Wednesday, August 02, 2006

"All the words are going to bleed from me"

Hump day! At last! Half way to the weekend! To get you into the spirit for it, read Betty's "Thomas Friedman focuses on foundation" which is her latest chapter. Not even up as I type this. I'll add the link before I post but C.I. called with the title. (C.I. and Kat are listening to Betty's 'final draft.' There's never a final draft with Betty. If she could, she'd rewrite everything's that up at her site. But she's got to get herself and the kids to church tonight so she's on a deadline and it will be up before I post.)

C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Chaos and violence continue in Iraq but after the 'jokes' of "at least 44" made it into print today, other 'cut-ups' apparently want to have their fun too.
First up, Iraq's president who will surely be the lead in all the stories today though, come December 31st and January 1st, don't look for news outlets to lead with his happy talk not panning out. CNN reports that Jala Talabani has predicted Iraqi forces will control all eighteen provinces by the end of 2006. For those with any short-term memory left in them, it wouldn't be surprising if this thought was the focus: "The U.S. military is moving at least 3,700 soldiers from Mosul to Baghdad and is gearing up for a new security operation to wrest control of the capital from Shiite militias, Sunni insurgents, kidnap gangs, rogue police and freelance gunmen" (Robert H. Reid, AP). Those with short-term and long-term memory may flash back on other things, such as Jun 8, 1969 when a beaming Tricky Dicky Nixon and South Vietnam puppet Nguyen Van Thieu boasted and . . . the war didn't end. (For more on that sort of deception, see Ruth's "Ruth's Report" from Sunday.) Fall elections are coming up and, just as surely as the leaves will brown and fall, false promises will bloom at heightened levels. The BBC quotes Talabani self-describing "We are highly optimistic." And apparently just high, period.
Good drugs, apparently are back in vogue and not confined to the Green Zone (well they went in and out of Vietnam back then as well). Which might explain AFP's DC based report on the supposed degradation of the US military. Whenever they scream "More money!" they offer up this same scenario. While that's what the War Mongers & War Hawks do, there's no reason AFP needs to josh readers: "Members of the group comprise a Who's Who of moderate-to-liberal political thought in the United States, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former national security adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger, retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman John Shalikashvili, and retired four-star general and fomer presidential contender Wesley Clark."
"Moderate-to-liberal political thought"? Howl with laughter.
Then return to reality.
If you're thinking things can't any worse (you're wrong) read Omar alIbadi and Michael Georgy's (Reuters) report on the Shi'ite non-pilgrimage describing events that sound like scare tactis hollered by some from the halls of the US Congress in the fifites ("Red" hunt). Thing is, the US administration is supporting these type of "demonstrations" that are taking place. al-Ibadi and Georgy report: "Young men in civilian uniforms and headbands, all members of what is known as the popular committees, chanted as a speaker called on them to crush "terrorists" and loyalists of ousted President Saddam Hussein leading a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government."
This as Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Shi'ite Muslim leaders are speaking of the country falling "into full revolt." Youssef quotes Sheik Bashir al Najafi stating: "The government formed after the fall of the regime hasn't been able to do anything, just make many promises. And people are fed up with promises. One day we will not be able to stop a popular revolution."
In court news, Robert F. Burns (AP) reports that the inquiry into the November 19, 2005 deaths of 24 Iraqis "suppots accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday." This as Frank Wuterich ("staff sgt.") files a libel suit against US Representative John Murtha for libel claiming that his reputation has suffered from "false and malicious lies" about those involved in the 24 killings.
In other courtroom news, Ryan Lenz (AP) reported that Bradley Mason testified in court today that he was threatened by four fellow soldiers (William B. Hunsaker, Raymond L. Girouard, Corey R. Clagett and Juston R. Graber) if he spoke of the May 9th events around the shooting deaths of three Iraqi civilians. Mason also testified that "Col. Michael Steele" (of Black Hawk Down 'fame') instructed them to: "Kill all of them." Finally, Mason testified that when the news of shooting the detained and bound three Iraqis was learned that the others "just smiled" but he informed Girouard that he wasn't "down with it. It's murder." The AFP reports that the notorius Steele "has signed a document declaring his intention to refuse to testify in the case to avoid incriminating himself".
Bombings.
In Baghdad, on a soccer field, AP reports nine "young people" (ages 15-25) died from "hidden bombs" and three ("younger than 15") died from a mortar shell that landed on the soccer field. Reuters reports that an Iraqi soldier died near Diwaniya and three were wounded from a roadside bomb; two and a civilian died from a roadside bomb in Hawija (four civilians left wounded); a police officer died from a roadside bomb in Mosul; and three roadside bombs claimed three lives and left nine wounded in Baghad. On the soccer bombing, the BBC reports that "the bombs had been buried in the middle of the football pitch" and notes that it "came hours after Iraq's president said Iraqi forces would take over the security of the entire country from US-led forces by the end of 2006."
Shootings.
CNN reports that, in Baghdad, "gunmen in a car opened fire on a checkpoint outside the Ministry of Oil building . . . injuring three guards". Reuters notes these shooting deaths: in Baquba, the chief of traffic police (Ahmed Adbel Hussein) and his bodyguard; and in Diwaniya "an employee of a human rights group outside his home".
CNN notes that "two traffic police were killed and two other officers wounded in Khalis".
Corpses.
Reuters reports two corpses discovered in Qamishli ("blindfolded . . . hands bound"); eleven corpses were fished out of the Tigris ("Near Suwayra . . . . shot . . . signs of torture"); and, in Kirkuk, a handcuffed corpse was discovered ("signs of torture . . . gunshot wounds in the head").
In Australia, the inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad goes on and it's like no inquiry most would be familiar with. The press runs with a tale of Kovco as someone who played with his gun based on . . . Eye witness testimony?
No. There's been none. Soldier 17 stated he'd heard of it Kovco playing with his weapon. The entire inquiry is based, not on facts, but on second-hand testimony. Dan Box was among the first to tie in today's hearsay with the earlier hearsay writing: "The inquiry had previously heard that Kovco was reprimanded twice by senior officres in the month before his death for mishandling his pistol." They heard that but the witness could only affirm one incident -- the second one was hearsay.
Now with Soldier 17's hearsay testimony today, it needs to be noted that Soldier 17 made comments on May 10th about this and on that day and while testifying in the inquiry, Soldier 17 refuses to provide names of the "others" who saw what he did not but is claiming happened: that Kovco played like a "cowboy" with guns. Frank Holles (Judy & Martin Kovco's attorney) stated: "I put it to you when it suits you, you will not provide invormation." Which pretty much sums up the testimony being trumpeted as "Cowboy Kovco" in the news.
Here's Conor Duffy reporting on The World Today (Australia's ABC) and I'm adding bold print: CONOR DUFFY: That's right, Eleanor [Halll]. We've just seen a statement that he gave to NSW Police just after the shooting, and in it he said that other members of his unit in Baghdad had detailed instances of Private Kovco messing around with weapons. He said he never saw this, but he was told that other people had seen Private Jake Kovco imitating old school weapons. He said, 'Like quick draw and you spin it around and all that sort of s[**t].' And he mentioned specific instances of him spinning the pistol around on his finger. He said that he didn't see that, but he said he'd seen other soldiers in the unit in Baghdad messing around with pistols, and on one occasion he said he was upset when another soldier had pointed a pistol at him and he wasn't sure if it was loaded."
Now let's note Soldier 17's "defense" as to not providing names of these alleged witnesses or fellow gun players: "They said if I didn't wish to give I didn't have to." Well, as long as "they said" it, then no problem, I guess. But when you think about the description he's giving (of "Australian soldiers in Baghdad" playing "games with their pistols, including 'quick draw' and twirling them like gun-slinging cowboys" as Peter Charlton sums it up), the fact that both he and the other roommate claim not to have seen Kovco holding a gun though they were in the room with him, you're left with questions and hearsay 'testimony' doesn't answer any.
In peace news, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright, Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, Gael Murphy, Diane Wilson, Tom Hayden and Geoffrey Millard will soon be en route to Amman, Jordan today where they will meet with memebers of the Iraqi parliament. In NYC tonight at 9:00 pm (JFK Airport), Cindy Sheehan and Tom Hayden will hold a press conference. KWTX carries a report that states the meeting will take place "Friday and Saturday" and that those fasters on that trip will then end their fast.
The Troops Home Fast action continues. Today at least 4,350 people are participating. The fast is to be ongoing until September 21st.
In other peace news, Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families for Peace will hold a press conference Thursday (Aug. 3rd) across from the Russell Senate Office Building in DC at 11:00 a.m. to note the end of the first phase Operation House Call and begin phase two. Those scheduled to speak incldue Jennifer Davis (whose husband is with the 172nd Stryker Bridgade that was due to come home this month but have now had their stay in Iraq extended by at least four months), Gilda Carbonaro (mother of Alessandro Carbonaro who died May 10, 2006 from wounds received in Iraq, and Larry Syverson (who has three sons in the military including one treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which didn't prevent the military from sending him to his current post on the Kuwait/Iraq border).

