In 1991, Biden voted against the United Nations-supported successful action in Operation Desert Storm, which was to drive the Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait after Saddam's brutal display of atrocities on Kuwaitis.
Scott Ritter was the controversial weapons inspector known for stating with confidence that there were no WMD programs active in Iraq. Here is what he said about Joe Biden: "Sen. Joe Biden is running a sham hearing. It is clear that Biden and most of the Congressional leadership have pre-ordained a conclusion that seeks to remove Saddam Hussein from power regardless of the facts, and are using these hearings to provide political cover for a massive military attack on Iraq."
He voted for the 2003 Iraq invasion by George W. Bush.
In 2006, he insisted that Iraqis would never unite behind a central Iraqi government and instead wanted to design three separate states in what is still today Iraq.
After the ill-advised American troop pullout in Iraq and shortly before ISIS began their reign of terror there, according to Politico, Biden said he thought "America wins" and that Americans would see it as a success and get credit in the region. “I think Americans will recognize that there aren’t body counts ... that they got 95,000 people home. That will be noticeable that they’re home," Biden said.
He advised President Obama to not attack the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
This one is hilarious. Speaking at a high school ceremony in Virginia, Biden called the Arab Spring a “democratic movement;” meanwhile, just a few hours later, the Egyptian high court nullified the Islamist majority parliament and the Egyptian military seized control of the government.
Biden on the 2012 Obama-backed overthrow in Libya: "NATO got it right. Gaddafi was a brutal dictator who had to go."
October 21, 2011, at a Plymouth, New Hampshire Town Hall forum The New York Times quoted Foreign Policy writer Thomas Ricks. “When was the last time Biden was right about anything?”
Joe needs to go. Lily Jay writes about her own encounter with Cobra Joe at SLATE:
While reading Lucy Flores’ and Sofie Karasek’s accounts last week of their interactions with Biden, a knot gathered in my stomach. I experienced, in a very small dose, the kind of doubt, the queasy sense of having been duped that I once felt so strongly as a survivor. I believe Flores and Karasek, and I believe they felt humiliated and distressed by Biden’s physical contact. It was me who I doubted. The feeling of questioning my own experience was a familiar one. Why hadn’t I been more aware of Biden’s contact with me? Why didn’t it occur to me to be perturbed? Why had I so quickly discredited my annoyance at having to hold hands with him like I was a little girl?
I am hesitant to definitively sum up how Biden made me feel that day because it seems beside the point. As a graduate student studying clinical psychology, I am aware both emotionally and intellectually of how little people like ambiguity. It takes up too much room in our minds, so we seek to resolve the contradiction. For every person who felt comforted by Biden’s touch, there could be someone who felt unsettled. Is anyone keeping count? Are we waiting for some kind of grand tally in order to settle this? What I will say is this: That day, Biden’s gestures toward me felt more paternalistic than predatory; there was nothing prurient about him holding my hand. I think he believes, like the waiter who recently squeezed my arm during dinner, that certain kinds of touch are friendly and fatherly. But neither of those men are my father, and there are lots of ways to be friendly.
Biden can’t know, nor can anyone else, what a touch of any kind might mean to another person. Erring on the side of asking before touching is a guideline so simple it might just work. And had he asked me that day: “Can I hold your hand?” I don’t know what I would have said. I was so electric with nerves, I may have said yes and received his hand in mine warmly. I was also so enamored with the chance to publicly assert that I was independent, unbroken, and whole that I may have declined. It’s hard to imagine in retrospect what I wanted in that moment, but I know I would have appreciated the opportunity to decide for myself. Biden grabbing my hand constituted a small boundary-crossing that seems to reflect a kind of inability to imagine another person’s perspective more than anything else. I don’t think he considered that I, as a young woman—a survivor of sexual assault who had just spoken about that experience in perhaps the most public forum she’d ever be in—maybe did not want or need a hand to hold.
My sense that Biden, who is known for his empathy, actually has a limited ability to understand how others might feel grew as I watched him joke about the issue and sidestep an apology. It wasn’t until that “sorry not sorry” video and his jokes about seeking permission before touching people that I realized I had been privately rooting for Biden. Even now, I still want to settle back into a comforting belief that the man who stood next to me talking about the importance of curbing campus sexual assault is a good person with the possibility of success in 2020. But his failure to own up to the distress he has caused some women is not as open to interpretation as his touching. While some people enjoy hugs from strangers and others do not, I don’t know anyone who enjoys not receiving an apology when hurt, or having their lived experience made into a joke. I was willing to reserve judgment and embrace the ambiguity of Biden’s physical contact—to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I don’t know how much longer I can make space for him to do the right thing and own up to his missteps.
