Hump day, hump day, go away! :D Women they will come and they will go . . . When the rain washes you clean, you'll know . . . You'll know . . . You will know. That's Stevie Nicks singing "Dreams" and she's singing it around the country with the Big Mac which is on tour. Tonight's theme is dreams.
So I'm not sure how other people are planning to cover the theme but I'll talk about the dream I used to have that would scare me and then I got used to it and now I miss it.
I was probably four or five years old and I was sick, had a really awful fever. We were at my grandparents (my mother's parents) and all of us grandkids had been playing before. I stopped playing and my grandfather noticed and figured out I was sick. I went into the living room with him (and some of my aunts and uncles) where they were watching Woody Allen's Sleeper. My grandfather cleared the couch by the TV and got me pillows and a blanket. And I kept waking up and falling back to sleep. At some point, I woke up convinced people were putting bricks on top of my chest. So my grandfather ended up getting on the couch with me to get me to lie back down.
Then I was in and out, up and asleep and at some point the whole room was spinning. That was scary and after that it would happen in my bed. (And my brothers were not as kind as my grandfather if I woke them up. :D) So I would learn to make it slow down and then stop but all it would do is make it start spinning in the other way.
It freaked me out until around the age of 8. Then I got used to it and actually enjoyed it. It was like spinning in a circle when it happened. (Usually when I was really tired.) Then it happened less and less around 15 and now it never happens. But if you asked me to pick my favorite repeating dream, that would be the one.
Today Barry Obama sold out and back stabbed yet again. This time? Not going to release the photos of torture. Even though a court ordered them released. Even though he said he would release them. He's a liar.
At the Los Angeles Times, Michael Muskal carries water for Barack. Over at the Center for Constitutional Rights? Itty bitty babies can't call Barack out. They're hoping to sleep on it and then be able to tomorrow. After they take their courage pills.
Debra Sweet doesn't need any courage pills and this is from her "War Criminals, Torturers on Parade: Protest May 28th, and Wherever they Appear:"
There’s a moment here, this month, when more and more is coming out about the systematic, sanctioned use of torture by the US, approved at all levels, including the responsible Democrats in Congress. In two weeks, more photos come out for the world to see.
And the war criminals are on parade. Dick Cheney is leading the argument for the open, justified use of torture.
On Face the Nation Sunday, he said that what the Bush regime had done is not torture. CBS reported, "Cheney still bristled at the suggestion that what President Bush authorized constituted torture, saying they weren't in the "torture business...I think it's very, very important that we have a clear understanding that what happened here was an honorable approach to defending the nation, that there was nothing devious or deceitful or dishonest or illegal about what was done."
And, the clincher: Cheney, when asked if Bush knew about the interrogation program: "I certainly, yes, have every reason to believe he knew -- he knew a great deal about the program. He basically authorized it. I mean, this was a presidential-level decision. And the decision went to the president. He signed off on it."
Use the link for more and remember that May 28th is the day of protest. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, more details emerge in Monday's shooting, Steven D. Green's sentencing hearing continues (day three), Congress examines new techniques for veterans' treatment, the President of the KRG expresses disappointment in the US, Barack breaks another promise, and more.
Starting with Steven D. Green, convicted last Thursday in the gang-rape of 14-year-old Iraqi Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, her murder, the murder of her five-year-old sister and the murders of both of her parents. His sentence hearing is ongoing and on the third day. Evan Bright reports that the defense put Gary Solace ("a Vietnam War vet who testified about military training+combat stress and its effects") and Andrew Horn. Horn's a retired Marine. He knows Green from . . . well he doesn't. Green has been convicted. The defense is tossing up 'experts' and using damn little time to provide people who know Green. Green's been convicted. 'Experts' aren't the issue at this point. Yesterday was nothing but 'experts' except for Green's uncle Dr. Greg Simolke. Evan Bright reports of that testimony yesterday:
You could see the emotion growing in Simolke's face and demeanor. He spoke of Steven, Doug, and Danny not having many rules. When asked about Doug's "being tough" on Steve, he testified that "Doug...was hard on Steve...(pause)...it felt like that...wore on Steve. Doug was sort of..." At this point, Dr. Simolke broke down crying and had to pause for a few minutes to regain his composure. He was given some water and he continued. "Doug was sort of...in charge, but he was too young to manage Steve." Bouldin asked what his(Simolke's) thoughts were on Green and he "generally..I felt sorry for Steve. I felt that he wasn't completely normal....nothing drastic or super unusual...he was generally left out [throughout] his life. (pauses...more tears) Nothing ever worked out for him, he had a black cloud hanging over him..(pause)..I just didn't think life was workin' out for him." During all of this, Green was noticed staring straight ahead. Simolke testified that he wouldn't have called Steven Green a leader. "No....I don't want to be offensive...he wasn't a leader...anyone who knows Steve wouldn't say he was. He's a follower." Simolke testified about Green living with him for a few months, maintaining a C-average, before realizing that he was so far behind in school that wouldn't be able to graduate high school that year with the rest of his classmates; after which dropping out and moving back to his hometown of Midland, TX where he got his GED.
Instead of staying with that and pursuing that line, they offered 'experts'. Deborah Feverick (CNN) notes, "Defense lawyers trying to save their client from the death penalty argued Tuesday that former U.S. soldier Steven Green exhibited clear symptoms of acute stress disorder in Iraq and that a military psychiatric nurse-practioner failed to diagnose the troubled infantryman and pull him out of combat." The 'experts' didn't even know what they were talking about and one conflicted his account on the stand and better hope the jury doesn't learn what happened this weekend. Bright reports that Dr. Ruben Gur stated Green needed structure and was asked if Green would do well in military? Gur answered affirmative. After explaining the MRI said otherwise. Did no one catch that? He would also, according to Gur, do well in prison with the structure. AP reports Green "threw a lunch tray" in jail Saturday over needing to shave but not having (or, more likely, being given) a razor. Gur was an 'expert.' Another reason not to waste the jury's time with 'experts.' Guilt was already established. The issue now is the sentencing. Friends and family of Green is who needs to be put on the stand to humanize Green, not to turn him into a case study.
Yesterday CBS Evening News with Katie Couric offered a report by Bob Orr on the Sgt John M. Russell shooting five other service members in Iraq:
Bob Orr: His commander feared Sgt John Russell was on the edge. They took away his weapon and ordered him into counseling in a combat stress clinic in Baghdad. He went there yesterday, officials say, and opened fire killing five service men. 22-year-old John Michael Russell: He's got medals. And he was doing good for -- for the country. Bob Orr: Today at their home in Sherman, Texas, Russell's twenty-one year-old son struggled to understand how his dad on his third tour of duty in Iraq now faces five counts of murder. 22-year-old John Michael Russell: For him to do something like that, he couldn't have been in his right state of mind. They had to -- they had to put him to a breaking point and just -- he just had to have lost it. Just lost all train of thought to do anything like that. Bob Orr: [Sgt] Russell's father said he may have snapped fearing his military career could be ended by a stress diagnosis. Wilburn Russell: His life was over as far as he was concerned. He was going to lose everything. And I guess it was too much. Bob Orr: Military investigators don't know what triggered the shootings but say Russell was agitated when asked to leave the clinic after arguing with a counselor. A short time later, Russell returned to the stress center with a weapon he apparently stole from his armed escort. The rampage played out quickly. Gen David Perkins: The suspect was apprehended outside the clinic shortly after shots were heard. Bob Orr: The incident is the deadliest involving soldier-on-soldier violence in the six year Iraq War. In response the army has now launched an investigation to determine whether it needs more people and facilities in war zones to deal with combat stress and soldiers on the brink. Patrick Campbell (Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America): These are the canaries in the mine. If we don't start addressing these issues, people are going to get more and more injured and it's going to be harder to treat them. Bob Orr: For Sgt Russell who had planned to be home by July, it's too late. Wilburn Russell: His father's heartbroken, his mother's crying in their hiding. We're -- we're sorry for the families involved too. Cause they're going through heart ache. Bob Orr: His family says they knew of no warning sings. Russell in fact recently e-mailed his son on his birthday and just Sunday e-mailed his mother for Mother's Day.
James Dao and Lizette Alvarez (New York Times) report, "Lt. Col. Edward Brusher, the deputy director of behavioral health proponecy for the surgeon general, said in March that there was one provider for 640 service members in Iraq." They quote him stating, "There are currently enough behavioral health providers." As Elaine noted last night:The military is saying that speculation does no good but this is the same military that has closed the stress center. 1 US soldier just shot 5 others dead. If there were ever a time when a stress center was most needed, it would be right now. Had a shooting taken place at a support hospital or triage center, they would not have shut down.They wouldn't have had the option. The feeling would have been, "This is emergency work." But note the difference when it comes to the brain, to mental issues, to stress.They closed down the combat stress center yesterday. When it was most needed.
Meanwhile Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) identified two of those killed on Monday: Charles K. Springle and Michael Edward Yates. Luis Martinez, Martha Raddatz and Kate Barrett (ABC News) speak with Yates' stepfather, Richard Van Blarga Jr., who states, he thinks Yates mentioned Russell in a call on Sunday: "On the conversation with my wife on Mother's Day, he said that he had met a sergeant, that he was, in his words, he was a very nice guy, he could deal with him, but he had some major issues. He was out there on the branch hoping for somebody to help him." Stephanie Gaskell (New York Daily News) reports Christian Bueno-Galdos, Matthew Houseal and Jacob Barton are the other three who were shot dead on Monday. She also notes the phone call Yates made to his mother on Sunday and quotes Shawna Machlinski (his mother) stating, "I do have some sympathy and I do know that I can forgive him [Russell]." Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) notes, "The shootings concerned the military, which is preparing to withdraw troops from Iraq's cities by the end of June under the terms of the security agreement reached with the Iraqi government. Camp Liberty, part of the sprawling complex of bases that make up Camp Victory, will not close because both countries have decided that it is not part of Baghdad." The bases are in Baghdad and out of it (they sprawl). According to the treaty masquerading as the Status Of Forces Agreement, the US soldiers on them should be removed or else the US base could become a joint US-Iraqi base. Neither is happening, the much lauded SOFA is being violated. That's only one aspect. In a report that only Alsumaria currently has, the Status Of Forces Agreement doesn't apply to all of Iraq. That's the claim being offered by a US Major: "56th Combat brigade Chief in the US military Major Marc Ferrero clarified that his forces stationed in Taji are not included in the decision of US Forces withdrawal from Iraq cities since this region is out of Baghdad Province. He ruled out as well the possibility of violence spike in the regions under his command where security and stability reign." Back to the issue of the US soldiers and of injuries . . .
"I want to thank you all for being here," declared US House Rep Bob Finer bringing the House Veterans' Affairs Committee -- full committee, which he chairs -- to order [click here for prepared opening statement, I'm quoting what he actually said.] "The purpose is very simple. In my job and I'm sure everyone of my colleagues has the same experience, we come into contact with constituents in business or patients who have had contact or have invented or have manufactured instruments, technologies, treatments which would seem to have a great benefit for our veterans. And yet many have had a frustrating experience of dealingwith a bureaucracy that just doesn't seem to react very quickly to new ideas and treatments and people are frustrated."
The committee was holding a hearing this morning entitled Innovative Technologies and Treatments Helping Veterans. There were two panels of witnesses. The first panel was composed of David R. Bethune (Zila, Inc), Dr. David Sidransky (Johns Hopkins University), Robert A. Beckman (Brainport Technologies), David A. Broecker (Alkermes, Inc.), Mark Munroe (Mobile Medical International Corporation), Stanley Stern (TeleMed Network) and Dr. David Scadden (Harvard). The second panel was composed of Dr. Howard J. Federoff (Georgetown University), Dr. Nelson M. Handal (Harmonex, Inc) and James A. Schoeneck (BrainCells Inc). Click on the name for prepared statements (these are all non-PDF format, no worries). We'll be focusing on the first panel and largely one aspect.
The full committee was supposed to be present but that did not happen. "None of our Republican colleagues are here," Chair Bob Finer explained. "They decided somehow that special interests were invited." If so, wasn't it their job to call out special interests? Apparently Republicans on the Committee just needed a Snow Day.
Robert Beckman spoke of a portable device, the Brainport Vision Device, where a small camera ("with zoom capability") is hooked to other neurochannels ("such as the tongue"). Beckman stated, "One blind user with two glass eyes was able to successfully shoot a basketball and another used the Brainport Vision Device at an indoor rock climbing gym to see the next rock holds and at home with his daughter to play Tic-Tac-Toe."
"The Brainport Vision Device will not replace the cane or the sight dog," he continued. "But it will become an important, additional tool to improve the safety, mobility and quality of life for blind users. Some examples. Finding the open seat on a crowded bus or train. Identifying the direction to the target building in a confusing parking lot. Finding the handle in order to remove a hot pot from the stove. Wicab recently sponsored clinical testing of the Brainport Vision Device at the Atlanta VA. Dr. Michael Williams, the PI concluded, 'Bottom line, the device performs remarkably well for the tasks that we looked at in phase one'. To optimize the device we need feedback from a much larger pool of users who are blind. We would welcome the opportunity to further test the Brainport Vision Device at VA sites. Perhaps those willing soldiers who are blind as a result of a blast injury should be first in line to test this new technology?"
US House Rep Jerry McNerney's had a few questions.
Jerry McNerney: Mr. Beckman, the Brainport Vision Device. This sounds very -- How intrusive is the -- is the device that's on the tongue? Are you able to eat? Do you have to remove it for different activities? Or -- how intrustive is this?
Robert Beckman: Well for vision, the device does rest on top of the tongue. And so, yes, indeed, in its current form you would have to remove the device when you were eating, talking, etc. However, with additional funding there is no -- there are no technological barriers to making this device totally wireless so that the intra-oral device could be mounted on the upper pallette and blind people using wireless techonology would be able to use the device without anybody else knowing that they actually have the technology available to them.
Jerry McNerney: Well that's pretty exciting. I'm kind of thrilled by the technical aspect of this rather than the administrative aspect, if you can't tell.
US House Rep John Hall also had some questions.
John Hall: Mr. Beckman, I was wondering if you could tell us why Brainport Devices are not implantable and is that something that could change?
Robert Beckman: I think one of the key advantages of the Brainport Device is the fact that it's non-implantable. In fact, it's a portable device where there's no need to implant the techonology. Other technologies for vision such as retinal implants are being developed. But I think the fact that they involve surgery, that they're invasive, means that those technologies will likely not be available for probably ten years or more. Our technology is available today.
John Hall: I understand that and I can see the advantadges to either -- to both. Cochlear implants, for instance, have been and are being used by large number of people with some success. Is that because of the location in the brain of the nerves that one would need to get at and the centers one would need to get at that it's more difficult. Or is this something that you see happening in the future?
Robert Beckman: That was really, going back to my testimony, that was really one of Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita's main hypothesis that the brain is not hard wired so, in other words, you can use an alternate sensor -- you can use an alternate sensor and also an alternate path to send that signal to the brain. And we have demonstrated that, for instance, people who are blind who perform a certain task with our device and while they're performing that task they are analyzed with PET [Positron Emission Tomography] imaging. We have demonstrated that those people process the visual information in the visual cortex of their brain. On the other hand, people who are sighted, that perform the exact same task, process that same information in the somata sensory region of their brain. So in other words, people do -- the brain is masterful in the way that it can process the information in the appropriate area
John Hall: And it can -- it can change? It can switch and adapt from one pathway to another?
