was who would be moderator. Jess wanted Ava or C.I. to do it and they're the note takers -- nobody else can write down what we're all saying and get it down word for word. Jess agreed to do it and I think he really did a great job. We didn't have a hard time limit and Cedric and Betty are really doing some amazing comments in the first half. I think the whole thing is amazing. Kat's got a great wind up and it's just all amazing. That may be because we had less people. It is not because Jim wasn't doing it. He does a great job moderating. Betty's son did the painting.

"I Hate The War" -- This is about The Ballet's "I Hate The War" which is a great song. Go to their website and download it if you haven't already. (If you want to watch a video, there's a link to one in the article.)

Dems & Iraq -- I didn't work on this one. This is just Ava, Jess and C.I. and they did it to include Betty's son's painting of Obama. I really like this and it was nice to wake up, log in to see how everything turned out and read something I didn't even know was in there. :D

Iowa -- At last, we got around to this. That's been on the backburner forever. It's an important issue.

Cynthia McKinney announces run for president -- Cynthia McKinney is running for the Green Party nomination for president. If you're a Green or an independent or someone fed up with the Democratic Party (a lot of people), you really need to check into her campaign.

Things to watch, things to listen to -- Some things you can catch this week.

Highlights -- Betty, Wally, Kat, Elaine and I worked on this.


Here's who participated:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Ava and Jim,
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,
Wally of The Daily Jot
and Ruth of Ruth's Report

Rebecca found something and just called me asking if I'd note it too? Yeah, no problem. John V. Walsh regularly speaks truth to power. This is from his "Clueless Crusaders:"


Tom Hayden has been given the cover article for The Nation's December 17 issue to instruct the peace movement for 2008. Not since the cover page endorsement of the prowar John Kerry in 2004 has there been such an embarrassing face to this journal. In essence Hayden's call is to vote Democraticocrat in 2008 - and keep your fingers crossed. That is about it. Confronted with prowar Democraticocrats and prowar Republicans, Hayden cries, "Stop the war. Vote prowar Democraticocrats." At the same time his co-counsellor for the official peace movement, Phyllis Bennis, has been lamenting that antiwar voters, in the depths of their benightedness, may fail to understand "intuitively" why they should vote for prowar Democraticocrats in 2008.
Hayden begins with what cannot be denied, conceding that the "leading" Democraticocrats, HRC, BO and JE do not pledge to end the war, always hedging their promises to remove troops by limiting the pledge to "combat troops," a recipe for "Vietnamization" which Hayden should be able to recognize; by speaking of keeping troops in Iraq at least until 2013; by failing to give dates for Democraticolishing the gargantuan bases still going up; and of course by labeling hapless Iran as a "danger." Hayden even quotes one anonymous voice within the Beltway Democratic establishment: "It's beginning to look a lot like 2004." But how does Hayden characterize 2004? In that year he says, the Democraticocrats "muted and muddled their antiwar position." "Mute and muddled"? "Antiwar position"? Wth a few hiccups, John Kerry ran an explicitly prowar campaign in 2004. In 2006 the Democrats ran what looked like an antiwar campaign until you read the fine print. Of course since they gained control of Congress, they have supported the war funding at every turn. "Mute and muddled" it's not; full-blown complicity in the war it is.

It's a great article. And you know what? I would pair it with "Who's killing the peace movement?" which covers some of the same terrain. I like Tom Hayden but when someone's wrong, they're wrong. When they're wrong with a cover story, silence isn't the way to handle it. I generally agree with Walsh (I think I always agree but I might be forgetting something in the years I've been reading him -- and it's fine if we disagree) and what I really like is he's not taking any crap. He's not saying, "Oh, we're not supposed to call out ___ so I'll be silent." But a lot of people are being silent.

You've got a whole 'left' platoon covering up for Katrina vanden Heuvel who is not left (leftist don't turn an issue over to a centrist organization). I'm sick of it. And I'll call out anyone I want to and I won't look back or freak out over it.


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

Monday, December 24, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, 'tis the season for . . . mass kidnappings, mercenaries are back in the news and, in honor of the gift giving season, a 'left' 'voice' telegraphs just how unimportant the illegal war is to him.