Mad Maddy's a liberal? Wesley Clark is? (You should hear Jeremy Scahill speak on Clark, it's blistering.) Sandy Berger? Isn't he an admitted crook? Didn't he plead guilty to leaving with documents while preparing his testimony for the 9-11 Commission? What's he doing with access to anything after that? Well pigs wallow in mud together and there are a lot of oinkers on that list.

Jake Kovoc? My opinion. There will be no answers. The inquiry appears to operate under no rules and is focused on making sure that an easy answer can be found. It's too bad the international press isn't following this. If it were, maybe there could be some answers. Tony and me were talking about this and we figure ten or twenty years from now, we'll be in line for a movie about this because the truth will be out then.

I have no idea what happened but I don't think the inquiry cares too much about finding out.

So how's the soccer/football thing going to play out? I think it's shocking news but the press seems eager to downplay events from Iraq. (Read C.I.'s "NYT & others: Our drag queens of the press show up dressed as Hazel.") When you can't even go out and play, what kind of a world are you living in? It just gets worse and worse each day. I don't remember which day it was but C.I. noted that a police car had been packed with a bomb but the police officers didn't know it and they died in an explosion. So you've got what? It's not suicide car bombers if the people don't know their cars have been rigged? So you've got that, you've attacks on soccer fields, you've got one thing after another. And people keep going, "We have to stay." Guess we'll leave after everyone's dead?

I'm really getting tired of a press that runs with PRESS RELEASES. C.I.'s right, tomorrow's papers will be full of "Troops To Leave By Year's End" all because the Iraqi president said that Iraqis would take control of all the provinces. They'll ignore the realities in front of them, the fact that you've got the 172nd Stryker Brigade extended through November or Decemeber. We're not going to see an end until the politicians grasp that we are not going to support this war -- this illegal war.



"Israeli Prime Minister Says 'Attacks will Continue':"
As the Israeli military offensive against Lebanon has entered its third week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that Israel will not stop its military campaign until an international force is deployed along the southern Lebanese border. Jackson Allers has more from Beirut.

We got illegal wars all around us. When will they end? When people have had enough and say "Solve your problems without making people die for your illegal wars."

Leigh Ann wondered where my thing was that I was going to write about Wally? I was going to be silly. (Wally's staying with us this week.) I haven't been in a silly mood. She also wondered about Law and Disorder? I e-mailed her that Cedric and I are both planning to write on it tomorrow. I'm grabbing the taser segment.

Yesterday, Kat, Elaine, Cedric and Betty (filling in for Rebecca at Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude) all included a song that they'd been thinking about that day. They had some good ones (Maria McKee's "Nobody's Child," Joni Mitchell's "Night Ride Home," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" and Diana Ross' "Young Mothers." I had just posted when I got asked to participate so, a day late, here's what I've been thinking of today. I just love the beat and the bass line. It's White Stripes and it's kind of a I'm-fed-up song which may be the way I'm feeling these days. But I really love the drums and bass and I had to look up the lyrics because I really just "sing" the bass and not the words. It's off Elephant and it's called "Seven Nation Army:"

i'm going to wichita
far from this opera forever more
i'm gonna work the straw
make the sweat drip out of every pore
and i'm bleedin'
and i'm bleedin'
and i'm bleedin'
right before the lord
all the words are gonna bleed from me
and i will sing no more
and the stains coming from my blood tell me go back home



























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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Lebanon and Iraq

Wednesday? No, not yet! Almost. Almost half way through the week. Let's kick it off with this from Free Speech Radio:

EXPANDED GROUND WAR IN LEBANON
A 48-hour cessation of Israeli air attacks in Lebanon has been replaced by heavy bombardment of civilian areas along the southern Lebanese border. The Israeli military is preparing for what appears will be a massive ground invasion to extend as far as 18 miles into Lebanon. 3 Israeli soldiers and 6 Hezbollah guerrillas were reportedly killed today in fighting along the common border. Jackson Allers has more from Beirut.
The brief cessation of violence allowed rescue workers an opportunity to get to villages in southern Lebanon to retrieve the bodies of at least 90 people killed in Israeli air strikes and artillery barrages over the last 21 days. It also allowed thousands of refugees trapped by the Israeli military offensive to stream north to relative safety - humanitarian sources say that more than 25% of the Lebanese population has been displaced - or about 800 thousand people. Images from BBC and Al-Jazeera television showed hundreds of Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers amassed along the northern Israeli border - a precursor to what Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said would be a 10-day to 2-week ground offensive to push Hezbollah back to the Litani River - a symbolic dividing line between north and south Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Lebanese government says that over 750 civilians have been killed since Israel launched its military offensive against Lebanon to retrieve two soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a military raid on July 12. At least 52 Israeli's have been killed by Hezbollah rocket fire. Reporting from Beirut, this is Jackson Allers for Free Speech Radio News.

Did you know that? Did you care? Are you a Krugman? Seriously, are you going to claim "self-defense"? If the US occupies Iraq for 40 years are you going to call their attacks on Iraqis "self-defense"? I guess some wars are cheerleaded even by people who should know better.

It's amazing how different the coverage is in England than here. Pru e-mailed me with a ton of links and I was reading them and thinking, "We are so stupid in this country to tolerate this kind of one-sided reporting that says 'Israel's acting in self-defense.'" So stupid, so immature.