Again, Joe needs to go. Cobra Joe will betray us all. This is from Jamil Smith (ROLLING STONE):
One problem is that the longer that Biden flirts with a 2020 candidacy, the better we get to know him. The caricature of “Uncle Joe” crafted over the Obama presidency, has crumbled bit by bit, revealing anew a politician who would likely be ill-suited to handle the political and cultural wreckage left in Trump’s wake. In her incisive essay about Biden’s surprisingly awful politics, Rebecca Traister writes that “so much of what is terrifying and dangerous about this time are in fact problems that can in part be laid at the feet of Joe Biden himself, and the guys we’ve regularly been assured are Democrats’ only answer.”
This campaign cycle has reintroduced us to the man who sounded like a Jim Crow segregationist in the 1970s when he spoke about school busing, who remains unwilling to account for his role in Anita Hill’s mistreatmentduring a hearing that he controlled, who eulogized the Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond and who didn’t think twice before calling his vice-presidential successor Mike Pence “a decent guy,” despite homophobic policies beingcentral to his political rise.
Biden, a co-author of the Violence Against Women Act and longtime champion of ending sexual assault, now faces another problem. Multiple women have come forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior, ranging from making them feel uncomfortable with his gestures and closeness to the “big slow kiss” Biden allegedly planted on the back of the head of former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores five years ago before a campaign event.
Biden, a co-author of the Violence Against Women Act and longtime champion of ending sexual assault, now faces another problem. Multiple women have come forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior, ranging from making them feel uncomfortable with his gestures and closeness to the “big slow kiss” Biden allegedly planted on the back of the head of former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores five years ago before a campaign event.
Joe needs to go!
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Our thoughts are with the families of the three service members killed today in Afghanistan.
Three more lives lost in the endless wars.
That's the reality and reality scares a lot of people. The laughable Glenn Kessler at THE WASHINGTON POST is scared by these remarks by Beto O'Rourke:
“And then if we really mean it, if we really mean
it, we will ensure that this country does not start yet another war
before every peaceful, diplomatic, nonviolent alternative is explored
and pursued. And those wars that we ask our fellow Americans, these
service members to fight on our behalf, 17 years and counting in
Afghanistan, 27 years and counting in Iraq, let’s bring these wars to a
close and bring these service members back home to their families, to
their communities and to their country.”
— Former congressman Beto O’Rourke (D) in El Paso on March 30, 2019
“Do
we really want to fight wars forever? Twenty-seven years in Iraq, 18
years, almost, in Afghanistan and counting with no definition or
strategy or end in sight. Trillions of dollars we are spending to fight
and to rebuild countries that we’ve invaded.”
— O’Rourke in Ames, Iowa, on April 3
“Given
what others are already sacrificing in this country, men and women who
are deployed right now in wars that have gone for 17, 27 years in
Afghanistan and Iraq.”
— O’Rourke in Storm Lake, Iowa, on April 5
Glenn sets out to destroy Beto because that's what Glenn does.
Liars keep wars going and there's no bigger liar in the world than Glenn Kessler. He disputes the timeline that Beto offers -- though he does note it's the same one the Air Force's vice chief of staff Gen Stephen W. Wilson has offered in Congressional testimony.
Little Glenn knows so much better than everyone, doesn't he?
Which is why his timeline includes -- oh, wait, it doesn't include the sanctions during the Clinton presidency that killed over a half million.
Mad Maddie Albright, taking a moment from feeding on the bones of the dead to declare that "the price is worth it."
It's a funny sort of timeline that fails to note the long, long war the US government has carried out on Iraq.
Of course, Glenn being the whore he is, he pretends that troops left in 2011.
They didn't.
Dropping back to the December 12, 2011 snapshot:
US House Rep Ron Paul:
Well -- well I want to -- extend the tax cut, because if you don't, you
raise the taxes. But I want to pay for it. And it's not that
difficult. In my proposal, in my budget, I want to cut hundreds of
billions of dollars from overseas. The trust fund is gone. But how are
we gonna restore it? We have to quit the spending. We have to quit
this being the policemen of the world. We don't need another war in
Syria and another war in Iran. Just get rid of the embassy in Baghdad.
We're pretending we're coming home from Baghdad. We built an embassy
there that cost a billion dollars and we're putting 17,000 contractors
in there and pretending our troops are coming home.
Yes,
a lot of people want to pretend things are different than they actually
are. It was an important point -- made by someone who truly was against
the Iraq War. And one of the few functioning members of the press
noted that on yesterday's Meet The Press (NBC).