Robert Beckman: Yes.
John Hall: What's the typical training -- You may have said this in response to a question before I got here -- what's the typical training time for someone to use --- to adapt to Brainport?
Robert Beckman: I think that's also an amazing part about this technology. We train blind people literally in hours to start to recongize symbols, pathways, doorways, etc. We have not, so far, had anybody except for one blind person, Erik Weihenmayer, use the device even more than ten hours. So all the -- we've got videos on our website, etc., that show some of the benefits. All of those people are performing the tasks that we show with less than ten hours of training. And I think what is most interesting is what will happen when we get this technology into the hands of many, many adults letting them take it home, use it on their own, explore the potential benefits of the technology on their own. That's where we'll start to really discover what the advantages and possibilites are for this technology.
Beckman also spoke of the Brainport Balance Device for those with balance problems. Broecker spoke of VIVITROL which was FDA approved in 2006 and treats alcoholism. How? He was more interested in discussing alcoholism. Were I testifying to Congress, I would assume the members were aware of alcoholism and would use my time to explain why my medicine needed government money and/or veterans access as opposed to offering a history of alcoholism. Bethune and Sidransky spoke of oral cancer, the rate of which is on the rise and veterans account for five-percent of all cases each year in the United States. Bethune explained, "Veterans are almost 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with oran cancer than are members of the general public." They were seeking to have ViziLite Plus used for early screening of veterans. Mark Munroe was asking for attention to and resources for Mobile Medical which is a "mobile surgical hospitals." It was used in Iraq on The Learning Channel's Little People, Big World, episodes nineteen and twenty which TLC described as follows, "When Matt Roloff learns of an Iraqi family with dwarf children who are in severe need of medical intervention, he is compelled to help them. Amy and the Roloff kids are concerned for Matt's safety as he makes the long, difficult and dangerous journey to Baghdad. Once there, he falls in with the U.S. military, who provides armed escort into the Green Zone -- where Matt meets the family and gains their trust. Touched by the familys heartwarming spirit, Matt gets photos and X-rays of the kids to bring back to America for evaluation by medical specialists." From those two episodes, let's note this clip where Matt Roloff speaks with Iraqi journalists
Matt Roloff: I think it was important for me to be able to communicate with the Iraqi people that it's important for their citizens to put value on all of their fellow citizens, even if they are little people. That's an important message we're still trying to communicate in the States and to be able to do it in another country is just as, if not more gratifying, just as gratifying.
There is a point in including the quote beyond the hearing. We'll get to it. Back to the hearing. Stanley Stern's focus was TeleMed Internet Endpoint (TIE) which would provide face to face (via phone calls) help with health care providers and could also allow a veteran to participate at any time in a group therapy session that runs around the clock. Scadden spoke of stem cell research including technology that would allow an adult stem cell to be taken back in maturation.
Remember Matt Roloff's words about everyone being respected? The Christian Science Monitor feels differently. They argue that religious leaders are being ignored in Iraq. But they reveal how STUPID they are by taking the word of professional con-artist and admitted LIAR Andrew White. White breezes in and out of Iraq but of course had his snit fit with the press after he offered testimony, under oath, which he did not know would be reported on. (Hence the snit fit.) White declared there were no more Jews in Iraq back in 2006 when Jews were still in Baghdad. And White was allegedly raising funds to help them. But he lied, under oath. White is a joke. He's a War Hawk who cheerleaded the illegal war and he doesn't speak Arabic. He stays hidden away in the Green Zone when he manages to make it to Iraq. No one needs to take White seriously but it is telling that Matt Roloff saw a need for all Iraqis to be treated equally and the Monitor wants to argue that religious clerics need to be elevated further. Further. The same religious clerics who have issued orders to kill gays and lesbians, the same fundamentalists who have turned Iraq from the most advanced MidEastern nation into a nightmare. Doug Ireland (ZNet) reported more news on the assaults of gay Iraqi males last week:
As the murder campaign targeting Iraqi gays intensifies, a leading Arabic television network last week revealed the use of a horrifying new form of lethal torture against Iraqi gay men -- anti-gay Shiite death squads are sealing their anuses with a powerful glue, then inducing diarrhea, which leads to a painful and agonizing death. The use of this stomach-turning new torture was first reported by the Al Arabiya network, which is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates and was alerted to the story by a leading Iraqi feminist and human rights activist.Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), told Al Arabiya that the torture substance "is an Iranian-manufactured glue that, if applied to the skin, sticks to it and can only be removed by surgery. After they glue the anuses of homosexuals, they give them a drink that causes diarrhea. Since the anus is closed, the diarrhea causes death. Videos of this form of torture are being distributed on mobile telephones in Iraq." Al Arabiya said its reporter confirmed the use of this anal torture by "visiting the Baghdad morgue in Bab-al-Moazaam in central Baghdad, where Neman Mohsen, the medical examiner, confirmed they have the bodies of seven homosexuals in the morgue. He said, 'We were not able to identify the culprits, who dumped the bodies in front of the morgue and fled without being seen.'" A two-person team from Human Rights Watch (HRW) currently in Iraq to investigate persecution of LGBT people has also confirmed the use of this form of torture. In a widely-circulated email from Iraq, the head of HRW's LGBT desk, Scott Long, said he and his colleague had gathered evidence which confirms the Al Arabiya report and that HRW would make its own detailed report after the organization's two staffers return to the United States next week. OWFI's Mohammed, the woman responsible for gathering information about the use of this sadistic anal torture and passing it on to Al Arabiya, told Gay City News that "the story was so horrific that when I first heard it from gay friends I didn't believe it. But then I investigated and found it was really true that the anuses of gay men were being glued shut." Speaking by telephone from Toronto, where she was on a brief visit to relatives before a scheduled return to Iraq next week, Mohammed told this reporter that, "Fortunately, Al Arabiya has a very good human rights reporter, to whom I told what I had found, and he was able to confirm it by visiting the morgue."
When the cheesy ass editorial board of the Monitor wants to call out the attacks on Iraq's LGBT community, we may take them seriously. Until then, we'll just shake our heads at their gross stupidity. The Monitor's Jane Arraf (a reporter, not an editorial board member) sticks to reality and conducts multiple interviews with "senior US and Iraqi officials and US intelligence officers" who feel optimistic about some areas of Iraq 'stabilizing' and not so about others: "But the outlook for progress in some of the country's most volatile cities is less certain. Iraqi security officials in Mosul and Diyala Province have considstently said that they need the assistance of US troops past a June 30 deadline for American forces to leave Iraqi cities. But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's recent statements that he will not ask US forces to stay in those cities, while domestically popular ahead of elections next year, has sent military planners scrambling." For the Baghdad suburb of Adhamiya, Natalia Antelava (BBC) reports the issue of the Sahwa ("the so-called Sahwa, or Awakening, Councils") the same, al-Maliki's government refuses to bring them, they're still having trouble being paid and they're just frustrated with the Shi'ite dominated government which, people tend to forget, is one reason they took arms (against the US and the Shi'ite controlled government) to begin with. "I think the Iraqi government is not capitalizing on the momentum. I think it's a huge blow to the momentum we've created." That quote by US Army Capt Jason Dudley about the failure to bring in Sahwa is highlighted by Thomas E. Ricks (Foreign Policy) who notes it "echoes the findings of the Silverman study I blogged the other day that concluded that there is widespread distrust of the central government not only among Sunni leaders but also among Shiites". Ricks is the author of The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq 2006-2008. Timothy Williams (New York Times) zooms in on the tensions in Nineveh Province where the governor of the province, Atheel al-Nujaifi (an Arab), was not allowed to enter Bashiqa Friday for a hot-air ballon exhibition. The ones owning the toll bridge? The Kurdish pesh merga. This may have led to the protest in Bashiqa and Mosul yesterday ("more than a thousand people") insisting the pesh merga leave the province. The tensions run high for a number of reasons including the still undecided fate of oil-rich Kirkuk (which was supposed to have been put to a resolution long ago). Meanwhile Missy Ryan and Shamal Aqrawi (Reuters) report that disappointment is being expressed by Kurdish leaders in Iraq over the US and their feeling that they have been let down. The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Masoud Barzani states, "We have had a historic and friendly relationship, but frankly speaking, we were expecting more. They could have played a much larger role in solving this problem [Kirkuk] than they did." The disappointment comes at a time of multiple disappointments. As Ruth noted yesterday, the Kurds were informed Sunday that they could act on their oil contracts only to have Hussein al-Shahrastani, Minister of Oil, state yesterday that the contracts were "illegal". This is a huge mess and will only get worse. It's one of the many reasons Barack should have immediately began a withdrawal (something he led many to foolishly believe he was promising during his campaign). The US can't make the decision and can't impose it. The decision on Kirkuk has been delayed repeatedly. The decision on whether the region can sign their own oil contracts is still not settled. These are issues Iraq has to work out on its own. And as long as the US is there (propping up al-Maliki's puppet government), segments will expect the US to step in. (And stepping in means creating the new Israel-Palestine divide that will haunt the world for over a century. This is a decision for the players involved and that does not include the US.)
Turning to some of the reported violence for today . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 person and wounded two more and "Sahwa sources in the area said that a low level Sahwa leader was killed with his son in the explosion" and a Mosul car bombing which claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers. Reuters notes a Baghdad sticky bombing which left five injured, a Ramadi roadside bombing which claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers, a Kirkuk roadside bombing which left three police officers wounded and a Mosul mortar attack which left one person injured.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 Iraqi soldier shot dead in Mosul and 1 "employee in the integrity committee" shot dead in Baghdad.
Kidnappings?
Reuters notes "a doctor and his daughter" were rescued from kidnappers in Baghdad by the Iraqi military.
Turning to Barry O!, the celebrity in chief. As Trina, Cedric and Wally noted yesterday, he's already stabbed the LGBT community in the US in the back yet again. Today brought another. Margaret Talev and Jonathan S. Landay (McClatchy Newspapers) report Barack changed his mind and will not release the prisoner abuse photos from Iraq and Afghanistan: "The move is an about-face from the administration's decision last month to release 44 photographs in response to an order that a New York federal district court issued three years ago. The American Civil Liberties Union had sued the Department of Defense under President George W. Bush for the release of the photos. The Bush administration had challenged the release." In response, the ACLU issued the following:
The Obama administration announced today that it is reversing its promise to make public photos depicting detainee abuse by U.S. personnel overseas. The Department of Defense had told a federal judge that it would release a "substantial number" of photos in response to a court ruling in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU:
"The Obama administration's adoption of the stonewalling tactics and opaque policies of the Bush administration flies in the face of the president's stated desire to restore the rule of law, to revive our moral standing in the world and to lead a transparent government. This decision is particularly disturbing given the Justice Department's failure to initiate a criminal investigation of torture crimes under the Bush administration.
"It is true that these photos would be disturbing; the day we are no longer disturbed by such repugnant acts would be a sad one. In America, every fact and document gets known -- whether now or years from now. And when these photos do see the light of day, the outrage will focus not only on the commission of torture by the Bush administration but on the Obama administration's complicity in covering them up. Any outrage related to these photos should be due not to their release but to the very crimes depicted in them. Only by looking squarely in the mirror, acknowledging the crimes of the past and achieving accountability can we move forward and ensure that these atrocities are not repeated.
"If the Obama administration continues down this path, it will betray not only its promises to the American people, but its commitment to this nation's most fundamental principles. President Obama has said we should turn the page, but we cannot do that until we fully learn how this nation veered down the path of criminality and immorality, who allowed that to happen and whose lives were mutilated as a result. Releasing these photos -- as painful as it might be -- is a critical step toward that accounting. The American people deserve no less."
More information about the ACLU's FOIA lawsuit, which has resulted in the release of more than 100,000 government documents to date, can be found online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia
iraq
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abc world news tonightmartha raddatz
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the los angeles timesliz sly
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Dennis Loo and other things
Tuesday. I'm just an old man with ailments these days. :D My headache yesterday, something in my left eye today. I keep rubbing but it won't come out.
A number of things for tonight. First, does anyone have a problem with Kat reviewing an album from 2008? If you do, say so. Otherwise, I'm going to encourage her to grab it. C.I. had told her about an artist and Kat's really fallen in love with his album. So much so that Dad went out and bought a copy based just on what she was saying about it. He has called me and left various snippets on my voice mail. :D
I just downloaded it and it really is all that.
Kat's reluctance has been due to the fact that it is a year old.
So that's one. Let's move to two. Last night's "World Can't Wait, Third," covered the writing edition for Third but I left off Jim. :*( I forgot him. My bad. (I did have a headache.) Jim's argument was, as it usually is, the issue is "what's best for Third." He does agree that he should have realized that when someone participates all night for one feature, someone who doesn't usually participate, that best for Third is doing that article and running it. As time moved on, Jim says, Ehren Watada fell off and other topics as well. So this was one he pulled off for that reason. There wasn't enough time and his obligation was to think of the edition. Now Elaine offers her thoughts in "Yes, America, Barack is his own trophy wife" so be sure to read that. Remember, she was present. I wasn't.
It's May. I keep waiting for Law and Disorder to become a strong show again. I check in once a month. I made a point to check in Monday. No show. Amy Goodman yacking on about when she was pulled off the airwaves at the Temple University NPR. I was looking forward to hearing it (C.I. said Michael Smith was going to be back). I'll try again later this month. All four hosts are members of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Michael Ratner is the president of CCR. They've issued "100 Days to Restore the Constitution: Assessment" and I'll comment after you have a chance to read it:
The First 100 Days of the Obama Administration: Small Glimmers of Hope, but Little Real Change
The first 100 days of the Obama administration presented a historic opportunity to restore the Constitution after the Bush administration’s systematic attempts to dismantle it, right by right, while ignoring international human rights standards. Yet, despite several strong steps, the Obama presidency has failed to live up to its promises in many areas of critical importance, including human rights, torture, rendition, secrecy and surveillance.
In the 2008 elections, the people of the United States resoundingly rejected the Bush administration legacy of torture, warrantless surveillance and a seemingly endless expansion of executive power under the rubric of the “war on terror.” What remained to be seen, however, was the political willingness and commitment of the Obama administration to not only promise hope and change, but to take concrete action to free the United States, its people and the world of the attacks on civil liberties and other human rights over the past 8 years – and beyond – and to restore the Constitution and the freedoms and rights it promises.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is committed to a vision of social justice that requires resolute action to restore and expand the Constitution. The Center has taken action accordingly – from its numerous legal cases challenging attacks on dissent, unlawful detention, extraordinary rendition, torture and other abuses, to its advocacy and education work addressing those same issues – in order to support existing movements and build a national movement for change.
In its first 100 days, the Obama administration has not lived up to its promises of hope and change. The record is contradictory and shows the critical task that lies ahead if we are to push this administration to honor those promises.
The future will judge the Obama administration based on how it handles these challenges. The president must initiate a significant rollback of executive power, far greater than that so far embraced by the administration, and hold high level Bush officials accountable for the crimes they committed.
The intention of this report on the first 100 days of the Obama administration – tracked against CCR’s 100 Days goals for President Obama – is to assess where it has made progress and where it has merely paused or even sustained Bush policies and to provide a guide to moving real change forward. The Obama administration can indeed fulfill its promise – by creating a historic precedent for the rule of law, reestablishing the Constitution and clearly acknowledging – despite 8 years of assertions of imperial power – that presidential power does not include automatic immunity for criminal acts.