Starting with war resistance. And let's deal with why, unless your name is In These Times, left and 'left' print magazines don't have anything to point to with pride in 2007. They've been silent on war resisters (this also goes to a number of radio programs) and have refused to cover any war resisters (in the US, in Canada or Eli Israel, the first service member to publicly resist while serving in Iraq though you wouldn't know that fact if you counted on independent media to bring the news to you). Every year at this time The Nation's Katha Pollitt does a column on where you could donate your money. This year's column appears to address some of last year's criticism, so here's the link. That is Pollitt's trademark and has been for years -- that column. Paul Loeb apparently thinks he can be the male Katha. (In his dreams. And, yes, I'm aware he's one of those three named monstrosities but he's signing off his Free Press column with "Paul Loeb." It's entitled "Who I Give To" with the message that it's who you should give to.

And what do we have. In order: Working Assets, Better World Club, IPA, MoveOn, Sojourners, WellstoneAction, America Votes, Democracy for America, the DNC, John Edwards' presidential campain, Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Public Campaign, 1Sky coaltion, Focus the Nation, Climate Crisis Coalition, Sierra Club, Fight Back America, Jobs With Justice, NAACP, ACLU, Peace Action, True Majority, The War Resister's Leauge, The Backbone Campaign, Americans For Peace Now and Brit Tzedek. He notes the last two are "pro-Israel." Reading over the list, where is IVAW? Where is Courage To Resist? Where is the War Resisters Support League? Where is Veterans for Peace? Where is CODEPINK? Where is SDS? Where is United for Peace & Justice? Where is World Can't Wait? Where is A.N.S.W.E.R.? Where is the National Lawyers Guild? (NLG has a group for war resisters.)

No where. An overly praised, fawned over writer opens his empty head to reveal to you just how shallow 'voices' are. Anyone stupid (and you have to be stupid, there's no other word for it) to give to two presidential candidates and not grasp they are not 'helping' either and they are cancelling their donation out, already started out in the Dumb Zone. But could that money not have gone to IVAW, War Resisters Support Campaign or Courage To Resist?

"I'm not a pacifist," he feels the need to reassure (no one thought he was a pacifist, it would be surprising if anyone thought he had the skill or ability to think long enough to reach that position), "but The War Resister's League has carried the banner of peace activism for 85 years, and I always admire what they do." The American Friends Service Committee has 'carried the banner' for 90 years. But though Working Assets and True Majority (covering the same damn terrain) can get shout outs and it's non-stop election central (including donating to two candidates running for the same slot), American Friends Service Committee is not mentioned .Paul gives a true gift this holiday season: a glimpse into the heavily pimped shallow mind that makes up too much of the so-called left today. With his list, that he wrote himself, he has told you what is important and what isn't and he has told you that he can't even plug the War Resister's League without rushing to reassure any reader that he's not a pacifist. Running scared and running brain dead, one of the most heavily pimped 'lefties' of the decade makes it very clear that he's all about the Democratic Party and elections and he's not at all about ending the illegal war. What's surprising is that he left off a Hurricane Katrina charity -- how many bad articles did he bore America with on that topic after Katrina hit? Well, that's the 'left' you for, a tiny-minded mocking bird, flittering and fluttering from here to there but never landing.

An illegal war is going on and the answer in an overly long, bad column (men who try to copy Katha Pollitt will always come up short), he tells you where his priorities are. He supports Jewish organizations that are pro-Israel, he supports Sojourners with money though he doesn't agree with their 'evangical' measures. He supports anything and everything but those committed to ending the illegal war with one exception and, when noting that exception, it's important for him to rush to assure America he's no pacifist. No one ever thought a shallow thinker could wade to that conclusion, Loeb, no one ever did.

Apparently there's no show tune for him to stumble across ("the impossible will take a little while") about war resisters so they're not on his list of concerns. But, in that list, you see 2007 independent (or 'independent') media coverage in all its horror. Give money to candidates! Give it to two candidates running against each other! Give money to the Democratic Party! Give money to groups working on clean elections! Give money to groups working on getting people elected! Give, give, give till it hurts.

And the reality is, in 2007, independent media has hurt war resistance. This December 23rd published column also explains how useless independent media is. Is anyone really thinking, this late in the game, "I must get a gift! I know I'll donate!" If they were, links would be required for someone wanting to be 'helpful.' No links are provided. Typical independent media in 2007, advocating badly.