Ted
Koppel: The point is Ron Paul was almost right last night. You
remember, and it was one of the overlooked points in the debate, he
spoke of the 17,000, he spoke about civilian contractors who are still
in Iraq. We do have 17,000 people still in Iraq. They're not all
civilian contractors, but a great many of them are. You've got a
consulate in Basra, a consulate in Erbil. The one in Basra is just less
than 20 miles from the Iranian border; 1,320 Americans down there.
They are rocketed two or three times a week. They are about as
vulnerable as any Americans have been since 1979 at the embassy in
Tehran. And if they were to be frontally attacked, and I'm suggesting
that that's not unlikely at all, you're going to see the U.S. military
come back in. Because, while the ambassador said, "No, no, no, we're
going to rely on the Iraqis to do the job," there is no way that the
U.S. military will wait for the Iraqis to save those Americans, and
they're going to need saving.
Also on Meet The Press,
they highlighted a small segment of an interview Ted did with US
Ambassador James Jeffery as part of a report to air tonight on Rock
Center (NBC):
MR. KOPPEL: I realize you
can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a
healthy CIA mission here. I would assume that JSOC may still be active
in this country, the joint special operations. You've got FBI here.
You've got DEA here. Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who
all falls under your control?
AMB. JAMES JEFFREY: You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff.
Yes,
the CIA will still be there (and in a new subdivision in Turkey) and so
will Special Ops. And this has been addressed. But there aren't a lot
of grown ups in the press. When Ted left Nightline, it wasn't just that program that suffered, it was the quality of news.
Rock Center airs tonight at 10:00 pm. EST and Pacific, 9:00 pm Central. Rock Center's Tom Bettag notes of Ted Koppel's report tonight:
But
is America really leaving? Many people have the impression that the
U.S. presence -- and U.S. government spending -- is finally ending in
Iraq. Koppel makes it clear that this is far from the truth.
He
tells the story of some 16,000 people who will be left behind. Koppel
and his team obtained extraordinary access to the U.S. embassy, the
largest embassy in the world, with a footprint the size of Vatican
City. He also traveled to the U.S. consulate in Basra, which faces
regular rocket attacks from Iranian-funded militia.
For them, it isn't over; it's just about to begin.
So grown ups should tune in to Rock Center tonight on NBC.
It's a little late in the game for the self-declared fact checker Glenn Kessler to pretend that Ted Koppel and his reporting never existed. But liars lie.
Awhile back, Beto was a press darling. Less so today. What changed? He's speaking about real issues. This is the second wave of press attacks on him regarding Iraq. If Beto would be part of the war machine, the press would give him the sloppy, open mouthed kiss they do Joe Biden. While the press enthusiasm wanes, Beto is reaching voters. There's more enthusiasm for him than any other candidate besides Bernie Sanders to the groups we're speaking to. Will be heading to campuses in the south over the next few weeks and it will be interesting to see if he has support there as well. But he is very popular with college students and one of the reasons is because he talks seriously about issues like the never-ending wars.
Our infrastructure is crumbling. We need leadership that puts #PeopleBeforeProfits, to end regime change wars, the new Cold War and arms race, and keep the money in people’s pockets and/or rebuild our country’s bridges, airports, roads, sewer lines, etc.
US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard is correct that we can't pour all the money into these endless wars and still be able to take care of the infrastructure here at home. Tulsi is also running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
cc: @TulsiGabbard
Tulsi has a following on campuses. It would be larger -- and will probably increase with the debates -- were some not so eager to smear her.
Hilarious. @JillFilipovic wrote a whole column about how young female candidates aren't taken seriously, whereas young male candidates like 37-year-old Mayor Pete get celebrated. She brings up Tulsi, but only to dismiss her. Tulsi is the same age as Pete
Jill's not really a feminist. She's a whore and a lot worse. I need to disclose, as I have noted many times before, that she asked Rebecca for links and promised them back but never delivered. That's a whore, that's a bitch, that's a liar. If I were Cher, I'd trot out the c-word. I have no respect for her. While people were protesting the Iraq War what was Jill doing? Oh, yeah, her elitist ass was on a beach posting bikini photos of herself. Oh, Jill, you're a woman, that doesn't make you a feminist. You've never addressed war and peace in any serious context. You're the ESQUIRE do-me feminism of the 90s, push-up bra supplied on demand.
She's not going to take Tulsi seriously because Tulsi stands for real issues and Jill stands for nothing. Post some more T&A photos, Jill! That's about what you can handle as you pose as a feminist.
If your scope of the suffering women endure does not include war, you're really not a feminist. In fact, I doubt you have a fully functioning brain. In any war zone, women and girls suffer even more.
She's a homely piece of trash who should have her jaw fixed before posing for attempted beauty shots. She's completing her in depth series on tipping. Yes, first world problems, that's all the fake ass can manage. War and peace? Her brain doesn't function on that level.
