Hump day, jump day. We just have to leap over two mornings to get to the weekend. :D I'm going to try to be really brief tonight because Blogger/Blogspot's going down. I love how they call it a "scheduled outage" when they gave no notice yesterday.
If you caught the debate last night, you should have caught that Hillary held her own, scored points and came across like a leader. Obama came across like a wimpy copy-cat. But that's what he is. So the thing I really want to emphasize is one section of the debate:
MR. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, I want you to respond to not holding oversight for your subcommittee. But also, do you reserve a right as American president to go back into Iraq, once you have withdrawn, with sizable troops in order to quell any kind of insurrection or civil war?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, first of all, I became chairman of this committee at the beginning of this campaign, at the beginning of 2007. So it is true that we haven't had oversight hearings on Afghanistan. I have been very clear in talking to the American people about what I would do with respect to Afghanistan.
Bambi wants to be excused for doing nothing in all of 2007 or 2008 thus far on the committee he's supposed to chair because he was appointed chair "at the beginning of this campaign." He could have turned it down. And he wouldn't have been made chair if he hadn't asked for it. But it was more important to him that he be able to use that credit in his presidential nomination race than it was that Afghanistan be addressed. In the last fourteen months, the men and women serving in Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan did not have the option of putting the violence around them on hold.
Day after day, they had to live with the violence (of course a lot of them didn't live, a lot of them died). And Bambi wants to offer up that it's okay that he took 14 months "off" from the Afghanistan War because he had decided to run for president. It's not okay.
He's still not completed his first Senate term and he can't even live up to the responsibilities he accepts. That committee assignment wasn't just him being a member of it and skipping out on the hearings (the way he has on other committees). He was supposed to show leadership. He was supposed to show that he gave a DAMN about the US service members serving in Afghanistan. Instead, it can all wait for his GREAT BIG EGO.
He knew he was planning to run for president. The assignment wasn't a surprise. He could have at any time said, "I'm going to be too busy" or, later, "I am too busy." He didn't do that. He didn't resign as chair. So for fourteen months that committee has done nothing.
For fourteen months while the Afghanistan War was going on, Bambi did nothing. He wants to be the leader of the country but when he had a committee to lead, he wasn't interested in leading. He wasn't interested in working. He said "Screw you!" to every American serving in Afghanistan because he wanted to run for president.
This should outrage everyone. There is no excuse for his remaining chair and for the subcommittee never holding a hearing. It's 14 months later and still no committee meeting and somehow he's demonstrated "leadership" and that he's qualified to be president?
No, he's proven he's a spoiled child who never grew up and was willing to DAMN Afghanistans and Americans serving there because it's all about him, all the time, just like his crappy cult passing as a 'movement.'
I'm not sure, about the snapshot. I know C.I. was pressed for time and the committee hearings that C.I.'s covering are important. But I also think C.I. avoided the debate today and did so in order to let us get our thoughts in (and to link to us in tomorrow's snapshot). There were a lot of hearings today but chances are the only ones that the media will cover will be the steroids nonsense. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, February 27, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US Congress holds some hearings, a journalist dies in Iraq, the Turkish invasion continues in northern Iraq and more.
Starting with war resisters. Earlier this month, Paul Boers (The Goshen College Record) reported on war resister Rob Weiss. At age 17, Weiss signed up for the US military and, following high school graduation and basic training, the Army sent him to Germany where he was stationed. For 18 months all was fine until he was home at the end of 2006 when the fiance of his sister died en route to the hospital and, as Boers explains, "This event caused Weiss to start thinking about his own mortality, especially as a soldier." Weiss explains to Boers about how he would explain his death, "What would I say? 'Sorry, I didn't have time to go to church. I was hung over.' I thought, 'maybe it's time that I would do something productive with my life other than getting bar fights and getting hammered drunk'." Exploring these issues and turning to the Bible, Weiss explains, "I was shocked by this message of peacemaking. There is a constant, recurring message of not responding in violence, unlike in the Army where they teach you to kill everything." On June 6, 2007, Weiss filed his conscientious objector status and as he waited for a response, he was sent to Iraq. While in Iraq, the decision came down: his CO application was denied. While on leave, Weiss self-checked out and went underground in the US. Speaking to Boers, Weiss explained, "I think it's better to turn yourself in and get it over with. I don't want to live in people's basements until the day I die."
Meanwhile war resisters who have moved to Canada were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, 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, Clara 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 action:
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. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."
Staying with veterans, the US House Committee on Veterans Affairs' subcommittee on Health held a hearing today. Subcommittee chair Michael Michaud explained in opening remarks, "Today's hearing is an opportunity for the VA, Veteran Service Organizations and members of this subcommittee to discuss draft legislation dealing with Fiscal Year 2009 VA construction. 38 United States Code requires statutory authorization for all VA major medical facility construction projects over $10 million and all major medical facility leases more than $600,000 per year. This hearing is a first step in this important process." Dennis Cullinan, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US, testified on behalf of the VFW regarding the proposed "Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Facility Authorization and Lease Act of 2008." Cullinan felt the budges were too low and placed the blame for that on "the administration" which "saw fit to halve the major and minor construction accounts from the Fiscal Year 2008 levels, failing to meet the future needs of our veterans." The White House has played it on the cheap with veterans care throughout this decade and they've generally gotten away with that. Cullinan stated the proposed legislation "demonstrates that this Congress is ready, able and willing to correct this situtiona and to advance VA's construction priorities so that future generations of veterans -- such as those currently serving in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Aghanistan -- will have a first-rate VA health care system ready to fully meet their needs." The proposal, as US Dept of Veterans Affairs' Donald Orndoff noted, mainly is about the "authorization for six major medical construction projects and twelve major medical facility leases".
Meanwhile, Dr. Dean Kilpatrick of the Medical University of South Carolina testified to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs yesterday on the subject of PTSD and this morning he testified to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Kilpatrick is the direcyor of the National Crimes Victims Research and Treatment Center. And for context, the American Public Health Association's 135th Annual Meeting last November utilized these numbers for PTSD -- 12 percent to 20 percent of all veterans from the Iraq War will suffer from PTSD, over 52,000 veterans have already been diagnosed and treated with PTSD. In December 2006, Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reported, "U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring hos today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health." In his opening remarks today, Kilpatrick explained the basics.
Kilpatrick: I will begin with some background information of posttraumatic stress disorder. Briefly described, PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can develop in a person after a traumatic experience. Someone is diagnosed with PTSD if, in response to that traumatic experience, he or she develops a cluster of symptoms that include
* reexperienceing the traumatic event as reflected by distressing recollections, memories, nightmares, or flashbacks
* avoidance of anything that reminds them of the traumatic event
* emotional numbing or feeling detached from other people
* hyperarousal as reflected by trouble sleeping, trouble concentrating, outbursts of anger, and having to always be vilgilant for potential threats in the enivornment
* impairment in social or occupational functioning, or clinically significant distress
The focus of the hearing was not PTSD, however. Kirkpatrick and others were members of the Institute of Medicine committee studying veterans health issues with a primary focus -- today -- on the ratings. Is the Scehdule for Rating Disabilities -- currently used to determine the financial benefits paid to wounded veterans -- adequate or even fair? Former American Medical Association president Dr. Lonnie R. Bristow gave an overview of areas the committee felt needed futher exploration and these included compensation for loss of quality of life, the differences in employment income for those suffering brain injuries as opposed to physical ones. Scott Zeger, of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health noted veterans with "medical conditions that develope after military service" and the need to for "Congress or the Department of Veterans Affairs . . . to make a 'presumption' of service-connection so that a group of veterans can be appropriately compensated. Presumptions are made in order to reach decisions in the face of unavailable or incomplete information." The Center for Health Research and Policy's Joyce McMahon also addressed compensation and the need for a system that was inclusive, "Congressional language indicates that the intent of VA compensation is to provide a replacement for the average impairment in earning capacity. VA compensation is not an individual means-tested program, although there are minor exceptions to this." As with most studies, by the committee members own statements, the emphasis was on males and before Congress creates an 'inclusive system,' it would be better to actually be inclusive. At this late date, there's really no excuse to set up a system that will treat male as the norm and take decades of pressure to include women in the studies and then to begin addressing health and disability issues specific to women. Aaron Glantz (War Comes Home) reported last month on the continued crisis in veterans health care and noted, "The average wait time for a veteran's disability claim to be decided is now 183 days. More than 600,000 disabled vets are waiting. Tens of thousands more veterans are being totally denied medical care and disability benefits they were promised after serving abroad." The 600,000 waiting should especially stand out to those who remember the 2004 presidential debates. Senator John Kerry noted the crisis -- it was then and it is now a crisis -- in veterans health care and among the lies Bully Boy tossed out (and the likes of FactCheck.org quickly swallowed) was that the wait-time was going smoothly, right on track, boom-boom-boom. The reality, as Kerry pointed out repeatedly before the debate and after was that the wait-time was increasing. So when the figure of 600,000 emerges today, it has recent historical roots. Let's return to PTSD to note this from AP (November 2007): "About 42 percent of the Guard and reserves compared to 20 percent of active-duty troops, were identified as needing medical health treatment in two screenings. The first testing was immediately upon return from Iraq and the second six months later. Problems showed up more often on the second screening. . . . For those citizen soldiers, the military's Tricare health insurance benefits expire after six months: VA benefits expire two years after a soldier's return to civilian status." Ron Jacobs (Dissident Voice) reviews Michele Barrett's Casualty Figures and notes of PTSD, "We associate this disorder primarily with veterans of combat. What many people do not know is that this disorder was included into the bible of therapeutic mental health disorders only after a long struggle by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and some other US veterans organizations in the 1970s."
Meanwhile the US House Committe on Oversight and Government Reform's subcommitte (Government Management, Organization and Procurement) held a hearing today where the issue was contractors and focused on three proposals (H.R. 3033, H.R. 3928 and H.R. 4881). Normally, this isn't a committee worth watching but US Rep Chris Murphy was in charge of the bulk of the hearing. Murphy had some serious exchanges with Paul Denett (Office of Federal Procurement Policy Office of Management and Budget) who appeared to be present mainly to throw a road block in front of the three proposed bills. "Your remark in your written testimony was" about stifling competition, Murphy noted, but "we already have this information . . . when it comes to public companies . . . Why are we concerned that simply requiring private companies to disclose a modicum of what we require public companies to disclose" would adversly effect competition?
Denett's reply was, amazingly, given with a straight face, "There are a lot of small busines who would be discouraged . . . [because] they don't want their employees to know what they're making." "Executive compensation" was the issue and Murphy wanted to know why these contracts -- to companies such as Blackwater -- result in executives making more -- in these private companies -- than the executives of public companies. Denett attempted to dismiss the issue by maintaining that "fixed price contracts" don't explore a company's compensation; however, Murphy noted that you can't determine fair price without knowing the profit margin and whether "10% to 20% is being taken off the top for executive compensation." Murphy noted that "any private investor" considering investing in a company would factor these facts into a decision of whether or not to invest in the company, so why doesn't the government factor them in when awarding contracts? US House Rep Peter Welch would also explore this noting that there has to be "some public disclosure" when these business are wanting tax payer dollars. Welch asked the US Government Accountability Office's John Hutton if the proposed legislation would cause Hutton professional problems and Hutton begged off with a lot of words that went no where leading Welch to observe, "I don't understand what you just said." Welch reminded that the money being handed ou twas "tax payers' dollars" and what was being asked for was "public information" -- "We're just simply asking for some information -- in this case salary information -- I don't see how it would in any way interfere with the procurement process." US House Rep Carolyn Maloney (apparently dressed to battle Dr. Doom -- what were those things, wings? -- I'm sorry, you wear that to a meeting, you're asking for your outfit to be discussed) noted that the legislation proposed is not out of the norm and already applies to construction companies. She futher wanted to know what was happening with regards to companies being awarded federal contracts when they didn't pay taxes? By then the hearing was already over because the committee's chair, Edolphus Towns, had finally arrived. The annual CBC report explains Towns but, for those who've never read it, let's just note the first question Towns elected to ask, "What needs to be done to bring you on board?" The question, naturally went, to Big Business and Pork Cheerleader Alan L. Chvotkin (Professional Services Council). As if that wasn't bad enough, after the hearing, Eldophus Towns would be walking around the hall clutching Chvotkin's beefy right arm. POGO's Scott Amey testifed as well and his opening remarks (PDF format warning) can be found here.
Yesterday Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) and an interpreter visited the Iranian ambassador in Iraq and the interpreter noted that he was "the second ruler of Iraq . . . After [US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan] Crocker." Fadel notes, "She never mentioned the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al Maliki. She expressed what most Iraqis feel, Iraq is a tug of war for power between Iran and the United States." Which might be a good time to note that al-Maliki's back in London again -- he always seems to flee the country whenever there's a problem. The big problem for him these days is the invasion of nothern Iraq by Turkey. Kevin Whitelaw (US News and World Reports) explains that despite US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates calling for Turkey to 'quickly' complete it's invasion, "Turkish diplomats say the incursion will continue as long as the Turkish military deems necessary." Some have described the puppet government in Baghdad as 'anguished' and certainly al-Maliki's cabinet ministers (especially Kurdish ones) have called for Turkey to cease the military invasion. But al-Maliki, out of the country yet again, can't be feeling too much 'anguish.' Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) observes that today is day six of the invasion and that Turkey has rebuffed Iraq's insistance upon a speedy withdraw with Ahmet Davutoglu ("Turkish envoy") declaring, "Our objective is clear, our mission is clear and there is no timetable until . . . those terrorist bases are eliminated." Ben Knight (Australia's ABC) explains the time frame being addressed, "The US says Turkey should end its military campaign against Kurdish rebels in Iraq in a matter of weeks, rather than months."