Okay. You read it. Did Barack keep his word? Yes or no, did he keep his word? No.
Did he break his word because he said he'd do X but ended up doing R,S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z? I mean that would be okay. He could break his word because he gave us much more than he promised. I'd be cool with that and saying, "Barry O, break your word more often!" But did he do that? Yes or no?
He didn't keep his word, he broke his word and it was not to our benefit.
So what is this weak ass calling him out?
You call him out.
He broke his word. He lied.
Call him out.
This is so embarrassing. And it's just the way Bush's people did. I wasn't a Bush Cultist and I'm not a Barack one. Ava and C.I. have been tackling that and Dennis Loo today has a great article titled "The Impossibly Bad Policies of the Politics of the Possible " and this is my favorit section:
First, many Democrats are reluctant to recognize that Obama, who they have invested so much hope in, has not been the agent of change that they expected. This reluctance persists in the face of the evidence and takes the form of clinging onto the belief that Obama, even though he has shown every indication of the opposite, nonetheless secretly wants to hold the Bush criminals to account. According to this view, Obama is delaying prosecutions because he can’t move on these matters yet. He is biding his time and waiting for the proper moment. This persistence of hope in Obama in the face of substantial contrary evidence also takes the form of people no longer openly protesting in street demonstrations the wars that were previously so egregious when Bush was president.
Second, we see a re-creation of the same kind of ad hominem defense that existed among Bush’s followers now for Obama. Among some of these Obama fans (a small minority) we find, when you scratch the surface, a startling degree of vituperativeness and ruthless dishonesty (including attempted character assassination) directed against anyone who dares to deliver the bad news that Obama is not doing what so many hoped that he would. This subgroup of Obama fans finds itself bedfellows with GOP reactionaries who have common cause with them in trying to prevent the Bush criminals from being prosecuted (tactical unity, for now at least) and preventing or discounting exposes of the illegal war crimes being committed, the predations of the national security state, and enlarged executive powers (present under Bush and now being carried forward under Obama.)
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, May 12, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, Steven D. Green's sentencing for War Crimes continues, Sgt John M. Russell is identified as the shooter of five Iraqi soldiers yesterday, Tina Richards speaks truth to power (and to Prescod) and more.
Steven D. Green, convicted last Thursday in the gang-rape of 14-year-old Iraqi Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, her murder, the murder of her five-year-old sister and the murders of both of her parents. His sentence hearing is ongoing. Today Evan Bright reports the defense put Dr. Ruben Gur on the stand: "Got one hell of a biology lesson on the brain and its functions from Dr. Ruben Gur of UPenn. 'Green acts on impulses and does as he's told'." And that Greg Simolke, Green's uncle, testified. Brett Barrouquere (AP) reports, "Gur told jurors that Green likely suffered closed head injuries." Evan Bright reports of yesterday's hearing:
And so it began. Marisa Ford of the prosecution opened up by speaking about murdering children and how terrified Abeer Al-Janabi must have been before she was killed. "The murder of a child is an unspeakable act, especially an innocent child, which all children are. Abeer's last moments must have been filled with terror as she was raped while her parents and little sister were shot in the room next door. And then, by one of the men who was sent there to protect them, she was murdered." Lots of legal jargon made it's way into the opening statements. Marisa Ford reminded the jury that they are encouraged and in fact, required to reconsider the evidence which was heard in the guilty phase of the trial. She spoke of imposing the death penalty, and how doing so requires that they, the jury, by law, must outline and note the aggravating circumstances, especially in the death of Abeer, which according to Ford was committed in an "especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner." She repeated how the four soldiers committed the crime on March 12th, 2006, and reiterated how they agreed on the plan, changed clothes, "brought weapons and took tools to complete their mission," and how they worked to cover up the evidence. She told the jury how they would hear of the impact on the victims, and how the Al-Janabi family was like many families from both Iraq and "right here in Paducah, Kentucky." She ended her opening by elaborating on a quote from Winston Churchill: "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." Ford defiantly expressed, "The defendant Steven Dale Green failed to live up to his duty, he didn't show mercy to Abeer, he took away the two remaining brother's hope for a normal life, he doesn't deserve mercy."
Last night, Ruth summarized the AP reporting on yesterday's hearing:The Associated Press' Brett Barrouquere reports that today's sentence hearing for Steven D. Green included testimony from members of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi's family. He reports that cousin Abu Farras stated Abeer's brothers Mohammed and Ahmed no longer attend school because the killing of their two sisters and parents "destroyed their future. I'm sure if they died with their family it would be better for them." Mohammed is the older of the two brothers and he told the jury of "how his father taught him to ride a bike". Bright's reports that Abeer's aunt also testified and "spoke of having a good relationship with Qassim" (Abeer's father): "What I say about him ... isn't enough. He cared for all our family." The aunt said of Abeer, "She was proud of being young, and she was proud of the freedom her father gave her. She was spoiled, her father never suppressed her." Dave Alsup (CNN) notes, " Green might become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court. The reason for the distinction: Green was discharged from the military before his crimes came to light." Meanwhile the Daily 49er editorializes that "War is turning Americans into what we despise most:"The second incident is a clear-cut case of unjustifiable brutality. Last week, former Army Pfc. Steven Dale Green was found guilty of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her family. He now faces either death of life in prison.According to the AP, Green's defense team had asked jurors to consider the "context" of war, saying "soldiers in Green's unit … lacked leadership." Defense attorneys also said the Army missed signs that Green was struggling after the loss of friends in combat, and offered little help to him and other members of his unit.It is right that Green be punished, but there is little doubt his vicious acts were at least provoked by the horrors of war. If that's the case, why is he getting the book thrown at him while Ayala is receiving only probation?
Yesterday, a US soldier shot five others in Baghdad. Ernesto London (Washington Post) reported this morning that Sgt John M. Russell is the soldier who shot the five. The story actually caused the networks to snap to attention last night. ABC's ABC World News Tonight did the best job (click here for Martha Raddatz and Luis Martinez' text report and the video -- video is of the report aired on World News Tonight).Charlie Gibson: There was a tragic incident in Iraq today that is a stark reminder that while the demands on US forces in Iraq may be diminishing, the mental stress on service members remains high. A soldier this afternoon opened fire in a clinic in Baghdad that was treating military personnel for stress and suicide prevention. 5 American soldiers were killed, four others wounded including the shooter who is in custody. It was the worst case of soldier on soldier violence since this war began. ABC's Martha Raddatz, with us now. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: This is the entrance into our facility in Camp Liberty. Martha Raddatz: It was just days ago that Lt Col Beth Salisbury showed ABC News the very same combat stress control center where today's horrific shooting took place. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: They will sign in at our front desk. They'll be greeted by our staff here. Martha Raddatz: Salisbury, who runs the center, was not hurt but of the dead, two were on her clinical staff and three were soldiers waiting for treatment. The shooter, who officials say is a Sgt on his third deployment to Iraq, went on a rampage down these hallways and offices in one of the few places where those who were attacked would not have been armed. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: Their weapons are taken for safety and we secure those here for the safety of our staff and themselves. Martha Raddatz: The Sgt being held for the murders is married and based in Germany. ABC News has learned he had been having problems during his deployment. Initial indications are that he did not seek mental health treatment voluntarily but that his unit had referred him for care. It is unclear whether he had yet received treatment. Col Salisbury said recently soldiers are encouraged to look for signs of stress in others. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: The great thing is to have a leader bring in a soldier, come in -- leadership staff -- come in and ask us how that we can help them take care of their soldiers. Martha Raddatz: These centers are part of the response to a dramatic spike in army suicides a record 143 in the last year. Today the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the shooting will be investigated to see if the stress of multiple and frequent deployments contributed to it. Adm Mike Mullen: It speaks to the issue of--of multiple deployments, you know , increasing dwell time, all those things that we're focused on to try to improve to relieve that stress. Martha Raddatz: It can't be understated what a terrible blow to any unit this is when soldiers are killed by fellow soldiers, especially soldiers who were trying to help others. Charlie?
On yesterday's Free Speech Radio News, Aaron Glantz reported on the story
Aaron Glantz: "Veterans advocates say the details of the incident will be critical in assessing whether the killings could have been prevented. Paul Sullivan is Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense.
Paul Sullivan: We need to know if this soldier was examined by a physician before or after deployment and if any mental health symptons were observed. We know from repeated Congressional investigations and hearings that the military has knowingly sent soldiers back with physical and mentalh health diagnosis and severe symptoms back to the war zone in some of those case the service members killed themselves or others.
Today Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) quotes Maj Gen David Perkins stating of Russell, "The commander of the suspect had taken his weapon away. He had been referred to counseling a week beforehand. There was a concern that he should not have a weapon." Corinne Reilly (McClatchy Newspapers) explains he's been charged "with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault" and that "Two of the victims worked at the clinic, Perkins said. Both were officers, one in the Army and one in the Navy. The three other victims were enlisted soldiers." Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) observes, "Confiscating the weapon of a noncommissioned officer in charge of other soldiers would be an extremely serious step. Russell, from Sherman, Texas, has served previous deployments in Bosnia and Kosovo. . . . Perkins said the sergeant, whom he said had been deployed to Iraq 'at least two other times' had been referred to counseling about a week before the shooting. He was being treated as an outpatient and it was not known whether he had been prescribed medication." Jenny Booth (Times of London) notes Russell "was due to leave Iraq soon" and a difference between the story out of Iraq that Russell got a hold of gun in the clinic and the story out of DC that that Russell left the clinic and returned with a weapon. CNN explains the timeline this way, "A defense official said that Russell was escorted out of the stress clinic Monday by a fellow soldier. Russell and that soldier apparently struggled over the soldier's weapon in a vehicle after they began to drive away, the official said. Russell then walked back to the clinic, the official said, after apparently obtaining the weapon." CNN quotes Perkins decrying the speculation. The entire last 24 hours have been speculation including retired Col Jack Jacobs, now a military propagandist, who told Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News yesterday (Click here for video page, here for transcript) that the problem was too much time on your hands -- a ridiculous assertion unless you know Jacobs has been opposed to increasing dwell time between deployments. "Speculation does not serve us well or rumor," insisted Perkins . . . while CNN notes that the clinic has been closed at least briefly. Gee, a stress clinic closed. How well does that serve? Especially after the shooting?
Veterans for Peace's Mike Wong explained this morning on KPFK's Sojourner Truth:
Well we don't know the exact circumstances In this particular incident so it's hard to comment on this particular incident other than -- other than the obvious observation that a lot of troops have been doing multiple tours, third, fourth and, in some cases, fifth tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and they're under a lot of stress. There's a lot of really bad things that have happened in the war including torture, atrocities, accidental shootings, deliberate shootings of civilians. There's been a lot of dissent within the army. There was a poll taken back in, I think it was '06 when 72% of the troops in Iraq said that they disagreed with the war. In talking to soldiers today, I find that if anything that percentage has risen. So there are a lot of troops who are unhappy with the situation, unhappy with the war, being deployed and redeployed, they are under a great deal of stress and dissent is growing. Iraq Veterans Against the War started several years ago with about seven members and they have grown to the point where they now have many hundreds of members approching thousands probably and they have chapters clear across the country. They have chapters in Europe, they have a chapter in Canada and they have soldiers blogging against the war from Iraq. So dissent within the military is growing and if you see the movie Sir! No Sir! you'll see how it grew within the military during the Vietnam War. And you had people fragging their officers, throwing fragmentation grenades into their bunkers. You had people shooting their own officers.
Cloy Richards mother, Tina Richards was also on the broadcast.
Tina Richards: My oldest son is a Marine who did two tours in Iraq, came back with traumatic brain injury and severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And he was actually out, he was honorably discharged and they stop-lossed him and they were going to send him back for his third tour and he literally told me that he would kill himself before he was going to go back and participate in an illegal and immoral war in Iraq. And I went to Capitol Hill and I stopped it but my other son who did a tour in Iraq and he suffers from PTSD and it took years to finally convince him to seek help. He's in the army right now and he's facing a second deployment in June and he got help went through the PTSD clinic in the army. They told him he was perfectly fine and ready to be deployed and two days later he beat his wife, he was thrown in jail and my son never would have struck a woman. And the DA dropped the charges so that he could be deployed. So still facing this deployment when he's obviously suffering severe PTSD is just insane. This soldier that did this [yesterday's shooting] he was on his, finishing up his third tour over in Iraq and he was, obviously, he needed help. And often when they're in the field and they report stress or that they're in trouble, they're given a handful of pills and they're sent back out onto the battlefield. I've talked to hundreds of soldiers that that's their exact experience when they report that they're having problems processing what they're doing over there.
Steve Mraz (Stars and Stripes) adds, "The alleged shooter fits the Army's profile of troops who are more vulnerable to mental health problems when deployed. Noncomissioned officers on their third and fourth deployments are more than twice as likely to have mental health problems as NCOs serving on their first deployment, according to the latest Army report on the mental health of deployed soldiers."
In Iraq, water is an issue for Iraqis and US service members. Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) reports an action by the Parliament which attempts to force Iran, Syria and Turkey to share the water resources and, if that doesn't happen, "lawmakers agreed to block any treaty or agreement signed with the three nations that does not include a clause granting Iraq a fairer share of water resources." This as CBS' Houston affiliate KHOU reports "that some soldiers were forced to ration water, perhaps as little as 2-3 liters per day, because there was never enough"
Turning to today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report two Baghdad roadside bombings which left six injured, a Diyala Province roadside bombing left six Iraqi soldiers injured, a Kirkuk car bombing claimed the lives of 6 police officers and left twelve people injured and a Mosul roadside bombing left one person injured.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report the corpse of 13-year-old girl was discovered in Diyala Province today -- two days after she'd been kidnapped. Yesterday, the corpse of a 5-year-old boy turned up in Baghdad. He'd been kidnapped as well (and a ransom demand issued). The kidnappings never stopped.
Returning to KPFK's Sojourner Truth to note several things.
Eric Gjertsen: Yes, well, these kinds of things, I mean they've been going on under the radar of the media for years now. But now it's become mainstream. As you said the rate of suicides, the level of PTSD and brain damage of soldiers who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The fact, the fact that it's mainstream news that US officials were responsible for torture policies -- these are all things that we have to recognize are victories of the anti-war movement and that they only became mainstream because there were soldiers and families of soldiers and survivors who spoke out and refused and blew the whistle and that there was a movement there to support them and so one of our aims in publishing the Refusing to Kill website is to circulate this news about refusers in different countries internationally and really to build this movement to end the war.
Lt Ehren Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy in the illegal war. He went public in June of 2006 after working for months (as his superiors requested) with the military to attempt to work out some thing other than deployment to Iraq (he'd offered, for example, to deploy to Afghanistan). If you can hold your nose or just ignoring Margret Prescod's whoring for Barack, KPFK's Sojourner Truth spoke with Ken Kagan. Did you know we don't have a US Justice Dept, we have an "Obama Justice Department"? In the Cult of Saint Barack, that's what they have. Poor Ken Kagan, forgot to say "Barack Justice Dept" and forgot to make Barack the AG and the Solicitor General (Elana Kagan). Margret needs to take her multiple orgasms off the air. If she can't, between gasps can she explain how her Lord and Savior Barack 'rescued' Ehren only partially?
Ken Kagan: In addition, he was also on trial for two charges they referred to as "conduct unbecoming an officer" and that related to statements he made in press interviews critical of the war, critical of the president for bringing us into war under false premises and indicating that the commission of war crimes would be taking place by anyone who participated in a war of aggression.
Those are the charges that were unaffected by Elana Kagan's decision not to pursue the three charges that US District Judge Benjamin Settle has already ruled were over due to the Constitution's barring double-jeopardy. The two charges remain up in the air. Why can he still be charged with those? Kagan stated that two charges were set aside. He told Prescod that it's not Ehren's fault that the trial ended in a mistrial. And that due process should have allowed the charges to be dismissed. Prescod offered that the other side is that those charges weren't brought before the jury and so those charges haven't been pursued yet. Not stated was that the charges weren't just set aside and this all goes to the stipulation.
Sarah Olson and Dahr Jamail were being asked to testify. Dahr didn't whine. Dahr didn't try to make it about him. Sarah? Norman Solomon's 'protegee' made it all about herself. She went all over the place whining, "Stop them! They're trying to make me testify!" Would she testify? She didn't know, she didn't want to talk about her legal strategy. Norman hand-held with her on Flashpoints in one of her less hysterical interviews. Norman got all of his friends to write bad columns in defense of Sarah (Phil Donahue had no clue what Ehren had done or had not done but he wrote a column about Sarah). As Panhandle Media's circus continued, Ehren agreed to a stipulation -- drawn up and approved by both the prosecution and the defense and overseen by the judge (Judge Toilet, John Head). He was not going to dispute any comments in the press. That left Sarah Olson off the hook and her 'gratitude' was so immense that she waited a few months before trashing him publicly.
Should Ehren be tried on those charges (which each could carry a year sentence), he'd be punished for trying to be a nice guy and also doing the country a favor by getting whiny Sarah Olson off any and every open mike.
Kagan was upset by some who have called Ehren a pacifist. Who? Maybe one of Norman's friends, it certainly described Phil's column. Mike Wong (Vietnam era objector) joined the group and noted the lobbying effort that took place with people phoning and e-mailing Elana Kagan asking that the charges against Ehren be dropped. (Margret didn't have much interest in that but it doesn't allow her to sing "Glory, glory, Lord Obama, glory, glory . . .") Mike Wong talked about things that took place in Vietnam and the shocker there, as he spoke of it ("In Vietnam, entire units would go out on patrol and instead of patrolling as they were supposed to, they would just go out in the bush a short distance"), was how little anyone's paid attention. (Hint, the New York Times reported on that in Iraq in an article no one seems to have ever noticed.)
Ken Kagan: Well the army has to make a decision and they have to make it soon about whether they are really going to try to proceed against Lt Watada on the two remaining criminal charges. It obviously is in their interest, time is on their side. They can wait -- they think they can wait as long as they want to but there's actually a clock ticking on the speed with which they have to proceed once they're free to do so. Which is now. And so we would urge them to make a decision quickly and we're working on that quietly behind the scenes to point out to them why it is that they have to make a decision quickly. We kind of -- We would like to be able to bring this matter before a court so that we can lay out our case for why those two remaining charges should be dismissed If they are there would then be no discipline pending against Lt Watada and, if he wished, he could resign from the army, resign honorably his commission. But he's not able to do so now. The army will not accept his resignation while there is discipline pending.
If Margret Prescod's Cult of St. Barack babbles get on your nerves, be sure not to miss the moment when Tina Richard put some real truth onto the program.
Tina Richards: I'd like to actually focus on one thing really quick. Jeremy Scahill recently wrote about this. I'd like one quote from him, that "by September of this year, Obama will have sent more troops into combat than Bush" We, as military families, we feel this. We see the rest of the numbers going down in protests and peace activities because everyone kind of feels like, well, they did their job, they voted Obama in, and the job is over and everything is winding down. It's not winding down. We are getting increased deployments. We are -- you know, the processes that led us to this are actually being accelerated under Obama and I just really want to emphasize as a military family that we really need your help and support out there when we have these events like on Sunday or Winter Soldier on Saturday we need people to attend and listen to our stories because things are actually ramping up in these wars especially with the drone attacks and the destabilization and what's happening in Pakistan. It's only going to get worse, not better. We have a lot of work to do.
Margret's snippy little reply? "You'll have the opportunity to give your website out in a minute." Me-ow, Maggie The Cat, Me-ow.
iraq
evan brightsteven d. green
brett barrouquere
cnndave alsup
the daily 49er
the washington posternesto londonoabc world news tonightmartha raddatzabc news
nbc nightly newsbrian williams
the los angeles timesliz sly
jane arraf
aaron glantz
ehren watada
kpfk
sojourner truth
margaret prescod
tina richards
jeremy scahill
A number of things for tonight. First, does anyone have a problem with Kat reviewing an album from 2008? If you do, say so. Otherwise, I'm going to encourage her to grab it. C.I. had told her about an artist and Kat's really fallen in love with his album. So much so that Dad went out and bought a copy based just on what she was saying about it. He has called me and left various snippets on my voice mail. :D
I just downloaded it and it really is all that.
Kat's reluctance has been due to the fact that it is a year old.
So that's one. Let's move to two. Last night's "World Can't Wait, Third," covered the writing edition for Third but I left off Jim. :*( I forgot him. My bad. (I did have a headache.) Jim's argument was, as it usually is, the issue is "what's best for Third." He does agree that he should have realized that when someone participates all night for one feature, someone who doesn't usually participate, that best for Third is doing that article and running it. As time moved on, Jim says, Ehren Watada fell off and other topics as well. So this was one he pulled off for that reason. There wasn't enough time and his obligation was to think of the edition. Now Elaine offers her thoughts in "Yes, America, Barack is his own trophy wife" so be sure to read that. Remember, she was present. I wasn't.
It's May. I keep waiting for Law and Disorder to become a strong show again. I check in once a month. I made a point to check in Monday. No show. Amy Goodman yacking on about when she was pulled off the airwaves at the Temple University NPR. I was looking forward to hearing it (C.I. said Michael Smith was going to be back). I'll try again later this month. All four hosts are members of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Michael Ratner is the president of CCR. They've issued "100 Days to Restore the Constitution: Assessment" and I'll comment after you have a chance to read it:
The First 100 Days of the Obama Administration: Small Glimmers of Hope, but Little Real Change
The first 100 days of the Obama administration presented a historic opportunity to restore the Constitution after the Bush administration’s systematic attempts to dismantle it, right by right, while ignoring international human rights standards. Yet, despite several strong steps, the Obama presidency has failed to live up to its promises in many areas of critical importance, including human rights, torture, rendition, secrecy and surveillance.
In the 2008 elections, the people of the United States resoundingly rejected the Bush administration legacy of torture, warrantless surveillance and a seemingly endless expansion of executive power under the rubric of the “war on terror.” What remained to be seen, however, was the political willingness and commitment of the Obama administration to not only promise hope and change, but to take concrete action to free the United States, its people and the world of the attacks on civil liberties and other human rights over the past 8 years – and beyond – and to restore the Constitution and the freedoms and rights it promises.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is committed to a vision of social justice that requires resolute action to restore and expand the Constitution. The Center has taken action accordingly – from its numerous legal cases challenging attacks on dissent, unlawful detention, extraordinary rendition, torture and other abuses, to its advocacy and education work addressing those same issues – in order to support existing movements and build a national movement for change.
In its first 100 days, the Obama administration has not lived up to its promises of hope and change. The record is contradictory and shows the critical task that lies ahead if we are to push this administration to honor those promises.
The future will judge the Obama administration based on how it handles these challenges. The president must initiate a significant rollback of executive power, far greater than that so far embraced by the administration, and hold high level Bush officials accountable for the crimes they committed.
The intention of this report on the first 100 days of the Obama administration – tracked against CCR’s 100 Days goals for President Obama – is to assess where it has made progress and where it has merely paused or even sustained Bush policies and to provide a guide to moving real change forward. The Obama administration can indeed fulfill its promise – by creating a historic precedent for the rule of law, reestablishing the Constitution and clearly acknowledging – despite 8 years of assertions of imperial power – that presidential power does not include automatic immunity for criminal acts.
Okay. You read it. Did Barack keep his word? Yes or no, did he keep his word? No.
Did he break his word because he said he'd do X but ended up doing R,S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z? I mean that would be okay. He could break his word because he gave us much more than he promised. I'd be cool with that and saying, "Barry O, break your word more often!" But did he do that? Yes or no?
He didn't keep his word, he broke his word and it was not to our benefit.
So what is this weak ass calling him out?
You call him out.
He broke his word. He lied.
Call him out.
This is so embarrassing. And it's just the way Bush's people did. I wasn't a Bush Cultist and I'm not a Barack one. Ava and C.I. have been tackling that and Dennis Loo today has a great article titled "The Impossibly Bad Policies of the Politics of the Possible " and this is my favorit section:
First, many Democrats are reluctant to recognize that Obama, who they have invested so much hope in, has not been the agent of change that they expected. This reluctance persists in the face of the evidence and takes the form of clinging onto the belief that Obama, even though he has shown every indication of the opposite, nonetheless secretly wants to hold the Bush criminals to account. According to this view, Obama is delaying prosecutions because he can’t move on these matters yet. He is biding his time and waiting for the proper moment. This persistence of hope in Obama in the face of substantial contrary evidence also takes the form of people no longer openly protesting in street demonstrations the wars that were previously so egregious when Bush was president.
Second, we see a re-creation of the same kind of ad hominem defense that existed among Bush’s followers now for Obama. Among some of these Obama fans (a small minority) we find, when you scratch the surface, a startling degree of vituperativeness and ruthless dishonesty (including attempted character assassination) directed against anyone who dares to deliver the bad news that Obama is not doing what so many hoped that he would. This subgroup of Obama fans finds itself bedfellows with GOP reactionaries who have common cause with them in trying to prevent the Bush criminals from being prosecuted (tactical unity, for now at least) and preventing or discounting exposes of the illegal war crimes being committed, the predations of the national security state, and enlarged executive powers (present under Bush and now being carried forward under Obama.)
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, May 12, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, Steven D. Green's sentencing for War Crimes continues, Sgt John M. Russell is identified as the shooter of five Iraqi soldiers yesterday, Tina Richards speaks truth to power (and to Prescod) and more.
Steven D. Green, convicted last Thursday in the gang-rape of 14-year-old Iraqi Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, her murder, the murder of her five-year-old sister and the murders of both of her parents. His sentence hearing is ongoing. Today Evan Bright reports the defense put Dr. Ruben Gur on the stand: "Got one hell of a biology lesson on the brain and its functions from Dr. Ruben Gur of UPenn. 'Green acts on impulses and does as he's told'." And that Greg Simolke, Green's uncle, testified. Brett Barrouquere (AP) reports, "Gur told jurors that Green likely suffered closed head injuries." Evan Bright reports of yesterday's hearing:
And so it began. Marisa Ford of the prosecution opened up by speaking about murdering children and how terrified Abeer Al-Janabi must have been before she was killed. "The murder of a child is an unspeakable act, especially an innocent child, which all children are. Abeer's last moments must have been filled with terror as she was raped while her parents and little sister were shot in the room next door. And then, by one of the men who was sent there to protect them, she was murdered." Lots of legal jargon made it's way into the opening statements. Marisa Ford reminded the jury that they are encouraged and in fact, required to reconsider the evidence which was heard in the guilty phase of the trial. She spoke of imposing the death penalty, and how doing so requires that they, the jury, by law, must outline and note the aggravating circumstances, especially in the death of Abeer, which according to Ford was committed in an "especially heinous, cruel, and depraved manner." She repeated how the four soldiers committed the crime on March 12th, 2006, and reiterated how they agreed on the plan, changed clothes, "brought weapons and took tools to complete their mission," and how they worked to cover up the evidence. She told the jury how they would hear of the impact on the victims, and how the Al-Janabi family was like many families from both Iraq and "right here in Paducah, Kentucky." She ended her opening by elaborating on a quote from Winston Churchill: "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." Ford defiantly expressed, "The defendant Steven Dale Green failed to live up to his duty, he didn't show mercy to Abeer, he took away the two remaining brother's hope for a normal life, he doesn't deserve mercy."
Last night, Ruth summarized the AP reporting on yesterday's hearing:The Associated Press' Brett Barrouquere reports that today's sentence hearing for Steven D. Green included testimony from members of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi's family. He reports that cousin Abu Farras stated Abeer's brothers Mohammed and Ahmed no longer attend school because the killing of their two sisters and parents "destroyed their future. I'm sure if they died with their family it would be better for them." Mohammed is the older of the two brothers and he told the jury of "how his father taught him to ride a bike". Bright's reports that Abeer's aunt also testified and "spoke of having a good relationship with Qassim" (Abeer's father): "What I say about him ... isn't enough. He cared for all our family." The aunt said of Abeer, "She was proud of being young, and she was proud of the freedom her father gave her. She was spoiled, her father never suppressed her." Dave Alsup (CNN) notes, " Green might become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court. The reason for the distinction: Green was discharged from the military before his crimes came to light." Meanwhile the Daily 49er editorializes that "War is turning Americans into what we despise most:"The second incident is a clear-cut case of unjustifiable brutality. Last week, former Army Pfc. Steven Dale Green was found guilty of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing her family. He now faces either death of life in prison.According to the AP, Green's defense team had asked jurors to consider the "context" of war, saying "soldiers in Green's unit … lacked leadership." Defense attorneys also said the Army missed signs that Green was struggling after the loss of friends in combat, and offered little help to him and other members of his unit.It is right that Green be punished, but there is little doubt his vicious acts were at least provoked by the horrors of war. If that's the case, why is he getting the book thrown at him while Ayala is receiving only probation?
Yesterday, a US soldier shot five others in Baghdad. Ernesto London (Washington Post) reported this morning that Sgt John M. Russell is the soldier who shot the five. The story actually caused the networks to snap to attention last night. ABC's ABC World News Tonight did the best job (click here for Martha Raddatz and Luis Martinez' text report and the video -- video is of the report aired on World News Tonight).Charlie Gibson: There was a tragic incident in Iraq today that is a stark reminder that while the demands on US forces in Iraq may be diminishing, the mental stress on service members remains high. A soldier this afternoon opened fire in a clinic in Baghdad that was treating military personnel for stress and suicide prevention. 5 American soldiers were killed, four others wounded including the shooter who is in custody. It was the worst case of soldier on soldier violence since this war began. ABC's Martha Raddatz, with us now. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: This is the entrance into our facility in Camp Liberty. Martha Raddatz: It was just days ago that Lt Col Beth Salisbury showed ABC News the very same combat stress control center where today's horrific shooting took place. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: They will sign in at our front desk. They'll be greeted by our staff here. Martha Raddatz: Salisbury, who runs the center, was not hurt but of the dead, two were on her clinical staff and three were soldiers waiting for treatment. The shooter, who officials say is a Sgt on his third deployment to Iraq, went on a rampage down these hallways and offices in one of the few places where those who were attacked would not have been armed. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: Their weapons are taken for safety and we secure those here for the safety of our staff and themselves. Martha Raddatz: The Sgt being held for the murders is married and based in Germany. ABC News has learned he had been having problems during his deployment. Initial indications are that he did not seek mental health treatment voluntarily but that his unit had referred him for care. It is unclear whether he had yet received treatment. Col Salisbury said recently soldiers are encouraged to look for signs of stress in others. Lt Col Beth Salisbury: The great thing is to have a leader bring in a soldier, come in -- leadership staff -- come in and ask us how that we can help them take care of their soldiers. Martha Raddatz: These centers are part of the response to a dramatic spike in army suicides a record 143 in the last year. Today the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the shooting will be investigated to see if the stress of multiple and frequent deployments contributed to it. Adm Mike Mullen: It speaks to the issue of--of multiple deployments, you know , increasing dwell time, all those things that we're focused on to try to improve to relieve that stress. Martha Raddatz: It can't be understated what a terrible blow to any unit this is when soldiers are killed by fellow soldiers, especially soldiers who were trying to help others. Charlie?