Does Loeb know that on November 15th, the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey? Does he even care? Judging by his column, the answer is no. An over hyped voice of the 'left' gives the greatest gift of all in 2007: The reality of how little the alleged 'left' cares about ending the illegal war. (Give to the DNC! Give to two presidential candidates who refuse to promise, that if elected in 2008, they would pull out the troops by 2013!) That just about sums it all up. In the real world, the Canadian Parliament has the power to let war resisters stay in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.

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


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

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

On Sunday, Alissa J. Rubin and Damien Cave (New York Times) provided the lengthiest coverage of Iraq the paper's offered in some time as they explored the 'Awakening' Councils that US government has decided is the quick-fix to reducing the violence just enough to stop Americans from caring that an illegal war is going on. Not noted in the article is that the Sunni thugs want the US out. Noted in the article is that the they don't support al-Maliki's puppet government. This is why the Shi'ite thugs are furious. They were armed and backed by the US early on and were very effective at 'cleansing' areas through force, intimidation and death squads. Now the US is arming their enemies and they're worried. Arming but unable to control. In Ramadi, Cave and Rubin join Second Lt. Stephen Lind who discovers that, despite "a rule that bans the Iraqi Army from the city," the Iraqi army is at a sheik's and, when asked by Lind why, the response is: "The sheik told us to come." And that's that, time to roll out and rules (like laws) really don't matter but let's all pretend the US is somehow in 'control.' Rubin and Cave observe, "The standoff, though, underscored the Awakening's long-term challenge."


The US is not 'improving' things in Iraq, they are laying the groundwork for further tensions and anyone could tell them that but the government doesn't want to listen. Very similar to how they did not want to listen about the issue of mercenaries. Steve Rainaru (Washington Post) reports on how warnings were repeatedly ignored by the State Dept and the Pentagon
which addresses how warnings were ignored by the government (US) repeatedly regarding mercenaries, cites the lack of "substantive action to regulate" mercenaries -- lack of action from the State Dept. or the Pentagon and while "previous wars . . . had prohibited contractors from participating in combat . . . in Iraq, military planners rewrote the policy" via a September 20, 2005 order that granted mercenaries the power "to use deadly force". From the article:

Critics, including the American Bar Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, warned that the Pentagon had used an obscure defense acquisition rule to push through a fundamental shift in American war-fighting without fully considering the potential legal and strategic ramifications.The provision enabled the military to significantly raise troop levels with contractors whose "combat roles now closely parallel those of Constitutionally and Congressionally authorized forces," wrote Herbert L. Fenster, a partner with McKenna Long & Aldridge, a Washington-based international law firm that represents several major defense contractors. Fenster questioned the provision's legality in a lengthy comment he filed in opposition. The practice "smacks of a mercenary approach," he wrote in an e-mail.But neither the military nor the State Department set guidelines for regulating tens of thousands of hired guns on the battlefield. Oversight was left to overburdened government contracting officers or the companies themselves, which conducted their own investigations when a shooting incident occurred. Dozens of security companies operated under layers of subcontracts that often made their activities all but impossible to track. They were accountable to no one for violent incidents, according to U.S. officials and security company representatives familiar with the contracting arrangements.



In England, accountability is also an issue with regards to contractors. PA reports that the Parliament may be addressing "clains that a UK-based security company" ArmorGroup "deliberataly withheld intelligence from the British armed force in Iraq" with regards to "militia infiltration of the Iraqi police in Basra" Henry McDonald, Duncam Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor (Guardian of London) report that Colin Williamson (who worked for ArmorGroup in Iraq) has made "[t]he most serious allegations" which include this, "My role was to go to certain Iraqi police stations daily in the Basra area. But we were told not to report back any intelligence we picked up there, not to hand it to the British military. Why? Because our bosses and probably, in turn, the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] didn't want to expose how corrupt and infiltrated by the militia the police were." If true, his statements mean that ArmorGroup is just another contractor that's yet to face accountability.


Equally unaccountable are the US employees who gang-rape and sexually harass in Iraq. Yvonne Roberts (Guardian of London) addresses the crimes against Jamie Lee Jones and notes that there has been no accountability in the two years since the gang-rape was reported and that laws favorable to US corporations (Halliburton/KBR are who Jones' attackers worked for) may allow them to avoid prosecution. Roberts notes, "MoveOn, a democracy-in-action pressure group is organising a petition calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. Sadly, the petition can only be signed by American voters. If you take a look at what happened to Jamie Leigh Jones and at least 11 other women now claiming they have been raped and sexually assaulted while working in Baghdad's Green Zone, then it's difficult to avoid the notion that if these contractors behave in such a sexually barbaric fashion to their working colleagues, what have they been inflicting on the female Iraqi population - apart from apparently randomly beating and shooting their men?"Meanwhile, Walter Pincus (Washington Post) reports today on a disgusting development for those who did not assume the United States resorted to tactics of totalitarian regimes: 'deprogramming.' Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone is identified as the one responsible for what's called "the battlefield of the mind" and just the fact that the US uses such languages and wants to 'militarize' the mind should be enough to frighten most. But reading on you realize that Iraqi prisoners are now experiment subjects -- against their will -- and may every anthropologist, sociologist, medical personal, et al be haunted eternally for what are they doing. Pincus tells you that who the military wants to assist with these attacks on a person's sanity, will and mind are "teachers, religious and behavioral science counselors" and that the goal is 'reintegration.' Here's a thought: How can Iraqis be reintegrated into their own occupied country? If the military's telling you this much, it's probably much worse; however, Stone doesn't have the common sense to grasp how offensive what he is peddling to the public is. I am unaware of an waiver that allows for brain-washing in a war (legal or illegal) but apparently that's one more thing being tossed aside.


Moving on, Leila Fadel (Baghdad Observer, McClatchy Newspapers) shares details of Eid al Adha celebration including the shopping ("a toy store where little boys crowded around toys, picking their holiday gifts. They all wanted the same thing, toy guns, just like the men they see on the streets.. . . The toys hear are a reflection of the reality they live, humvees, military helicopters and guns. All the little boys want sto emulate the violence on the street"), a McClathy correspondent's relative who has to to Iran for medical treatment ("Although a trickle of people are returning so many professionals are absent and simple medical procedures are only available outside Iraq") and a meal where inquiries about marital status were made with Iraqi woman explaining, "My fiancee was killed at the beginning of the war. I've never found anyone like him."

And the violence goes on . . .


Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Bagdad mini-bus bombing that claimed 1 life and left five wounded, two Baghdad roadside bombings that wounded six people and a Diyala Province roadside bombing that claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and wounded three more. AP reports that the mini-bus bombing was "near the Baghdad governor's office" and "near the heavily guarded Green Zone" and that it's "unclear if it was detonated remotely or just went off."


Shootings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash at a police station "north east of Sulaimaniyah."

Kidnappings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 14 people were kidnapped from a mini-bus north of Baquba, 7 truck drivers were kidnapped south of Kirkuk. Reuters reports that the 14 kidnapped off the bus today were all "members of one family". AFP reports on the 14 Shi'ites kidnapper that they were stopped at a fake check-point outside of Baquba and were taken off a bus at the checkpoint and kidnapped -- this was "all the passengers" on the bus "including some women and children" according to Iraqi police officer Hazim Yassin.

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

In addition, Al Jazeera reports on a Sunday train crash that claimed the lives of many members of the Hamid Hrat family -- two adults, five girls and six boys for a total of 13 -- who were apparently unable to move over the train crossing (stalled car? who knows?) and were plowed into by a train in Hilla. (AP and some other domestic sources report the train crash as happening today.)

Finally, despite PO'LICeandTICksOh providing a back channel to Nancy Pelosi's Blue Dog Congressional enemies last Friday, Dennis Camire (The Honolulu Advertiser) reports that US House Rep Neil Abercrombie states that Dems will "push on with the effort" to end the illegal war and that "Rep. Abercrombie said it's only a matter of time and American casualties before the public gets fed up enough and forces politicians to bring the troops home." Apparently, the writers' strike has also resulted in Congress airing re-runs. The 'strategy' is not 'new.' It's the one John Harris (PO'LIceandTICsOh) summed up as describing what Congress was hoping for in 2007 when speaking on PBS' Washington Weak over the weekend. (Here for the program's web site. Here for Ava and my review.)
















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