In some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that claimed the life of 1 person and left another injured, another bombing "targeting a Caprice carrying fuel cans" claimed 1 life and left two more injured, a Mosul bombing claimed 2 lives, two people were wounded in a Diyala Province bombing and, in the latest known attack on officials, Col. Anwar Qadir (chief of police) was targeted for assassination via a car bombing today but survived.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports unknown assailants shot dead 1 border guard outside Tirkit and left two wounded, unknown assailants shot dead police Lt. Raid Khudair in Basra and (Tuesday night for this crime) unknown assailants shot dead a student at Mosul University. Reuters notes an armed clash in Mosul left two people dead and that unknown assailants "attacked a checkpoint manned by Iraqi police and members of U.S.-backed neighbourhood police unit, killing two and wounding three". Wisam Mohammed (Reuters) notes that Shihab al-Tamimi is dead from wounds received this weekend when he was attacked in Baghdad (gunfire) and notes the 74-year-old man "was an independent journalist working for many local newspapers. He was known for his outspoken views against the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the continued presence of U.S. troops on Iraqi soil."
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 1 corpse was found in Babil Province
In the US, how sad it must be to be Dana Perino today (let's be kind and leave it at today). The White House Flack declared earlier this week (Feb. 25th), "The President has been working towards reconciliation between the Sunnis and the Shia, and it's actually working on a political level in some ways. Especially we saw that last month, when they passed three laws in one day, which was quite a significant achievement for the Iraqis." It's no longer "three," it's now "two." CBS and AP report, "Iraq's presidential council rejected a measure Wednesday setting up provincial elections, sending it back to parliament in the latest setback to U.S.-backed national reconciliation efforts. The three-member panel, however, approved the 2008 budget and another law that provides limited amnesty to detainees in Iraqi custody. Those laws will take effect once they are published in the Justice Ministry gazette." Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) explains, "The Bush adminstration downplayed the setback. 'This is democracy at work,' said White House press secretary Dana Perino." Perino also declared today "I don't know if he has." That was in reply to the question (at today's press briefing), "The US military conducted 19 focus groups throughout Iraq last November, and its report on those focus groups stated that Iraqis from every ethnic and sectarian group are united in the belief that the US invasion is the root cause of the sectarian violence in Iraq and that the departure of the US military is the key to national reconciliation. And I wondered, has the President seen the military's report on those focus groups?"
In US political news, Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) shakes her head (rightly) at The Nation magazine:
It is incomprehensible that The Nation magazine endorsed Obama after making the following statement. "This magazine has been critical of the senator from Illinois for his closeness to Wall Street; his unwillingness to lay out an ambitious progressive agenda on healthcare, housing and other domestic policy issues; and for post-partisan rhetoric that seems to ignore the manifest failure of conservatism over these past seven years."
If The Nation has so many qualms about Obama, why endorse him at all? The editors could have simplay made a statement of non-support for Obama or Clinton. The sad plight of progressives is all too bovious. "While his rehtoric about 'unity' can be troubling, it also embodies a savvy strategy to redefine the center of American politics and build a coalition by reaching out to independent and Republican voters disgruntled and disgusted with what the Bush era has wrought." The Nation should explain to readers why Democrats ought to "redefine the center" with independents and Republicans instead of having their own agenda and fighting to make it a reality.
For another Nation critique, see Kat regarding Nader, and last night Bambi lied in the debate. Rebecca notes it here and it was also noted here. We may have time for that in tomorrow's snapshot.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Isaiah, Bambi, Gene Lyons, etc.
Ruesday, Tuesday. Tonight is the debate, maybe the last one. One thing to watch for is if Bambi can keep his hands to himself. He can't seem to stop touching Hillary, can he? It's disrespectful and patronizing but what do you expect from a trash merchant like Barack Obama. This is Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Merkel-ed"
Now Bambi's friends with Tony Rezko and Tony Rezko's not able to work on this campaign. See, he's under federal indictment and his trial just started. Good thing Bambi barely knows him, right? OOOPS! He and Bambi are tight. This is from James Bone and Dominic Kennedy's "Senator's land deal followed campaign:"
A BRITISH-IRAQI billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraising effort only weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times has revealed.
The money transfer raises thequestion of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain's wealthiest men, helped Senator Obama buy the mock Georgian mansion in Chicago where he lives.
A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama's bagman, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, on May 23, 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $US3.5 million.
Three weeks later, Senator Obama bought a house on Chicago's South Side, while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15.
Senator Obama says he never used Ms Rezko's still-empty lot, which could be accessed only through his property. But he admits he paid his gardener to mow the lawn.
Ms Rezko, whose husband was widely known to be under investigation at the time, sold a 3m strip of her property to Senator Obama seven months later.
[. . .]
The house-and-garden deal raises questions about whether Mr Rezko, a property developer and fast-food restaurateur, made it possible for the Obamas to buy a mansion they could otherwise not afford.
Sometimes I marvel over all the lies required to prop up Bambi. There's the denial of what qualifies for plagiarism and we'll come back to that. But Bambi visited some nation in 2006 (can you tell how little I care) and a photo of him wearing traditional garb is all over the net. Suddenly, the campaign does what it always does, cry "RACISM!" It's a photo. It's a goofy one, to be sure. He looks goofy to American eyes. But that's about the fact that he's playing dress up. Bully Boy looked goofy in that dress when he was visiting Vietnam. Was it racism when photos of Bully Boy turned up in that dress? That's all the Bambi campaign has. They've demonized Bill Clinton. They've gone after Gloria Steinem. Jesse Jackson Jr. is the worst about pushing that angle. He's really disgusting. I still like his father but I (wrongly) assumed Junior had some character. He has none. I really think the cry of "RACISM!" over this photo is a good thing because it's just so ridiculous that it may force the press to examine how many times the campaign had made the false cry to advance their candidate. Even if that doesn't happen, there's still the fact that John McCain and Republicans aren't going to flinch at being called racists. He's going to need a new trick to run against McCain and Bambi is a one trick pony, like the Paul Simon song says. This is from Gene Lyons' "Is Obama guilty of the 'P' word?" about plagiarism and so much more:
Obama dismisses it as a minor gaffe.
Any Democrat who didn't get a queasy feeling, however, has definitely succumbed to "Obamamania." Back in 1988, Sen. Joe Biden’s presidential run ended after he borrowed lines from then-British Labour leader Neil Kinnock. To the Washington media, it proved that he was a big faker, who, in the usual formulation, "would say or do anything" to become president.
It's also not the first time Obama has been accused of lifting others' words. Announcing his own presidential candidacy in 1993, Sen. John Edwards said, "I haven't spent most of my life in politics, but I’ve spent enough time in Washington to know how much we need to change it."
For months, Obama has been saying, "I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change." An Edwards aide commented dryly, "Next thing you know, he'll be rooting for the Tar Heels."
Of course, they all run against Washington, except Sen. Hillary Clinton, who’s touting her experience. There are a limited number of ways to say it.
But did you catch Obama in South Carolina, warning African-American audiences, "Don't be hoodwinked. Don't be bamboozled"? You can also Google those words, and watch actor Denzel Washington deliver them in Spike Lee's brilliant film "Malcom X": "You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok."
The irony of Obama's borrowing the fictive words of Malcolm X, a black Muslim, to rebut a scurrilous e-mail campaign calling him a secret Islamist would be almost disabling, except for the greater one: All this was going on while Obama’s media acolytes were accusing the Clinton campaign of "playing the race card." (A brilliant tactic to guarantee landslide defeat in South Carolina.) In context, Malcolm X was warning audiences to mistrust politicians sent by the "White Man."
There's a lot of trash flowing out of Obama's garbage can and hopefully everyone's remembering that and remembering that Republicans have crossed over to Democratic primaries to vote for Bambi. They're not coming back in the fall. They did that to screw with the results. And always a Sucker, the Dems want to believe otherwise. There's a great deal more coming out in upcoming press. If Bambi gets the nomination, it's "Hello President McCain!" That's reality. His touchy-feely cult thinks he's a saint and hiss and boo when they're told otherwise. McCain's a press favorite. Bambi will go down in flames. The attitude of the press will be (and I know this because three of C.I.'s friends who are editors are already saying this), "He's young and he can run again. But John McCain stands for integrity." No, he doesn't. But that is the attitude. And when you've got a bunch of White men controlling the coverage and it's the very young Bambi up against Last Chance McCain, they'll go with McCain. They'll feel they owe it to him.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, February 26, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Senator Jim Webb asks hard questions of a general in a Senate hearing, a mass kidnapping takes place in Iraq, Pelosi wishes someone in Congress would do something (but not her), and more.
Starting with war resistance. Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale and Camilo Mejia's Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia are two books where war resisters tell their stories. They are also two books reviewed by Dee Knight (Workers World) who notes:
Both MejÃa and Key had sufficient direct experience of being ordered to commit war crimes in Iraq that they had enough. As soon as they were allowed out of Iraq on leave, they decided not to come back. MejÃa chose to refuse publicly and apply for conscientious objector status. He was rejected, and was sentenced to a year in military prison and a bad conduct discharge.Key just left. He rejoined his wife and their then three small children, and went underground for over a year. Finally, after "googling" the Internet with "deserter needs help," he got in touch with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto."Sucking up the courage to drive to the border of my own country was the hardest thing I had ever done," he said.
Knight notes those who have followed Key and Mejia (and the other early war resisters of the Iraq War) including Lt. Ehren Watada and Pablo Paredes and the effects, "The GIs who have refused made their choices. And they have begun to change history."
Joshua Key and other war resisters who have moved to Canada were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, 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, Clara 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 action:
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. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."
This morning the US Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2009 and the Future Years Defense Program. Offering testimony were Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army, and Gen. George W. Casey, Chief of Staff Army. In a prepared joint-statement given to the committee in writing before the hearing began, Geren and Casey note:
The likelihood of instability will increase as populations of several less-developed countries will almost double in size by 2020 -- most notably in Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. The "youth bulge" created by this growth will be vulnerable to anti-government and radical ideologies and will threaten government stability. This situation will be especially true in urban areas in which populations have more than doubled over the last 50 years.
By 2025, urban areas with concentrations of poverty will contain almost 60 percent of the world's population.
Competition for water, energy, goods, services, and food to meet the needs of growing populations will increase the potential for conflict. Demand for water is projected to double every 20 years. By 2015, 40 percent of the world's population will live in "water-stressed" countries. By 2025, global energy demands are expected to increase by 40 percent, threatening supplies to poor and developing nations.
In the above statements you'll not only find where the US headed in the near future but the same sort of thinking that led to destabilization efforts in Greece, et al in the 1960s. "Young" populations have "worried" US planners for well over sixty years now. [PDF format warning, click here for the 24-page statement.] CNN reduces the hearing to troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan will drop from fifteen months to twelve month tours. That's rather skimpy for what was a very lively hearing. In regards to the issue of the months involved in a tour, the committee chair, Carl Levin, had to be rather specific repeatedly finally asking "shorthand, you have to drawdown to what level?" Levin also had to pin Casey and Geren down regarding stop-loss. Beaming, Geren declared that the Army will get the number of stop-lossed soldiers down to "a little less than 8,000 today" and insisted -- at length -- that the Army wanted to "move away from" using stop-loss. Stop-loss is the backdoor draft. It's when you're service contract is ending and you're told, "Forget what your contract says, you're staying." Pressed by Levin about the decrease in the number of soldiers stop-lossed that Geren was so optimistic about, the Secretary of the Army swallowed and stated, "It might get to 7,000." Wow. It might drop to 7,000. To hear him spin and spin before Levin pinned him down you would have thought the figure was going to be significantly below 5,000. Geren insisted, "We're growing this Army faster than we planned."
US Senator Bill Nelson wanted to know about the RAND Study. That's a study commissioned by the Army, conducted by RAND which reportedly found that the illegal war was not well planned for. "The chairman has already asked you to release" the report to the committee, Nelson pointed out and added, "I would like to additionally ask that the RAND study be sent to the intelligence committee." He addressed that topic quickly and moved to an issue he's been working on, "It has come to my attention from women in my state [Florida] about the rapes that have occurred in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have been after this to try to get information." But what he's getting is regarding the US military and what he's been asking for information on was the number of rapes among the contractors. He has asked for that information repeatedly and still has not received it. "What we're finding is incomplete information and also this never-never land of not knowing what to do and what the law is to apply and who's going to enforce it?"
Nelson went on to list what is needed. For Iraq, the information needs to start in March 2003 when the Iraq War started and needs to include:
*What are the service components and government agencies involved in each investigation?
*What is the status for the person involved in each investigation?
*Who has the jurisdiction or investigative authority?
*In writing a list of rules, regulations and policies governing these issues.
Nelson repeated that it's been a struggle to get any information at all and noted that one of the women assaulted is a Tampa constituent. The two witnesses assured it was possible for the information to be passed on. But these assurances have been coming since the end of the last year. And that is the point where the hearing (not dull before) really came to life.
"What law applied when you were commanding troops over there?" Senator Jim Webb wanted Gen. Casey to answer. UCMJ was Casey's reply, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Webb asked if Casey was stating that "UCMJ applied to contractors?" Casey nodded and added it applied -- when he was commander of Iraq -- to those working for the Department of Defense. Webb wanted to know how many contractors this would have applied to and the number 20,000 was casually tossed around by Casey.
Webb: You had 20,000 contractors subject to the UCMJ?
Casey: I don't recall the number. . . . I want to say the number was around 7,000 to 8,000.
Webb wanted to know if any contractors "were discharged under UCMJ" and Casey replied, "I have vague recollections of a couple of cases, but I can't say for certain." The exchange between the two was an important moment and the press should pick up on it. Webb's face was pure disbelief in the comments Casey was making, the testimony Casey was offering. Webb declaed, "I'm not even sure how you could have a proper court under the UCMJ" for contractors since UCMJ applies to the military. Webb noted that when he started out on the Armed Services committee lat year, he was told that was a proposal -- UCMJ being used for contractors -- and now here was Casey before the Senate today "saying that it was being used?"