People say I'm a bitch -- I agree, by the way -- but I'm a bitch who has used her time online to focus on serious issues. I'm appalled frequently by the fact that so many other feminists online think doing a gossipy and glossy pop culture scope means they've done heavy lifting. They haven't.
(I'm also aware that a lot of serious feminist bloggers left the online world in 2008 due to the attacks on all of us who called out the sexism aimed at Hillary. I understand that was upsetting to many. It didn't bother me because I don't seek out support and love. On any set, I'm always more comfortable if the director hates my guts than if he or she likes me. I can do my work there -- or online -- just fine if I don't have to worry about the expectations of others. But a lot of women left because of the abuse and the threats of 2008. I miss many of them -- especially Delilah Boyd.)
A lot of women -- Jill and Samantha Bee, to name only two -- are working overtime to assist in the smearing of Tulsi. She just finished her latest National Guard rotation a few days ago -- I guess that's how Samantha, Jill and the others 'honor' those who serve?
Tulsi is real and that is what her supporters respond to. The smears have made some people hesitant to support her but that's fine, we're early in the process and efforts like those have a way of forming stronger bonds between the candidates and their supporters.
(It's called campaign politics -- poli sci, Jill, study it some time.)
Still waiting for the US press to cover the flooding in Iraq.
#Iraq: Responding to the needs of the Directorate of Health in Missan following recent floods that hit the area, World Health Organization w/ generous support of donors, sent a consignment of emergency kits & medical supplies to support the Directorate
bit.ly/2IlOahw
bit.ly/2IlOahw
Though the end of winter and start of spring have brought seasonal floods here since ancient times, this spring has been severe in some areas of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan. go.nasa.gov/2IkYUN3 #MODIS #flooding 
NASAEarth
NASAEarth
Though the end of winter and start of spring have brought seasonal floods here since ancient times, this spring has been severe in some areas of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan. go.nasa.gov/2IkYUN3 #MODIS #flooding pic.twitter.com/YUtci0qZeA
Iraq: Iraq: Floods - Mar 2019 - ngo-impact.com/2019/04/09/ira…
Press reports:The actions taken by the government in Iraq to hinder the flood in (Wasit) &(Missan)south of the country;are not practical especially after opening a gap west of the Tigris River on the pretext of absorbing the water;which will cause sinking of the villages there.
Let's wind down with this from the Center for Constitutional Rights, about the Abu Ghraib trial being suspended:
Judge Brinkema issued an order April 3 suspending our April 23 trial date; CACI is seeking an expedited appeal of the ruling that this for-profit contractor doesn't get "derivative sovereign immunity" for grave breaches of law.
The next step is an expedited briefing in April and May, before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – the 5th time this case goes to appellate court. We have fought to keep this case alive over the last 11 years of litigation. Our clients deserve justice and redress.
Survivors deserve to have their stories heard and to see CACI held accountable for its role in torture and other human rights violations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Justice requires truth and accountability. We will continue to fight. Stay tuned.
Head to our case page for more information.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute pen joint submission to UN Special Repporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
The Center for Constitutional Rights, in partnership with the Human Rights in the U.S. Project of the Columbia Law School (HRI), sent a submission March 29 to Professor Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
The submission is in response to the Special Rapporteur's request for input regarding what is known as the "Recognition, Institutionalization, and Accountability Framework" (RIA Framework) for Economic and Social Rights, a framework that outlines three crucial ingredients for the protection of social and economic rights to be realized: recognition, institutionalization, and accountability.
In February, he asked for public input about what conditions and institutions have contributed to the success or stood in the way of the protection of economic and social rights for those living in poverty conditions.
Our submission touches on four points: (1) how the lack of legal recognition and institutionalization of economic and social rights marginalizes individuals living in poverty; (2) recent federal efforts to penalize and deny permanent immigration status to individuals who seek basic social protections (i.e., the proposed public charge rule, which we oppose); (3) some promising local initiatives as a result of grassroots organizing; and (4) suggested actions to improve recognition and protection of economic and social rights, even in the absence of constitutional and legal recognition of these fundamental rights.
The document can be read in full on our website.
Upcoming events: "The Women of Cancer Alley" Freedom Flicks screening and more
- April 18: "The Women of Cancer Alley" – a Freedom Flicks screening: a ground-breaking collection of short films produced by women who live among chemical plants, tank farms, and refineries in the area along the Mississippi River known as "Cancer Alley," in south Louisiana. Make sure to RSVP!
- April 12: Securing Basic Economic and Social Rights by Challenging the Criminalization of Poverty, Identity and Status where The Center for Constitutional Rights's very own Brittany Thomas will be speaking on a panel concerning laws and policies for the protection of human rights.
The following sites updated:
