Friday, August 18, 2006

My week out west winds down

I can't believe it's Friday! Usually, on Friday, I'm so excited the week is over but I got to be honest, I'm not so thrilled. It's been a great week out here in "the West." :D

It's all been fun, activism, speaking, listening, strategizing, amusement park, a comedy club, a concert, two movies, you name it. Great week. I could really go for another one but I couldn't live here. Nothing bad about the place, just I got family and friends back home. And home's home, you know?

But it's been so great. There wasn't a moment when I was bored. How many weeks can you say that about? Saw a lot of stuff. I go back Sunday and I think that's when most people are leaving. (The ones who are leaving. I'm still expecting an announcement of, "We're switching colleges and going out here." Wouldn't blame 'em. C.I.'s got the room and it is fun out here.)

And let me be honest, if I were home today I'd be screaming my head off. Why? Well did you hear about Ehren Watada? Did you?

I did. Not from the supposed brave independent media, but from people who really cared. In fact, there is major dogging on going on right now of the lack of coverage. They didn't cover the lead up, why would they cover the hearing?

They might not be able to play self-important gas bag if they covered something that really mattered, right?

Stupid dumb asses. I'll never donate to independent media again. Not after seeing how that went. Take "Lotta Links" -- of their 100-plus links today, how many do you think they gave to Ehren Watada's story? Did you guess five? You're too generous. ZERO. ZILCH. They didn't do a damn thing. And they want to beg for money. Why don't they just trying getting a job?
If you're trying to find out what happened to Watada, read C.I.'s "Walking Through Watada (Ehren Watada's Article 32 hearing)."

I also really got to see days in the life of C.I. and I get why Dona says, "We've got to get a handle on these all night editions." We really do. If C.I. gets three hours a night, I'm surprised. I would go to sleep, C.I. would still be up, I'd wake up and C.I. would have beat me up by hours. Working the room in a party is working the Iraq issue. I thought I gave a lot of time to it but C.I. really does. A journalist calls for a favor and C.I. helps but says, "You know I'll be calling in this marker." At one point today, C.I. passed out. I didn't even realize it. It was hot and C.I.'d been going for hours. There was something about water and then nothing. C.I. was probably out for five to ten minutes. It was a "woah," shake the head, and "I've got some great ideas for Sunday." (They were great ideas. C.I. wrote them down on the back of a deposit receit from the bank.) I asked Jim about it and Jim goes C.I. runs ragged focusing all this time on Iraq. So I see Dona's point. It's not fair to go on and on. It's tiring for all of us but Sunday is tough online for C.I. and there's always something C.I.'s agreed to do on Sunday. Usually several things.

It's really cool to see how much everyone has upped their committment to stopping the war. Everyone was against it and doing their part already but, like Ty said, you hang around C.I. long enough and you realize there are like 100 things each day that you could do and don't do. Elaine and me were talking about it and she said this issue won't go away. She said it's like college days (they all went to college together, Elaine, Rebecca and C.I.) and her only concern is that C.I.'s not 18 anymore and is going full out like back then.

But I was telling Rebecca how glad C.I. was that she was back from her honeymoon and Rebecca had no idea about that. I was really bummed both because I started seeing day after day just how much Democracy Now could and did suck. And everyone had basically come out here and Rebecca was on vacation and then her honeymoon. So we were talking about that today and I go about how glad C.I. is that Rebecca's back and Rebecca goes, "Oh please."

She goes that everyone else told her on the phone or in an e-mail (when she was vacationing), "I wish you were back already." When I was at my worst ("Mopey"), C.I. called and stayed on the phone with me for two hours. I was talking to Rebecca about that and she kept going, "That didn't get said." It did too.

The more I told her, the more she started to believe. She finally went to C.I. and asked, "Why didn't you tell me that?" C.I. goes that it was her vacation (and then honeymoon) and everyone could survive while she took time she needed. But Rebecca was so happy (she'll probably mention it tonight). But Rebecca has her own unique spot in this community. She's loved because you know she's just going to say it and if you don't like it, too bad. And with her gone, the burden of that really did fall on C.I. Rebecca had noticed that and all but thought C.I. was just pissed off. She didn't realize that when she left we all had to do some heavy lifting. (That's not saying Betty didn't do a great job substituting for Rebecca. She did do a great job and she ended up bringing in some new readers too. But Rebecca is warrior woman and when she's gone, we all miss her.) But hearing about that phone conversation and then talking to C.I. really made Rebecca's day. I don't think she got how much she gives to the community and how much we all appreciate it.

Just like you count on Wally or Betty to make you laugh, you count on Rebecca to get you angry about the things that matter.

And to wrap this into Iraq, that's what's needed. Lots and lots of voices speaking out and speaking in their own voice cause that's what's going to reach people. Not all of us memorizing a talking point but speaking in our voices.

Like John Edwards. I didn't care too much for him. Didn't dislike him in 2004 (I voted for John Kerry, so I voted for him). But now he's speaking in his own voice and saying things like (just now on KPFA's news), that Iraqis need to know that the US is going to leave Iraq and "the best way to make that clear is to actually leave Iraq."

I would have said it different, but I heard him and understood him. I bet a lot of other people will too. And since he came out strong against the war, I've been willing to consider him a serious choice for president in 2008.

He's said stuff like he made a mistake voting for the resolution (for war) and not a lot of people will admit they made a mistake. Bully Boy has a hard time with that -- did you notice! :D

That's one of the reasons troops are still in Iraq -- because some people are too proud to own their mistakes so I've been interested in what John Edwards has had to say lately.

Now here's news of Iraq from C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, August 18, 2006, the so-called 'crackdown' continues (and early childhood experts may note the engaged-in-a-power-struggle nature of it all as well as the increasing futility), Ehren Watada's Article 32 hearing started and concluded Thursday, Ricky Clousing returned to North Carolina and DNA on Jake Kovco's pistol is thought to have been indentified.
Ehren Watada is the first known commissioned officer to refuse to deploy in Bully Boy's illegal war. Yesterday, the military held an Article 32 hearing to determine whether there was reason/cause to take the matter to a court martial. Ehren Watada's attorneys were Eric Seitz and Cap. Mark Kim (of the US Army). While the prosecution called only one witness (to confirm that, as Watada had stated would be the case, Watada did not deploy) and spent the rest of its time showing excerpts o a speech Watada gave this weekend at the Veterans for Peace conference (click here at CounterPunch and here at Truthout and the latter offers video clips of the speech).
Watada's side called three witnesses Francis Boyle, Denis Halliday and retired Amry Colonel Ann Wight. Boyle testified as the nature of the war noting that the lie that Bully Boy pressed (for Congressional and public approval) of a link between Saddam Hussein and 9-11 "constitutes . . . a conspiracy to defraud the United States government." Ann Wright testified: "I personally believe that the decision of the Bush administration to invade and occupy Iraq without getting the authority of the UN Security Council . . . falls into the category of a war of agrression, which is by international law a war crime. So by a persaon saying 'Yes, I'm gong to Iraq,' one could argue that just by doing that, that is participating in a war crime.'"
As Eric Seitz had expected/predicted, the hearing lasted one day. Watada could find that the hearing determined there were no grounds for proceeding to a court-martial or a court-martial could be the next step. That call will be made by Lt. Colonel Mark Keith who presided over the hearing. A court-martial could mean as many as seven years imprisonment.
Ehren's father Bob Watada will be in the San Francisco Bay Area on a speaking tour that starts tomorrow and ends August 27th. A full list of scheduled appearances can be found here. A sample of upcoming events includes:

Saturday 8/19
7:30-9:30
Vigil for Abeer Hamza (14-year old girl who was raped & killed with her family by 5 US troops) Willard Park (Telegraph & Derby), Berkeley Contact: Not in Our Name 510-601-8000
Sunday 8/20
11-5:00pm
American Muslim Voice Foundation Convention
12:45-1 pm Bob Watada speaks 5748 Mowry School Rd., Newark Contact: Samina F. Sundas 650-387-1994 http://www.amuslimvoice.org
Monday 8/21
noon-1pm
Press Conference SF Japantown (Peace Plaza or NJAHS Gallery) Contact: Grace Morizawa gmorizawa [at] yahoo.com 510-289-1285
Monday 8/21
6:00-8:30pm
Reception & Event in SF Japantown Japanese Community & Cultural Center of NC (JCCCNC) 1840 Sutter, San Francisco Contact: Pete Yamamoto 415/921-5007
Tuesday 8/22
1-3 pm
brown bag lunch & educational event Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County 467 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa Contact: Elizabeth 707-575-8902
Wednesday 8/23
10:30-noon
UC Berkeley gathering with students and campus organizers Heller Lounge, Student Union Building, UC Berkeley Contact: Nina Falleunbaum 510-812-8026 noon-1:30pm Event at UC Berkeley ­ Sproul Plaza Contact: Wesley Ueunten 510-579-2711
Thursday 8/24
noon-3pm
World Can't Wait­Youth & Students Conference San Francisco (site TBA) Contact: Jessalyn Gagui 415-286-3408
Friday 8/25
7-10pm "Sir! No, Sir!"
Film Screening & Speakers Santa Cruz Veterans Building Contact: Sharon Kufeldt 650-799-1070