""I am not 100%" certain, Casey said attempting to beg off from his public statements. Webb responded, "I would think, quite frankly, if you were commanding you would know that. . . . It's not a difficult concept." Casey's command of Iraq (Commanding General of M-NF) began in June 2004 and lasted through the start of February 2007. For three years, Gen. George Casey was the top commander and a year after his command ended, he's stumbling around in public, making assertions and then attempting to withdraw them? While this exchange took place, Geren was attempting to intercede but would have to wait a bit longer.
Casey said that UCMJ was being applied to contractors of the Defense Department when he was commander in Iraq, Webb noted, "This came up in the personnell subcommittee last year as a proposal and I'm not aware of anyone, any civilian who was subject to the UCMJ." In addition, serious crimes have been committed by contractors and Webb would assume that if UCMJ applied -- as Casey was maintaining it did -- that there would have been something to pass on to the Senate sometime ago.
Again, it was the moment to follow in the hearing. Levin would later ask for all information regarding that and other issues of contractors breaking the law including "any understandings or agreements which have been reached between American or Iraqi authorities." Webb would ask Geren about modernizing the GI Bill to have something similar to what followed WII for those serving today and Geren would maintain everyone was all on board and for it which the Senate's heard before (repeatedly) leading Webb to ask, "Where's the hold up?" and "Does the administration oppose expanding GI benefits?" It was Geren's turn in the hot seat. He squirmed a little but fell back on US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and stated that Gates was reviewing recommendations currently.
Ted Kennedy would emphasize the Army's suicide rate which "was the highest it had ever been" in 2007 with 121 soldiers committing suicide "more than double the number reported in 2001 before we sent troops into Iraq." Kennedy would also note that that there has been a "24% increase in felony moral waivers" among recruits and that "only 79%" of recruits now have high school diplomas; furthermore he noted the shortage among officers which was 3,000 lower than the amount the Army stated they needed. All of this led Kennedy to ask about "a perfect storm": "It seems we're reaching a perfect storm here both in therms of young people going in" and those already serving in terms of retention, "is this the perfect storm that's happening in terms of the military? How serious should we be concerned about it?" Casey agreed ("You are right") and said this was an indication of "the signs of a force that is stretched and under stress."
As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Army Lt. General Carter F. Ham, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that if there was a drawdown of US troops in Iraq over the summer, it wouldn't take the numbers below approximately 140,000 which would mean that approximately 8,000 more US service members would be stationed in Iraq since before the escalation/'surge' began. US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reacted to the news by issuing the following statement yesterday:
The statement from the Pentagon today on troop levels in Iraq is an admission that the President's troop surge was not a temporary measure. There will be more U.S. troops in Iraq this summer than there were at the end of 2006, when the American people demanded a New Direction in Iraq. Both the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and the Army Chief of Staff, General George Casey have stated that repeated Iraq deployments are severely straining military readiness, making our nation less capable of dealing with other serious threats. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, Americans continue to demand a New Direction in Iraq and reject a continuation of the President's plan for a 10-year, trillion dollar war in Iraq.
Pelosi's really surprised by this (obvious) development? On January 8, 2007, she said of the White House plans for an escalation that it was "war without end, which the American people have rejected." By "rejected," she was referring to the November 2006 elections when the voters returned control of both houses of Congress to the Democrats. January 5, 2007, she and the new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent the White House a joint-letter:
The American people demonstrated in the November elections that they don't believe your current Iraq policy will lead to success and that we need a change in direction for the sake of our troops and the Iraqi people. . . . .
Despite the fact that our troops have been pushed to the breaking point and, in many cases, have already served multiple tours in Iraq, news reports suggest that you believe the solution to the civil war in Iraq is to require additional sacrifices from our troops and are therefore prepared to proceed with a substantial U.S. troop increase.
In an interview with Bob Schieffer (CBS' Face The Nation) which aired January 7, 2007, Pelosi declared, "Well if the president chooses to escalate the war, which is contrary to the, of course, the will of the American people -- they have spoken on the subject -- but even the advice of his own governement, his own generals -- in December, General Abizaid testified before the Senate that in his converstations with General Dempsey and with General Casey, they believe that adding more troops will not improve the situation there. And so he's not listening to the generals, the president isn't. And he's not listening to the American people." Schieffer specifically asked her about stopping funding (and noted that before the cameras rolled Pelosi had brought it up) but Pelosi would only say "oversight" would be exercised. By January 19, 2007 (that would be 12 days later), Pelosi had thrown in the towel -- and done so in an exclusive interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer:
Diane Sawyer: As we sit here right now, 3,500 troops are moving in. That's the first of the surge. It has begun. Fifty-one percent of the American people say they want Congress to stop the surge. Money is the method at hand to do that. Are you going to move to cut off funding for troops going into Iraq as part of the surge?
Nancy Pelosi: Democrats will never cut off funding for our troops when they are in harm's way, but we will hold the president accountable. He has to answer for his war. He has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this. It's a tragedy.
The tragedy is Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership's failure to act. (In the House, Steny Hoyer has repeatedly stabbed Pelosi in the back publicly and privately. Leadership sent a message to Pelosi early on when they refused her pick of John Murtha. That's not a defense of Pelosi -- I've endorsed Cindy Sheehan for the eighth Congressional district out of California -- but that is noting a reality.) On December 31, 2006, the 3,000 mark would be reached for the number of US service members killed while serving in Iraq. January 1, 2007, Nancy Pelosi would issue a statement (one of the few who bothered), "The deaths of 3,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq is a sad reminder of the consequences of the Administration's failed policy." Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House January 3, 2007 and the 110th Congress was sworn in on January 4th. January 4th the number of announced US military deaths in Iraq stood at 3006. Today it stands at 3972. That's 28 away from the 4,000 mark (and 966 announced deaths since the 110th Congress was sworn in). Next month is the fifth anniversary of the start of the illegal war (billed once upon a time as a "cake walk") and Stop-Loss Congress is an action in response to congress' planned March vaction: "This March, while tens of thousands of Americans in Washington, D.C., and all over the United States participate in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience to protest the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and when soldiers and innocent civilian victims begin another year of occupation, torture, and murder, Congressmembers will be on a vaction (from the 15th to 30th, technically a 'district work period'), ignoring the killing and suffering they have enabled, supported and financed. To intensify the irony, Congress has condoned a widespred stop-loss policy in the military which requires soldiers to involuntarily extend their tours and prolong the killing. It is time to Stop-Loss Congress!" To learn more about the action click here and click here to sign your support.
By the way, that's a real peace action. Unlike the crap Amy Goodman pimped on Democracy Now! today. Why is that? Why is it that real peace actions can't get attention from that program but faux-action, pretend action that exists only to put Democrats in Congress (they already control both houses) are pimped by Panhandle Media as "anti-war" and "peace"? Goodman never noted the reality of this "progressive" action, this "anti-war campaign." Here's AFP's first sentence from their report, "Anti-war groups launched a nationwide drive Mondy to unseat Republican members of Congress by linking the multi-billion-dollar costs of the Iraq conflict to the flagging US economy." It's not about peace, it's about churning out votes for Democrats. It's a fraud and didn't they already disillusion one veteran with this nonsense? (Yes, they did. He went public with it at The Philadelphia Daily News.) He thought these groups were really about ending the illegal war and he gave everything he had to them. Then he grasped that the groups were about electing Democrats. Further in, AFP notes the so-called peace 'activism': "The coaltion has identified around 50 Republican members of the House of Representatives and several senators that it believes are vulnerable to defeat in the elections".
Bombings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Iraqi soldiers were wounded in Baghdad by a grenade, a man on a bus exploded his bomb ("vest bomb") in Nineveh killing himself and 14 others with an additional fifteen wounded, a Mosul car bombing that claimed the life of 1 police officer and left another wounded and a roadside bombing outside of Baquba that claimed 2 lives. Michael Kamber (New York Times) reports that two "Awakening" Council members are dead from a roadside bombing in Kirkuk.
Robbery and Kidnapping?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports "6 million Iraqi Dinars" were robbed from a Ministry of Health vehicle at gun point while 21 males were kidnapped off buses in Diyala Province. Meanwhile Matthew Moore (Telegraph of London) notes that a kidnapping victim has shown up in a videotape being aired on Al-Arabiya where he explains, "I have been held here for nearly eight months . . . Release their people from prison so that we can go home. It is as simple as that." The unidentified man was kidnapped along with four other British citizens nine months ago.
Corpses?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad.
Turning to England, today BBC reports, "The government has been told to release the minutes of two cabinet meetings in the days before the 2003 Iraq war. The demand came from Information Commissioner Richard Thomas after a Freedom of Information request was rejected by the Cabinet Office." Adrian Croft (Reuters) explains, "Britian's information watchdog ordered the government on Tuesday to release the minutes of cabinet meetings held in March 2003 which discussed the legal justifications for going to war in Iraq. Release of the documents could embarrass Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose predecssor Tony Blair was accused by critics of glossing over lawyers' initial reservations about launching the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq." Michael Evans (Times of London) declares, "The Iraq War story is never going to go away. Now the Government is faced with an order to disclose the minutes of two Cabinet meetings where the reasoning bhind the decision to invade in Iraq in March 2003, was discussed by ministers. . . . The key interest would be to see which ministers cast doubt on the justification for war -- apart from the ones we know already (the late Robin Cook, then Leader of the Commons, and Clare Short, then International Development Secretary) -- and whether anyone referred, enthusiastically or otherwise, to the merits of regime-change in Baghdad. The Government has always denied that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was the main or even the secondary reason for invading Iraq." In contrast, Chris Ames (writing at the Guardian of London) offers, "My guess is that we will learn something new and potentially damaging to the government if the minutes are eventually released. But, with the smart money on a government appeal to the information tribunal, we're not there yet. There are two hugely controversial aspects of the way that Tony Blair took the country to war in Iraq. The first is the case that he made to parliament and the country in the form of the September 2002 Iraq dossier. . . . The other issue of great contention is how Blair persuaded the armed forces and the cabinet that the war would be lgeal, using advice procured from the then attorney general Lord Goldsmith."
Turning to US political news, as Rebecca noted last night, "senator crazy goes insane again. the wheels are off the show boat express." She's referring to Senator John McCain, of course, who has defined how he will end up elected president in the November 2008 election as convincing America that the there is not just a 'win' in Iraq but it is happening. On Sunday Ralph Nader appeared on NBC's Meet the Press (link has text and video) where he stated he was running for president:
You know, when you see the paralysis of the government, when you see Washington, D.C., be corporate-occupied territory, every department agency controlled by overwhelming presence of corporate lobbyists, corporate executives in high government positions, turning the government against its own people, you--one feels an obligation, Tim, to try to open the doorways, to try to get better ballot access, to respect dissent in America in the terms of third parties and, and independent candidates; to recognize historically that great issues have come in our history against slavery and women rights to vote and worker and farmer progressives, through little parties that never ran--won any national election. Dissent is the mother of ascent. And in that context, I have decided to run for president."
That's Ralph Nader, who turned 74-years-old today, explaining why he's running. John Nichols really wants Obama's class ring and felt the need to distort reality claiming Barack Obama responded "wisely" to the news of Nader's run (see Kat), Nader himself felt differently, "Former Constitutional law lecturer Senator Barack Obama is entitled to his un-nuanced opinions, but not his misstatements of facts. I invite him to join me in a cooperative effort to put back on the table the necessities of the American people that he, Clinton, and McCain have yanked off the table. Instead, he resorts to name calling -- labeling me a perennial candidate. Well, Senator Obama, perennial injustices deserve perennial candidates who fight them." For the record, Obama's public statements were rude to Nader. Not wanting to hop in bed with Obama, I can be honest -- unlike John Nichols. Vaughn Ververs (CBS News) reports that Michael Bloomberg (who may run himself) supports Nader's run noting (correctly), "Everybody's got a right to do it -- you're not spoiling anything. . . . If people want to vote fo ryou, let them vote for you, and why shouldn't they?"
Running for the Green Party nomination for president is Cynthia McKinney (Nader may or may not be, that's really not addressed in the Meet the Press interview). Last week, Wendy L. Wilson (Essence) discussed the run with McKinney:
Essence.com: You've been a Democrat all your life. Why switch to Green now? C.M.: You know, I never really got the chance to know the members of the Green Party across the country before. Now, I'm getting to know the most wonderful, idealistic, patriotic people who have made me feel at home. It's just wonderful to be with people who have thought through the process and how we can work to make it better. Essence.com: How many votes do you need to be considered? C.M.: The Green Party needs 5 percent of the votes in the 2008 election to be institutionalized as a third force in American politics. Essence.com: Why should we consider voting for you? C.M.: If people feel deep within their hearts that there is still something structurally wrong with the limited choices we have in our two-party system, then I want people to say let me be a part of the 5 percent that changes the structure of our country. Right now, public policy is made in a room where the door is locked. The people are outside; only two representatives [Democrats and Republicans] are in that room hammering out policy. Somebody gave the corporate lobbyists a key so they can come and go as they please. The Green Party will open the door for people who care about impeachment, the war, civil liberties, and economic justice. We will pull up a chair and be a part of the conversation. You'll get different results and people won't feel as if they were marginalized out of the process. Essence.com: You've done a lot for the people in New Orleans and the Gulf States after the Hurricanes. Why is their cause still so important to you? C.M.: I've been very active in the treatment against Hurricane Katrina survivors. After having participated in the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and visited New Orleans and the Gulf States several times, I have helped to put together a 10-point plan for the survivors, which is based on the Reconstruction Movement and the Reconstruction Party [in Canada]. This 10-point plan includes an electoral system that allows for integrity and voter choice, full employment including the right to organize, reparations, a budget for human needs, policies against police brutality, a way to end the drug war and prisons for profit, means to protect the environment, end militarism and continue to stand for peace. There's a lot more that our country can do in its own borders and in the global community.