Now let's go to C.I.'s "Iraq Snapshot:"

Chaos and violence continues today, Tuesday, August 1, 2006. The bombings continue, the shootings continue, the death continues with the estimated number of the dead jumping in the last hour and half from at least 39 to at least 63. (Possibly Damien Cave will write in tomorrow's New York Times "at least 12"?) Reuters notes that among the dead are "at least 26 soldiers" (Iraqis as well as one British soldier stationed in Basra).
Bombings.
A series of bombings throughout Iraq account for the largest reported fatalities. CNN places the first as a roadside bomb that targeted "a bust carrying members of the Iraqi military". AFP notes this as "the bloodiest incident, a massive roadside bomb ripped apart a bus carrying soldiers from Baghdad to the northern city of Mosul". Al Jazeera places the death toll at 24 minimum. Reuters notes "[t]he charred remains" that "were scattered across the bus" and "[t]wo skulls . . . in the vehicle along an empty highway." AFP reports that in addition to those killed (they say "at least 23"), 20 more were wounded. Joshua Partlow and Saad al-Izzi (Washington Post) note an Interior Ministry source who placed the number wounded at 40 (killed at 23).
The BBC notes "at least 14 people died" in Baghdad when a car bomb ("suicide") went off "outside a bank where security forces were collecting pay." [Use the link "BBC notes" for Jane Peel's report if you can't get to it with the upcoming link.] Sandra Lupien on KPFA's The Morning Show noted the timing and planning involved in that attack. Jane Peel (BBC) noted the "black fumes" wafting from the bombing to the sky and that, "The security forces seem unable to stop the attacks." Partlow and al-Izzi (Washington Post) report: "The soldiers had blocked off part of a street in front of the Zuwiyah Bank, where they were withdrawing their monthly salaries." Reuters notes a child of 12-years-old "sobbing and tearing his shirt after seeing his dead mother" and kisosk owner Abu Fadhil saying: "We should carry guns to protect ourselves. If we expect Iraqi security forces to protect us we will burn, just like those innocenct people."
Reuters notes that at least seven died and fifteen were left wounded from a car bombing in Muqdadiya. Partlow and al-Izzi (Washington Post) note that the car in question was "a Kia sedan" and that the bombing took place outside a hospital.
David Fickling, Ben Hammersley "and agencies" (Guardian of London) report the death of a British soldier today in Basra forma "mortar attack". CBS and AP note: "The infantry soldier died after being airlifted from a base in Basra to a field hospital outside the city, said the spokeswoman on customary condition of anonymity in line with ministry policy."
In addition to the above, Reuters also notes a "roadside bomb . . . in northeastern Baghdad" that killed one civilian and left one wounded; a car bomb aimed at "an Iraqi army patrol" that left "two civilians" wounded; and that the US military announced today that a "U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Monday".
Shootings?
RTE News reports the an attack on a minibus carrying electricity board employees which left four dead and four wounded "when their minibus was sprayed with gunfire in central Baghdad." AP raises the numbers to "five killed and injured the other six". Reuters notes two separate shooting deaths in Mosul; in Kirkuk, "A member of the Arab Consultative Assembly . . gunned down"; and, "outskirts of Baghdad," an attack on an Iraqi checkpoint left four Iraqi soldiers wounded as well as one civilian. AFP gives Sheik Abdul Razak al-Ibadi as the name of the ACA member gunned down and notes that he "was shot dead outside his home."
Corpses?
CBS and AP note that two corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes that three corpses were discovered in Baquba. Reuters also notes that "[t]he body of Adel al-Mansouri, a correspondent for al-Alam television station, was found dumped with bullet holes on a street". By Reuters count, al-Mansouri is the eleventh journalist reported killed in Iraq this year. On April 14th of this year, Dahr Jamail's web site featured the Mosaic Video Stream featuring a report al-Mansouri had done for Abu Dhabi TV. Adel al-Mansouri opened with this statement: "Iraqis hope that their political leaders will be able to overcome their differences and quickly form the new government in order to deal with the problems that plague the country." Not only did that not happen quickly the rumors now float about a shake up in Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet (with the Interior Minister being mentioned most often as at least one person who will be replaced). Since that report, Baghdad has been under the so-called "crackdown" for over six weeks and now an estimated 4,000 US troops are being repositioned in the capitol.
The Associated Press is reporting that Asaad Abu Kilal (governor of Najaf) has announced that six buses were "waylaid" and that "45 people from Najaf" have been kidnapped. The AP quotes an Interior Ministry flack who says the number is correct but the kidnappings have taken place "over the last two weeks" and it's "[l]ike two or three people snatched a day." Apparently that's when you panic if you serve in the Interior Ministry -- not when 45 people are kidnapped over a two week period, when they are kidnapped all at once. It doesn't change the number but apparently spreading it out over several days lessens the impact. Vijay Joshi (AP) notes: "U.S. officials estimate an average of 30-40 people are kidnapped each day in Iraq, although the real figure may be higher because few families contact the police."
In Australia, the inquiry into the April 21st death in Baghdad of Jake Kovco continues.
The AAP reports that Kovco's former roommates (billes as "Soldier 17" and "Soldier 19") provided DNA on Saturday. The gun believed to have been utilized had Jake Kovco's DNA on it as well as unidentified DNA. Malcom Brown (Sydney Morning Herald) reports that the DNA has been tested and the roommates' DNA doesn't match what is on the gun so Wayne Hayes ("Detective Inspector) is heading Iraq "to ask other soldiers in hi platoon to give DNA samples." The current developments were best summed in this exchange on Australia's The World Today -- Eleanor Hall (host) asked, "So Conor, the source of the DNA remains a mystery then?" to which Conor Duffy (reporters) responded, "That's right Eleanor, like so much of what happened in room 8 at the Australian embassy where Jake Kovco died, the source of the DNA on the gun that took his life remains a mystery."
Dan Box (The Australian) reports: "Evidence presented to a military board of inquiry into Kovco's death and failed repatriation now suggests the soldier killed himself in a tragic accident, probably without realising his pistol was loaded. But the army's decision to clean his room and wash his roommates' clothes after he died has destroyed almost all the forensic evidence and may now mean the exact cause of death will never be known." Brown notes that Soldier 19 testified "no way, sir" that Kovco would have committed suicide and AAP notes that 19 states he didn't see the shooting because "he was bending down at a bar fridge in the room". Conor Duffy noted that this would put 19 "probably about one to two meters away from Private Kovco at the time" and that both 19 and 17 are "expected to remain in Sydney for at least this week before they return to Baghdad."
In peace news, Carol A. Clark (Los Alamos Monitor) reports that Cindy Sheehan will speak at Ashley Pond on August 6th ("this year's Hiroshima Day") for an event that will include others and last from two to nine p.m. and will include "free buttons and balloons, live music, face painting and activities for the kids" as well as "the lighting of 3,000 floating candles on Ashley Pond at dusk."
CODEPINK's Troops Home Fast is on Day 29 with over 4,350 people participating from all over the world. David Howard (Countercurrents.org) writes about the reasons for participating in the fast including "to end the immense horror and suffering for Iraqis and to ensure that our high school graduates of 2006 and 2007 don't end up dead, like Tony Butterfield." Tony Butterfield was Anthony E. Butterfield ("Lance Cpl.") who died on July 29th in the Anbar Province at the age of 19. In addition, as Howard notes, Butterfield was "a 2005 graduate of Buchanan High school in Clovis, California." The fast is ongoing (until September 21st) and people can pick a one-day, one-day a week, or more at any point between now and September 21st. More information is available at Troops Home Fast.

You get all that? You absorb it? I went to Lotta Links (you know the site I mean) and they've got ONE, one link to Iraq! Now Stephen Colbert, they got him up there. So Iraq is AS important as Stephen Colbert. It's not MORE important. It's just AS important as a TV comic.
They got priorities -- not got ones, but they got priorities at Lotta Links. I counted over 190 links. And of that 190, they got one to conditions in Iraq for Iraqis. Don't say they don't have priorities. Refuting Bill Clinton being called gay must be one of them because they gotta link to that.

What that reminds me of is that guy in Iraq's Interior Ministry who says, "Yes, 45 have been kidnapped. But not today, over two weeks!" Oh, okay, big difference. 45 kidnapped doesn't matter if it happened over two weeks. That's over six a day. But if the 45 doesn't come in one day, it must not matter.

If I were an Iraqi fighting in the resistance, you know what message that would send to me? "Bigger numbers! We need bigger numbers!" Because the press is blase about the numbers now. Last week, a mass kidnapping of 17 didn't even rate it's own story. That's how blase everyone is to the continued violence and chaos. As Iraq falls apart before the world's eyes, it's okay as long as it does it day by day (like the 45 kidnapped). I wasn't able to catch KPFA's The Morning Show today (I was working) but Tony did. He said one of the guests talked about how the press picks up and moves from one "big story" to the next, no connections, no follow ups.

The best birthday gift Bully Boy got this year was from the Israeli government which decided to act like a bigger mad man than Bully Boy. Now Iraq's off the map. Off the chart. It will sink day by day and, in a few months, we may notice.

What I find most laughable about so many is the idea that Bully Boy wants to fix things. That if they just nudge him, he will. He won't. Why would he care? He doesn't give a damn about dying. All he cares about is getting ready for that summer vacation. That and getting back his girlish figure.

I'm tired so that's it for me tonight. Check out "Ruth's Report" if you haven't already. Get your butts over to Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts.


















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Monday, July 31, 2006

Israel acting in self-defense? (I didn't say that, Krugman did)


The above is Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts and it's Condi grabbing a gig when she should have been doing her job. I don't think you go to 'functions' and entertain when your job requires your attention -- more attention than you've given it and I'm not the only one who feels that way. Tony just e-mailed me this:


How would you rate Rice's handling of the Middle East crisis?
Poor
45%
Excellent
24%
Good
16%
Fair
14%
Total Votes: 46,737


How would you rate her overall job performance?
Poor
41%
Excellent
29%
Fair
16%
Good
14%
Total Votes: 46,888

That's from an online AOL poll going on now. If she were doing her job, I bet most people wouldn't care one way or another that she's fiddling around at functions. But she's not doing her job. Check out "Editorial: Does Condi Rice understand her job duties?" (Third Estate Sunday Review). This is from today's Free Speech Radio News:

"PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES NOT SUBJECT TO AIRSTRIKE CEASEFIRE"
Although a 48-hour halt on airstrikes against Lebanon is in effect, the Israeli army continues its attacks in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Air strikes and shelling have killed at least seven residents of the Gaza Strip over the last three days and many others have sustained injuries. Manar Jibrin reports.
An Israeli Apache helicopter today fired two missiles into a governmental ministries compound in Sheikh Radwan in the central Gaza Strip, causing structural damage. Two people were injured in a separate missile attack on the two-storey home in Al Sheikh Radwan area today Three Palestinians died today of wounds they sustained a week earlier during the Israeli invasion of areas in the Gaza Strip. A sixteen year old boy was killed after sustaining shrapnel today by the Israeli artillery fired at homes of Biet Hanoun east of the Gaza Strip. Over one hundred Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the past four weeks. Saturday, in the West Bank city of Nablus an Israeli undercover unit backed by armored vehicles invaded the city and killed two resistance fighters of Al Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who started a regional tour met with Egyptian President Husni Mubarek on Friday during which they discussed the situation in both Palestine and Lebanon.

Well that's what happens when Israel's just trying to protect herself right? If you're thinking, "Mike, you're crazy!" well I would be if I believed that. I don't. Paul Krugman does:

Yes, I know that there are differences in the origins of the two wars. There's no question of this war having been sold on false pretenses, unlike America in Iraq, Israel is clearly acting in self-defense.

Clearly? From FAIR's "Down the Memory Hole: Israeli contribution to conflict is forgotten by leading papers:"

WASHINGTON - July 28 - In the wake of the most serious outbreak of Israeli/Arab violence in years, three leading US papers--the Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times--have each strongly editorialized that Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon were solely responsible for sparking violence, and that the Israeli military response was predictable and unavoidable. These editorials ignored recent events that indicate a much more complicated situation.
Beginning with the Israeli attack on Gaza, a New York Times editorial (6/29/06) headlined "Hamas Provokes a Fight" declared that "the responsibility for this latest escalation rests squarely with Hamas," and that "an Israeli military response was inevitable." The paper (7/15/06) was similarly sure in its assignment of blame after the fighting spread to Lebanon: "It is important to be clear about not only who is responsible for the latest outbreak, but who stands to gain most from its continued escalation. Both questions have the same answer: Hamas and Hezbollah."
The Washington Post (7/14/06) agreed, writing that "Hezbollah and its backers have instigated the current fighting and should be held responsible for the consequences." The L.A. Times (7/14/06) likewise wrote that "in both cases Israel was provoked." Three days and scores of civilian deaths later, the Times (7/17/06) was even more direct: "Make no mistake about it: Responsibility for the escalating carnage in Lebanon and northern Israel lies with one side...and that is Hezbollah."
As FAIR noted in a recent Action Alert (7/19/06), the portrayal of Israel as the innocent victim in the Gaza conflict is hard to square with the death toll in the months leading up to the current crisis; between September 2005 and June 2006, 144 Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli forces, according to a list compiled by the Israeli human rights group B'tselem; 29 of those killed were children. During the same period, no Israelis were killed as a result of violence from Gaza.
In a July 21 CounterPunch column, Alexander Cockburn highlighted some of the violent incidents that have dropped out of the media’s collective memory:
Let's go on a brief excursion into pre-history. I’m talking about June 20, 2006, when Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an attempted extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed the car. Instead it killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
Back we go again to June 13, 2006. Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in another attempted extrajudicial assassination. The successive barrages killed nine innocent Palestinians.
Now we're really in the dark ages, reaching far, far back to June 9, 2006, when Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing eight civilians and injuring 32.
That's just a brief trip down Memory Lane, and we trip over the bodies of twenty dead and forty-seven wounded, all of them Palestinians, most of them women and children.
On July 24, the day before Hamas' cross-border raid, Israel made an incursion of its own, capturing two Palestinians that it said were members of Hamas (something Hamas denied--L.A. Times, 7/25/06). This incident received far less coverage in US media than the subsequent seizure of the Israeli soldier; the few papers that covered it mostly dismissed it in a one-paragraph brief (e.g., Chicago Tribune, 7/25/06), while the Israeli-taken prisoner got front-page headlines all over the world. It's likely that most Gazans don’t share US news outlets' apparent sense that captured Israelis are far more interesting or important than captured Palestinians.

Krugman appears to miss a great deal. It reminded me of his "Yes, Immigrants Are Taking Our Jobs!" column (that wasn't the title, that's how it read to me). If he's not uninformed, he's an apologist for a war mongering government. There's no excuse for his claim that Israel's clearly acting in self-defense. With his column on immigrants, he got a lot of fallout and changed the topic quickly. I doubt he'll do that this time. But I wonder what the Krugman worshippers thought of it? I remember Rebecca noting him on an important anniversary:

paul krugman isn't a career pundit. but his column pissed me off. today, he's waxing on about the 50s. oh yeah, he tells you, it wasn't great for every 1 and not every 1 got to be middle class, but we were closer together then and there wasn't bipartisanship (he credits that to wwii).
does he not get how offensive that is?
on today of all days?
if you're blanking, while he's praising the 50s and noting how the policitians could work together in the column that ran today, today is also the day on which, in 1953, ethel and julius rosenberg were executed. that's the 50s he's waxing on about and about the story in time magazine that he read blah-blah-blah.
yeah, there was a bond between a lot of dems and a lot of repubes - it was the desire to launch a witch hunt. ethel and julius were only 2 of the casualities.
krugman should be embarrassed that his paen to the 50s ran today, on the 53rd anniversary of their executions.

So he's hit some foul balls and then some. Today was another. Join me in booing him and let's fill the stadium with boos.

There's really not an excuse for him being informed. More likely, it's a case of him emphasizing what he wants. Today's column read like Al Franken could have written it and we all know to avoid Al Franken.

Treat Krugman like a buffet.

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

Chaos and violence continue today, Monday, August 31, 2006.
CNN reports that last week alone: "at least 200 Iraqis were reported to be killed across the country." This as the refugee numbers increase, shootings and bombings continue and the war drags on. On July 26, a mass kidnapping took place in Baghdad -- 17 kidnapped from an apartment complex and the paper of record in the US took a pass. Yesterday, another mass kidnapping took place (at least 23) and it wasn't news to the paper of record. Today, another mass kidnapping took place, in Baghdad, 26 people. Will it get the attention it should merit? Wait and see. Meanwhile James Hider (Times of London) puts the death toll at 27 dead throughout Iraq today.
Bombings?
James Hider (Times of London) reports that a bomb in Mosul claimed the lives of four Iraqi soliders. The AP notes a roadside bomb in Baghdad killed a police officer. CNN notes a total of three bombs went off in Baghdad today and, in addition to the police officer already noted, the bombs claimed two Iraqi soldiers and another police officer while eight civilians were wounded (Baghdad) by mortar rounds -- also notes a car bomb in Smarra that resulted in two people dead and 17 wounded.
Shootings?
AFP reports that "Brigadier Fakhri Jamil of the Iraqi government intelligence service" was shot dead in Baghdad while, in Amara, "Bassim Abdulhamid, an employee of the Sunni endowment which manages Sunni mosques" was shot dead at his home. The AP notes "two vendors selling cooking-gas cylinders" shot dead in Baghdad; and one "municipal street sweeper" shot dead (two more injured) also in Baghdad. Reuters notes the shooting death, in Baghdad, of "Maad Jihad, an advisor to the health minister".
Corpses?
The AP notes three corpses discovered in Baghdad and that yesterday an attorney and four police officers were beheaded in Hawija. CNN notes on the first three: "All had been shot in the head and showed signs of being brutalized." AFP notes that a "bullet-scarred corpse" was discovered in Suwira and the corpse a "gunshot victim" in Husseinya.
Kidnappings?
Andy Mosher and Saad al-Izzi (Washington Post) reported on Sunday's kidnapping, near Baghdad, of "at least 23 Iraqis" who were then "lined . . . up and shot them all". That was Sunday. Today, the AFP reports another mass kidnapping by "[a]rmed men in Iraq national police uniforms" using "15 jeeps of a kind used by police" who went into "the commerical heart of Baghdad and led away the head of the chamber of commerce and 20 co-workers" as well as "15 workers from a nearby office" accounting for a total of 26 people kidnapped. Since Mosher and al-Izzi are among the few to report on Sunday's kidnapping, let's be clear that the latest kidnapping (the 26) happened today (and happened in Baghdad) -- two different incidents. A witness tells Reuters: "I was on the first floor of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and they took all the men downstairs. They were in camouflage army uniforms. They handcuffed the man and blindfolded them. Me and five others were left behind because all the cars were full." James Hider (Times of London) describes the location the kidnapping took place as "one of the safest parts of Baghdad today" and notes that the area "is controlled by the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which forms the main party in the Shia governing coalition. Locals say almost nothing moves in the area without the Badr militiamen knowing about it."
As rumors continue to swirl around the Iraq police forces, Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) reports that Jawad Bolani is pledging to "clean up the country's law enforcement ranks, widely viewed as a primary cause of ongoing violence and instability." How much he could or could not do is in doubt for any number of reasons but primarily (not noted in the report) due to the fact that he's currently the most speculated of the names that Nouri al-Maliki may be about to replace. AP reports that there are "many" calls for Bolani to be replaced.
In other news, Michael Georgy (Reuters) reports that "in the last 10 days alone" the amount of refugees in Iraq has increased by 20,000 bringing the official total to 182,154. Georgy notes: "The crisis is likely to be far graver because ministry figures include only those who formally ask for aid within the country, some of them living in tented camps. By excluding thousands fleeing abroad or quietly seeking refuge with relatives, officials accept the data is an underestimate." This as IRIN notes that refugees who fled to Lebanon from Iraq earlier in the month are now in "Baghdad and urgently need assistance" quoting Diyar Salushi (senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) saying: "They have lost everything they had and now depend on assistance from relatives, most of whom are living in poverty."
Meanwhile, from the land of fantasy and myth, it's time for another wave of Operation Happy Talk. Aaron Glatz (Free Speech Radio News) reports on the ad campaign and coordinated visits of Kurdish officials by the firm Russom Marsh & Rogers -- a firm previously behind the spin campaigns known as "Stop Michael Moore Campaign" and "Move America Forward." This wave of Happy Talk, as reported by Bill Berkowitz (MediaTransparency.org), by the same Russo Marsh and Rogers responsible for the so-called "Truth Tour" which was "a seven-day carefully calibrated trip to Iraq by a group of conservative talk-show hosts . . . to spread the 'good' news about what is happening on the ground." Speaking with Aaron Glantz, John Stauber reminded that, although US tax dollars are not supposed to be used to propagandize within the US, "it has happened with the Rendon Group's CIA-funded creation of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress."
In England, an inquiry into the death of Steve Roberts has completed its findings. Reuters notes Roberts died ("accidentally shot by his own troops) while manning a checkpoint during the 2003 invasion"). England's Ministry of Defense notes the death occuring "on the night of 23-24 March 2003" and notes the death occuring when troops fired in order to protect Roberts from a man who "continued to advance and attack Sgt Roberts" bu mistakenly hitting Roberts. A redacted copy of the report will be reported (at the Ministry of Defense website) but currently Reuters reports that one finding of the inquiry is that Roberts died because he wasn't wearing body armour which he had been "ordered to give up . . . two days before the invasion of Iraq" and quotes from this from the report: "Had Sergeant Roberts been wearing correctly fitting and fitted ECBA (as originally issued to him and then withdrawn on 20 March 2003) when this incident unfolded, he would not have been fatally injured by the rounds that struck him". And in Australia, Jake Kovco's former roommates returned from Baghdad on Friday in preparation of speaking to the inquiry into Kovco's April 21st death and giving DNA to establish where the additional DNA (other than Kovco's) on the gun is their own.
In peace news, Erin Solaro (Christian Science Monitors) looks at the case of Suzanne Swift who went AWOL "rather than return to Iraq" and has based "her refusal to return to Iraq . . . upon the harrassment and assault she suffered on her first deployment." Solaro notes her own observations with regards to the US military: "in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, where men kept an informal guard over the only all-female shower at Camp Junction City. I saw it in Afghanistan, where an infantryman warned me that he and his buddies had heard a serial rapist was operating down at Bagram Air Field and they hoped to find him. And I saw it in America, where a National Guard colonel who had problems with male troops from another (badly led) unit intruding upon his female troops in their shower told those soldiers, 'You are armed. Buttstroke these men, and I will back you.'"
Meanwhile CODEPINK's Troops Home Fast is on day 28 with over 4,350 participants from around the world. As noted Saturday, five members of Iraq's parliament have responded to news of the fast by arranging a meeting in Jordan with members of CODEPINK. Last Friday, Medea Benjamin and four other members were arrested in front of the White House as they protested Tony Blair's visits.
Troops Home Fast continues (at least until September 21st and Diane Wilson has stated she intends to maintain the fast until the troops come home) -- it's an ongoing fast so if you've wanted to participate but didn't when it started July 4th, you can grab a day at any point. Some are electing to do a one-day fast each week. Betty Jespersen (Blethen Maine Newspapers) reports on Julieanne Reed "among 14 or so men and women who have publicly committed to join a national fast for peace." Jespersen quotes Reed on the topic of activism: "I felt in the past I didn't know enough to take a stand. Now I know I want the war to stop" and also notes Craigen Healy stating: "Depriving yourself of eating for 24 hours reminds you of the suffering of the Iraqi people. There may be reasons to go to war but what is going on over there is counter-productive. It is making us more unsafe. We have unleashed the terror"; and Lee Sharkey declaring: "Fasting for me brings the cost of the war home on a very personal level. I want to raise this question: Is 'life as usual' an acceptable stance while this immoral, illegal and incalculably costly war continues?"
Reflecting on last week's events, Cindy Sheehan writes (Truth Out): "I saw the Angel of Death in the skin of Donald Rumsfeld say, while he was busy rushing in or out of the Pentagon (it doesn't really matter), that it is 'unfortunate' that the soldiers have to remain in Iraq. I think it is unfortunate for our troops and for the innocent people of Iraq and Afghanistan that Donald Rumsfeld has to remain as the Secretary of War." Also note that: "The Camp Casey dates have been changed to accomodate George's schedule and will be August 6th to September 2nd. Please go to the Gold Star Families for Peace web site to stay posted on future exciting developments for Camp Casey III this summer."