Again, a full list can be found by clicking here (Indybay IMC).
Once again, Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
In addition Howie Hawkins (Green Party candidate for US Senate from NY) is urging "the peace movement to provide financial support to soldiers who are punished for refusing to participate in the war." And, as many community members have noted, while there's been a "How Can They!" attitude regarding Hillary Clinton's Democratic opponent not being invited to a TV debate, the Green Party candidate is shut out as well -- despite the lack of op-eds, news segments, et al. (The Green Party candidate would be Howie Hawkins.)
Another war resister, Ricky Clousing, is back at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The AP reports that he arrived back this morning. Clousing self-checked out of the army in June of last year. Last week, Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) had the scoop that the 24-year-old Clousing would be holding a news conference to announce he was turning himself in. Estes Thompson reports that after turning himself in at Fort Lewis in Washington, he was ordered "to report to a unit at Fort Bragg that handles absent soldiers."
Turning to diplomacy issues, as trade talks went on in Jordan this week, talks which Petra noted were "co-chaired by Speaker of the Lower House of the [Jordan] Parliament Abdel Hadi Al Majali and his Iraqi counterpart Mahmoud Al Masshadani," Jordan's Ahmed al-Lozi became "the first fully accredited Arab ambassador in Iraq."
Meanwhile in the United States, Free Speech Radio News reported Thursday that "twenty-one former generals and high ranking national security officials called on President Bush to reverse course . . . and embrace a new area of negotiation with Iraqn, Iraq and North Korea." Speaking with Andrea Lewis on KPFA's The Morning Show today, Medea Benjamin noted that while the US administration makes no efforts to reach out to the Iraqi parliament, "we at the grass roots [level] have." Benjamin was referring to the CODEPINK & Global Exchange sponsored trip to Amman, Jordan where she and others met with Iraqis including the "members of the largest Shia coalition, the largest Sunni block in their parliament, the largest secular coalition, torture victims from Abu Ghraib."
Benjamin observed, "It was quite an amazing coming together of people who, from all different perspectives, wanted to see an end to the US occupation, an end to the violence in Iraq, the reconstruction of their country and we came awy from there, Andrea, with a lot of ideas about how to get the voices of the Iraqi people out in the US so that when we hear that same old excuse here 'We can't leave the Iraqi people now!' we can hear the voice of Iraqis telling us precisely how they want to see an end to the occupation and a broader reconciliation plan."
This comes as Robert Reid (AP) reports that: "Key U.S. senators complain it's time to tell Iraqis that American troops won't stay indefinitely and to make political compromises to avoid all-out civil war." This as a Dick Cheney stump speech/plea for cash turned into an event. Jesse Harlan Alderman (AP) reports that a Boise, Idaho fund raiser included protestors in "orange [hunting] vests handing out leaflets on hunter safety"; "[p]eace activists silently lining a major downtown arterial with tombstones to mark the mounting death toll in Iraq"; and a "Dick Cheney look-alike contest" with an award of "$22 in free gas and a box of shotgun shells" (and hopefully a list of qualified plastic surgeons).
In Iraq, the chaos and violence continue. Despite 'crackdown' 6.0 which now means that all vehicles are banned for two-days in the capital. Reuters reports that this ban has been imposed due to the one-year anniversary of the stampeded that killed almost "1,000 Shi'ite pilgrims . . . in a stampede . . . when a crowd . . . was panicked by rumours of a suicide bomber." Al Jazeera notes that the ban is in place until Monday morning. The BBC reports that, in addition to the vehicle ban, there are "[c]heckpoints, [and] body searches". Exactly how vehicle bans, checkpoints or body searches will stop rumors (the stated cause of last year's stampeded) remains unclear.
Bombs?
CBS and the Associated Press report that in Balad Ruz, a roadside bomb claimed killed at least one person. KUNA reports that today it was announced that a "multi-national force (MNF) soldier" died in southern Baghdad on Thursday from a roadside bomb. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that the "British military base near Amarah" was under mortar attack "Friday morning." [In the United States, Amy Bartner (Indianapolis Star) reports on a "new 11-bed unit . . . at the Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center where the most seriously wounded soldiers in the Iraq war will be able to recover" and notes that while body armor is credited with saving the lives of American troops, "that protection can't prevent potentially debilitating injuries to arms and legs".] Australia's NEWS.com notes that a mortar attack on a city council member in Baquba wounded "[f]our bodyguards."
Shootings?In Taji, a convoy ("civilian trucks") was attacked leaving one person wounded and a 'guard' dead the AP reports. Australia's NEWS.com reports that the truck went up in flames and had been carrying "kerosene" while also noting that a grocer was shot dead in Yarmuk. (Other press outlets do not identify what the truck was carrying.) Australia's The Advertiser reports that seven Shi'ite pilgrmins were shot dead by "gunmen" in Baghdad. KUNA reports that "two civilians" were shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?AP reports five were discovered in Mahmoudiya ("gunshot wounds"). The Canadian Press notes the five and adds that six more were discovered "in the Tigris River" ("bullet-riddled and tortured").
Kidnappings?
CBS and AP report that journalist Saif Abdul-Jabbar al-Tamimi was kidnapped Wednesday and that "[t]here has been no claim of responibility". Reporters Without Borders notes that he was kidnapped in Baghdad as were journalists Reem Zeid and Marwan Khazaal who "have been hostages for more than six months" now while journalist Salah Jali al-Gharrawi has not been seen since his April 4th kidnapping. Reporters Without Borders notes: "A total of 49 journalists and media assistants have been kidnapped in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. Instead of being afforded a degree of security by the fact that they work for the media, journalists have been singled out as targets."
Meanwhile, AFP reports that Father Saad Syrop was kidnapped, also from Baghdad, Tuesday evening after he had finished Mass (at St. James Church) and was heading home.
In Australia, the inquiry into the April 21st death in Baghdad of Jake Kovco resumed. Following Wednesday's hypnosis shocker, an unscheduled day-off was taken due to reported delays with DNA test that might reveal the 'owner' of the DNA found on Kovco's gun. As Michael Edwards reports on PM (Australia's ABC) Michelle Franco ("DNA expert") testified that the DNA belongs to Soldier 14. Reporting on The World Today (ABC), Edwards noted that "Soldier's 14's DNA was found on the gun's slide, trigger, base plate, and magazine."
Soldier 14 previously testified to the hearing on August 9th and dropped a bombshell when he testified that the (written) statements provided to the military investigation were not reflective of his (verbal) statements -- specifically, as Peter Charlton (Courier-Mail) noted this included the claim that there was a standard procedure (the so-called 'buddy system') in operation "where a pair of soldiers check each other's weapons to ensure they were unloaded."
The Herald-Sun reports that only the DNA "on the pistol's slide" were ruled by expert Franco to be a direct match (DNA on the "trigger, hand grip and magazine" are believed, by Franco, to be Soldier 14's but are "not direct matches.") Tracy Ong (The Australian) reports that Soldier 14 testified, after the DNA results, that he had no memory of handling Jake Kovco's gun and that his attorney ("Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Green") cross-examined Franco who noted that skin celles "could be transferred through a handshake or carried in sweat."
The AAP calls the DNA "[s]ensational new evidence," notes that "Soldier 14 has refused to be interviewed by police about the tests" and reports that "Monday . . . Soldier 14 will be cross-examined by lawyers representing Private Kovco's widow, Shelley, and his parents" Judy and Martin Kovco.
The Daily Telegraph notes that Soldier 14 believes "that both he and Pte Kovco had probably used the same megaphone at the embassy on the day of the shooting" and that's where any DNA swap would have most likely taken place.
Finally, in peace news, Camp Casey III is ongoing in Crawford, Texas until September 2nd -- on September 5th it switches locations and becomes Camp DC. AFP reports that it "will be located near the National Mall, the blocks-long expanse of lawn between the US Congress building and the White House". While it's still located in Crawford, upcoming events include the following: August 18th forum on peaceful solutions moderated by Carroll Boone and an August 21st War Crimes Tribunal. Actress and activist Mimi Kennedy, of Progressive Democrats of America, will be there on August 20th along with Carolyn Wonderland who will perform from 7:30 to 9:30 pm.























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