Tonight Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debate in Ohio as they continue to compete for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.
the common ills
mikey likes it
iraq
joshua key
camilo mejia
dee knight
iraq veterans against the war
the new york times
mcclatchy newspapers
kats kornersex and politics and screeds and attitude
Now Bambi's friends with Tony Rezko and Tony Rezko's not able to work on this campaign. See, he's under federal indictment and his trial just started. Good thing Bambi barely knows him, right? OOOPS! He and Bambi are tight. This is from James Bone and Dominic Kennedy's "Senator's land deal followed campaign:"
A BRITISH-IRAQI billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraising effort only weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times has revealed.
The money transfer raises thequestion of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain's wealthiest men, helped Senator Obama buy the mock Georgian mansion in Chicago where he lives.
A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama's bagman, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, on May 23, 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $US3.5 million.
Three weeks later, Senator Obama bought a house on Chicago's South Side, while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15.
Senator Obama says he never used Ms Rezko's still-empty lot, which could be accessed only through his property. But he admits he paid his gardener to mow the lawn.
Ms Rezko, whose husband was widely known to be under investigation at the time, sold a 3m strip of her property to Senator Obama seven months later.
[. . .]
The house-and-garden deal raises questions about whether Mr Rezko, a property developer and fast-food restaurateur, made it possible for the Obamas to buy a mansion they could otherwise not afford.
Sometimes I marvel over all the lies required to prop up Bambi. There's the denial of what qualifies for plagiarism and we'll come back to that. But Bambi visited some nation in 2006 (can you tell how little I care) and a photo of him wearing traditional garb is all over the net. Suddenly, the campaign does what it always does, cry "RACISM!" It's a photo. It's a goofy one, to be sure. He looks goofy to American eyes. But that's about the fact that he's playing dress up. Bully Boy looked goofy in that dress when he was visiting Vietnam. Was it racism when photos of Bully Boy turned up in that dress? That's all the Bambi campaign has. They've demonized Bill Clinton. They've gone after Gloria Steinem. Jesse Jackson Jr. is the worst about pushing that angle. He's really disgusting. I still like his father but I (wrongly) assumed Junior had some character. He has none. I really think the cry of "RACISM!" over this photo is a good thing because it's just so ridiculous that it may force the press to examine how many times the campaign had made the false cry to advance their candidate. Even if that doesn't happen, there's still the fact that John McCain and Republicans aren't going to flinch at being called racists. He's going to need a new trick to run against McCain and Bambi is a one trick pony, like the Paul Simon song says. This is from Gene Lyons' "Is Obama guilty of the 'P' word?" about plagiarism and so much more:
Obama dismisses it as a minor gaffe.
Any Democrat who didn't get a queasy feeling, however, has definitely succumbed to "Obamamania." Back in 1988, Sen. Joe Biden’s presidential run ended after he borrowed lines from then-British Labour leader Neil Kinnock. To the Washington media, it proved that he was a big faker, who, in the usual formulation, "would say or do anything" to become president.
It's also not the first time Obama has been accused of lifting others' words. Announcing his own presidential candidacy in 1993, Sen. John Edwards said, "I haven't spent most of my life in politics, but I’ve spent enough time in Washington to know how much we need to change it."
For months, Obama has been saying, "I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change." An Edwards aide commented dryly, "Next thing you know, he'll be rooting for the Tar Heels."
Of course, they all run against Washington, except Sen. Hillary Clinton, who’s touting her experience. There are a limited number of ways to say it.
But did you catch Obama in South Carolina, warning African-American audiences, "Don't be hoodwinked. Don't be bamboozled"? You can also Google those words, and watch actor Denzel Washington deliver them in Spike Lee's brilliant film "Malcom X": "You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok."
The irony of Obama's borrowing the fictive words of Malcolm X, a black Muslim, to rebut a scurrilous e-mail campaign calling him a secret Islamist would be almost disabling, except for the greater one: All this was going on while Obama’s media acolytes were accusing the Clinton campaign of "playing the race card." (A brilliant tactic to guarantee landslide defeat in South Carolina.) In context, Malcolm X was warning audiences to mistrust politicians sent by the "White Man."
There's a lot of trash flowing out of Obama's garbage can and hopefully everyone's remembering that and remembering that Republicans have crossed over to Democratic primaries to vote for Bambi. They're not coming back in the fall. They did that to screw with the results. And always a Sucker, the Dems want to believe otherwise. There's a great deal more coming out in upcoming press. If Bambi gets the nomination, it's "Hello President McCain!" That's reality. His touchy-feely cult thinks he's a saint and hiss and boo when they're told otherwise. McCain's a press favorite. Bambi will go down in flames. The attitude of the press will be (and I know this because three of C.I.'s friends who are editors are already saying this), "He's young and he can run again. But John McCain stands for integrity." No, he doesn't. But that is the attitude. And when you've got a bunch of White men controlling the coverage and it's the very young Bambi up against Last Chance McCain, they'll go with McCain. They'll feel they owe it to him.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, February 26, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Senator Jim Webb asks hard questions of a general in a Senate hearing, a mass kidnapping takes place in Iraq, Pelosi wishes someone in Congress would do something (but not her), and more.
Starting with war resistance. Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale and Camilo Mejia's Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia are two books where war resisters tell their stories. They are also two books reviewed by Dee Knight (Workers World) who notes:
Both MejÃa and Key had sufficient direct experience of being ordered to commit war crimes in Iraq that they had enough. As soon as they were allowed out of Iraq on leave, they decided not to come back. MejÃa chose to refuse publicly and apply for conscientious objector status. He was rejected, and was sentenced to a year in military prison and a bad conduct discharge.Key just left. He rejoined his wife and their then three small children, and went underground for over a year. Finally, after "googling" the Internet with "deserter needs help," he got in touch with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto."Sucking up the courage to drive to the border of my own country was the hardest thing I had ever done," he said.
Knight notes those who have followed Key and Mejia (and the other early war resisters of the Iraq War) including Lt. Ehren Watada and Pablo Paredes and the effects, "The GIs who have refused made their choices. And they have begun to change history."
Joshua Key and other war resisters who have moved to Canada were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, 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, Clara 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 action:
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. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."
This morning the US Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2009 and the Future Years Defense Program. Offering testimony were Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army, and Gen. George W. Casey, Chief of Staff Army. In a prepared joint-statement given to the committee in writing before the hearing began, Geren and Casey note:
The likelihood of instability will increase as populations of several less-developed countries will almost double in size by 2020 -- most notably in Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia. The "youth bulge" created by this growth will be vulnerable to anti-government and radical ideologies and will threaten government stability. This situation will be especially true in urban areas in which populations have more than doubled over the last 50 years.
By 2025, urban areas with concentrations of poverty will contain almost 60 percent of the world's population.
Competition for water, energy, goods, services, and food to meet the needs of growing populations will increase the potential for conflict. Demand for water is projected to double every 20 years. By 2015, 40 percent of the world's population will live in "water-stressed" countries. By 2025, global energy demands are expected to increase by 40 percent, threatening supplies to poor and developing nations.
In the above statements you'll not only find where the US headed in the near future but the same sort of thinking that led to destabilization efforts in Greece, et al in the 1960s. "Young" populations have "worried" US planners for well over sixty years now. [PDF format warning, click here for the 24-page statement.] CNN reduces the hearing to troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan will drop from fifteen months to twelve month tours. That's rather skimpy for what was a very lively hearing. In regards to the issue of the months involved in a tour, the committee chair, Carl Levin, had to be rather specific repeatedly finally asking "shorthand, you have to drawdown to what level?" Levin also had to pin Casey and Geren down regarding stop-loss. Beaming, Geren declared that the Army will get the number of stop-lossed soldiers down to "a little less than 8,000 today" and insisted -- at length -- that the Army wanted to "move away from" using stop-loss. Stop-loss is the backdoor draft. It's when you're service contract is ending and you're told, "Forget what your contract says, you're staying." Pressed by Levin about the decrease in the number of soldiers stop-lossed that Geren was so optimistic about, the Secretary of the Army swallowed and stated, "It might get to 7,000." Wow. It might drop to 7,000. To hear him spin and spin before Levin pinned him down you would have thought the figure was going to be significantly below 5,000. Geren insisted, "We're growing this Army faster than we planned."
US Senator Bill Nelson wanted to know about the RAND Study. That's a study commissioned by the Army, conducted by RAND which reportedly found that the illegal war was not well planned for. "The chairman has already asked you to release" the report to the committee, Nelson pointed out and added, "I would like to additionally ask that the RAND study be sent to the intelligence committee." He addressed that topic quickly and moved to an issue he's been working on, "It has come to my attention from women in my state [Florida] about the rapes that have occurred in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have been after this to try to get information." But what he's getting is regarding the US military and what he's been asking for information on was the number of rapes among the contractors. He has asked for that information repeatedly and still has not received it. "What we're finding is incomplete information and also this never-never land of not knowing what to do and what the law is to apply and who's going to enforce it?"
Nelson went on to list what is needed. For Iraq, the information needs to start in March 2003 when the Iraq War started and needs to include:
*What are the service components and government agencies involved in each investigation?
*What is the status for the person involved in each investigation?
*Who has the jurisdiction or investigative authority?
*In writing a list of rules, regulations and policies governing these issues.
Nelson repeated that it's been a struggle to get any information at all and noted that one of the women assaulted is a Tampa constituent. The two witnesses assured it was possible for the information to be passed on. But these assurances have been coming since the end of the last year. And that is the point where the hearing (not dull before) really came to life.
"What law applied when you were commanding troops over there?" Senator Jim Webb wanted Gen. Casey to answer. UCMJ was Casey's reply, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Webb asked if Casey was stating that "UCMJ applied to contractors?" Casey nodded and added it applied -- when he was commander of Iraq -- to those working for the Department of Defense. Webb wanted to know how many contractors this would have applied to and the number 20,000 was casually tossed around by Casey.
Webb: You had 20,000 contractors subject to the UCMJ?
Casey: I don't recall the number. . . . I want to say the number was around 7,000 to 8,000.
Webb wanted to know if any contractors "were discharged under UCMJ" and Casey replied, "I have vague recollections of a couple of cases, but I can't say for certain." The exchange between the two was an important moment and the press should pick up on it. Webb's face was pure disbelief in the comments Casey was making, the testimony Casey was offering. Webb declaed, "I'm not even sure how you could have a proper court under the UCMJ" for contractors since UCMJ applies to the military. Webb noted that when he started out on the Armed Services committee lat year, he was told that was a proposal -- UCMJ being used for contractors -- and now here was Casey before the Senate today "saying that it was being used?"
""I am not 100%" certain, Casey said attempting to beg off from his public statements. Webb responded, "I would think, quite frankly, if you were commanding you would know that. . . . It's not a difficult concept." Casey's command of Iraq (Commanding General of M-NF) began in June 2004 and lasted through the start of February 2007. For three years, Gen. George Casey was the top commander and a year after his command ended, he's stumbling around in public, making assertions and then attempting to withdraw them? While this exchange took place, Geren was attempting to intercede but would have to wait a bit longer.
Casey said that UCMJ was being applied to contractors of the Defense Department when he was commander in Iraq, Webb noted, "This came up in the personnell subcommittee last year as a proposal and I'm not aware of anyone, any civilian who was subject to the UCMJ." In addition, serious crimes have been committed by contractors and Webb would assume that if UCMJ applied -- as Casey was maintaining it did -- that there would have been something to pass on to the Senate sometime ago.
Again, it was the moment to follow in the hearing. Levin would later ask for all information regarding that and other issues of contractors breaking the law including "any understandings or agreements which have been reached between American or Iraqi authorities." Webb would ask Geren about modernizing the GI Bill to have something similar to what followed WII for those serving today and Geren would maintain everyone was all on board and for it which the Senate's heard before (repeatedly) leading Webb to ask, "Where's the hold up?" and "Does the administration oppose expanding GI benefits?" It was Geren's turn in the hot seat. He squirmed a little but fell back on US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and stated that Gates was reviewing recommendations currently.
Ted Kennedy would emphasize the Army's suicide rate which "was the highest it had ever been" in 2007 with 121 soldiers committing suicide "more than double the number reported in 2001 before we sent troops into Iraq." Kennedy would also note that that there has been a "24% increase in felony moral waivers" among recruits and that "only 79%" of recruits now have high school diplomas; furthermore he noted the shortage among officers which was 3,000 lower than the amount the Army stated they needed. All of this led Kennedy to ask about "a perfect storm": "It seems we're reaching a perfect storm here both in therms of young people going in" and those already serving in terms of retention, "is this the perfect storm that's happening in terms of the military? How serious should we be concerned about it?" Casey agreed ("You are right") and said this was an indication of "the signs of a force that is stretched and under stress."
As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Army Lt. General Carter F. Ham, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that if there was a drawdown of US troops in Iraq over the summer, it wouldn't take the numbers below approximately 140,000 which would mean that approximately 8,000 more US service members would be stationed in Iraq since before the escalation/'surge' began. US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reacted to the news by issuing the following statement yesterday:
The statement from the Pentagon today on troop levels in Iraq is an admission that the President's troop surge was not a temporary measure. There will be more U.S. troops in Iraq this summer than there were at the end of 2006, when the American people demanded a New Direction in Iraq. Both the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and the Army Chief of Staff, General George Casey have stated that repeated Iraq deployments are severely straining military readiness, making our nation less capable of dealing with other serious threats. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, Americans continue to demand a New Direction in Iraq and reject a continuation of the President's plan for a 10-year, trillion dollar war in Iraq.