Can you believe the kindappings? I used the links and "brazen" is a popular word in the reports on it. It really was. By the way, you've got to read C.I.'s "And the war drags on . . ." -- always but especially that one. Who's today's Walter Cronkite? I agree with C.I. I was talking to Jess on the phone and he said when the edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review was finally complete it was about ten a.m. They were all in C.I.'s room, pretty much collapsed on the bed. C.I. had agreed to go talk to some high school students so it was get the last thing posted and hit the door. Everyone else was going to watch Tootsie. I don't remember why. But C.I. got back three hours later and they were all there still. Hadn't watched Tootsie. Everyone was too tired to get up and grab the movie. So C.I. grabs it, puts it in, says "Make room for me" and gets on the bed. They fell asleep watching it. Around six o'clock (p.m.), Jim goes, "It's six" and everyone groans and goes back to sleep. That happened an hour later. Jess said they slept through until this morning, waking up every now and then but that C.I. got up just to write "And the war drags on . . ." (and post something else, I'll get to that in a second). They herded the rest of us off at three in the morning saying, "Get some sleep." They thought they'd be done shortly. (Three my time so midnight, their time.) They ended up doing all nighter and then some. Jess offered to get up and help and C.I. said for everyone to keep sleeping. Reading it, I can't believe C.I. provided so much commentary (good commentary too). Jess said that three hours later (about 3:30 there time), C.I. was up for the day and so Jess has been feeling lazy all day. I told him he (and everyone else) needed some sleep. Last week was a long one. They must have been wiped out to all be in the same bed just staring at the ceiling waiting for someone to grab Tootsie and start the movie. :D But it's a great edition:


Truest Statement of the Week
A Note to Our Readers
Editorial: Does Condi Rice understand her job duties?
Sense of Purpose
TV: What Could Be Lower Than A Cesspool?
McKinney v. Lieberman -- who you gonna root for?
Slam poetry
Non-Think Progress Plays Bash the Bitch
Recommended: Danny Schechter News Dissector

Check it out. And if you need some reality that Krugman won't offer, check out Dahr Jamail's "'Supporters of Hezbollah':"

I met some of these "supporters of Hezbollah" yesterday in the hospitals of Sidon.
I met five-year-old Hussein Jawad as his stiff little body lay prone on a hospital bed, one of his tiny legs in a cast. His eight-year-old sister Zayneb, also a "supporter of Hezbollah," lay next to him in the same bed. See, there were so many Hezbollah supporters in the southern hospitals that the small ones had to share beds.
They, along with their mother Yusah in a nearby bed, covered in the kind of shrapnel wounds received from cluster bombs, had stayed in their tiny village near the border during the first three days of the bombing because they were too scared to leave. The bombing got so close; they took their chances and managed to move to another village, where they stayed for another eight days.
They ran out of food, so Yusah and the two little "supporters of Hezbollah," compelled by fear and hunger, along with another car containing Yusah's two sisters, followed an ambulance to Kafra village. When they arrived there, the car carrying the two sisters was bombed by an American-made F-16.
Then there was Khuder Gazali, an ambulance driver, whose left arm was blown off by a rocket fired by an American-made Apache war helicopter while he was rescuing civilians whose home had been bombed. The ambulance then sent to rescue the rescuer was bombed, everyone in it killed. Miraculously, the third ambulance was able to retrieve him, only because the Apache had left.
16-year-old Ibrahim Al-Hama was surely supporting Hezbollah as he played in a river with a dozen of his friends before they were bombed by a warplane. He lay in the hospital bed, his lacerated chest oozing blood, his left ankle shattered and held together by gauze and medical tape. Two of his friends are dead, along with a woman who was near the bomb's impact zone. Perhaps she too was plotting a rocket attack against Israel?
It's wonderful to see the thoroughness of the Israeli military, their effectiveness at eradicating "supporters of Hezbollah." Like 51-year-old Sumi Marden Ruwiri. On July 14th his home in Bint Jbail was bombed while most of his family members were inside, killing his mother and sister while they surely were strategizing the next rocket launches for Hezbollah. When he and several others began to sift through the rubble for their loved ones, the warplanes returned to bomb the rescuers. He lay in bed, his back shredded by shrapnel, countless patches of gauze stuck to his wounds. His sheets were stained red by blood and yellow by pus that oozed from the wounds.
Alia Abbas, a 52-year-old, fled her village with five other family members after Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets instructing them to leave their village. She lay in bed shredded by shrapnel wounds, one of her eyes missing. 10 days ago when they tried to flee, hanging white flags out the windows of their car, they were bombed by warplanes. She's the only survivor. "Why did they bomb as after we did what they told us to do," she asked me. All I could do was clench my jaw to stave off the tears.
Apparently Alia didn't know she was a "supporter of Hezbollah," since her family was wiped out after Haim Ramon's preposterous remarks about half a million inhabitants of southern Lebanon.
I met dozens of other Hezbollah supporters, most of them women, children and elderly - the kind most ill-equipped to flee their homes on a moment's notice. They lay in their beds, many of them moaning, some crying, and others comatose and kept alive only by machines. The man comatose in this picture was fleeing his village on a motorcycle after receiving the leaflets of instruction to do so, according to his mother - the only one left alive from their family of 10.

Check out Wally's "THIS JUST IN! ROVE DISHES, PRESS TAKES IT!" (I plan to write about him and Law & Disorder tomorrow). And get your butts over to Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts.


























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Saturday, July 29, 2006

Weekend! Don't forget Iraq

Friday!! At last!! Hope everyone read Elaine's "From the Mixed-up Mind of Eric Alterman" (she says it's not just by her and notes the two great people who helped her with it). Boom! Lisper thinks he can take a dump and stink up the place and nobody's going to call foul? Wrong.
It was the most popular thing on campus today. I never even brought it! :D It started the second I hit campus with people hollering to me, "Yea for Elaine!" and giving the thumbs up. I mean people from classes that I had never spoken to. Then Tony's all, "Dude, everyone's talking about it" and I'm all, "It's amazing." Cause it is amazing. The three of them (Rebecca e-mailed me and called herself, Elaine and C.I. "the Charmed ones" -- like in the TV show :D) got the power. Don't mess with them. Mess with one, mess with all.

If you missed it, go read "From the Mixed-up Mind of Eric Alterman" right away. Tony asked me if I could tell any parts that were more one of them and I could. I know them too well. :D When I got on the phone with Elaine today, I was like, "This is all you, this is Rebecca, this is C.I., this is all three, this is you and Rebecca, this is Rebecca and C.I., this is you and C.I." and just going through the whole thing. It's perfect. The power of three :D.

Elaine was all, "I wasn't trying to drag them in" and I know she wasn't. I was the one who called C.I. And C.I. doesn't raise a voice with me -- I'm one of the "children." :D Me and Wally can get away with anything. One time, here, I talked about the round-robin without checking with Gina, Krista or the person whose thing I was talking about and I won't say I got my ass chewed because that's really not C.I.'s style. But it was made very clear that I did a no-no. I felt bad and did apologize (and noted here that I shouldn't have talked about the round-robin's contents without permission). But when I told C.I. what was going on I got a "What?" so loud I had to shake my head and take the cell from my ear. I told C.I. about the two jerks again. C.I. wasn't surprised about the nasty e-mails due to the fact that Elaine's noting the actions of the Israeli government but that the two professional writers would engage their nonsense did piss C.I. off.
I had a feeling that C.I. was going to call Rebecca when we got off the phone.

In her e-mail, Rebecca wrote that the first words were, "Okay, I never call you during something like this unless it's important . . ." Rebecca wrote that she was glad C.I. called and that there was no reason people couldn't call. And she was real glad C.I. called her in on this because it did need to be dealt with immediately.

So they did and it is hilarious. Now let's do C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Chaos and violence continue. And, as Peter Spiegel and Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) observe: "Bush's decision to increase the number of U.S. troops in violence-racked Baghdad has forced commanders to extend the tours of 3,500 soldiers and appears to eliminate prospects for significant withdrawals of American forces this year."
And as the US administration prepares to extend the tours of duty of 3,5000 soldiers (who were due to leave Iraq), Hassan Abdul Zahra (AFP) reports that Abdel Azia Hakim (Shi'ite leader; head of Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq) declared in a speech today that the security of Iraq should be left to Iraqis. Zahra also quotes Mahmud Mahdi al-Sumaidaie (iman and Sunni Muslim Scholars Association member) saying: "The US occupiers are responsible for what is going on with the violence and destruction -- they are the ones controlling the security file." This as John Tully (Colonel, commander of the 4th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade) informs reporters that in the Shi'ite section "south of Baghdad" attacks on US troops have incresed "by about 25 percent".
In another sign of how bad things are on the ground in Iraq, new "security" measures are being taken by individuals. At the start of this month, Terry McCarthy (ABC -- America) reported on how fake identification sells for the US equivalent of ten and fifteen dollars and many Iraqis are puchasing them to reduce risk to their lives at checkpoints and noted: "Now many Iraqis carry two IDs in their pockets and will produce one or the other, depending on who is asking for it." Now Antonio Castaneda (AP) reports a swap greater than IDs: "Fearing sectarian death squads, Iraqis are trading homes with trusted friends from the other sect, surrounding themselves with those who share their faith but creating segregated neighborhoods increasingly wary of one other." Castaneda is reporting from Nasser Wa Salaam but notes the problem is not confined to that one location.
Bombings?
AFP reports the bombing of a Shia shrine "to Imam Askar between the towns of Balad Ruz and Mandalay". This as Reuters notes four are dead in Baghdad from a mortar attack on a Sunni mosque while a roadside bom wounded two police officers in Baquba. AP notes that the Sunni mosque bombing in Baghdad has left nine wounded.
And KUNA reports: "Iraqi police source added an improvised bomb exploded in one of the patrolling police vehicles on the main street of Kirkuk, while a similar attack targeted Multi-National Force (MNF) vehicle on the way to Kirkuk."
If the police source is correct, that's a new development -- bombs planted in cars of unsuspecting drivers.
Shootings?
In Kirkuk, KUNA reports the shooting death of an Iraqi soldier. In addition to that shooting, AFP also notes the Kirkuk shooting deaths ofa police officer "and a bystander"; two shot dead in Tikrit; and "a train station official" shot in Baiji.
In addition, KUNA notes that "a security personnel from the Al-Qadisya area close to Kirkuk power statiion" was kidnapped.
In Australia, the inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad continues. Australia's ABC reports that "a Lance Corporal" has informed the inquriy that Kovco was "reprimanded twice for misuing his pistol during his deployment in Iraq." Whether or not the witness can affirm to two times should be in doubt because the second incident finds the "Lance Corporal" saying he's 'aware' of it as opposed to knowing it or witnessing. At any rate, the "Lance Corporal" has offered that Jake Kovco was reprimanded for "pointing his pistol at the torso of another soldier" which would probably be pertinent if Jake Kovco were accues of killing one of his roommates. As
"Lance Corporal" (or "Soldier Four") makes the news with his statements, Tracy Ong (News.com) covers what everyone else seems to have missed: "But other statements tendered yesterday were at odds with Soldier 4's recollection, many saying they had never seen Kovco playing 'quick draw' -- pulling a pistol out of its holster as quickly as possible -- or mishandling his weapons. One corporal from 3RAR said he had never had to 'pull Private Kovco up on his weapon handling'."
On April 29th, Damien Murphy, Phillip Coorey, Ed O'Loughlin, Tom Allard and Cynthia Banaham (Sydney Morning Herald) reported: "Private Jacob Kovco grew up with guns. They were part of everyday life in his small home town of Briagolong in the Victorian high country. Come April each year, the four-wheel-drive vehicles from Melbourne would roar through the hamlet late on a Friday night on their way to bush camps in the nearby foothills for the start of the deer hunting season."
In peace news, Honolulu's KITV reports that a demonstration of support was held last night at Kalani High School for Ehren Watada -- the first commissioned military officer known to refuse deployment to Iraq. Showing their support for Watada (who faces an Article 32 hearing August 17th to determine whether or not a court martial is in order) were the Japanese American Citizen's League of Hawaii, the American Friends Service Committee "and others at the Nagasaki Peace Bell near City Hall" -- including: "Hawaii People's Fund, Code Pink Hawaii, Progressive Democrats of Hawaii, Veterans for Peace, World Can't Wait and Not in Our Name." Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that "Watada has again offer to resign his commisson from the Army and is willing to accept any type of administrative punishment in place of court martial" including "a reprimand, fine and reduction in rank". Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, tells Kakesako that this is the third time the offer has been made (it was refused twice prior). Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org are calling for a "National Day of Education" August 16th, the day before Ehren Watada is due to "face a pre-trial hearing for refusing to deploy to Iraq." ThankYouLt.Org notes: "On August 16, the day prior to the hearing, The Friends and Family of Lt. Ehren Watada are calling for a 'National Day of Education' to pose the question, 'Is the war illegal?' This day can also serve to anchor a 'week of outreach' leading up to the pre-trial hearing."
In "The Fifth Book of Peace", Maxine Hong Kingston writes: "During war, mothers dream this dream: she -- mother -- is winged, and flies, swooping down upon the son, the brother, soldier, criminal in danger, and picks him up by the straps of his overalls or by his belt, or catches him up in her arms, and flies him high and away. Unable to fly, she would go to the war in her son's place. She would go ahead of him, walk point herself."
With news of the September events in DC, David Swanson (American Chronicle) reports that Camp Democracy sets up September 5th with many activities and, among many worthy goals, the intent to build "toward the International Day of Peace on September 21". Swanson notes that Cindy Sheehan "will come to Camp Democracy following Camp Casey (Aug. 16 - Sept. 2 in Crawford Texas)".
Sheehan is currently participating in CODEPINK's Troops Home Fast. It is day 25 of the Troops Home Fast action with over 4,350 people fasting to the end the war all over the world. The AP reports that Diane Wilson has thus far lost "20 pounds from her 170-pound frame" while taking part in the fast. Of fasting, Wilson states: "Ghandi always called it 'soul power' because it's got a real spiritual component to it."

The part above I tried to star Friday evening before going to the discussion group. I didn't finish. Now I'm going to talk about today (which is now yesterday because it's Saturday but I haven't been to bed yet so today/yesterday whatever -- I mean Friday until now and it's not Saturday until I get some sleep!)

I fasted today. We also went to Tony's for the Iraq discussion group. Elaine and Wally are visiting and they got to attend. They shared and had a lot of great points. This friend of Dad's goes, "Mike, I got the snapshot." :D I was happy. I'd printed up today's to share but he was already on it. We talked about Kovco and Watada and Wilson and the many other stories we're interested and would read about or watch if our papers or shows covered them. A few months back, I would've steered people somewhere but now, as most of you know, I wouldn't. (And you know why.)

But the hunger for coverage was what really hit me. Not just "Where is the Iraq coverage?" the way it has been before but people sharing specifically what they wanted covered. Suzanne Swift, Camilo Mejia (that false rumor about him being injured in accident traveled fast), Watada, the Troops Home Now fast. One woman said she knew Maxine Hong Kingston and mentioned Woman Warrior (hope I got that right) but what was this Fifth Book of Peace? Elaine took that one. (Ma could have handled it too but she and Dad don't get back from California until tomorrow.)

People weren't just saying, "More coverage!" They had concrete ideas of what needed to be covered. Of what should be covered.

We also laughed about the story Tony highlighted. Serious story about the spying on peace groups. But we laughed because we wondered if we had any spies present? If we do, they came early in the meetings. We're too big now and we've dropped the "sure, bring along anyone" policy we had the beginning. We talked about how it was supposed to be a one hour thing and is already a three hour thing each Friday night and how there are people who want to speak that may not get to because we've grown so large. (Some people are more comfortable listening because they're not big on speaking in crowds. Those people always get first dibs on talking if they have an issue they want to bring up.) So in November, we're going to break it down to smaller groups. They'll all be Friday night because that really seems to work good for most people. It's the start of the weekend (for most) and they can hang out without worrying about work or school the next day. And like Ma's best friend said tonight, "It's more entertaining than a movie and you don't feel like you've been robbed." So Fridays will be the night. But we'll go from one group to six groups.

And Tony's point about the spying was to remind people, you invite people you know. Not people you think you know. Yeah, who knows who is an informant, but you should know whether your best friend or family member is with the FBI. All we're doing is talking about the war and peaceful ways to end it, Tony said -- hold on for the kicker because I laughed -- we're not doing anything illegal and we'll be happy to share our activities with Alberto Gonzales as soon as Gonzales shares with the American people the exact scope and nature of the illegal spying on us! :D

I loved that. The government's spying on peace activist and that's okay (in their minds). But the American people don't have a right to know what the government's doing?

They wouldn't have had to be inside, spies, tonight because there were so many people that Tony's pop had to move the whole thing out to the backyard. That is so cool that so many people care. To hear the gas bags talk, America doesn't care about the war. That's not the case. When we started this (and Goldie's house party was what got me to start this so give credit to Goldie, a middle school student who inspired adults to do more), Tony and me thought, "Well maybe six people will come?" It's full of people. Because people do care. If they don't care around you then you may not be talking about the stuff that matters (or you may not be able to win out over the "junk news" everyone else keeps tossing). It is really something to see, when people start talking like that and bringing up stuff and debating and thinking and brainstorming.

Three people, counting me, were fasting today (one-day fast) so that was pretty cool too. A guy asked me about that and I turned it over to Wally because he fasted on the Fourth and is grabbing Mondays (and also I don't want people to think, "Every time that Michael talks and talks! Let other people speak!" :D). So that was pretty cool.

Wally's like Mr. Serious. I was calling him Ice Man after. When he's talking to people he is just Mr. All Business. It works and all so I'm not picking on him but I like to toss in a funny thing or two. I was joking with him after when we were helping Tony and his pop clean up and going, "Hey check out Mr. Broadcast News here!" :D

He was just real professional. Real cool. He's a cool guy anyhow but he was like cool as a cucumber while he was speaking. Tony's pop was all, "You don't really write those funny things" at The Daily Jot? And then Wally cut loose and he was like, "Okay, you are a college kid." :D
But in the meeting he was Mr. Broadcast News, back to you. :D

Now here's a thing from Free Speech Radio News:

Israeli Attacks Escalate in Palestine
Israeli troops withdrew from Northern Gaza early this morning after a bloody two-day sweep that killed over 30 Palestinians. Saed Bannoura reports from the West Bank that Israeli forces continue nightly raids there, taking 22 Palestinians prisoner last night alone:
Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have increased this week, particularly in the Hebron area. And in Jerusalem today, Israeli police have been preventing anyone under 40 years old from praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque, firing tear gas and concussion grenades at worshipers. Meanwhile, negotiations appear to be underway for a possible release of the Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza. Abu Obeidah is with the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, who are holding the captured soldier: "The issue of the soldier we are holding prisoner is not just an issue of the Qassam Brigades, or Hamas, it's an issue of the Palestinian people - there are over 10,000 Palestinians inside the Occupation's prisons, behind bars. The Palestinian people are united, all factions are united. No Palestinian politician can demand that we release the captured soldier with nothing in return." Earlier this week Palestinian groups offered terms for a truce, but the Israeli side has thus far refused to negotiate. So far, the latest round of Israeli attacks has killed over 100 in Gaza.

We're going to grab a headline for awhile from that program. It's Eli's favorite and we can grab that. We thought we'd have our format figured out by now but weren't counting on a side trip to Mexico for Rebecca's wedding. What I want to point out the above is something that people might not get (hopefully everyone coming here gets it), the 10,000 Palestinians behind bars -- they're like Guantanamo prisoners. In fact, you want to look at Bully Boy's 'terror' state, take a look at Israel. And before the next ass wipe in this country starts saying, "Oh we could do like in Israel" (which a lot of them right after 9/11 -- pointing to airplane security and other stuff), take a look at Israel. Is that what we want? 40 years of continual violence?

We don't need to be looking there for examples but it seems like we have. Torturing suspects? Seems like we picked that up there. It's a police state for the occupied territories and that goes on year after year. We really shouldn't be looking to Israel for "ideas."

Wally just came in and goes, "Do you know what time it is?" I'm in my bedroom and Elaine's visiting and has her laptop plugged in so she was just writing away. We got home late from the meeting. The meeting didn't end until like midnight and all three of us were helping clean up and pick up. So it was probably two something (okay, we were shooting the shit with Tony and his folks too! Busted! :D but you got to take them to talk with the people who matter in your life). So I'm about to hit the sack. Be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts and Wally and Cedric did a joint entry tonight, or I guess this morning. I want to find out how Cedric's meeting went but it's too late for me to call him. If I'd known Wally was calling him (better not have used our landline you ungrateful house guest! :D -- I'm joking), I would have asked to holler while Wally had him on the phone.


















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