On yesterday's Free Speech Radio News, Aaron Glantz reported on the story
Aaron Glantz: "Veterans advocates say the details of the incident will be critical in assessing whether the killings could have been prevented. Paul Sullivan is Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense.
Paul Sullivan: We need to know if this soldier was examined by a physician before or after deployment and if any mental health symptons were observed. We know from repeated Congressional investigations and hearings that the military has knowingly sent soldiers back with physical and mentalh health diagnosis and severe symptoms back to the war zone in some of those case the service members killed themselves or others.
Today Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) quotes Maj Gen David Perkins stating of Russell, "The commander of the suspect had taken his weapon away. He had been referred to counseling a week beforehand. There was a concern that he should not have a weapon." Corinne Reilly (McClatchy Newspapers) explains he's been charged "with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault" and that "Two of the victims worked at the clinic, Perkins said. Both were officers, one in the Army and one in the Navy. The three other victims were enlisted soldiers." Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) observes, "Confiscating the weapon of a noncommissioned officer in charge of other soldiers would be an extremely serious step. Russell, from Sherman, Texas, has served previous deployments in Bosnia and Kosovo. . . . Perkins said the sergeant, whom he said had been deployed to Iraq 'at least two other times' had been referred to counseling about a week before the shooting. He was being treated as an outpatient and it was not known whether he had been prescribed medication." Jenny Booth (Times of London) notes Russell "was due to leave Iraq soon" and a difference between the story out of Iraq that Russell got a hold of gun in the clinic and the story out of DC that that Russell left the clinic and returned with a weapon. CNN explains the timeline this way, "A defense official said that Russell was escorted out of the stress clinic Monday by a fellow soldier. Russell and that soldier apparently struggled over the soldier's weapon in a vehicle after they began to drive away, the official said. Russell then walked back to the clinic, the official said, after apparently obtaining the weapon." CNN quotes Perkins decrying the speculation. The entire last 24 hours have been speculation including retired Col Jack Jacobs, now a military propagandist, who told Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News yesterday (Click here for video page, here for transcript) that the problem was too much time on your hands -- a ridiculous assertion unless you know Jacobs has been opposed to increasing dwell time between deployments. "Speculation does not serve us well or rumor," insisted Perkins . . . while CNN notes that the clinic has been closed at least briefly. Gee, a stress clinic closed. How well does that serve? Especially after the shooting?
Veterans for Peace's Mike Wong explained this morning on KPFK's Sojourner Truth:
Well we don't know the exact circumstances In this particular incident so it's hard to comment on this particular incident other than -- other than the obvious observation that a lot of troops have been doing multiple tours, third, fourth and, in some cases, fifth tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and they're under a lot of stress. There's a lot of really bad things that have happened in the war including torture, atrocities, accidental shootings, deliberate shootings of civilians. There's been a lot of dissent within the army. There was a poll taken back in, I think it was '06 when 72% of the troops in Iraq said that they disagreed with the war. In talking to soldiers today, I find that if anything that percentage has risen. So there are a lot of troops who are unhappy with the situation, unhappy with the war, being deployed and redeployed, they are under a great deal of stress and dissent is growing. Iraq Veterans Against the War started several years ago with about seven members and they have grown to the point where they now have many hundreds of members approching thousands probably and they have chapters clear across the country. They have chapters in Europe, they have a chapter in Canada and they have soldiers blogging against the war from Iraq. So dissent within the military is growing and if you see the movie Sir! No Sir! you'll see how it grew within the military during the Vietnam War. And you had people fragging their officers, throwing fragmentation grenades into their bunkers. You had people shooting their own officers.
Cloy Richards mother, Tina Richards was also on the broadcast.
Tina Richards: My oldest son is a Marine who did two tours in Iraq, came back with traumatic brain injury and severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And he was actually out, he was honorably discharged and they stop-lossed him and they were going to send him back for his third tour and he literally told me that he would kill himself before he was going to go back and participate in an illegal and immoral war in Iraq. And I went to Capitol Hill and I stopped it but my other son who did a tour in Iraq and he suffers from PTSD and it took years to finally convince him to seek help. He's in the army right now and he's facing a second deployment in June and he got help went through the PTSD clinic in the army. They told him he was perfectly fine and ready to be deployed and two days later he beat his wife, he was thrown in jail and my son never would have struck a woman. And the DA dropped the charges so that he could be deployed. So still facing this deployment when he's obviously suffering severe PTSD is just insane. This soldier that did this [yesterday's shooting] he was on his, finishing up his third tour over in Iraq and he was, obviously, he needed help. And often when they're in the field and they report stress or that they're in trouble, they're given a handful of pills and they're sent back out onto the battlefield. I've talked to hundreds of soldiers that that's their exact experience when they report that they're having problems processing what they're doing over there.
Steve Mraz (Stars and Stripes) adds, "The alleged shooter fits the Army's profile of troops who are more vulnerable to mental health problems when deployed. Noncomissioned officers on their third and fourth deployments are more than twice as likely to have mental health problems as NCOs serving on their first deployment, according to the latest Army report on the mental health of deployed soldiers."
In Iraq, water is an issue for Iraqis and US service members. Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) reports an action by the Parliament which attempts to force Iran, Syria and Turkey to share the water resources and, if that doesn't happen, "lawmakers agreed to block any treaty or agreement signed with the three nations that does not include a clause granting Iraq a fairer share of water resources." This as CBS' Houston affiliate KHOU reports "that some soldiers were forced to ration water, perhaps as little as 2-3 liters per day, because there was never enough"
Turning to today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report two Baghdad roadside bombings which left six injured, a Diyala Province roadside bombing left six Iraqi soldiers injured, a Kirkuk car bombing claimed the lives of 6 police officers and left twelve people injured and a Mosul roadside bombing left one person injured.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report the corpse of 13-year-old girl was discovered in Diyala Province today -- two days after she'd been kidnapped. Yesterday, the corpse of a 5-year-old boy turned up in Baghdad. He'd been kidnapped as well (and a ransom demand issued). The kidnappings never stopped.
Returning to KPFK's Sojourner Truth to note several things.
Eric Gjertsen: Yes, well, these kinds of things, I mean they've been going on under the radar of the media for years now. But now it's become mainstream. As you said the rate of suicides, the level of PTSD and brain damage of soldiers who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The fact, the fact that it's mainstream news that US officials were responsible for torture policies -- these are all things that we have to recognize are victories of the anti-war movement and that they only became mainstream because there were soldiers and families of soldiers and survivors who spoke out and refused and blew the whistle and that there was a movement there to support them and so one of our aims in publishing the Refusing to Kill website is to circulate this news about refusers in different countries internationally and really to build this movement to end the war.
Lt Ehren Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy in the illegal war. He went public in June of 2006 after working for months (as his superiors requested) with the military to attempt to work out some thing other than deployment to Iraq (he'd offered, for example, to deploy to Afghanistan). If you can hold your nose or just ignoring Margret Prescod's whoring for Barack, KPFK's Sojourner Truth spoke with Ken Kagan. Did you know we don't have a US Justice Dept, we have an "Obama Justice Department"? In the Cult of Saint Barack, that's what they have. Poor Ken Kagan, forgot to say "Barack Justice Dept" and forgot to make Barack the AG and the Solicitor General (Elana Kagan). Margret needs to take her multiple orgasms off the air. If she can't, between gasps can she explain how her Lord and Savior Barack 'rescued' Ehren only partially?
Ken Kagan: In addition, he was also on trial for two charges they referred to as "conduct unbecoming an officer" and that related to statements he made in press interviews critical of the war, critical of the president for bringing us into war under false premises and indicating that the commission of war crimes would be taking place by anyone who participated in a war of aggression.
Those are the charges that were unaffected by Elana Kagan's decision not to pursue the three charges that US District Judge Benjamin Settle has already ruled were over due to the Constitution's barring double-jeopardy. The two charges remain up in the air. Why can he still be charged with those? Kagan stated that two charges were set aside. He told Prescod that it's not Ehren's fault that the trial ended in a mistrial. And that due process should have allowed the charges to be dismissed. Prescod offered that the other side is that those charges weren't brought before the jury and so those charges haven't been pursued yet. Not stated was that the charges weren't just set aside and this all goes to the stipulation.
Sarah Olson and Dahr Jamail were being asked to testify. Dahr didn't whine. Dahr didn't try to make it about him. Sarah? Norman Solomon's 'protegee' made it all about herself. She went all over the place whining, "Stop them! They're trying to make me testify!" Would she testify? She didn't know, she didn't want to talk about her legal strategy. Norman hand-held with her on Flashpoints in one of her less hysterical interviews. Norman got all of his friends to write bad columns in defense of Sarah (Phil Donahue had no clue what Ehren had done or had not done but he wrote a column about Sarah). As Panhandle Media's circus continued, Ehren agreed to a stipulation -- drawn up and approved by both the prosecution and the defense and overseen by the judge (Judge Toilet, John Head). He was not going to dispute any comments in the press. That left Sarah Olson off the hook and her 'gratitude' was so immense that she waited a few months before trashing him publicly.
Should Ehren be tried on those charges (which each could carry a year sentence), he'd be punished for trying to be a nice guy and also doing the country a favor by getting whiny Sarah Olson off any and every open mike.
Kagan was upset by some who have called Ehren a pacifist. Who? Maybe one of Norman's friends, it certainly described Phil's column. Mike Wong (Vietnam era objector) joined the group and noted the lobbying effort that took place with people phoning and e-mailing Elana Kagan asking that the charges against Ehren be dropped. (Margret didn't have much interest in that but it doesn't allow her to sing "Glory, glory, Lord Obama, glory, glory . . .") Mike Wong talked about things that took place in Vietnam and the shocker there, as he spoke of it ("In Vietnam, entire units would go out on patrol and instead of patrolling as they were supposed to, they would just go out in the bush a short distance"), was how little anyone's paid attention. (Hint, the New York Times reported on that in Iraq in an article no one seems to have ever noticed.)
Ken Kagan: Well the army has to make a decision and they have to make it soon about whether they are really going to try to proceed against Lt Watada on the two remaining criminal charges. It obviously is in their interest, time is on their side. They can wait -- they think they can wait as long as they want to but there's actually a clock ticking on the speed with which they have to proceed once they're free to do so. Which is now. And so we would urge them to make a decision quickly and we're working on that quietly behind the scenes to point out to them why it is that they have to make a decision quickly. We kind of -- We would like to be able to bring this matter before a court so that we can lay out our case for why those two remaining charges should be dismissed If they are there would then be no discipline pending against Lt Watada and, if he wished, he could resign from the army, resign honorably his commission. But he's not able to do so now. The army will not accept his resignation while there is discipline pending.
If Margret Prescod's Cult of St. Barack babbles get on your nerves, be sure not to miss the moment when Tina Richard put some real truth onto the program.
Tina Richards: I'd like to actually focus on one thing really quick. Jeremy Scahill recently wrote about this. I'd like one quote from him, that "by September of this year, Obama will have sent more troops into combat than Bush" We, as military families, we feel this. We see the rest of the numbers going down in protests and peace activities because everyone kind of feels like, well, they did their job, they voted Obama in, and the job is over and everything is winding down. It's not winding down. We are getting increased deployments. We are -- you know, the processes that led us to this are actually being accelerated under Obama and I just really want to emphasize as a military family that we really need your help and support out there when we have these events like on Sunday or Winter Soldier on Saturday we need people to attend and listen to our stories because things are actually ramping up in these wars especially with the drone attacks and the destabilization and what's happening in Pakistan. It's only going to get worse, not better. We have a lot of work to do.
Margret's snippy little reply? "You'll have the opportunity to give your website out in a minute." Me-ow, Maggie The Cat, Me-ow.
iraq
evan brightsteven d. green
brett barrouquere
cnndave alsup
the daily 49er
the washington posternesto londonoabc world news tonightmartha raddatzabc news
nbc nightly newsbrian williams
the los angeles timesliz sly
jane arraf
aaron glantz
ehren watada
kpfk
sojourner truth
margaret prescod
tina richards
jeremy scahill
Monday, May 11, 2009
World Can't Wait, Third
Monday, Monday, can't trust that day. :D And then some. This is from World Can't Wait's "This Ain’t Change: Barack Obama and U.S. Torture/Detention Policies:"
Has Obama put an end to torture, rendition, and indefinite detention? Nothing could be further from the truth. Facts you need to know:
1) Obama admits Bush officials tortured, but refuses to prosecute them.
Cheney has bragged about authorizing waterboarding — suffocating by water — of detainees. On January 11, 2009, Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “From my view, waterboarding is torture.” Under the UN Convention Against Torture, torture is a crime and each state that signed the treaty—including the U.S.—is required to investigate and prosecute torturers.
The Obama administration is, therefore, not only morally, but legally, required to prosecute Bush Regime officials for torture.
Imagine a serial murder kills in broad daylight. If, instead of arresting the killer, the local police department issued a statement saying, “From this day forward, we will not allow murder. But we are not going to prosecute the murderer.” This is what Obama has done by refusing to prosecute the Bush Regime. If the Bush regime can get away with openly violating the law then there is no “rule of law.” Any president can henceforth break the law without any consequences.
In 4 years time, when other organizations are going to try to get honest, World Can't Wait's going to be able to say that they were honest all along and they were.
I don't think many others will be able to make that claim. The ACLU will be able to (at least so far).
Okay, let me talk Third.
First, these people worked on this week's edition.
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ
and Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends.
And add Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts.
I want to note C.I.'s comments because I'm not sure how to start this:
On not being in the mood yesterday, Mike's already called and you can read his site tonight. He's going to write about some of the issues during the latest edition and my problem was and is, if people are preparing a report and we need to do a rollout, we do one. There was a short feature that was either completed or would have taken two seconds to complete that got killed and may run next week but it is part of a rollout for a feature Dona, Jess, Isaiah and Dallas will be writing next month. It's also part of a new focus we'll be doing at Third. I'm not mad at anyone (including Jim) but I did think it was incredibly rude to have had Isaiah participating ALL NIGHT during the writing edition when the only reason he was participating was for the feature that got killed. (Isaiah asked that his name not be listed in Jim's note to the readers, lest anyone think he's been forgotten.) On Ava and my end, we were talking to friends working on Fringe when they mentioned something that we worked into one sentence and did so because it was part of what we thought was the rollout for the upcoming article and for part of Third's new focus. It's a funny line so it's fine that's it's still in there but it was supposed to be part of a focus that didn't happen. Mike'll go into this at length tonight. He didn't ask (maybe because he knew) so I'll note this here. We're going through next November. We may go past that, but we made the decision to go through November. Elaine, Ava and I want to bail, we're tired of it. Others wanted to continue so we'll do another six months or so. My one request was that, for Third, we think of one thing we're not doing that we could be doing to make it worth six more months. I tossed that out two weeks ago and Dona, Ty and Jess came up with an emphasis which I think is a good one (and has been hugely popular the other times we've accidentally stumbled upon it). That new thing being brought in is part of the story Dona, Jess, Dallas and Isaiah will be doing. And three of them will have to fly somewhere for this story. I think it's an interesting story, I think it's a new element, I'm looking foward to seeing the photos and reading the copy.
Okay, it was a very rough writing session and I'm writing about it.
Stan was present at the end (on the phone) and so was Elaine. Out in California it was just Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and C.I. and Isaiah and Dallas was on the phone from his home. It wasn't pretty. Stan's not used to it and was afraid there was some problem.
No.
Jim speaks his mind and Ava and C.I. speak their minds.
Jim's attitude was that an article could wait even though it was planned. C.I.'s attitude was that Isaiah joined us for the writing session to work on that one article and it was rude to have kept him working with us for 12 hours only to turn around and put the article on hold.
Stan's fine because I spoke to him (and Jim called him and so did C.I. and Ava). I also think Stan felt a little like it was his fault because we wouldn't still be doing sites if he hadn't started up. On that, we continued doing it because Ava and C.I. pushed things back to postpone a look at Fringe. (Which has its season finale tomorrow and Leonard Nimony is the guest star.)
Now we did agree to go to April because of Stan. But it's past April so nothing is Stan's fault.
But there's nothing to worry about.
C.I. doesn't like rudeness. C.I. was not going to give until Isaiah got an apology. That's the only thing that you're not going to get C.I. to back down on during a writing session. If someone is truted rudely, C.I.'s going to expect an apology and Isaiah was treated rudely.
Jim will admit to "not good" but that's, in part, because of a number of issues not related to Isaiah.
There's going to be an emphasis on comics and comic books brought in to Third. It's what's planned as a new element for the next months between now and November. And one upcoming piece is going to be written by Dona, Jess, Isaiah and Dallas. They're going to go somewhere for that. I'm being vauge on purpose. But it's going to require a trip and the four of them are excited about that.
Ava's remarks were (paraphrase from Ava), "Jim, you killed the piece" (the one we were all supposed to work on this weekend) "and it was due to hostility over Dona doing a piece without you." That's what Ava thinks. (And everyone knows that what Ava thinks is what C.I. thinks.) Jim says Ava's probably right.
Jim did apologize to Isaiah Sunday morning and followed up on it later and Isaiah was the only one who had a right to be bent out of shape for themselves. Isaiah's fine. No problems. For anybody now.
But that's what happened and it's really not a surprise. Ava and C.I. will stand up to Jim. Jim will stand up to anybody. When the three of them are in conflict on something and it has to do with the feelings of someone participating it will get intense.
So that's it. Here's the content and I've got a bad headache on the back left side of my skull so I'm just going to list the titles:
Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the week II
A note to our readers
Editorial: Justice for Abeer?
TV: Smart drama and the real fringe
One Sings The Other Doesn't
Magazine throws bash
The Progressive Celebrates 100 Years of Racism
Passing a historical problem off as something 'new...
The woman who should sit on the Court
Diane Rehm censors Abeer
Community reactions to the verdict
She sounds like an idiot
Highlights
And now I'm going to post. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, May 11, 2009. Chaos and violence continues, the US military announces multiple deaths, Sahwa remains targeted, Australia announces all-out-of-Iraq (except for 100 troops) and more.
Today the US military announced a Camp Liberty shooting at 2:00 p.m. Iraq time in which five US service members were shot dead. In a second announcement, they added, "A U.S. Soldier suspected of being involved with the shootings is currently in custody." Luis Martinez and Martha Raddatz (ABC News) encourage people to watch ABC World News Tonight with Charles Gibson this evening for a report on the shooting. Tom Leonard (Telegraph of London) states three more US soldiers were wounded in the shooting as does CNN; however, Jenny Booth (Times of London) goes with "at least two others were wounded" and she quotes Lt Tom Garnett (military spokesperson) stating, "The shooter is a US soldier and he is in custody." CNN states the shooting took place at a clinic for US service members seeking assistance with stress. Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) cites a US military official: "The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident shook up soldiers, many of whom are in their third and even fourth tours. Some broke down in tears, he said." Yochi J. Drezen (Wall St. Journal) draws the conclusion that many are drawing (and they may be right or they may be wrong) which is that it was likely fratricide, "Such crimes were more common during the Vietnam War, but have occurred only sporadically in Iraq. In 2003, Sgt. Hasan Akbar killed two soldiers and wounded 14 others in a grenade attack in Kuwait; he was convicted and sentenced to death. In 2006, Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was charged with murdering two officers in a suspicious explosion in Tikrit, though he was later acquitted. And last year, an American soldier was arrested in the shooting deaths of a pair of other soldiers at a base near the Iraqi city of Iskandariya." Mark Kukis (Time magazine) grabs a piano shawl and offers this crystal vision, "In the coming days and weeks, undoubtedly, a chilling tale will trickle out of the Pentagon and Camp Liberty as more details are revealed." "Timothy Williams (New York Times) goes with that as well and pretends Robert Gibbs is Barack Obama -- he's not. If the White House wants to issue a statement, they can do so. Gibbs fumbling in a press briefing when the issue is raised doesn't qualify as anything worth attributing to anyone but Gibbs. Or as Gi bbs said at another point during the press conference today, "I think the president -- I haven't talked specifically with him, but my guess is . . ." In the real world, BBC adds: "The BBC's Natalia Antelava, in Baghdad, says troops at Camp Liberty had been enjoying a much more relaxed atmosphere in recent months. She says there have been few attacks on the base recently, so the timing of the shooting will make it particularly shocking to the soldiers there." The Los Angeles Times offers Liz Sly's report and an AP video on the shooting. At the US State Dept today, spokesperson Ian Kelly stated that "our sympathies go to the families of the soldiers. But beyond that, I don't have anything to say. I'd refer you to the Pentagon." This was Ian Kelly's first press briefing. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined him for the start of the briefing to announce he was the new State Department spokesperson and the Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs. She thanked Robert Wood who had been appointed a Deputy Spokersperson during the Bush administration: "And I want to thank for a wonderful job and provide my deepest appreciation to Robert Wood. He took over in the middle of a transition and has been drinking from a fire hose ever since. But I have really enjoyed getting to know Robert and I look foward to continuign to work with him as an important contributor within the Department to the Obama Administration's foreign policy."
At the Washington Post today, Ernesto Londono participated in an online chat. The scheduled topic was Iraq and, due to the news of the shooting, that became the primary focus of the chat. Below are some of the exchanges:
Fairfax, Va.: Is there anxiety there in Baghdad due to the new focus being on Afghanistan? If so, is the U.S. military doing about counseling or anything?
Ernesto Londono: I've spoken to some soldiers who feel that Iraq now feels like the "Forgotten War" -- a label that was coined to refer to Afghanistan back in 2004 and 2005. But I haven't heard soldiers express anger or anxiety over that. Some find it somewhat frustrating, but I wouldn't say it's a big deal for folks serving here that I talk to on a regular basis.
The U.S. military is paying a lot of attention to post traumatic stress disorder. Most large bases have combat stress clinics, where soldiers get counseling and sometimes medication. I know it's an issue commanders and squad leaders take very seriously. Unfortunately, seeking mental help also carries a stigma.
[. . .]
Bel Air, Md.: This is disturbing, especially that it happened at a military base. It's like what happens at local malls. How major an incident is this and how will it be handled. Is this the largest number of casualites in Iraq that have happened under Obama's watch?
Ernesto Londono: It's the deadliest incident in which a soldier -- apparently intentionally -- opened fire on comrades. A truck bombing in Mosul last month killed 5 soldiers.
_______________________
Dallas, Tex.: You've been covering Iraq for two years now. How candid are the soldiers about how the war has affected them, and have any of the ones you've talked to said they're not surprised this happened?
Ernesto Londono: It varies. Some soldiers don't seem to mind talking about harrowing things. In fact, many seem to find it cathartic. Others do. Every soldier I've spoken to today is dismayed, saddened and frightened. I think everyone wants answers to two questions: who and why. Before we have those two pieces of information I think it's hard to draw firm conclusions.
_______________________
Iraq: Was the soldier escorted to the clinic, was it a command referral? If so why did the commander not take the ammunition away and leave him his weapon?
Ernesto Londono: Some soldiers are escorted to combat stress clinics. Many are "walk ins." No appointment needed. We don't know whether the suspected gunman was a patient or what his motive may have been.
Also today the US military announced: "BASRA, Iraq -- A Multi-National Divison -- South Soldier died when an improvised explosives device struck his vehicle in the Basra Province at approximately 2 p.m. May 10. The Soldier's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The name of the service member will be announced through the U.S. Department of Defense Official Website at http://www.defenselink.mil/. The announcement will be made on the website no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's family." Saturday the US military announced: "A U.S. Soldier was killed in a non-combat related vehicle accident May 9. The accident is under investigation. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense." And they announced: "JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- A 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Soldier died here as a result of non-combat related causes May 8. The Soldier's name is being withheld pending next of kin notification and release by the Department of Defense." And Saturday the Defense Department issued the following: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Shawn D. Sykes, 28, of Portsmouth, Va., died May 7 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered from an accident that occurred May 5 at Combat Outpost Crazy Horse, Iraq. He was assigned to 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas." ICCC currently lists 4292 but they don't have the Basra death announced today so the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the start of the war thus far is 4293.
Today War Criminal Steven D. Green faces sentencing. Thursday the man who took part in the gang-rape of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, who murdered her, who murdered her parents and her five-year-old sister was found guilty on all counts by a federal jury. Evan Bright is the 18-year-old high school senior who has attended and reported one every day of the trial. Yesterday Bright contributed an article on the verdict to The Huffington Post. Today Evan Bright's reporting on the sentencing on Twitter. Bright notes, "Heard from Qassim Hamza's older sis, the orphan Mohammed again, & for the 1st time, his little brother, Ahmed, & the uncle, Abu Farras again." And, apparently for the defense, "Heard from Sgt Miller, more on conditions in Iraq, & what it was like. In the middle of hearing Eric Lauzier, who is speaking abt leaders." Most interesting, he noted first thing this morning, "Just heard opening statements of sentencing phase from (P) Marisa Ford and (D) Pat Bouldin. CNN and the NYTimes are here as well." NYT?
Saturday's paper included Campbell Robertson and Atheer Kakan contribute "Ex-G.I. Guilty of Rape and Killings in Iraq" which was the first by name mention of Abeer by the paper. (For the paper's history, you can see Friday's snapshot.) However, she finally is named by the paper in paragraph thirteen of the fourteen paragraph story.
*First paragraph "the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and the killings of her and three members of her family"*Paragraph three "where the girl and her family lived"*Paragraph nine "moving the girl's parents and her young sister into a back room while two of the soldiers raped her"; "raping the girl and then shooting her repeatedly in the head and trying to set fire to her body"*Pargraph thirteen finally gives her a name. We call her Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and that's what most outlets call her, it is what the FBI called her in their two press releases on Steven D. Green and it's how she was referred to in court.
Credit to the two Iraq based reporters for covering the verdict. The domestic staff? They sent how many reporters to Alaska and couldn't send anyone to Kentucky? (That should actually be, "They don't have a reporter in Kentucky?") Dave Alsup (CNN) reports background today on Green's arrest including Green declaring to FBI agents, "You probably think I'm a monster." Brett Barroquere (AP) notes Ford asked for the death penalty while Green's attorneys are arguing, 'None of the others got the death penalty!' Leaving the penalty out of it for a moment, did the others murder Abeer, her five-year-old sister and her parents? They took part in the War Crimes, no question. But Green was the ringleader and Green was one who shot dead all four family members. Killed four people. Green and co-horts committed War Crimes -- and good for CNN for calling them what they were ("On Monday, as the penalty phase of his trial begins, Green might become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court.") -- but Green was already labeled the ringleader and he is the one who murdered four people.
Over the weekend, AFP reported that Pope Benedict XVI spoke in Jordan Saturday and urged Iraq to work to protect the country's Christian minority. AFP noted, "Estimated to number some 800,000 at the time of the US-led invasion of 2003, Christians have been prominent among the 2.7 million Iraqis who fled their homes during the sectarian violence that followed and as few as 400,000 are now believed to remain in their homeland."
Yesterday US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and US House Rep Rush Holt hollered "SURPRISE!" as they made a sneak visit to Iraq. Pelosi's office notes that they met with Nouri al-Maliki and with Ayad al-Smarai who is the new Speaker of Parliament and was his first meeting with any elected American officials since he became the Speaker. The issues discussed on the trip were:rooting out wide-spread corruption that is impeding reconstruction and the delivery of services to the Iraqi people; providing security to all Iraqi citizens; resolving the border conflict between the Kurds and Iraqis; andbuilding a strong Iraqi intelligence capability.
As J-Ross (Liberal Rapture) asks, "Why can no one ever make an announced visit to Iraq?" Anthony Shadid and Nada Barki (Washington Post) explain, "Pelosi was careful not to signal any long-term military commitment in Iraq, saying the United States intends to 'help economically and culturally'." Jack Dolan (McClatchy Newspapers) observes, "Pelosi's visit comes in the wake of an alarming spike in violence. More than 200 people were killed in attacks in Baghdad last month, the highest toll in more than a year."
Bombings?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report the Green Zone was attacked with mortars today, a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Sahwa "head" and left "two civilians" injured and a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 2 lives and left eight more injured.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report police Brig Gen Abdulhussein Muhsin al Kathimi was shot dead in Baghdad, 1 guard was shot dead at the Mosul Governorate building with another wounded, Hadbaa politician Arkan Aziz al-Ta'ee was shot dead in Mosul and 1 off duty police officer was shot dead in Mosul. Xinhua notes al-Kazemi's shooting, "Kazemi's death came a day after his superior, Maj. Gen. Jaafar al-Khafaji, escaped a bomb attack near his convoy in central Baghdad."
Corpses?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report the corpse of 5-year-old boy was discovered in Baghdad ten days after he was kidnapped (they'd asked for "50 thousand USD").
1 Sahwa was reported killed today. BBC reported 1 was killed Saturday, Abed al-Kairiya, in a roadside bombing outside Baghdad. Sahwa are also known as "Awakenings" and "Sons Of Iraq." Independent journalist Dahr Jamail (at Dissident Voice) observes:
Throughout history, those who collaborate with the occupiers of their country tend to end up hung out to dry, or dead. The occupation of Iraq is no different; collaboration and the poison fruits that come of it are on full display for the history books once again. Only now, the rapidity with which this is happening is staggering. On May 5, the Iraqi military killed Basim Mohammed and detained his brother. Mohammed was a member of the Sahwa, the 100,000-strong Sunni militia composed mostly of former resistance fighters that the US created in order to use them to battle al-Qaeda in Iraq, as well as paying them off to draw down the number of attacks against occupation forces. The Sahwa, who were supposed to be given government jobs either in security or in civil services, have been betrayed. Instead of being given the promised jobs, they have been consistently targeted by the Iraqi military, and at times the US military, which has left them vulnerable as well to attacks from al-Qaeda. As a result, they are walking off their security jobs for lack of pay, and have largely ceased their military operations against al-Qaeda. The predictable result is what we have been witnessing over the last months -- a slow but steady increase in the number of attacks against Iraqi and US forces and a dramatic rise in the spectacular car bomb attacks in largely Shia areas that kill scores at a time.The obvious solution would be for the Obama administration to pressure its client government in Baghdad to fulfill promises to incorporate the Sahwa into its ranks, as well as applying pressure to Prime Minister Maliki to lay off targeting the Sahwa and its leadership. Instead, Sahwa members like Mohammed are being killed and their family members detained, and the attacks continue. On May 3, Iraqi forces arrested Nadhim al-Jubouri, a Sahwa leader in the volatile Salahadin province. In March, Iraqi forces detained Adil al-Mashadani, head of another Sahwa group in the Fadhil neighborhood of central Baghdad -- which ignited clashes between US, Iraqi and Sahwa forces that left three men dead and set the stage for more bloodletting.
Sunday Sam Dagher (New York Times) addressed the continuing targeting of the Sahwa members. Mullah Nadhim al-Jubouri was arrested on May 2nd along with two brothers and charged with terrorism. He tells the paper, "Arresting Awakeing leaders at this juncture is a very big mistake that created a security void." Most important line in the article: "The Awakening members in Dhuluiya will get their last paychecks from the American military this month, after which the government is supposed to take over, according to Mr. Jubouri's deputy, Mohammed, who also goes by the same tribal last name." Saturday Charles Levinson (Wall St. Journal) also pointed out that Sahwa members were still not being paid by Nouri al-Maliki. This despite the fact that he was supposed to have picked up payment last month.
It's a pity the modern day press really doesn't do retractions. Meanwhile Elisabeth Bumiller broke down the coming realities Saturday: "The top American general in Iraq said Friday that one-fifth of American combat troops would stay behind in Iraqi cities even after the June 30 deadline that the United States and Iraq had set for the departure." Yes, he did say that. More than once. He was also asked about the mythical al-Baghdidi and refused to say the US believes he exists or was captured by the Iraqis. He noted that no one has seen the suspect allegedly detained except for the Iraqis. Not at all surprising and al-Maliki's already made the exception for Baghdad. Today on Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman spoke with conservative historian Andrew Bacevich who offered the following on the Iraq War:
But with regard to the Iraq war, I think that, you know, the new Tom Ricks book --not to push his book -- The Gamble, he reaches the conclusion that the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered in history probably haven't happened yet. And I think that's probably about right. The notion that the surge won the war is an illusion. Certainly, the notion that the surge created the conditions that are going to produce political reconciliation in Iraq, that's an illusion. The war is off the front pages, but the war continues. We are reminded of that, as we get periodic reports of bombs blowing up in Baghdad and civilians being killed.
I wouldn't hazard to guess on what the future holds for Iraq. I would simply say that Iraq will provide further evidence of the fact that the United States is not able to determine the fate of nations in the greater Middle East. The Iraqis will sort that out, for better or for ill. And we will be left wondering what exactly we gained through the expenditure of a trillion dollars and the loss of more than 4,000 American lives in a war that, frankly, should not have been begun in the first place.
Thomas E. Ricks is the author of The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq 2006-2008 (a great book). He's currently in a silly tussle with Anti-war.com, here for him, here for them, here for me. And because even smart people like Thomas E. Ricks don't always grasp ethics, we'll note this pledge from Network of Concerned Anthropologists:
We, the undersigned, believe that anthropologists should not engage in research and other activities that contribute to counter-insurgency operations in Iraq or in related theaters in the "war on terror." Furthermore, we believe that anthropologists should refrain from directly assisting the US military in combat, be it through torture, interrogation, or tactical advice.
US military and intelligence agencies and military contractors have identified "cultural knowledge," "ethnographic intelligence," and "human terrain mapping" as essential to US-led military intervention in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. Consequently, these agencies have mounted a drive to recruit professional anthropologists as employees and consultants. While often presented by its proponents as work that builds a more secure world, protects US soldiers on the battlefield, or promotes cross-cultural understanding, at base it contributes instead to a brutal war of occupation which has entailed massive casualties. By so doing, such work breaches relations of openness and trust with the people anthropologists work with around the world and, directly or indirectly, enables the occupation of one country by another. In addition, much of this work is covert. Anthropological support for such an enterprise is at odds with the humane ideals of our discipline as well as professional standards.
We are not all necessarily opposed to other forms of anthropological consulting for the state, or for the military, especially when such cooperation contributes to generally accepted humanitarian objectives. A variety of views exist among us, and the ethical issues are complex. Some feel that anthropologists can effectively brief diplomats or work with peacekeeping forces without compromising professional values. However, work that is covert, work that breaches relations of openness and trust with studied populations, and work that enables the occupation of one country by another violates professional standards.
Consequently, we pledge not to undertake research or other activities in support of counter-insurgency work in Iraq or in related theaters in the "war on terror," and we appeal to colleagues everywhere to make the same commitment.
Finally Australia's Defence Dept announced today:
Defence will conclude its military commitment to the rehabilitation of Iraq on 31 July 2009 marking the end of a mission that commenced on 20 March 2003.
Following the withdrawal of Australian combat troops in 2008 and the relocation of the Australian National Headquarters from Baghdad, Australia's commitment to Operation CATALYST has consisted of personnel employed in non-combat roles within coalition headquarters. In 2009, there have been around 45 such personnel deployed in Iraq.
The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said Australia could take great pride in the enduring contribution that the Australian Defence Force had made to the future of Iraq.
"Australian troops have provided important support to security and stabilisation operations, and have been responsible for the training of approximately 33,000 Iraqi Army soldiers, including specialist training in logistics support and counter-insurgency operations," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
The cessation of Operation CATALYST does not include 100 ADF personnel providing protection for Australian diplomatic staff and the Australian embassy in Baghdad under Operation KRUGER, nor two ADF officers serving with the UN assistance Mission for Iraq under Operation RIVERBANK.
"The Australian Defence Organisation greatly appreciates the support and assistance received from coalition partners and the people and Government of Iraq during the ADF's deployment on Operation CATALYST,," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
"The Australian Government and the Department of Defence in partiular, look forward to maintaining a strong and robust Defence Cooperation Program with Iraq into the future."
iraqevan brightsteven d. green
brett barrouquere the new york timescampbell robertsonatheer kakan
the washington posternesto londonoanthony shadid
dahr jamail
timothy williamssam dagherelisabeth bumillerthe wall street journalcharles levin
mark kukis
abc world news tonightmartha raddatz
thomas e. ricks
Has Obama put an end to torture, rendition, and indefinite detention? Nothing could be further from the truth. Facts you need to know:
1) Obama admits Bush officials tortured, but refuses to prosecute them.
Cheney has bragged about authorizing waterboarding — suffocating by water — of detainees. On January 11, 2009, Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “From my view, waterboarding is torture.” Under the UN Convention Against Torture, torture is a crime and each state that signed the treaty—including the U.S.—is required to investigate and prosecute torturers.
The Obama administration is, therefore, not only morally, but legally, required to prosecute Bush Regime officials for torture.
Imagine a serial murder kills in broad daylight. If, instead of arresting the killer, the local police department issued a statement saying, “From this day forward, we will not allow murder. But we are not going to prosecute the murderer.” This is what Obama has done by refusing to prosecute the Bush Regime. If the Bush regime can get away with openly violating the law then there is no “rule of law.” Any president can henceforth break the law without any consequences.
In 4 years time, when other organizations are going to try to get honest, World Can't Wait's going to be able to say that they were honest all along and they were.
I don't think many others will be able to make that claim. The ACLU will be able to (at least so far).
Okay, let me talk Third.
First, these people worked on this week's edition.
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ
and Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends.
And add Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts.
I want to note C.I.'s comments because I'm not sure how to start this:
On not being in the mood yesterday, Mike's already called and you can read his site tonight. He's going to write about some of the issues during the latest edition and my problem was and is, if people are preparing a report and we need to do a rollout, we do one. There was a short feature that was either completed or would have taken two seconds to complete that got killed and may run next week but it is part of a rollout for a feature Dona, Jess, Isaiah and Dallas will be writing next month. It's also part of a new focus we'll be doing at Third. I'm not mad at anyone (including Jim) but I did think it was incredibly rude to have had Isaiah participating ALL NIGHT during the writing edition when the only reason he was participating was for the feature that got killed. (Isaiah asked that his name not be listed in Jim's note to the readers, lest anyone think he's been forgotten.) On Ava and my end, we were talking to friends working on Fringe when they mentioned something that we worked into one sentence and did so because it was part of what we thought was the rollout for the upcoming article and for part of Third's new focus. It's a funny line so it's fine that's it's still in there but it was supposed to be part of a focus that didn't happen. Mike'll go into this at length tonight. He didn't ask (maybe because he knew) so I'll note this here. We're going through next November. We may go past that, but we made the decision to go through November. Elaine, Ava and I want to bail, we're tired of it. Others wanted to continue so we'll do another six months or so. My one request was that, for Third, we think of one thing we're not doing that we could be doing to make it worth six more months. I tossed that out two weeks ago and Dona, Ty and Jess came up with an emphasis which I think is a good one (and has been hugely popular the other times we've accidentally stumbled upon it). That new thing being brought in is part of the story Dona, Jess, Dallas and Isaiah will be doing. And three of them will have to fly somewhere for this story. I think it's an interesting story, I think it's a new element, I'm looking foward to seeing the photos and reading the copy.
Okay, it was a very rough writing session and I'm writing about it.
Stan was present at the end (on the phone) and so was Elaine. Out in California it was just Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and C.I. and Isaiah and Dallas was on the phone from his home. It wasn't pretty. Stan's not used to it and was afraid there was some problem.
No.
Jim speaks his mind and Ava and C.I. speak their minds.
Jim's attitude was that an article could wait even though it was planned. C.I.'s attitude was that Isaiah joined us for the writing session to work on that one article and it was rude to have kept him working with us for 12 hours only to turn around and put the article on hold.
Stan's fine because I spoke to him (and Jim called him and so did C.I. and Ava). I also think Stan felt a little like it was his fault because we wouldn't still be doing sites if he hadn't started up. On that, we continued doing it because Ava and C.I. pushed things back to postpone a look at Fringe. (Which has its season finale tomorrow and Leonard Nimony is the guest star.)
Now we did agree to go to April because of Stan. But it's past April so nothing is Stan's fault.
But there's nothing to worry about.
C.I. doesn't like rudeness. C.I. was not going to give until Isaiah got an apology. That's the only thing that you're not going to get C.I. to back down on during a writing session. If someone is truted rudely, C.I.'s going to expect an apology and Isaiah was treated rudely.
Jim will admit to "not good" but that's, in part, because of a number of issues not related to Isaiah.
There's going to be an emphasis on comics and comic books brought in to Third. It's what's planned as a new element for the next months between now and November. And one upcoming piece is going to be written by Dona, Jess, Isaiah and Dallas. They're going to go somewhere for that. I'm being vauge on purpose. But it's going to require a trip and the four of them are excited about that.
Ava's remarks were (paraphrase from Ava), "Jim, you killed the piece" (the one we were all supposed to work on this weekend) "and it was due to hostility over Dona doing a piece without you." That's what Ava thinks. (And everyone knows that what Ava thinks is what C.I. thinks.) Jim says Ava's probably right.
Jim did apologize to Isaiah Sunday morning and followed up on it later and Isaiah was the only one who had a right to be bent out of shape for themselves. Isaiah's fine. No problems. For anybody now.
But that's what happened and it's really not a surprise. Ava and C.I. will stand up to Jim. Jim will stand up to anybody. When the three of them are in conflict on something and it has to do with the feelings of someone participating it will get intense.
So that's it. Here's the content and I've got a bad headache on the back left side of my skull so I'm just going to list the titles:
Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the week II
A note to our readers
Editorial: Justice for Abeer?
TV: Smart drama and the real fringe
One Sings The Other Doesn't
Magazine throws bash
The Progressive Celebrates 100 Years of Racism
Passing a historical problem off as something 'new...
The woman who should sit on the Court
Diane Rehm censors Abeer
Community reactions to the verdict
She sounds like an idiot
Highlights
And now I'm going to post. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, May 11, 2009. Chaos and violence continues, the US military announces multiple deaths, Sahwa remains targeted, Australia announces all-out-of-Iraq (except for 100 troops) and more.
Today the US military announced a Camp Liberty shooting at 2:00 p.m. Iraq time in which five US service members were shot dead. In a second announcement, they added, "A U.S. Soldier suspected of being involved with the shootings is currently in custody." Luis Martinez and Martha Raddatz (ABC News) encourage people to watch ABC World News Tonight with Charles Gibson this evening for a report on the shooting. Tom Leonard (Telegraph of London) states three more US soldiers were wounded in the shooting as does CNN; however, Jenny Booth (Times of London) goes with "at least two others were wounded" and she quotes Lt Tom Garnett (military spokesperson) stating, "The shooter is a US soldier and he is in custody." CNN states the shooting took place at a clinic for US service members seeking assistance with stress. Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) cites a US military official: "The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident shook up soldiers, many of whom are in their third and even fourth tours. Some broke down in tears, he said." Yochi J. Drezen (Wall St. Journal) draws the conclusion that many are drawing (and they may be right or they may be wrong) which is that it was likely fratricide, "Such crimes were more common during the Vietnam War, but have occurred only sporadically in Iraq. In 2003, Sgt. Hasan Akbar killed two soldiers and wounded 14 others in a grenade attack in Kuwait; he was convicted and sentenced to death. In 2006, Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was charged with murdering two officers in a suspicious explosion in Tikrit, though he was later acquitted. And last year, an American soldier was arrested in the shooting deaths of a pair of other soldiers at a base near the Iraqi city of Iskandariya." Mark Kukis (Time magazine) grabs a piano shawl and offers this crystal vision, "In the coming days and weeks, undoubtedly, a chilling tale will trickle out of the Pentagon and Camp Liberty as more details are revealed." "Timothy Williams (New York Times) goes with that as well and pretends Robert Gibbs is Barack Obama -- he's not. If the White House wants to issue a statement, they can do so. Gibbs fumbling in a press briefing when the issue is raised doesn't qualify as anything worth attributing to anyone but Gibbs. Or as Gi bbs said at another point during the press conference today, "I think the president -- I haven't talked specifically with him, but my guess is . . ." In the real world, BBC adds: "The BBC's Natalia Antelava, in Baghdad, says troops at Camp Liberty had been enjoying a much more relaxed atmosphere in recent months. She says there have been few attacks on the base recently, so the timing of the shooting will make it particularly shocking to the soldiers there." The Los Angeles Times offers Liz Sly's report and an AP video on the shooting. At the US State Dept today, spokesperson Ian Kelly stated that "our sympathies go to the families of the soldiers. But beyond that, I don't have anything to say. I'd refer you to the Pentagon." This was Ian Kelly's first press briefing. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined him for the start of the briefing to announce he was the new State Department spokesperson and the Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs. She thanked Robert Wood who had been appointed a Deputy Spokersperson during the Bush administration: "And I want to thank for a wonderful job and provide my deepest appreciation to Robert Wood. He took over in the middle of a transition and has been drinking from a fire hose ever since. But I have really enjoyed getting to know Robert and I look foward to continuign to work with him as an important contributor within the Department to the Obama Administration's foreign policy."
At the Washington Post today, Ernesto Londono participated in an online chat. The scheduled topic was Iraq and, due to the news of the shooting, that became the primary focus of the chat. Below are some of the exchanges:
Fairfax, Va.: Is there anxiety there in Baghdad due to the new focus being on Afghanistan? If so, is the U.S. military doing about counseling or anything?
Ernesto Londono: I've spoken to some soldiers who feel that Iraq now feels like the "Forgotten War" -- a label that was coined to refer to Afghanistan back in 2004 and 2005. But I haven't heard soldiers express anger or anxiety over that. Some find it somewhat frustrating, but I wouldn't say it's a big deal for folks serving here that I talk to on a regular basis.
The U.S. military is paying a lot of attention to post traumatic stress disorder. Most large bases have combat stress clinics, where soldiers get counseling and sometimes medication. I know it's an issue commanders and squad leaders take very seriously. Unfortunately, seeking mental help also carries a stigma.
[. . .]
Bel Air, Md.: This is disturbing, especially that it happened at a military base. It's like what happens at local malls. How major an incident is this and how will it be handled. Is this the largest number of casualites in Iraq that have happened under Obama's watch?
Ernesto Londono: It's the deadliest incident in which a soldier -- apparently intentionally -- opened fire on comrades. A truck bombing in Mosul last month killed 5 soldiers.
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Dallas, Tex.: You've been covering Iraq for two years now. How candid are the soldiers about how the war has affected them, and have any of the ones you've talked to said they're not surprised this happened?
Ernesto Londono: It varies. Some soldiers don't seem to mind talking about harrowing things. In fact, many seem to find it cathartic. Others do. Every soldier I've spoken to today is dismayed, saddened and frightened. I think everyone wants answers to two questions: who and why. Before we have those two pieces of information I think it's hard to draw firm conclusions.
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Iraq: Was the soldier escorted to the clinic, was it a command referral? If so why did the commander not take the ammunition away and leave him his weapon?
Ernesto Londono: Some soldiers are escorted to combat stress clinics. Many are "walk ins." No appointment needed. We don't know whether the suspected gunman was a patient or what his motive may have been.
Also today the US military announced: "BASRA, Iraq -- A Multi-National Divison -- South Soldier died when an improvised explosives device struck his vehicle in the Basra Province at approximately 2 p.m. May 10. The Soldier's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The name of the service member will be announced through the U.S. Department of Defense Official Website at http://www.defenselink.mil/. The announcement will be made on the website no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's family." Saturday the US military announced: "A U.S. Soldier was killed in a non-combat related vehicle accident May 9. The accident is under investigation. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense." And they announced: "JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- A 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Soldier died here as a result of non-combat related causes May 8. The Soldier's name is being withheld pending next of kin notification and release by the Department of Defense." And Saturday the Defense Department issued the following: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Shawn D. Sykes, 28, of Portsmouth, Va., died May 7 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered from an accident that occurred May 5 at Combat Outpost Crazy Horse, Iraq. He was assigned to 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas." ICCC currently lists 4292 but they don't have the Basra death announced today so the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the start of the war thus far is 4293.
Today War Criminal Steven D. Green faces sentencing. Thursday the man who took part in the gang-rape of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, who murdered her, who murdered her parents and her five-year-old sister was found guilty on all counts by a federal jury. Evan Bright is the 18-year-old high school senior who has attended and reported one every day of the trial. Yesterday Bright contributed an article on the verdict to The Huffington Post. Today Evan Bright's reporting on the sentencing on Twitter. Bright notes, "Heard from Qassim Hamza's older sis, the orphan Mohammed again, & for the 1st time, his little brother, Ahmed, & the uncle, Abu Farras again." And, apparently for the defense, "Heard from Sgt Miller, more on conditions in Iraq, & what it was like. In the middle of hearing Eric Lauzier, who is speaking abt leaders." Most interesting, he noted first thing this morning, "Just heard opening statements of sentencing phase from (P) Marisa Ford and (D) Pat Bouldin. CNN and the NYTimes are here as well." NYT?
Saturday's paper included Campbell Robertson and Atheer Kakan contribute "Ex-G.I. Guilty of Rape and Killings in Iraq" which was the first by name mention of Abeer by the paper. (For the paper's history, you can see Friday's snapshot.) However, she finally is named by the paper in paragraph thirteen of the fourteen paragraph story.
*First paragraph "the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and the killings of her and three members of her family"*Paragraph three "where the girl and her family lived"*Paragraph nine "moving the girl's parents and her young sister into a back room while two of the soldiers raped her"; "raping the girl and then shooting her repeatedly in the head and trying to set fire to her body"*Pargraph thirteen finally gives her a name. We call her Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and that's what most outlets call her, it is what the FBI called her in their two press releases on Steven D. Green and it's how she was referred to in court.
Credit to the two Iraq based reporters for covering the verdict. The domestic staff? They sent how many reporters to Alaska and couldn't send anyone to Kentucky? (That should actually be, "They don't have a reporter in Kentucky?") Dave Alsup (CNN) reports background today on Green's arrest including Green declaring to FBI agents, "You probably think I'm a monster." Brett Barroquere (AP) notes Ford asked for the death penalty while Green's attorneys are arguing, 'None of the others got the death penalty!' Leaving the penalty out of it for a moment, did the others murder Abeer, her five-year-old sister and her parents? They took part in the War Crimes, no question. But Green was the ringleader and Green was one who shot dead all four family members. Killed four people. Green and co-horts committed War Crimes -- and good for CNN for calling them what they were ("On Monday, as the penalty phase of his trial begins, Green might become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court.") -- but Green was already labeled the ringleader and he is the one who murdered four people.
Over the weekend, AFP reported that Pope Benedict XVI spoke in Jordan Saturday and urged Iraq to work to protect the country's Christian minority. AFP noted, "Estimated to number some 800,000 at the time of the US-led invasion of 2003, Christians have been prominent among the 2.7 million Iraqis who fled their homes during the sectarian violence that followed and as few as 400,000 are now believed to remain in their homeland."
Yesterday US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and US House Rep Rush Holt hollered "SURPRISE!" as they made a sneak visit to Iraq. Pelosi's office notes that they met with Nouri al-Maliki and with Ayad al-Smarai who is the new Speaker of Parliament and was his first meeting with any elected American officials since he became the Speaker. The issues discussed on the trip were:rooting out wide-spread corruption that is impeding reconstruction and the delivery of services to the Iraqi people; providing security to all Iraqi citizens; resolving the border conflict between the Kurds and Iraqis; andbuilding a strong Iraqi intelligence capability.
As J-Ross (Liberal Rapture) asks, "Why can no one ever make an announced visit to Iraq?" Anthony Shadid and Nada Barki (Washington Post) explain, "Pelosi was careful not to signal any long-term military commitment in Iraq, saying the United States intends to 'help economically and culturally'." Jack Dolan (McClatchy Newspapers) observes, "Pelosi's visit comes in the wake of an alarming spike in violence. More than 200 people were killed in attacks in Baghdad last month, the highest toll in more than a year."
Bombings?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report the Green Zone was attacked with mortars today, a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Sahwa "head" and left "two civilians" injured and a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 2 lives and left eight more injured.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report police Brig Gen Abdulhussein Muhsin al Kathimi was shot dead in Baghdad, 1 guard was shot dead at the Mosul Governorate building with another wounded, Hadbaa politician Arkan Aziz al-Ta'ee was shot dead in Mosul and 1 off duty police officer was shot dead in Mosul. Xinhua notes al-Kazemi's shooting, "Kazemi's death came a day after his superior, Maj. Gen. Jaafar al-Khafaji, escaped a bomb attack near his convoy in central Baghdad."
Corpses?
Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report the corpse of 5-year-old boy was discovered in Baghdad ten days after he was kidnapped (they'd asked for "50 thousand USD").
1 Sahwa was reported killed today. BBC reported 1 was killed Saturday, Abed al-Kairiya, in a roadside bombing outside Baghdad. Sahwa are also known as "Awakenings" and "Sons Of Iraq." Independent journalist Dahr Jamail (at Dissident Voice) observes:
Throughout history, those who collaborate with the occupiers of their country tend to end up hung out to dry, or dead. The occupation of Iraq is no different; collaboration and the poison fruits that come of it are on full display for the history books once again. Only now, the rapidity with which this is happening is staggering. On May 5, the Iraqi military killed Basim Mohammed and detained his brother. Mohammed was a member of the Sahwa, the 100,000-strong Sunni militia composed mostly of former resistance fighters that the US created in order to use them to battle al-Qaeda in Iraq, as well as paying them off to draw down the number of attacks against occupation forces. The Sahwa, who were supposed to be given government jobs either in security or in civil services, have been betrayed. Instead of being given the promised jobs, they have been consistently targeted by the Iraqi military, and at times the US military, which has left them vulnerable as well to attacks from al-Qaeda. As a result, they are walking off their security jobs for lack of pay, and have largely ceased their military operations against al-Qaeda. The predictable result is what we have been witnessing over the last months -- a slow but steady increase in the number of attacks against Iraqi and US forces and a dramatic rise in the spectacular car bomb attacks in largely Shia areas that kill scores at a time.The obvious solution would be for the Obama administration to pressure its client government in Baghdad to fulfill promises to incorporate the Sahwa into its ranks, as well as applying pressure to Prime Minister Maliki to lay off targeting the Sahwa and its leadership. Instead, Sahwa members like Mohammed are being killed and their family members detained, and the attacks continue. On May 3, Iraqi forces arrested Nadhim al-Jubouri, a Sahwa leader in the volatile Salahadin province. In March, Iraqi forces detained Adil al-Mashadani, head of another Sahwa group in the Fadhil neighborhood of central Baghdad -- which ignited clashes between US, Iraqi and Sahwa forces that left three men dead and set the stage for more bloodletting.
Sunday Sam Dagher (New York Times) addressed the continuing targeting of the Sahwa members. Mullah Nadhim al-Jubouri was arrested on May 2nd along with two brothers and charged with terrorism. He tells the paper, "Arresting Awakeing leaders at this juncture is a very big mistake that created a security void." Most important line in the article: "The Awakening members in Dhuluiya will get their last paychecks from the American military this month, after which the government is supposed to take over, according to Mr. Jubouri's deputy, Mohammed, who also goes by the same tribal last name." Saturday Charles Levinson (Wall St. Journal) also pointed out that Sahwa members were still not being paid by Nouri al-Maliki. This despite the fact that he was supposed to have picked up payment last month.
It's a pity the modern day press really doesn't do retractions. Meanwhile Elisabeth Bumiller broke down the coming realities Saturday: "The top American general in Iraq said Friday that one-fifth of American combat troops would stay behind in Iraqi cities even after the June 30 deadline that the United States and Iraq had set for the departure." Yes, he did say that. More than once. He was also asked about the mythical al-Baghdidi and refused to say the US believes he exists or was captured by the Iraqis. He noted that no one has seen the suspect allegedly detained except for the Iraqis. Not at all surprising and al-Maliki's already made the exception for Baghdad. Today on Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman spoke with conservative historian Andrew Bacevich who offered the following on the Iraq War:
But with regard to the Iraq war, I think that, you know, the new Tom Ricks book --not to push his book -- The Gamble, he reaches the conclusion that the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered in history probably haven't happened yet. And I think that's probably about right. The notion that the surge won the war is an illusion. Certainly, the notion that the surge created the conditions that are going to produce political reconciliation in Iraq, that's an illusion. The war is off the front pages, but the war continues. We are reminded of that, as we get periodic reports of bombs blowing up in Baghdad and civilians being killed.
I wouldn't hazard to guess on what the future holds for Iraq. I would simply say that Iraq will provide further evidence of the fact that the United States is not able to determine the fate of nations in the greater Middle East. The Iraqis will sort that out, for better or for ill. And we will be left wondering what exactly we gained through the expenditure of a trillion dollars and the loss of more than 4,000 American lives in a war that, frankly, should not have been begun in the first place.
Thomas E. Ricks is the author of The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq 2006-2008 (a great book). He's currently in a silly tussle with Anti-war.com, here for him, here for them, here for me. And because even smart people like Thomas E. Ricks don't always grasp ethics, we'll note this pledge from Network of Concerned Anthropologists:
We, the undersigned, believe that anthropologists should not engage in research and other activities that contribute to counter-insurgency operations in Iraq or in related theaters in the "war on terror." Furthermore, we believe that anthropologists should refrain from directly assisting the US military in combat, be it through torture, interrogation, or tactical advice.
US military and intelligence agencies and military contractors have identified "cultural knowledge," "ethnographic intelligence," and "human terrain mapping" as essential to US-led military intervention in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. Consequently, these agencies have mounted a drive to recruit professional anthropologists as employees and consultants. While often presented by its proponents as work that builds a more secure world, protects US soldiers on the battlefield, or promotes cross-cultural understanding, at base it contributes instead to a brutal war of occupation which has entailed massive casualties. By so doing, such work breaches relations of openness and trust with the people anthropologists work with around the world and, directly or indirectly, enables the occupation of one country by another. In addition, much of this work is covert. Anthropological support for such an enterprise is at odds with the humane ideals of our discipline as well as professional standards.
We are not all necessarily opposed to other forms of anthropological consulting for the state, or for the military, especially when such cooperation contributes to generally accepted humanitarian objectives. A variety of views exist among us, and the ethical issues are complex. Some feel that anthropologists can effectively brief diplomats or work with peacekeeping forces without compromising professional values. However, work that is covert, work that breaches relations of openness and trust with studied populations, and work that enables the occupation of one country by another violates professional standards.
Consequently, we pledge not to undertake research or other activities in support of counter-insurgency work in Iraq or in related theaters in the "war on terror," and we appeal to colleagues everywhere to make the same commitment.
Finally Australia's Defence Dept announced today:
Defence will conclude its military commitment to the rehabilitation of Iraq on 31 July 2009 marking the end of a mission that commenced on 20 March 2003.
Following the withdrawal of Australian combat troops in 2008 and the relocation of the Australian National Headquarters from Baghdad, Australia's commitment to Operation CATALYST has consisted of personnel employed in non-combat roles within coalition headquarters. In 2009, there have been around 45 such personnel deployed in Iraq.
The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said Australia could take great pride in the enduring contribution that the Australian Defence Force had made to the future of Iraq.
"Australian troops have provided important support to security and stabilisation operations, and have been responsible for the training of approximately 33,000 Iraqi Army soldiers, including specialist training in logistics support and counter-insurgency operations," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
The cessation of Operation CATALYST does not include 100 ADF personnel providing protection for Australian diplomatic staff and the Australian embassy in Baghdad under Operation KRUGER, nor two ADF officers serving with the UN assistance Mission for Iraq under Operation RIVERBANK.
"The Australian Defence Organisation greatly appreciates the support and assistance received from coalition partners and the people and Government of Iraq during the ADF's deployment on Operation CATALYST,," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
"The Australian Government and the Department of Defence in partiular, look forward to maintaining a strong and robust Defence Cooperation Program with Iraq into the future."
iraqevan brightsteven d. green
brett barrouquere the new york timescampbell robertsonatheer kakan
the washington posternesto londonoanthony shadid
dahr jamail
timothy williamssam dagherelisabeth bumillerthe wall street journalcharles levin
mark kukis
abc world news tonightmartha raddatz
thomas e. ricks
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