Pelosi's really surprised by this (obvious) development? On January 8, 2007, she said of the White House plans for an escalation that it was "war without end, which the American people have rejected." By "rejected," she was referring to the November 2006 elections when the voters returned control of both houses of Congress to the Democrats. January 5, 2007, she and the new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent the White House a joint-letter:
The American people demonstrated in the November elections that they don't believe your current Iraq policy will lead to success and that we need a change in direction for the sake of our troops and the Iraqi people. . . . .
Despite the fact that our troops have been pushed to the breaking point and, in many cases, have already served multiple tours in Iraq, news reports suggest that you believe the solution to the civil war in Iraq is to require additional sacrifices from our troops and are therefore prepared to proceed with a substantial U.S. troop increase.
In an interview with Bob Schieffer (CBS' Face The Nation) which aired January 7, 2007, Pelosi declared, "Well if the president chooses to escalate the war, which is contrary to the, of course, the will of the American people -- they have spoken on the subject -- but even the advice of his own governement, his own generals -- in December, General Abizaid testified before the Senate that in his converstations with General Dempsey and with General Casey, they believe that adding more troops will not improve the situation there. And so he's not listening to the generals, the president isn't. And he's not listening to the American people." Schieffer specifically asked her about stopping funding (and noted that before the cameras rolled Pelosi had brought it up) but Pelosi would only say "oversight" would be exercised. By January 19, 2007 (that would be 12 days later), Pelosi had thrown in the towel -- and done so in an exclusive interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer:
Diane Sawyer: As we sit here right now, 3,500 troops are moving in. That's the first of the surge. It has begun. Fifty-one percent of the American people say they want Congress to stop the surge. Money is the method at hand to do that. Are you going to move to cut off funding for troops going into Iraq as part of the surge?
Nancy Pelosi: Democrats will never cut off funding for our troops when they are in harm's way, but we will hold the president accountable. He has to answer for his war. He has dug a hole so deep he can't even see the light on this. It's a tragedy.
The tragedy is Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership's failure to act. (In the House, Steny Hoyer has repeatedly stabbed Pelosi in the back publicly and privately. Leadership sent a message to Pelosi early on when they refused her pick of John Murtha. That's not a defense of Pelosi -- I've endorsed Cindy Sheehan for the eighth Congressional district out of California -- but that is noting a reality.) On December 31, 2006, the 3,000 mark would be reached for the number of US service members killed while serving in Iraq. January 1, 2007, Nancy Pelosi would issue a statement (one of the few who bothered), "The deaths of 3,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq is a sad reminder of the consequences of the Administration's failed policy." Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House January 3, 2007 and the 110th Congress was sworn in on January 4th. January 4th the number of announced US military deaths in Iraq stood at 3006. Today it stands at 3972. That's 28 away from the 4,000 mark (and 966 announced deaths since the 110th Congress was sworn in). Next month is the fifth anniversary of the start of the illegal war (billed once upon a time as a "cake walk") and Stop-Loss Congress is an action in response to congress' planned March vaction: "This March, while tens of thousands of Americans in Washington, D.C., and all over the United States participate in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience to protest the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and when soldiers and innocent civilian victims begin another year of occupation, torture, and murder, Congressmembers will be on a vaction (from the 15th to 30th, technically a 'district work period'), ignoring the killing and suffering they have enabled, supported and financed. To intensify the irony, Congress has condoned a widespred stop-loss policy in the military which requires soldiers to involuntarily extend their tours and prolong the killing. It is time to Stop-Loss Congress!" To learn more about the action click here and click here to sign your support.
By the way, that's a real peace action. Unlike the crap Amy Goodman pimped on Democracy Now! today. Why is that? Why is it that real peace actions can't get attention from that program but faux-action, pretend action that exists only to put Democrats in Congress (they already control both houses) are pimped by Panhandle Media as "anti-war" and "peace"? Goodman never noted the reality of this "progressive" action, this "anti-war campaign." Here's AFP's first sentence from their report, "Anti-war groups launched a nationwide drive Mondy to unseat Republican members of Congress by linking the multi-billion-dollar costs of the Iraq conflict to the flagging US economy." It's not about peace, it's about churning out votes for Democrats. It's a fraud and didn't they already disillusion one veteran with this nonsense? (Yes, they did. He went public with it at The Philadelphia Daily News.) He thought these groups were really about ending the illegal war and he gave everything he had to them. Then he grasped that the groups were about electing Democrats. Further in, AFP notes the so-called peace 'activism': "The coaltion has identified around 50 Republican members of the House of Representatives and several senators that it believes are vulnerable to defeat in the elections".
Bombings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Iraqi soldiers were wounded in Baghdad by a grenade, a man on a bus exploded his bomb ("vest bomb") in Nineveh killing himself and 14 others with an additional fifteen wounded, a Mosul car bombing that claimed the life of 1 police officer and left another wounded and a roadside bombing outside of Baquba that claimed 2 lives. Michael Kamber (New York Times) reports that two "Awakening" Council members are dead from a roadside bombing in Kirkuk.
Robbery and Kidnapping?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports "6 million Iraqi Dinars" were robbed from a Ministry of Health vehicle at gun point while 21 males were kidnapped off buses in Diyala Province. Meanwhile Matthew Moore (Telegraph of London) notes that a kidnapping victim has shown up in a videotape being aired on Al-Arabiya where he explains, "I have been held here for nearly eight months . . . Release their people from prison so that we can go home. It is as simple as that." The unidentified man was kidnapped along with four other British citizens nine months ago.
Corpses?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad.
Turning to England, today BBC reports, "The government has been told to release the minutes of two cabinet meetings in the days before the 2003 Iraq war. The demand came from Information Commissioner Richard Thomas after a Freedom of Information request was rejected by the Cabinet Office." Adrian Croft (Reuters) explains, "Britian's information watchdog ordered the government on Tuesday to release the minutes of cabinet meetings held in March 2003 which discussed the legal justifications for going to war in Iraq. Release of the documents could embarrass Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose predecssor Tony Blair was accused by critics of glossing over lawyers' initial reservations about launching the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq." Michael Evans (Times of London) declares, "The Iraq War story is never going to go away. Now the Government is faced with an order to disclose the minutes of two Cabinet meetings where the reasoning bhind the decision to invade in Iraq in March 2003, was discussed by ministers. . . . The key interest would be to see which ministers cast doubt on the justification for war -- apart from the ones we know already (the late Robin Cook, then Leader of the Commons, and Clare Short, then International Development Secretary) -- and whether anyone referred, enthusiastically or otherwise, to the merits of regime-change in Baghdad. The Government has always denied that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was the main or even the secondary reason for invading Iraq." In contrast, Chris Ames (writing at the Guardian of London) offers, "My guess is that we will learn something new and potentially damaging to the government if the minutes are eventually released. But, with the smart money on a government appeal to the information tribunal, we're not there yet. There are two hugely controversial aspects of the way that Tony Blair took the country to war in Iraq. The first is the case that he made to parliament and the country in the form of the September 2002 Iraq dossier. . . . The other issue of great contention is how Blair persuaded the armed forces and the cabinet that the war would be lgeal, using advice procured from the then attorney general Lord Goldsmith."
Turning to US political news, as Rebecca noted last night, "senator crazy goes insane again. the wheels are off the show boat express." She's referring to Senator John McCain, of course, who has defined how he will end up elected president in the November 2008 election as convincing America that the there is not just a 'win' in Iraq but it is happening. On Sunday Ralph Nader appeared on NBC's Meet the Press (link has text and video) where he stated he was running for president:
You know, when you see the paralysis of the government, when you see Washington, D.C., be corporate-occupied territory, every department agency controlled by overwhelming presence of corporate lobbyists, corporate executives in high government positions, turning the government against its own people, you--one feels an obligation, Tim, to try to open the doorways, to try to get better ballot access, to respect dissent in America in the terms of third parties and, and independent candidates; to recognize historically that great issues have come in our history against slavery and women rights to vote and worker and farmer progressives, through little parties that never ran--won any national election. Dissent is the mother of ascent. And in that context, I have decided to run for president."
That's Ralph Nader, who turned 74-years-old today, explaining why he's running. John Nichols really wants Obama's class ring and felt the need to distort reality claiming Barack Obama responded "wisely" to the news of Nader's run (see Kat), Nader himself felt differently, "Former Constitutional law lecturer Senator Barack Obama is entitled to his un-nuanced opinions, but not his misstatements of facts. I invite him to join me in a cooperative effort to put back on the table the necessities of the American people that he, Clinton, and McCain have yanked off the table. Instead, he resorts to name calling -- labeling me a perennial candidate. Well, Senator Obama, perennial injustices deserve perennial candidates who fight them." For the record, Obama's public statements were rude to Nader. Not wanting to hop in bed with Obama, I can be honest -- unlike John Nichols. Vaughn Ververs (CBS News) reports that Michael Bloomberg (who may run himself) supports Nader's run noting (correctly), "Everybody's got a right to do it -- you're not spoiling anything. . . . If people want to vote fo ryou, let them vote for you, and why shouldn't they?"
Running for the Green Party nomination for president is Cynthia McKinney (Nader may or may not be, that's really not addressed in the Meet the Press interview). Last week, Wendy L. Wilson (Essence) discussed the run with McKinney:
Essence.com: You've been a Democrat all your life. Why switch to Green now? C.M.: You know, I never really got the chance to know the members of the Green Party across the country before. Now, I'm getting to know the most wonderful, idealistic, patriotic people who have made me feel at home. It's just wonderful to be with people who have thought through the process and how we can work to make it better. Essence.com: How many votes do you need to be considered? C.M.: The Green Party needs 5 percent of the votes in the 2008 election to be institutionalized as a third force in American politics. Essence.com: Why should we consider voting for you? C.M.: If people feel deep within their hearts that there is still something structurally wrong with the limited choices we have in our two-party system, then I want people to say let me be a part of the 5 percent that changes the structure of our country. Right now, public policy is made in a room where the door is locked. The people are outside; only two representatives [Democrats and Republicans] are in that room hammering out policy. Somebody gave the corporate lobbyists a key so they can come and go as they please. The Green Party will open the door for people who care about impeachment, the war, civil liberties, and economic justice. We will pull up a chair and be a part of the conversation. You'll get different results and people won't feel as if they were marginalized out of the process. Essence.com: You've done a lot for the people in New Orleans and the Gulf States after the Hurricanes. Why is their cause still so important to you? C.M.: I've been very active in the treatment against Hurricane Katrina survivors. After having participated in the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and visited New Orleans and the Gulf States several times, I have helped to put together a 10-point plan for the survivors, which is based on the Reconstruction Movement and the Reconstruction Party [in Canada]. This 10-point plan includes an electoral system that allows for integrity and voter choice, full employment including the right to organize, reparations, a budget for human needs, policies against police brutality, a way to end the drug war and prisons for profit, means to protect the environment, end militarism and continue to stand for peace. There's a lot more that our country can do in its own borders and in the global community.
Tonight Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debate in Ohio as they continue to compete for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.
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Monday, February 25, 2008
Third, Susan UnPC
Monday, Monday. :D Hillary's up in a new poll so that's some good news. Amy Goodman sucks up to Sammy Power so that's some bad news. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Let's jump into Third:
Truest statement of the week -- this is Julie Christie and she can talk about war resisters. Why others can't is the question. Good for her. She should have won the Oscar last night. After Her (I think that's the title) is only the movie I've seen in months. Elaine and I saw that (her pick) and it was really involving. I thought I was going to be bored by what Elaine told me about it (Christie's a woman who's developing Alzheimer's) but it had more life in it than ten summer blockbusters and Christie was so good that I told Dad about the film and he insisted upon setting up a Christie film festival. (Which is when I got to see Shampoo finally and Darling, Petulia and I forget what else right now.) She's an incredible actress and what a strong person to speak out.
Truest statement of the week II -- This is the Lambert quote I remember in "Highlights." It's really strong.
A Note to Our Readers -- Jim explains the edition and I don't see much he left out.
Editorial: Reality on Iraq votes -- It's time for people to start getting serious. Vote for who you want to but quit pretending Bambi's "anti-war." If he wants credit for one speech in 2002 and wants to be portrayed as against the illegal war, it's important that people start asking, "If you were against the illegal war, why did you vote for funding it after you got into the Senate?" That's a funny way of being against it. Fight the hype!
TV: The strong and the weak -- Dad's one word comment after reading this probably sums it up best, "Damn!" :D Ava and C.I., they amaze me always. My sister-in-law's favorite part is the "underpants" section. She loves the whole thing but especially loves it when they work in Knight Rider. This, they hope, is their last involving news or public affairs programming for a long time. Tony said it was great that they "transitioned" with this commentary by including SNL and Knight Rider along with news and complimented them on that strategy. I had to explain to him that they hadn't planned it. They were going to note SNL regardless because a friend with the show had asked them to. But they didn't plan the review that way. Like they say, they were planning on mentioning it somewhere in the piece. What they planned to do was review a cartoon (Saturday morning) but they forgot to ask the gang to TiVo and were up in the air flying home before cartoons started. So they were grabbing some public affiars show they saw and a friend at NBC got them a copy of Knight Rider. Only a few hours after SNL went off did they announce, "We've got it" and then they excused themselves from the writing edition and went off to write this. There was no master plan or pre-planning.
Radio: Panhandle Media -- As Jim notes, they cover this in El Spirito (the KPFA broadcast) hitting on the Latino angle and they cover it tomorrow on another area for Hilda's Mix (I haven't read that one yet). Jim wanted them to cover this for Third and he was begging. Because they had to go to the Oscars they really wanted to get some sleep in the morning. So Jim told them they'd be done by ____ but they weren't. They lost but we win out because this really is amazing. If you're not getting all that is wrong with Panhandle Media (they coin the term in this feature), read it and you will.
Trashing -- Trashing is not criticizing. If you don't get the difference, you need to read this article. Hillary Clinton has been trashed, non-stop and repeatedly.
How Little Media Operated -- The trashing, despite Bob Somerby's focus on Big Media, came from Panhandle Media which has stirred it and promoted it and taken part in it since 2007. Despite that, Obama is seeing serious problems in the polls and I'll get to that in a minute. But that he never made it to 80% ahead -- or even 70% -- when you consider how many enlisted their magazines and radio programs in his campaign.
Bash the Bitch -- I'd argue that this is where Big Media comes in. After Panhandle Media has trashed Hillary non-stop, they've signaled that anything goes. It's why a David Shuster thinks he can smear Hillary by saying she's "pimping" her daughter. Before he did that, you already had Matthew Rothschild being amused by and linking to an article calling Hillary Clinton a "c**t" -- an article at The Weekly Standard. Panhandle Media brewed and strirred it. It bubbled up in a way it wouldn't have otherwise. It gave the Chris Matthews and David Shusters and others the confidence to rip Hillary apart even more than they ever had before.
Rubbing the feet of the powerful -- Amy Goodman bubbling that Samantha Power might be the next Secretary of State. It was embarrassing. It was shameful. Her interview with Power continued today.
Dumb Ass of the week -- Guardian of London writer who says on Sunday that the press turned on Obama last week and offered examples like a Paul Krugman column . . . published two weeks ago, not last week!
Mailbag -- A few e-mails Ty picked get answered or commented on. Jess has a hilarious comment in it about deleting e-mails labeled "Top Secret." Tony missed it reading over the thing and maybe we should have put in "Ha, ha."? After I pointed it out, Tony did laugh though.
Highlights -- Kat, Elaine, Betty, Rebecca, Cedric, Wally and I wrote this and chose the highlights except where noted.
KPFA Blog from their debate coverage -- This is a reposting of some of KPFA's blog during Thursday night's coverage. They'd already begun removing comments when a friend of C.I.'s at KPFA sent it to C.I. to be sure it wasn't totally pruned.
A long with Dallas, here's who participated this week:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
and Marcia SICKOFITRDLZ.
Okay, here's Susan UnPC's "Foreign Policy: Will This Get Fair Play? :"
In his comment, Andy reminds us that Sen. Obama has failed to convene a single hearing of the European Affairs subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, of which he has been chair since 2005. Obama has also not visited ANY of the European countries, let alone NATO (which his subcommittee is also in charge of). In fact, when I researched this in December, I could not find his chairmanship mentioned anywhere on his official Senate Web site, however he touts it in his bio at his campaign site. Here at NoQuarter, we have written innumerable articles about Obama’s lack of qualifications and failure to do his U.S. Senate job. You can review those disturbing articles here.
Get it? He's going to save the country but he can't even hold a meeting -- in three years -- for the subcommittee he chairs? Want to tell me again how "experienced" he is?
If you click here you can read Susan UnPC talking about the latest poll finding Hillary at 51% and Bambi at 40%.
Did you catch Amy Goodman playing footsie with War Hawk Sammy Power on today's Democracy Now!? That was pretty disgusting. But I guess we all get now that Sammy Power is nothing but a War Hawk. She hides behind "caring" to sell her warfare.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, February 25, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Turkey continues it's invasion of northern Iraq, the US military death toll in Iraq is 28 away from 4,000, Oscar winning actress Julie Christie raises the issue of war resisters and more.
Starting with war resistance. Who knew an Oscar winner and multi-nominated, internationally known actress was a news outlet? Saturday, Lee-Anne Goodman (The Canadian Press) quoted Julie Christie explaining how Stephen Harper, right-wing prime minister of Canada, was her problem with the country, "I love Canada, I've always loved Canada, I feel proud of Canada - it's only just now that I am starting to lose my pride in Canada because of this guy who is your prime minister." Goodman explained the "longtime peace activist, accused Harper of refusing to welcome traumatized American soldiers to Canada who are deserting the army amid amid the prolonged and bloody war in Iraq" and quoted Christie explaining, "I was in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s . . . the place was full of war resisters and they were accepted by Canada and I've loved Canada ever since then. The fact that he's turned that around, and the cruelty of that and the meanness of it, it's put a little edge on my love of Canada." Julie Christie's commnets were covered an amplified widely including by entertainment outlets such as Canada's Jam! Showbiz and news outlets Bruce Kirkland in The Winnipeg Sun. Long before her remarks were amplified, Christie had already said more on the topic of war resisters than Democracy Now!, The Nation or The Progressive had in an entire month (add the last two's websites to the print editions). That should disturb consumers of Panhandle Media long before they grasp how especially necessary coverage of war resisters is right now.
Not just due to the fact that the illegal war drags on, but also because war resisters in Canada were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.
Earlier this month, Michele Richiniki (The Northeastern News) reported on Justiniano Rodrigues who signed up for the Army Reserves only to discover that war conflicted with the values of his Roman Catholic religion and he was advised by a sergeant that he was a conscientious objector. No guidance was given to Rodrigues on how to be declared a CO so he "began to take steps on his own. He met with various people to begin the process, including psychologists." As his date to deploy to Iraq loomed closer and more convinced that he could not participate in the Iraq War, Rodrigues decided (August 2006) to self-checkout. He explains to Richiniki, "At that point I didn't trust the war and wasn't going to leave the country with a company I didn't trust because of their misguiding. That's when I decided to go AWOL." Via The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Rodrigues finally began to receive the help that the military is supposed to provide CO applicants with. He now had a lawyer and they went to an Oklahoma military base where he turned himself in where, he explains, "I spent one week at the barracks and then they out-processed and discharged me." With a less than honorable discharge and Rodrigues is now attempting to be granted CO status. Today Jeff Miranda (The Northeastern News) writes about Rodrigues and people like his own brother who is in the ROTC program. Miranda concludes with this, "They're fighting a war so few believe in and there's no doubt to the degree of courage it takes to serve your country in a way few others have. It takes a different brand of courage to stand up for what you believe is right and speak your mind when everyone says you're wrong. My brother has proven he possesses one kind of courage. But his real strength might lie in learning to adopt both."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, 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, Clara 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 action:
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. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."
In northern Iraq over the weekend, the invasion launched by Turkey into the Kurdish region of Iraq continued. As noted in Friday's snapshot, the US State Dept was acknowledging that they had advance knowledge of the attack and that they shared intelligence with the government of Turkey. On Saturday, Tina Susman and Yesim Comert (Los Angeles Times) would report that "five bridges" were destroyed on Friday by the Turkish military "in violation of its pledge to target only rebel bases". Alissa J. Rubin and Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) would quote Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister of Iraq, condemning the invasion and calling for "Turkish troops" to withdraw "from Iraqi territory." The reporters would not noe that Zebari has condemned every action by the Turkish military in Iraq or that he was a Kurd. McClatchy Newspapers Yassen Taha and Leila Fadel would not only stick to the facts, they'd share them explaining that it was still unknown how many soldiers Turkey had sent into Iraq but the estimate offered by the puppet government in Baghdad was 1,000 while the PKK (labled as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union) stated that there were 10,000. They would note that it appeared "that Kurdish Regional President Massoud Barzani probably approved" Kurdish militia to move close to the battle and noted that "Barzani has been a frequent critic of the United States and Iraq's central government for their cooperation with Turkey in targeting the PKK, which is widely popular in Iraq's Kurdish region, but which the United States considers a terrorist organization. A confrontation between Turkish forces and the Kurdish militia would be a major escalation in the standoff over PKK attacks in Turkey, which have killed hundreds of Turkish civilians and soldiers in recent years." As the invasion continued Fadel would explore the prison system in the Kurdish region noting that this area that the White House has long touted as one of the "success stories" of the illegal war was also a region where "advocates and family charge" there "is a growing human rights crisis" in the Kurdish jail system and Fadel would cite Dana Ahmed Abdul Rhaman's mother who would share that after the year and a half her son has spent in a Kurdish jail, not only do they not know whey he's been held but they also do not "when he'll be released" and she will explain that in her only visit with her son, she saw that he had been tortured ("His face was as black as my dress"). It was a reality that went unaddressed on Democracy Now! today but then they booked a lobbyist for the Kurdish region as a guest. Today, McClatchy Newspapers reports that the the Union of Muslim Clerics in Kurdistan had issued a statement calling for Iraqis to engage in the battle against Turkey) while the New York Times notes acall from outside the region issued by Moqtada al-Sadr demanding Turkish troops withdraw from northern Iraq. Paul de Bendern (Reuters) reports that the invasion continues for the fifth day today and quotes White House flack Dana Perino declaring, "We hope that this is a short-term incursion so that they can help deal with the threat." Not quoted is the reply Perino gave today when asked if the Bully Boy knows "what percentage of the Iraqi people want U.S. forces to leave?" Perino replied, "Look, what we do know is that the -- there might be polls telling -- saying different things about who wants us where. What we know is that the Iraqi government wants us there, neighboring countries want us there. And we also know that if we were to leave too quickly that the possibility for chaos and mass violence is too great, and the President won't risk that." In other words, Perino is saying the White House just doesn't care what the Iraqi people want and that the focus of the press should be not on the will of the Iraqi people but on the puppet government the US installed in Baghdad. At the US State Department today, deputy spokesperson Tom Casey was asked about Turkey invading Iraq and stuck to the usual talking points, "The PKK is a threat to the United States, to Turkey, and to Iraq as well. We continue to urge cooperation between Turkish and Iraqi authorities on this. We are conducting diplomacy towards that end. We certainly want to see and make sure that the Turks continue with their stated policy, which is to make sure that any of these military actions minimize the impact and take very serious account of the concerns of civilian populations in the area." Casey was then pressed on US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates remarks on Sunday which asked for political and economic offers from Turkey to quell the violence of the PKK and Casey responded, "The PKK is a common enemy and I think all Secretary Gates is doing is stating the obvious, which is that a – this is a problem that requires more than just a military solution and I think all sides recognize it and that's why we'll be continuing our diplomacy on it." At the Pentagon today, Lt. General Carter Ham declared, "We continue to provide intelligence and appropriate information to the Turkish government as directed, and as part of that agreement, the Turkish military forces informed us and have now undertaken a limited ground operation against the KGK terrorist elements in northern Iraq. Central Command, European Command and Multinational Force-Iraq are clearly monitoring these operations very carefully." He also refuted the notion that the Turkish invasion might be "winding down".
Sunday saw mass fatalities from an Iskandariyah bombing during a Shi'ite pilgrimage. Leila Fadel and Yasseen Taha (McClatchy Newspapers) report, "As pilgrims stopped for water and food at a tent set up to serve them along their journey, a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and detonated, killing and wounding many of the pilgrims, said Muthanna Ahmed, spokesman for the police in Babil province." Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) report that 12-year-old Ahmed Ali had been "serving tea to pilgrims" when the bombing took place, that his left leg has now been amputated "below the knee" as a result of the wounds he received and they quote his mother asking, "What is his guilt? He is just a little kid who should have been in school." They also reported that the death toll from the bombing had risen to 60. Solomon Moore and Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) explained that the region's three hospitals were "overwhelmed" and quoted 28-year-old Ahmed Yassin who was taken to Hilla General Hospital explaining, "I saw a woman rush into the tent. Then there was an explosion and I went unconscious" and 23-year-old Fadel Khadhim explaining, "The smell of burned flesh is still stuck in my nose."
Violence continued in Iraq today and among the reported incidents . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 4 pilgrims and left twelve more injured, two Baghdad roadside bombings that left two civilians wounded, a Diyala Province roadside bombing that left 2 people dead, a Salahuddin wheelchair bombing that killed the wheelchair victim as well as Brig. General Abdul Jabar Rabiaa Salih ("assistant commander of Samarra operations") and a Mosul mortar attack that claimed 3 lives and left four more wounded
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 people shot dead in Baquba, unknown assialants dressed as Iraqi soldiers shot dead a woman in Diyala Province, an attack in Diyala Province that left 8 members of the Iraqi military dead and an attack on "oil company guards" outside Basra that claimed 1 life and left two other guards wounded. Reuters notes a young boy shot dead in Mosul and, in a separate incident, 4 police officers shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad, 8 corpses discovered (all women) in Diyala Province and the corpse of Ali Mahmoud at Hamdan was discovered in Basra (the engineer was kidnapped last month "by gunmen who were wearing police uniforms").
Yesterday, the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device struck the Soldier's vehicle during a combat patrol in northern Baghdad Feb. 24." And they announced: " A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed by small-arms fire during combat operations in southern Baghdad Feb. 24." The deaths brought ICCC's total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 3972 with 28 deaths announced for the month of February thus far and 28 away from the 4,000 mark. [Thank you to got Elaine and Mike for filling in here last night.]
At the Pentagon today, Army Lieutenant General Carter F. Ham, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared that maybe, possibly there might be a drawdown over the summer of US troops in Iraq from the current total of approximately 156,000 to 140,000 which would still be about 8,000 more than were in Iraq prior to Bully Boy's escalation popularly known as "the surge". "Yes, it is bigger" than the pre-escalation level, Ham boasted. But "it" (the summer prediction of a drawdown) isn't in concrete at this point and, as Ashford and Simpson once wrote in a different context, "Ain't nothing but a maybe." Ham tossed out the morsel but then declared speculation was "premature at this point" and that actually applies to both the return to the pre-escalation level and the possible drawdown over the summer. The most 'concrete' statement Ham could make on the possible summer drawdown (which, no doubt, will lead to headlines without any qualifiers "Pentagon says draw-down this summer!") was, "Well, we hope it would be made before July, but I'm not sure how much more before July."
The issue continues in what can be termed "When Media Hookers Collide." Exactly that happened on Democracy Now! today when Amy Goodman and Sammy Power shared face time as they each attempted to pimp their candidate of choice Barack Obama. Juan Gonzales offered actual worth noting, "About this issue of the Iraq war, as I know there's been much discussion about it and certainly on this show, we early on raised many of the questions in terms of the justifications for the war. But it does seem to me that it's a little bit different being a state legislator in Illinois from a district that's probably very much antiwar and having him being in the US Senate. If he had been in the US Senate and taken the same position at the time, I think that would have been a much firmer stand, that he could say, 'I was against the war from the beginning.' But when you're in a district in Illinois, you're along with about one-third to 40 percent of the American people who at that time were questioning of the war to a large degree, and I think that it was a tougher situation for those who were in the Senate. It still doesn't mean that Hillary Clinton was right in her judgment, but I find it hard to equate the two positions because of the relative differences in where they were at the time." From the broadcast:
JUAN GONZALEZ: Yeah, I have one last question, having watched many of these debates, as, on one hand, he argues that the arrogance of old of the United States around the world needs to change; on the other hand, he has argued to sharply increase the size of the US military, I think, by 90,000 troops, when this country already has a military budget that is equal to the rest of the world combined. Why does the United States need more military troops?
SAMANTHA POWER: I think because, much more than I, anyway, he has spent the better part of the last decade spending time with military families and has some sense of just how broken the military is right now, at its bending or its breaking point, from the standpoint of overstretch, from the--and this, I'm talking really specifically about soldiers,
We're cutting the War Hawk Sammy Power off there. Bring the troops home from Iraq -- end the illegal war -- and there's no "breakage" of the standing (and overstaffed) US military. Power, as Amy Goodman has panted and gushed Friday and again today, might be the Secretary of State in an Obama administration. The War Hawk Power is stating very clearly that Obama intends to increase the military. An increase is needed why? Some of his left and 'left' supporters need to get real real damn quick. Power's use of "responsible withdrawal from Iraq" should alarm the hell out of all who remember Vietnam, remember that it didn't end even after the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Obama is not an "anti-war" candidate and people need to quit deluding themselves. "Responsible withdrawal" is the same garbage tossed to the people during Vietnam in an attempt to take the pressure off the call to end that illegal war. It's 'pretty words' that make it seem as though something is being done but it's just an illegal war being prolonged.
Also of alarm should have been A Problem From Hell Power declaring that "as you get out of Iraq . . you could actually get to that moment where, you know, the United States could actually be supportive of peacekeeping missions, could transport soldiers to Darfur --" Power is calling for US soldiers to be sent to Darfur. It's a stance Our Modern Day Carrie Nations has long held because she's nothing but a cheap War Hawk propped up by a lot of fools (add Amy Goodman to that list). In the current issue of FAIR's Extra! Julie Hollar addresses exactly how much damage the US military would do to the situation in Darfur in "The Humanitarian Tempataion" (pp. 17 through 21). Having allowed her program to be used to call for more imperial war, Goodman would do well to invite on Hollar to discuss her article. Here's Goody stumbling and fumbling around:
AMY GOODMAN: But as you say, you know, he's looking at a broken military now because it is so overstretched. The idea is that if he were president, I think he's putting forward that--if he's saying he would pull out of Iraq--
SAMANTHA POWER: Absolutely.
AMY GOODMAN: --well, there are your soldiers. Why would he call for vastly expanding the US military?
SAMANTHA POWER: Well, this is what I'm trying to suggest is that there are going to be functions for US soldiers to perform. . . . So, I mean, there are national security and humanitarian challenges out there that are going to require American attention, and sometimes that's going to require military attention.
"National security and humanitarian challenges out there." For those who missed it and still can't grasp it a number of left and 'left' voices got on board with the illegal Iraq War due to the 'humanitarian' nature of the mission. Humanitarism is a pose for War Hawks today, it's what they hide behind to sell their illegal wars. While Tom Hayden made a perfect fool of himself last week declaring that Obama had just said that he would end the illegal war by 2009 (if elected), the reality is that Obama was speaking off the cuff and only refers to "combat" troops which leaves thousands and thousands of US service members in Iraq. More importantly, Obama advisor Sammy Power declared to Goodman and Gonzales that "Obama's aim is to get those soldiers out within sixteen to eighteen months, a brigade or two a month." She's an advisor to the campaign. Maybe Tom Hayden and The Nation could stop being so damn stupid and stop pimping a candidate by lying to the public that he's "anti-war" and will end the illegal war in 2009?
In other US political news, Ralph Nader declared he is running for president and spoke with Tim Russert on NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday. We'll close with "Figures on the Iraq occupation" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker):4.4% – The portion of Iraq's national budget that is being spent on reconstruction12,000 – The number of Iraq's 34,000 doctors that have now fled into exile 54% – The proportion of Iraq's population living on less than 50p a day. Some 15 percent of the country lives in "extreme poverty" 75% – The proportion of Iraqi children that have no school place 4 million – The number of Iraqi refugees -- the largest refugee crisis in the Middle East since the fall of Palestine in 1948 40% – The unemployment rate in Iraq. Inflation is running at 50 percent 77% – The proportion of Iraqis who have been affected by air bombardments, shelling or rocket attacks 60,000 – The average number of Iraqis displaced each month during 200775% – The proportion of Iraqis who know someone close to them who has been killed or murdered 26,000 – The number of Iraqi prisoners held in US custody – more than the 24,000 held by the Iraqi governmnent 100 – The number of "suspected insurgents" seized by US troops each day80% – The proportion of Iraqis who have witnessed a shooting. Some 72 percent have witnessed a car bomb. $500 billion – The amount of money spent by the US government on the Iraq war and occuption so far
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the common ills
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sex and politics and screeds and attitude
the daily jot
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thomas friedman is a great man
the third estate sunday review
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the socialist worker
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Truest statement of the week -- this is Julie Christie and she can talk about war resisters. Why others can't is the question. Good for her. She should have won the Oscar last night. After Her (I think that's the title) is only the movie I've seen in months. Elaine and I saw that (her pick) and it was really involving. I thought I was going to be bored by what Elaine told me about it (Christie's a woman who's developing Alzheimer's) but it had more life in it than ten summer blockbusters and Christie was so good that I told Dad about the film and he insisted upon setting up a Christie film festival. (Which is when I got to see Shampoo finally and Darling, Petulia and I forget what else right now.) She's an incredible actress and what a strong person to speak out.
Truest statement of the week II -- This is the Lambert quote I remember in "Highlights." It's really strong.
A Note to Our Readers -- Jim explains the edition and I don't see much he left out.
Editorial: Reality on Iraq votes -- It's time for people to start getting serious. Vote for who you want to but quit pretending Bambi's "anti-war." If he wants credit for one speech in 2002 and wants to be portrayed as against the illegal war, it's important that people start asking, "If you were against the illegal war, why did you vote for funding it after you got into the Senate?" That's a funny way of being against it. Fight the hype!
TV: The strong and the weak -- Dad's one word comment after reading this probably sums it up best, "Damn!" :D Ava and C.I., they amaze me always. My sister-in-law's favorite part is the "underpants" section. She loves the whole thing but especially loves it when they work in Knight Rider. This, they hope, is their last involving news or public affairs programming for a long time. Tony said it was great that they "transitioned" with this commentary by including SNL and Knight Rider along with news and complimented them on that strategy. I had to explain to him that they hadn't planned it. They were going to note SNL regardless because a friend with the show had asked them to. But they didn't plan the review that way. Like they say, they were planning on mentioning it somewhere in the piece. What they planned to do was review a cartoon (Saturday morning) but they forgot to ask the gang to TiVo and were up in the air flying home before cartoons started. So they were grabbing some public affiars show they saw and a friend at NBC got them a copy of Knight Rider. Only a few hours after SNL went off did they announce, "We've got it" and then they excused themselves from the writing edition and went off to write this. There was no master plan or pre-planning.
Radio: Panhandle Media -- As Jim notes, they cover this in El Spirito (the KPFA broadcast) hitting on the Latino angle and they cover it tomorrow on another area for Hilda's Mix (I haven't read that one yet). Jim wanted them to cover this for Third and he was begging. Because they had to go to the Oscars they really wanted to get some sleep in the morning. So Jim told them they'd be done by ____ but they weren't. They lost but we win out because this really is amazing. If you're not getting all that is wrong with Panhandle Media (they coin the term in this feature), read it and you will.
Trashing -- Trashing is not criticizing. If you don't get the difference, you need to read this article. Hillary Clinton has been trashed, non-stop and repeatedly.
How Little Media Operated -- The trashing, despite Bob Somerby's focus on Big Media, came from Panhandle Media which has stirred it and promoted it and taken part in it since 2007. Despite that, Obama is seeing serious problems in the polls and I'll get to that in a minute. But that he never made it to 80% ahead -- or even 70% -- when you consider how many enlisted their magazines and radio programs in his campaign.
Bash the Bitch -- I'd argue that this is where Big Media comes in. After Panhandle Media has trashed Hillary non-stop, they've signaled that anything goes. It's why a David Shuster thinks he can smear Hillary by saying she's "pimping" her daughter. Before he did that, you already had Matthew Rothschild being amused by and linking to an article calling Hillary Clinton a "c**t" -- an article at The Weekly Standard. Panhandle Media brewed and strirred it. It bubbled up in a way it wouldn't have otherwise. It gave the Chris Matthews and David Shusters and others the confidence to rip Hillary apart even more than they ever had before.
Rubbing the feet of the powerful -- Amy Goodman bubbling that Samantha Power might be the next Secretary of State. It was embarrassing. It was shameful. Her interview with Power continued today.
Dumb Ass of the week -- Guardian of London writer who says on Sunday that the press turned on Obama last week and offered examples like a Paul Krugman column . . . published two weeks ago, not last week!
Mailbag -- A few e-mails Ty picked get answered or commented on. Jess has a hilarious comment in it about deleting e-mails labeled "Top Secret." Tony missed it reading over the thing and maybe we should have put in "Ha, ha."? After I pointed it out, Tony did laugh though.
Highlights -- Kat, Elaine, Betty, Rebecca, Cedric, Wally and I wrote this and chose the highlights except where noted.
KPFA Blog from their debate coverage -- This is a reposting of some of KPFA's blog during Thursday night's coverage. They'd already begun removing comments when a friend of C.I.'s at KPFA sent it to C.I. to be sure it wasn't totally pruned.
A long with Dallas, here's who participated this week:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
and Marcia SICKOFITRDLZ.
Okay, here's Susan UnPC's "Foreign Policy: Will This Get Fair Play? :"
In his comment, Andy reminds us that Sen. Obama has failed to convene a single hearing of the European Affairs subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, of which he has been chair since 2005. Obama has also not visited ANY of the European countries, let alone NATO (which his subcommittee is also in charge of). In fact, when I researched this in December, I could not find his chairmanship mentioned anywhere on his official Senate Web site, however he touts it in his bio at his campaign site. Here at NoQuarter, we have written innumerable articles about Obama’s lack of qualifications and failure to do his U.S. Senate job. You can review those disturbing articles here.
Get it? He's going to save the country but he can't even hold a meeting -- in three years -- for the subcommittee he chairs? Want to tell me again how "experienced" he is?
If you click here you can read Susan UnPC talking about the latest poll finding Hillary at 51% and Bambi at 40%.
Did you catch Amy Goodman playing footsie with War Hawk Sammy Power on today's Democracy Now!? That was pretty disgusting. But I guess we all get now that Sammy Power is nothing but a War Hawk. She hides behind "caring" to sell her warfare.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, February 25, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Turkey continues it's invasion of northern Iraq, the US military death toll in Iraq is 28 away from 4,000, Oscar winning actress Julie Christie raises the issue of war resisters and more.
Starting with war resistance. Who knew an Oscar winner and multi-nominated, internationally known actress was a news outlet? Saturday, Lee-Anne Goodman (The Canadian Press) quoted Julie Christie explaining how Stephen Harper, right-wing prime minister of Canada, was her problem with the country, "I love Canada, I've always loved Canada, I feel proud of Canada - it's only just now that I am starting to lose my pride in Canada because of this guy who is your prime minister." Goodman explained the "longtime peace activist, accused Harper of refusing to welcome traumatized American soldiers to Canada who are deserting the army amid amid the prolonged and bloody war in Iraq" and quoted Christie explaining, "I was in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s . . . the place was full of war resisters and they were accepted by Canada and I've loved Canada ever since then. The fact that he's turned that around, and the cruelty of that and the meanness of it, it's put a little edge on my love of Canada." Julie Christie's commnets were covered an amplified widely including by entertainment outlets such as Canada's Jam! Showbiz and news outlets Bruce Kirkland in The Winnipeg Sun. Long before her remarks were amplified, Christie had already said more on the topic of war resisters than Democracy Now!, The Nation or The Progressive had in an entire month (add the last two's websites to the print editions). That should disturb consumers of Panhandle Media long before they grasp how especially necessary coverage of war resisters is right now.
Not just due to the fact that the illegal war drags on, but also because war resisters in Canada were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.
Earlier this month, Michele Richiniki (The Northeastern News) reported on Justiniano Rodrigues who signed up for the Army Reserves only to discover that war conflicted with the values of his Roman Catholic religion and he was advised by a sergeant that he was a conscientious objector. No guidance was given to Rodrigues on how to be declared a CO so he "began to take steps on his own. He met with various people to begin the process, including psychologists." As his date to deploy to Iraq loomed closer and more convinced that he could not participate in the Iraq War, Rodrigues decided (August 2006) to self-checkout. He explains to Richiniki, "At that point I didn't trust the war and wasn't going to leave the country with a company I didn't trust because of their misguiding. That's when I decided to go AWOL." Via The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Rodrigues finally began to receive the help that the military is supposed to provide CO applicants with. He now had a lawyer and they went to an Oklahoma military base where he turned himself in where, he explains, "I spent one week at the barracks and then they out-processed and discharged me." With a less than honorable discharge and Rodrigues is now attempting to be granted CO status. Today Jeff Miranda (The Northeastern News) writes about Rodrigues and people like his own brother who is in the ROTC program. Miranda concludes with this, "They're fighting a war so few believe in and there's no doubt to the degree of courage it takes to serve your country in a way few others have. It takes a different brand of courage to stand up for what you believe is right and speak your mind when everyone says you're wrong. My brother has proven he possesses one kind of courage. But his real strength might lie in learning to adopt both."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, 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, Clara 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 action:
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. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."
In northern Iraq over the weekend, the invasion launched by Turkey into the Kurdish region of Iraq continued. As noted in Friday's snapshot, the US State Dept was acknowledging that they had advance knowledge of the attack and that they shared intelligence with the government of Turkey. On Saturday, Tina Susman and Yesim Comert (Los Angeles Times) would report that "five bridges" were destroyed on Friday by the Turkish military "in violation of its pledge to target only rebel bases". Alissa J. Rubin and Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) would quote Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister of Iraq, condemning the invasion and calling for "Turkish troops" to withdraw "from Iraqi territory." The reporters would not noe that Zebari has condemned every action by the Turkish military in Iraq or that he was a Kurd. McClatchy Newspapers Yassen Taha and Leila Fadel would not only stick to the facts, they'd share them explaining that it was still unknown how many soldiers Turkey had sent into Iraq but the estimate offered by the puppet government in Baghdad was 1,000 while the PKK (labled as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union) stated that there were 10,000. They would note that it appeared "that Kurdish Regional President Massoud Barzani probably approved" Kurdish militia to move close to the battle and noted that "Barzani has been a frequent critic of the United States and Iraq's central government for their cooperation with Turkey in targeting the PKK, which is widely popular in Iraq's Kurdish region, but which the United States considers a terrorist organization. A confrontation between Turkish forces and the Kurdish militia would be a major escalation in the standoff over PKK attacks in Turkey, which have killed hundreds of Turkish civilians and soldiers in recent years." As the invasion continued Fadel would explore the prison system in the Kurdish region noting that this area that the White House has long touted as one of the "success stories" of the illegal war was also a region where "advocates and family charge" there "is a growing human rights crisis" in the Kurdish jail system and Fadel would cite Dana Ahmed Abdul Rhaman's mother who would share that after the year and a half her son has spent in a Kurdish jail, not only do they not know whey he's been held but they also do not "when he'll be released" and she will explain that in her only visit with her son, she saw that he had been tortured ("His face was as black as my dress"). It was a reality that went unaddressed on Democracy Now! today but then they booked a lobbyist for the Kurdish region as a guest. Today, McClatchy Newspapers reports that the the Union of Muslim Clerics in Kurdistan had issued a statement calling for Iraqis to engage in the battle against Turkey) while the New York Times notes acall from outside the region issued by Moqtada al-Sadr demanding Turkish troops withdraw from northern Iraq. Paul de Bendern (Reuters) reports that the invasion continues for the fifth day today and quotes White House flack Dana Perino declaring, "We hope that this is a short-term incursion so that they can help deal with the threat." Not quoted is the reply Perino gave today when asked if the Bully Boy knows "what percentage of the Iraqi people want U.S. forces to leave?" Perino replied, "Look, what we do know is that the -- there might be polls telling -- saying different things about who wants us where. What we know is that the Iraqi government wants us there, neighboring countries want us there. And we also know that if we were to leave too quickly that the possibility for chaos and mass violence is too great, and the President won't risk that." In other words, Perino is saying the White House just doesn't care what the Iraqi people want and that the focus of the press should be not on the will of the Iraqi people but on the puppet government the US installed in Baghdad. At the US State Department today, deputy spokesperson Tom Casey was asked about Turkey invading Iraq and stuck to the usual talking points, "The PKK is a threat to the United States, to Turkey, and to Iraq as well. We continue to urge cooperation between Turkish and Iraqi authorities on this. We are conducting diplomacy towards that end. We certainly want to see and make sure that the Turks continue with their stated policy, which is to make sure that any of these military actions minimize the impact and take very serious account of the concerns of civilian populations in the area." Casey was then pressed on US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates remarks on Sunday which asked for political and economic offers from Turkey to quell the violence of the PKK and Casey responded, "The PKK is a common enemy and I think all Secretary Gates is doing is stating the obvious, which is that a – this is a problem that requires more than just a military solution and I think all sides recognize it and that's why we'll be continuing our diplomacy on it." At the Pentagon today, Lt. General Carter Ham declared, "We continue to provide intelligence and appropriate information to the Turkish government as directed, and as part of that agreement, the Turkish military forces informed us and have now undertaken a limited ground operation against the KGK terrorist elements in northern Iraq. Central Command, European Command and Multinational Force-Iraq are clearly monitoring these operations very carefully." He also refuted the notion that the Turkish invasion might be "winding down".
Sunday saw mass fatalities from an Iskandariyah bombing during a Shi'ite pilgrimage. Leila Fadel and Yasseen Taha (McClatchy Newspapers) report, "As pilgrims stopped for water and food at a tent set up to serve them along their journey, a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and detonated, killing and wounding many of the pilgrims, said Muthanna Ahmed, spokesman for the police in Babil province." Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) report that 12-year-old Ahmed Ali had been "serving tea to pilgrims" when the bombing took place, that his left leg has now been amputated "below the knee" as a result of the wounds he received and they quote his mother asking, "What is his guilt? He is just a little kid who should have been in school." They also reported that the death toll from the bombing had risen to 60. Solomon Moore and Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) explained that the region's three hospitals were "overwhelmed" and quoted 28-year-old Ahmed Yassin who was taken to Hilla General Hospital explaining, "I saw a woman rush into the tent. Then there was an explosion and I went unconscious" and 23-year-old Fadel Khadhim explaining, "The smell of burned flesh is still stuck in my nose."
Violence continued in Iraq today and among the reported incidents . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 4 pilgrims and left twelve more injured, two Baghdad roadside bombings that left two civilians wounded, a Diyala Province roadside bombing that left 2 people dead, a Salahuddin wheelchair bombing that killed the wheelchair victim as well as Brig. General Abdul Jabar Rabiaa Salih ("assistant commander of Samarra operations") and a Mosul mortar attack that claimed 3 lives and left four more wounded
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 people shot dead in Baquba, unknown assialants dressed as Iraqi soldiers shot dead a woman in Diyala Province, an attack in Diyala Province that left 8 members of the Iraqi military dead and an attack on "oil company guards" outside Basra that claimed 1 life and left two other guards wounded. Reuters notes a young boy shot dead in Mosul and, in a separate incident, 4 police officers shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad, 8 corpses discovered (all women) in Diyala Province and the corpse of Ali Mahmoud at Hamdan was discovered in Basra (the engineer was kidnapped last month "by gunmen who were wearing police uniforms").
Yesterday, the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device struck the Soldier's vehicle during a combat patrol in northern Baghdad Feb. 24." And they announced: " A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed by small-arms fire during combat operations in southern Baghdad Feb. 24." The deaths brought ICCC's total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 3972 with 28 deaths announced for the month of February thus far and 28 away from the 4,000 mark. [Thank you to got Elaine and Mike for filling in here last night.]
At the Pentagon today, Army Lieutenant General Carter F. Ham, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared that maybe, possibly there might be a drawdown over the summer of US troops in Iraq from the current total of approximately 156,000 to 140,000 which would still be about 8,000 more than were in Iraq prior to Bully Boy's escalation popularly known as "the surge". "Yes, it is bigger" than the pre-escalation level, Ham boasted. But "it" (the summer prediction of a drawdown) isn't in concrete at this point and, as Ashford and Simpson once wrote in a different context, "Ain't nothing but a maybe." Ham tossed out the morsel but then declared speculation was "premature at this point" and that actually applies to both the return to the pre-escalation level and the possible drawdown over the summer. The most 'concrete' statement Ham could make on the possible summer drawdown (which, no doubt, will lead to headlines without any qualifiers "Pentagon says draw-down this summer!") was, "Well, we hope it would be made before July, but I'm not sure how much more before July."
The issue continues in what can be termed "When Media Hookers Collide." Exactly that happened on Democracy Now! today when Amy Goodman and Sammy Power shared face time as they each attempted to pimp their candidate of choice Barack Obama. Juan Gonzales offered actual worth noting, "About this issue of the Iraq war, as I know there's been much discussion about it and certainly on this show, we early on raised many of the questions in terms of the justifications for the war. But it does seem to me that it's a little bit different being a state legislator in Illinois from a district that's probably very much antiwar and having him being in the US Senate. If he had been in the US Senate and taken the same position at the time, I think that would have been a much firmer stand, that he could say, 'I was against the war from the beginning.' But when you're in a district in Illinois, you're along with about one-third to 40 percent of the American people who at that time were questioning of the war to a large degree, and I think that it was a tougher situation for those who were in the Senate. It still doesn't mean that Hillary Clinton was right in her judgment, but I find it hard to equate the two positions because of the relative differences in where they were at the time." From the broadcast:
JUAN GONZALEZ: Yeah, I have one last question, having watched many of these debates, as, on one hand, he argues that the arrogance of old of the United States around the world needs to change; on the other hand, he has argued to sharply increase the size of the US military, I think, by 90,000 troops, when this country already has a military budget that is equal to the rest of the world combined. Why does the United States need more military troops?
SAMANTHA POWER: I think because, much more than I, anyway, he has spent the better part of the last decade spending time with military families and has some sense of just how broken the military is right now, at its bending or its breaking point, from the standpoint of overstretch, from the--and this, I'm talking really specifically about soldiers,
We're cutting the War Hawk Sammy Power off there. Bring the troops home from Iraq -- end the illegal war -- and there's no "breakage" of the standing (and overstaffed) US military. Power, as Amy Goodman has panted and gushed Friday and again today, might be the Secretary of State in an Obama administration. The War Hawk Power is stating very clearly that Obama intends to increase the military. An increase is needed why? Some of his left and 'left' supporters need to get real real damn quick. Power's use of "responsible withdrawal from Iraq" should alarm the hell out of all who remember Vietnam, remember that it didn't end even after the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Obama is not an "anti-war" candidate and people need to quit deluding themselves. "Responsible withdrawal" is the same garbage tossed to the people during Vietnam in an attempt to take the pressure off the call to end that illegal war. It's 'pretty words' that make it seem as though something is being done but it's just an illegal war being prolonged.
Also of alarm should have been A Problem From Hell Power declaring that "as you get out of Iraq . . you could actually get to that moment where, you know, the United States could actually be supportive of peacekeeping missions, could transport soldiers to Darfur --" Power is calling for US soldiers to be sent to Darfur. It's a stance Our Modern Day Carrie Nations has long held because she's nothing but a cheap War Hawk propped up by a lot of fools (add Amy Goodman to that list). In the current issue of FAIR's Extra! Julie Hollar addresses exactly how much damage the US military would do to the situation in Darfur in "The Humanitarian Tempataion" (pp. 17 through 21). Having allowed her program to be used to call for more imperial war, Goodman would do well to invite on Hollar to discuss her article. Here's Goody stumbling and fumbling around:
AMY GOODMAN: But as you say, you know, he's looking at a broken military now because it is so overstretched. The idea is that if he were president, I think he's putting forward that--if he's saying he would pull out of Iraq--
SAMANTHA POWER: Absolutely.
AMY GOODMAN: --well, there are your soldiers. Why would he call for vastly expanding the US military?
SAMANTHA POWER: Well, this is what I'm trying to suggest is that there are going to be functions for US soldiers to perform. . . . So, I mean, there are national security and humanitarian challenges out there that are going to require American attention, and sometimes that's going to require military attention.
"National security and humanitarian challenges out there." For those who missed it and still can't grasp it a number of left and 'left' voices got on board with the illegal Iraq War due to the 'humanitarian' nature of the mission. Humanitarism is a pose for War Hawks today, it's what they hide behind to sell their illegal wars. While Tom Hayden made a perfect fool of himself last week declaring that Obama had just said that he would end the illegal war by 2009 (if elected), the reality is that Obama was speaking off the cuff and only refers to "combat" troops which leaves thousands and thousands of US service members in Iraq. More importantly, Obama advisor Sammy Power declared to Goodman and Gonzales that "Obama's aim is to get those soldiers out within sixteen to eighteen months, a brigade or two a month." She's an advisor to the campaign. Maybe Tom Hayden and The Nation could stop being so damn stupid and stop pimping a candidate by lying to the public that he's "anti-war" and will end the illegal war in 2009?
In other US political news, Ralph Nader declared he is running for president and spoke with Tim Russert on NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday. We'll close with "Figures on the Iraq occupation" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker):4.4% – The portion of Iraq's national budget that is being spent on reconstruction12,000 – The number of Iraq's 34,000 doctors that have now fled into exile 54% – The proportion of Iraq's population living on less than 50p a day. Some 15 percent of the country lives in "extreme poverty" 75% – The proportion of Iraqi children that have no school place 4 million – The number of Iraqi refugees -- the largest refugee crisis in the Middle East since the fall of Palestine in 1948 40% – The unemployment rate in Iraq. Inflation is running at 50 percent 77% – The proportion of Iraqis who have been affected by air bombardments, shelling or rocket attacks 60,000 – The average number of Iraqis displaced each month during 200775% – The proportion of Iraqis who know someone close to them who has been killed or murdered 26,000 – The number of Iraqi prisoners held in US custody – more than the 24,000 held by the Iraqi governmnent 100 – The number of "suspected insurgents" seized by US troops each day80% – The proportion of Iraqis who have witnessed a shooting. Some 72 percent have witnessed a car bomb. $500 billion – The amount of money spent by the US government on the Iraq war and occuption so far
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