Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Crazyville War Hawks, and Naomi Klein (DN!)

Hump day, hump day. I've been laughing my butt off for an hour. Tony printed up something by a crazy named Jonathan D. Strong who's with one of those crazy right-wing groups and he's
a wack job. I'm tempted to link to it just for the laugh value but you can google him if you're interested.

He's arguing that the New York Times is against the illegal war. What a fool. How dumb do you have to be not to know that Judith Miller, Michael Gordon and others at the paper sold the illegal war and that the paper still does?

He really lives in his own little fact-free world and when Tony showed it to me, I thought it was a put on. I thought it was something he'd found at The Onion and was laughing as I read along. Then Tony goes, "No, that guy's for real."

I read it again and laughed even louder. He writes for a cult called "Family Security Matters." I hope so. Brains certainly don't in that outfit.

The war has turned a corner, he argues today. And I don't think many would disagree with that statement. They'd probably think Strong had some sense. On a day when the fatalities from the bombings yesterday have risen to over 200, I think most people would say, "Yeah, it went from a lost illegal war to an illegal war that got even worse."

But he thinks it's working. He knows about the mass bombings (or should, but maybe the TV reception's not real good in Crazyville?).

Do you know why people are upset with Congress? (He addresses their low ratings but ignores the Bully Boy's as well as Cheney's.) Because they favor the illegal war and they're tired of Harry Reid, Jack Murtha and Nancy Pelosi trying to end it!

I laughed so hard. What an idiot.

Over 60% of the people want the troops home and the illegal war ended but he avoids that repeated polling fact. They are not mad because Congress has ended the illegal war or tried to (they haven't tried). The people are mad because Congress won't end the illegal war, the one the Democrats campaigned in 2006 on ending.

He cites an article by Alexander Cockburn (and uses The Nation and not CounterPunch). But did he read it? Cockburn's talking about the disgust over Congress' refusal to end the illegal war.

Here's a line from his ending, prepare to laugh: "What Republicans and all those who wanted victory in Iraq should remember is that the NY Times, most Democrats, and the mainstream media were desperately hoping for failure in Iraq.: The New York Times is not preaching withdrawal and hasn't. They did a crappy blame the Iraqi people editorial that got praised when it should have been condemned. But that's why the country sucks so, people like Strong. I don't think he's lying, he seems to believe in everything he says. But that's how we get illegal wars and that's how they continue.

People start screaming on the right that "the liberal media and the Dems want to end the war" and that's not reality. Strong doesn't get it that he's just a tiny cog to those in power (I am too, I'm not insulting him by calling him a cog). They don't give him a damn about him or about any of us. If they did, they'd end the illegal war. But there's too much money being made off of it and there's the thirst to control the oil and other things.

We're nothing but cogs that the Dems whip up with promises they don't keep (ending the illegal war) or you've got the Repubes conflating and illegal war with the flag and God & country so the right goes looney over what they see as an attack on their way of life.

Strong, no one's attacking your way of life, they're attacking your very life. This is all propaganda on both sides to continue an illegal war. And it probably benefits the illegal war. If we see it as a right/left split we call play our parts.

Reality is that it's an illegal war and those in power (with few exceptions) don't give a damn about us. Us is the people. They'll send us off to illegal wars for big business. They'll do whatever they want because they don't give a damn about us.

But they know how to play the game and you get Repubes and Dems in public office, playing their parts, convincing you that you can have a say but you're never going to get it from them.
The Dems proved it when they ran on the promise of ending the illegal war and never passed a bill (in either house of Congress) to pull ALL troops out of Iraq. It was all a shell game. We were being conned.

We still all. "Vote for us in 2008, then we'll do stuff!" They won't then either. The only way they'll ever do anything is if they're pressured.

I wish Strong weren't so gullible because he actually seems like someone who really cares. I don't doubt that he does. I don't think he was lying. I do think he's bought into a lie. Because Republicans started an illegal war (with enough Democrats agreeing or being silent), he thinks the war is 'good'. It's not. It's just one more way crooked politicians will use the people, will disrespect the people. He's a Republican, Strong, so I'd expect him to be really offended at this point having supported the war all along. I'd think he'd have to grasp it was all lies. But I guess some people need to kid themselves. We see a lot of that on the left too.

But the reality is, Strong and I really aren't enemies in life. We're enemies on the illegal war and probably a few other issues politicians have ginned up to keep us at each other's throats. But on some level, Strong is arguing for what he thinks is best (I don't doubt his passion and I applaud it). He's still caught up in the cycle.

By the way my right/left is not me presenting myself as a centrist. I'm not. Nor am I trying to serve up some of Obama's Chicken Sop for the Soul.

I am saying that I'm no Katrina vanden Heuvel pushing myths. Dems aren't going to save us. Only we can save ourselves. Dems aren't doing sh*t for the people. They're not doing sh*t for the Constitution. But that's part of the game they and the Republicans play. Put the people at each other's throats and we ignore what's going on.

I'm not at Strong's throat. He made me laugh. And I really do respect his passion. I wish we had passionate voices against the illegal war but we really don't. We've got too many Katrina vanden Heuvels taking up space on the left, lying to people.

Majorie Cohn is passionate on the illegal war and there are others too. But the bulk of them aren't. That's why the illegal war goes on. You've got all these front groups in place to cover for the Democratic Party. You've got all these liars saying things like, "Look at what we did! We made 70 members of Congress sign a letter calling for the end of the illegal war!"

Big f**king deal. They campainged on ending it and we're supposed to say, "Oh, thank you for writing a letter!"? I don't think so.

And maybe this illegal war really will go on for another decade? Maybe we'll have to see 15,000 plus Americans die in an illegal war for the greed of big business before people get outraged enough to stop buying into the crap that Dems are trying to end the illegal war?

But I don't hate Strong. It gets to what C.I.'s been saying at The Common Ills for over a year now, does the left want to end the illegal war as much as the right wants to continue it?

C.I. was right to point that out. And to point out how so many of our 'leaders' on the left were telling us 'Vote! And the illegal war will end!' I was thinking about that when I heard Naomi Klein's speech on Democracy Now! today, especially this part:

The real problem, I want to argue today, is confidence, our confidence, the confidence of people who gather at events like this under the banner of building another world, a kinder more sustainable world. I think we lack the strength of our convictions, the guts to back up our ideas with enough muscle to scare our elites. We are missing movement power. That’s what we’re missing. "The best lacked all convictions,” Yeats wrote, “while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Think about it. Do you want to tackle climate change as much as Dick Cheney wants Kazakhstan's oil? Do you? Do you want universal healthcare as much as Paris Hilton wants to be the next new face of Estee Lauder? If not, why not? What is wrong with us? Where is our passionate intensity?

I've been thinking about that since C.I. brought it up forever ago. If I hadn't, I would've heard Klein today and probably have been offended. I remember when C.I. was saying it, I was defensive but listening (because it was C.I.). But I really was defensive. I even called C.I. and said, "What about ___, ___ and ___" with this real long list. But it really was (and still is) true, they want the illegal war to continue more than we want to end it. Some of us are really passionate about ending the illegal war but it's not a lot of us. If it was Party Hacks couldn't get away with providing cover for Dems who sell the illegal war (or attack Tina Richards). If the majority of us opposed to the illegal war were passionate, Katrina vanden Heuvel would have to cover war resisters. But we go along. Or we say, "That was a great column!" when someone writes the weakest ass thing. And we get the front groups like Vote for Vets which says (sometimes) it wants to end the illegal war but just goes after Republicans. They won't go after Democrats. They're a front group. They provide cover. Instead of trying to end the illegal war, they provide cover. And that's how we end up still stuck in this illegal war. That and the fact that a whole lot of people play stupid and get offended and start spouting nonsense like, "You can't say anything bad about John Conyers!" Conyers is in Congress and has been since the 60s. Whatever he did do in the Civil Rights Movement, that was a long time ago and he's been in Congress longer than the Civil Rights Movement lasted. He's useless, Nancy Pelosi's useless, Harry Reid's useless. They aren't trying to end the illegal war, they aren't trying to hold Bully Boy accountable for ALL his crimes against the Constitution. They are all useless.

Then you get an alleged socialist like Katha Pollitt spouting off that Cindy Sheehan needs to drop out of the peace movement. She's a good little Party Hack, that Katha Pollitt. C.I.'s "And the war drags on . . ." was perfect. Ma said she loved best how, since Pollitt offered 'tips' of 'kindness' for Sheehan, C.I. offered 'tips' for Pollitt in Punditville. That was funny.

But I'm going to go to sports and this is something a lot will be able to relate to. If you can't substitute a recital because it's not really about playing sports. It's about watching. I was in all the little league and pee wee sports. And my folks were always there cheering me on. And I can remember that and remember thinking I was pretty hot snot. Now I wasn't. I was just a kid trying to learn the game (or piano or whatever) and my parents were cheering me on the same way they probably did when I took my first steps.

And that's what you see with the Party Hacks and Fools today. They cheer on. "Come on little Senator, you can do it, you can do it!" It's nonsense. They're adults and we should be demanding that they get active. Not cheering them on for doing nearly nothing.

Okay, that's it for me tonight. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, August 15, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, over 200 Iraqis dead from yesterday's bombing with the death toll climbing, Cindy Sheehan highlights the Iraqi refugee situation, PR Watch shines a spotlight so it's the Peace Resister to the rescue, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Jeremy Hinzman is the first war resister to self-check, go to Canada and do so publicly. Hinzman, his wife Nga Nguyen and their son Liam went to Canada in January 2004. He hoped to be granted asylum in Canada and began the process to be granted refugee status. In December of 2004, his case was heard. December 13, 2005, he spoke with Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) and explained, "Well, before the hearing even commenced, we had our hands tied a bit. As you have stated, the solicitor general of the Canadian government intervened in our case, and that's only done in about 5% of cases. Anyway, they raised the issue that they felt that the legality of the war in Iraq was irrelevant to our refugee claims. So, we were unable to argue that in any way. . . . Well, basically, they said whether war is legal or whether it's illegal, it's irrelevant to what you are trying to do here. Which, I mean, I would argue is pretty ludicrous, because that was almost my entire rationale for coming here in the first place." Although the hearing was technically held by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada the reality is the 'board' for each case is one person.

Before self-checking out, Hinzman had attempted to be granted CO status but, like many, he was turned down. In March 2005, Hinzman's claim for refugee status was rejected by the 'board' (Brian Goodman, in this case). Amnesty International declared (May 2005): "Amnesty International considers Mr. Jeremy Hinzman to have a genuine conscientious objection to serving as a combatant in the US forces in Iraq. Amnesty International further considers that the took reasonable steps to register his conscientious objection through seeking non-combatant status in 2002, an application which was rejected. Accordingly, should he be imprisoned upon his return to the United States, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience."

."I object to the Iraqi war because it is an act of agression with no defensive basis. It has been supported by pretenses that cannot withstand even elementary scrutiny. First, before the U.S. dropped the first bomb, it was quite evident that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Second, the Bush administration had the gall to exploit the American public's fear of terrorists by making the absurd assertion that a secular Baathist government was working with a fundamentalist terrorist group. There was never any intelligence to substantiate this. Third, the notion that the U.S. wants to export democracy to Iraq is laughable. Democracy is by the people, not an appointed puppet theater," Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq quotes Hinzman explaining.

Gerry Condon (ZNet) explained of Hinzman, "He had converted to Catholicism in high school. While in Army training, he was reading about the Buddhist philosophy of living. On Sundays Hinzman and his wife attended the Quaker meetings in Fayetteville, North Carolina, next to Fort Bragg, the 'Home of the Airborne.' They enjoyed the weekly group mediations and were inspired by the Quakers' pacifist message. Hinzman came to realize that he could not in good conscience carry a weapon or kill another human being." Condon, a war resister during Vietnam, has been one of the ones giving back to today's war resisters as has attorney Jeffry House and they have been there for every step of the appeals process for Hinzman and war resister Brandon Hughey. In April of 2006, the Federal Court ruled against Hinzman and Hughey so they carried their cases on up the chain.

May 5, 2007, Jack Lakey (Toronto Star) reported the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that Hinzman and Hughey "are not entitled to refugee status" and that "The latest ruling noted neither made full use of steps open to them in the U.S. to win conscientious objector status, before fleeing here." The next move is Canada's Supreme Court and, as Cindy Chan (Epoch Times) noted earlier this month, that body will announce "late September or early October" whether or not they will hear the cases of Hinzman and Hughey. If the body refuses to hear the appeal, that is not the end of the story.

As Gerry Condon noted in 2004, "If Hinzman and Hughey are ultimately denied refugee status in Canada, they will not have exhausted their legal bids to remain in Canada. They may still petition the government to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. By this time they may be well established in Canada, one of the criteria for granting this residency. Or they could ask for permission to apply from within Canada for immigrant status, due to special circumstances (if they were to apply from the U.S., they could be arrested and imprisoned for desertion)."

Whatever happens, one thing is known. Hinzman, Hughey and others have based their applications on the illegality of the war and their refusal to participate in it. This has been refuted repeatedly by Canadian bodies even when war resisters like Jimmy Massey testify before them as a witness. In the November 2006, Democrats in the US were swept into power and they campaigned on ending the illegal war. While US Speaker of the House may or may not be able to 'table' impeachment, the fact remains that the American people were promised serious Congressional probes of the illegal war. Those probes have not taken place. It's been no better than when the Republicans controlled Congress because no one was surprised that they would stall and bury reports on the intell that was embarrassing to the White House. Where are the Congressional hearings? As Congress has done very little, it has had effects, in this country and around the world.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. IVAW and others will be joining Veterans For Peace's conference in St. Louis, Missouri August 15th to 19th.

Yesterday in northern Iraq, bombings resulted in mass deaths. Kim Gamel (AP) reports the death toll has risen to 200 this morning and it is still rising. AFP notes "growing fears last night that more dead were trapped under the rubble." Megan Greenwell and Dlovan Brwari (Washington Post) quote survivor Khidr Farhan declaring, "I found myself flying through the air, and my face was burning. I felt my leg hurting, and I knew my head was bleeding. Then I couldn't feel anything. When I woke up, I was in the hospital" and Haji Sido declaring, "I ran past people screaming on the ground. I didn't care, because I had to get to my family. When I got home, my wife said: 'Calm down and thank God. We are safe'." Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) quotes survivor Aydan Shikh declaring, "There is no justification for this. What crime have the Yazidis committed to deserve this?" and Subhee Abdullah declaring, "I saw people drowning in their own blood. More people are sure to die."

Paul Tait (Reuters) notes that digging through the rubble continues with many people "dazed and crying" as they attempt to locate missing family members and friends. In addition, Tait notes 330 people are classified as wounded. Sam Knight and Deborah Haynes (Times of London) list the number of dead at 250 (wounded at 350) and quote Dakhil Qassim ("mayor of the nearby town of Sinjar") declaring, "We are expecting to reach the final death toll tomorrow or day after tomorrow as we are getting only pieces of bodies." BBC, citing a Tal Afar official, notes the death toll is 257 (350 wounded) and that the attacks precede the upcoming vote on the fate of the area (it's own independent area -- "Correspondents say the planned referendum makes northern Iraq's Kurds a target for politically-motivated attacks." Tim Butcher and Sally Peck (Telegraph of London) note that the attacks have overwhelmed health care facilities resulting in survivors being "ferried to hospitals across northern Iraq" and they remind that US Gen. George Casy Jr.had recently declared "Our guys are seeing progress on the security front." Casey made those remarks to the National Press Club in DC only yesterday, August 14, 2007 where he made one baseless claim after another (and yes, he falsely linked it all to 9-11). He also stated that "The successes" remain unreported.

While Casey got caught by surprise, the US military appears unsure of what it's doing today at any given minutes. First Gen. David Petraues and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker issue a joint-statment decrying "the barbaric attacks on innocent Iraqi men, women and children in Ninawah Province yesterday." Then the US military insists to CBS News that the death toll was only 30. They also maintain it is the work of al Qaeda . . . no doubt too startled yet to try and create a link to Iran.

In some of the other violence reported today . . .

Today Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) reported, "The violence comes as U.S. forces have launched new crackdowns across Iraq. More than sixteen thousand U.S. and Iraqi troops are taking part in Operation Lightning Hammer around the Diyala River. In Baghdad, at least two people were killed in a U.S.-led raid on the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. The victims were reported to be a father and his three-year old daughter, asleep in the summer heat on the roof of their home. Nine others were arrested, including the three sons of local resident Umm Falah" and Falah was quoted explaining, "I used to bake breads and sell it to feed them and when they grew they started to work to help me. We though that we would be relieved when Saddam fell, we did not expect that he was replaced with the worst. Only God can beat them (the Americans)."

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Mosul car bombings that claimed 10 lives. Reuters reports 5 lives ended by a Hilla bombing in an attack on "a judge's house".

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 people shot dead in Baghdad (one from "random fire by an American convoy") and three police officers were shot dead in Baghdad. Reuters reports one person shot dead in Madaen, "a member of a joint Iraqi and U.S. security coordination" was shot dead in Najaf, 3 "police commandos" shot dead in Doura and one person shot dead in Buhriz.

Corpses?

Kim Gamel (AP) reports that 24 corpses were discovered today "bullet-riddled bodies of apparent victimes of sectarian death squads usually run by Shiite militias."

In other violence, there are the displaced. Over four million Iraqis have been displaced (internally and externally) due to the illegal war. Cindy Sheehan (Common Dreams) notes that the bulk of the externally displaced have gone to Jordan and Syria: "The refugee catastrophe is going a long way to destabilize the countries to which the Iraqis . . . emergency CPR needs to flow to Jordan and Syria immediately to help the Iraqi people and the two mentioned countries. Significantly, both countries also have vast populations of Palestinian refugees that has now become a generational problem. Solving the problems in Israel will help the Palestinian refugees who want the right of return to their homes as well as help solving our own 'terrorism' problem at home. This is also an issue that needs to be pressed and exposed back in the states." This as IRIN notes the effects on Iraqi children being raised within Iraq "in a climate of fear and violence" And pregnant women in labor try to avoid going to hospitals after nightfall due to the violence. IRIN reports that in 1989, 117 Iraqi women "died during pregnancy or childbirth" but today the "figures has now gone up by 65 per cent." These results didn't happen by chance, they are the direct effects of an illegal war.

Turning to the political situations. At Inside Iraq (a blog run by McClatchy Newspapers Iraqi staff), a correspondent captures the endless repetition: "Did anyone hear about the meetings our great politician would start soon? OMG Here we are again, again and again and again, we are standing on the first square. new meetings but do these meetings have any solutions to the daily massacre that we live in? I'm sure the demands of the political blocs would be the same, each party and bloc will ask for sure for more power to control, more money to steal and more weapons to kill the people of the other sect. and guess what? Again the US Godfather will sponsor the great meetings. its the same old game, keep them busy, let them kill each other on the name of democracy."

Meanwhile the Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch.org notes that the partisan groups Vets for Freedom and VoteVets have been hailed by the AP as "valuable public relations tools" . . . for elected and those seeking elections and notes VoteVets (with a board of advisers that includes War Hawk Bob Kerrey) " is part of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, the [WalkOn] and SEIU coalition that pressures pro-war Republicans but not Democrats." Too much reality for some and apparently that includes the Peace Resister who felt the need to team with a failed screenwriter (how did Rooster work out? Oh, that's right) to offer the usual sop that the Peace Resister is now known for. Does anyone else wonder why she only teams up with male co-writers or are we never supposed to notice that? That inability to work with women as co-writers may go a long way towards explaining why the magazine published nearly 4 men for every 1 woman in the first six months of this year. So Useless and Failed Screenwriter team up to offer that 'things are changing' (sadly, not at the magazine) and it's a turned corner for the movement thanks to the useless people of WalkOn.org and others and provide plenty of 'love' to Americans Against Escalation and a hell of a lot of cover.

The Nation wasn't always worthless and a few at the magazine (or distributed by it) still try to make a difference. Today, Democracy Now! featured 25 minutes of a recent speech Naomi Klein entitled "Another World Is Possible." From that speech:

We who say we believe in this other world need to know that we are not losers. We did not lose the battle of ideas. We were not outsmarted, and we were not out-argued. We lost because we were crushed. Sometimes we were crushed by army tanks, and sometimes we were crushed by think tanks. And by think tanks, I mean the people who are paid to think by the makers of tanks. Now, most effective we have seen is when the army tanks and the think tanks team up. The quest to impose a single world market has casualties now in the millions, from Chile then to Iraq today. These blueprints for another world were crushed and disappeared because they are popular and because, when tried, they work. They're popular because they have the power to give millions of people lives with dignity, with the basics guaranteed. They are dangerous because they put real limits on the rich, who respond accordingly. Understanding this history, understanding that we never lost the battle of ideas, that we only lost a series of dirty wars, is key to building the confidence that we lack, to igniting the passionate intensity that we need.





















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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Not in the mood

Tuesday. Not in a good mood. Elaine and I are posting late. We wanted to be sure to wait for Rebecca's "a big name blogger writes me" to go up so we could link to it.

I don't know what's going on other than what I read in the e-mails sent to Rebecca (including the fowarded ones). Based on what I do know, I think someone is trying to screw with her. If I find that to be true, it will get ugly.

Again, Rebecca's "a big name blogger writes me" -- read it.

Rebecca always looks out for me, always. She is a very good friend. So I'm not sure that I'll have much to write tonight because my blood is boiling over this.

After what happened to Jess and now this, I think we're all going to move towards not replying to anyone outside of the community in e-mails. I think this is nonsense and that I'm sick of it. I've read the e-mails. There's nothing embarrassing for Rebecca in them. Doesn't change the fact that I think a man thought he could score some points on her. I think she was used and I'm not sure how or why right now, but I know I'm pissed.

I'm looking through the news online and seeing very little. The US helicopter crash and the 5 US service members who died in it isn't even front page at any of the news engines. (It's in the snapshot, I'm now searching newspapers.)

Google's news page (main page) doesn't have anything on the crash. Click on Google World News and you get the bombings in northern Iraq which killed at least 175 Iraqis and the bridge bombing that killed at least ten. I'm not saying those aren't news. But I'm saying that so is a helicopter crashing and 5 US service members dying.

The Army Times tells you the crash is under investigation. Which probably means there's a good chance it was shot down. Reuters is a joke. They don't even know how many US soldiers died in July. I'm not talking about the '72' lie that the press ran with. Reuters is even worse. They're reporting 72. They then say 41 have died in August. That's correct. But there's at least 7 deaths they aren't counting. They were announced late. So if they're going with 71 for July and taking on the 7 or 8 to August, their August toll should be higher.

I'm just going around trying to find stuff and maybe it's mood (because of what happened to Rebecca) but I'm really not in the mood for it. Not for what was done to Rebecca. Not for the mass deaths of Iraqis, not for the 5 killed in the helicopter crash.

I don't see many who are serious. I see a lot of people who get paid for their reporting skills making one blunder after another. I'm not in the mood for it tonight.


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

Tuesday, August 14, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, a US helicopter crashes, mass fatalities from bombings in northern Iraq, and more.

Starting with war resistance, Mary Wiltenburg (Christian Science Monitor) continues her coverage of Agustin Aguayo today addressing his court-martial, how Agustin's wife Helga cried (Helga: "It was the ugly crying, with snot and everything. I wanted them to see how much they were hurting us."), how Augustin's squad leader, Sgt. David Garcia, testifited ("I told him what he needed to do was stick by his gun, if that was how he felt.") and how, following the conviction, Capt. Jennifer Neuhauser talked about what really was going on (sending a message to others serving). (Click here for part one of Wiltenburg's coverage.) Aguayo's case for CO status is currently awaiting his decision as to whether or not he's going to continue to fight in civilian courts. In his court filed statement (August 10, 2006), Aguayo wrote, "As time progresses (it has been more than two and a half years since I became a CO) my beliefs have only become more firm and intense. I believe that participating in this (or any) deployment would be fundamentally wrong, and therefore I cannot and will not participate. I believe that to do so, I would be taking part in organized killing and condoning war missions and operations, even though I object, on the basis of my religious training and belief, to participating in any war. I have to take stand for my principles, values, and morals and I must let my conscience by my guide. After all, I and no one else has to bear the consequences of my decisions or burden of neglecting my conscience." He also addresses the fact that although he was supposed to be a non-combatant, per The Department of the Army, his "unit will not respect that arrangement."

Aguayo was punished by the military to send a message. As noted on October 20, 2006, "That is their biggest fear. That this will spread. Unfortunately for the military, it is already spreading. That's why it's important to get the word out. Each person who takes a brave stand against the war deserves support. They'll only get that if people are aware of their stand. And with increased awareness it's not just an issue of raising awareness on one person, it's an issue of raising awareness on an entire movement."

Kyle Snyder is another war resister and he self-checked out (April 2005) and moved to Canada. On October 31st, Snyder returned to the US and turned himself in at Fort Knox. Snyder turned himself in and quickly checked back out when the US military refused to honor the agreement they had come to and instead attempted to send him to Fort Leonard. Snyder then began speaking out in the United States, he did some volunteer construction work in New Orleans around Thanksgiving of last year and continued to speaking out (one of the places he spoke out at was Fort Benning). Despite the lie repeated by the media, the US military does attempt to track those who self-checkout. We certainly saw it last month in Denver, CO when a parent's home was searched. We saw with it Snyder who, in the midst of his West Coast speaking tour, suddenly had to worry about the police showing up at stops because the military investigation unit of Kentucky kept calling the California police and instructing them. Snyder returned to Canada after his speaking tour was over and was set to marry Maleah Frisen when Canadian police showed up at his door, drug him off in handcuffs (and in his boxers). Snyder was told the orders for the arrest came from the US military and that charge came, not from Snyder, but from Canada's Border Service Agency.

It was a last ditch attempt to screw with Snyder because, married to Frisen, he's out of the US military's reach. (He no longer needs to be granted asylum by the Canadian government.) Rochelle Baker (The Abbotsford News) reported last week that at last an investigation is taking place. The Nelson City Police -- and specifically Chief Dan Maluta, have repeatedly changed their public versions of events. At one point, Maulta was claiming the Border Service Agency ordered the arrest (the Border Service Agency consistently maintained that they did not, that they did not contact the Nelson City Police Dept., and that, after Snyder was arrested, the Nelson City Police Dept. contacted them). How much of an investigation it will be is unclear since Maluta has strong ties to the Abbotsford Police who will be conducting the investigation.

What happened to Snyder is not a one-time incident. Joshua Key is also a war resister who went to Canada (Key tells his story in The Deserter's Tale). Following the February orders to arrest Snyder, 2 members of the US military (still unidentified) went into Canada, paired up with a Canadian police officer and began inquiring as to where Key was. They showed up at peace activist Winnie Ng's door. The three men identified themselves as Canadian police and began questioning her -- very upsetting. Ng came forward with what happened and that she believed two of the men were US military. "Never happened!" cried the police. They hadn't gone to Ng's door. They hadn't been accompanied by the US military. Those were lies and slowly the police had to admit that, yes, a Canadian police officer did travel with two US military service members to assist their efforts to find Joshua Key. That is a violation of Canadian sovereignty. It is a big deal in Canada.

Back in May, Gregory Levey (Salon) became the first at a US news outletto explore this story. It was an explosive story but if you thought it got traction after Levey covered it, think again. No one in big or small media has picked up on the story (several other outlets ran Levey's groundbreaking story). Only surprising if you haven't noticed how very little attention is given war resistance period.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. IVAW and others will be joining Veterans For Peace's conference in St. Louis, Missouri August 15th to 19th.
Yesterday Sean McCormack, US State Dept. flack, declared the US government was working with al-Maliki and "not only with Prime Minister Maliki, but also with important political party leaders, some of whom are in the government or have representatives in the government, some of whom are not in the government." (Click here for text, click here for a/v.) "Some of whom are not in the government"? Needless to say, there was no follow up asking exactly what that meant. Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, has a cabinet that is falling down. Megan Greenwell (Washington Post) reported this morning that, apparently refreshed from his trips last week to Turkey and Iran, al-Maliki now says he wants to work with others and that he has big hopes that he can rebuild the cabinet. This after he he trashed those that walked out and entertained the kind of conspiracy theories that usually has the MSM using their index finger to make a circular motion while saying, "Koo, koo, koo, koo." Possibly due to the trashing, not all who were boycotting in the cabinet were forgiving. Reuters reports only three who had been boycotting showed up for a cabinet session today.

In other bad news, though northern Iraq keeps promoting itself as "The Other Iraq" (honestly, they should stop the check on the p.r. agency that dusted off the "other white meat" slogan and sold it to them) reality slaps back. Just last week, the push was on again for "The Other Iraq." C.J. Chivers (New York Times) reports that: "A European civil aviation authority said yesterday that it was reviewing security conditions at airports in northern Iraq after two pilots reported that their passenger airliner had been attacked by ground fire last week while taking off from Sulaimaniya." And Louise Nordstrom (AP) reports that Sweden has now suspended all their "commercial flights to and from Iraq". Chivers also notes the Brookings Institute's figure of "at least 34 helicopters" -- US -- shot down during the illegal war thus far.


Helicopter crashes? Megan Greenwell (Washington Post) is reporting that a US helicopter crashed today in Anbar resulting in the deaths of 5 US soldiers. (This is web, not print. By Wednesday am, the link may or may not go to the story.) CBS and AP note the "emergency response crews had sealed off the site" and that it "is about 45 miles west of Baghdad in restive Anbar province". And for those fretting, it's okay to use "crash" -- even the US military is using it in their press release noting the five deaths ("Helicopter crashes in Al Anbar Province").
Turning to other violence today . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing targeting Thira'a Dijla bridge claimed 10 lives and left six wounded. Reuters reports "three civilian cars" were sent into the Tigris. Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) notes that that the "bomber detonated a truckload of explosives on a key bridge north of the Iraqi capital today, plunging the concrete span and at least three vans packed with passengers into the murky waters of a wide canal linking the Tigris and Euphrates rivers." Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) also notes a Baghdad bombing that left two people wounded, a Baghdad mortar attack left three people wounded, 3 Kirkuk bombings left eight police officers and five civilians wounded, and, dropping back to yesterday, 2 people lost their lives (a third was wounded) in a Basra rocket attack on a residence. CBS and AP note an attack in "northwester Iraq" where Yazidi members were targeted by a bombing that claimed 9 lives (fourteen wounded). But Reueters has an update: "At least 175 people were killed when three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers attacked residential compounds home to the ancienty minority Yazidi sect".

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two people were wounded while the Iraqi army and unknown assailants had a shoot out "in Shorja market neighborhood downtown Baghdad" and a civilian was shot dead in the capital (four more wounded).

Kidnappings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Abdul Jabbar Al Wagga'a and 2 of his body guards "and 4 general directors" were kidnapped by unknown men who "were wearing a military uniform" when they invaded the marketing building of the Baghdad Oil Ministry (five people were wounded during the kidnapping).
Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 15 corpses were discovered in Baghdad.

In addition to the five dead from the helicopter crash, today the US military announced: "Three Task Force Lightning Soldiers died as a result of injuriessustained from an explosion near their vehicle while conducting operations in Ninewah Province, Monday." And they announced: "One Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and three others wounded during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 14." ICCC's total for the month thus far is 41 with 3699 US service members being the total killed in the illegal war since it started. The 3700 mark looms closer. It will be passed, as will other marks, before this illegal war is ended.[CBS and AP report the 3700 mark has been passed: "The deaths raised to at least 3,700 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count." Before the 5 deaths from the helicopter crash, Reuters reported: "United States 3,694." Adding five to that, you have 3,699.]

Sticking with reality, Leila Fadel (Baghdad Observer, McClatchy Newspapers) addresses the charges and counter-charges being exchanged between Sunni and Shia leaders in Iraq and weighs in with this: "People are fighting to be the bigger victim. Shiite politicians don't openly condemn the situation, instead they ask 'who picked the fight?' and talk about the higher number of Shiites killed in Iraq. Shiite and Sunni groups compete for the anonymous bodies at the morgue. Each side wants to raise the body count of their population by burying them in their graveyards. A question was raised to me during interviews this week. There is an assumption that the Shiite-led government will try to solve the crisis. But no one official asked 'What if the intent is to continue the purge?' No American officials ever asks this question publicly. No one ever asks whether the true intentions of the current government may be to solidify power by ridding themselves of a restive minority. Are American officials banking on a government that was born under U.S. supervision but may not be the best thing for the future of Iraq?"

The chosen ones, by the US government, were the Shi'ites. They now toy with backing the Sunnis. Whether they will or not remains to be seen but it does, a government run counter-insurgency is supposed to, keep everyone off balance with the hopes of fostering a dependence upon the occupying power (US).

It was really 'cute' at the start of the month when the Iraqi Air Force Commander, Lt. General Kamal Araznji declared, "As everybody knows, the Iraqi air force is basically one of the oldest air force in the region and it was established since 1931. But now, we've started a new beginning since 2004 on a new basis with support and from the abilities and experience by the international air force, particularly by the western countries." He continues but search in that statement, bragging about Iraqi Air Force's long history for any indication that 1931 doesn't matter at all. That's because the US disbanded the military. That's because when it was built back up certain groups weren't allowed back in. This is part of the who got put in control story that Fadel's asking about. It's equally true that when someone tosses out "1931" and starts rambling about the history of the Iraqi Air Force, they're just gas bagging. The military was disbanded. There is no history to speak of. Of course, when asked if the Iraqi military was "working with people who are essentially war criminals?", Fox responded, "I wouldn't necessarily jump or characterize, you know, that we're embracing any particular segment or sect or group of people" but that is what happened and what has happened. So to return to the question Fadel notes American officials don't want to ask in public, "What if the intent" of those currently in charge "is to continue the purge?"











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Monday, August 13, 2007

Danny Schechter, Amy Goodman, Third

Monday, Monday, shouldn't trust that day. Another week. I always hate Mondays. Okay, let me wade in.

This is from Amy Goodman and Danny Schechter's "'The Media Dissector' Danny Schechter on Karl Rove's Resignation, the Subprime Mortgage Crisis and AT&T's Censorship of Pearl Jam:"

DANNY SCHECHTER: I’ve been writing about it, and I also made the film In Debt We Trust, and we have a website, stopthesqueeze.org, to try to organize a campaign for debt relief in America. In other words, Bono has called for debt relief in Africa. We have to start fighting for debt relief in America. A moratorium on these foreclosures would be a first step, and also an investigation into the profiteers on Wall Street. We're talking about literally billions of dollars that have just been spent by the Federal Reserve and by central banks around the world to try to prop up the system. A lot of that is really benefiting the people who created the problem in the first place: the hedge funds, the financial analysts who went ahead with this effort.
This subprime thing is really serious. I don't know if your viewers are all clear of it, or your listeners, but basically people who didn't have adequate credit to get homes were told, "No problem. Just pay us a little bit more, and we will give you the mortgage." Then they took the mortgage. They resold the mortgage back into Wall Street into what are called securitization trusts. These trusts then not only financed more acquisitions and buyouts and the like, but they also basically made incredible amounts of money for these people.
So we're now facing a situation, the New York Times -- I love this phrase -- just the other day talked about a "moral hazard," meaning that the risk takers who brought on this panic would feel bailed out again. And they are being bailed out again. And the problem is the opposition is not saying much about it. The Democrats are not talking about it. Activists are ignoring it, maybe because economics is the dismal science.
But we have been getting a lot of response to our film, In Debt We Trust, and to this issue, because it’s an issue that brings together people across the partisan lines, across class lines, across racial lines. It could be the issue that could lead to a fight for economic justice in this country.

That's your cabbage. (I like spinach!) Could you follow it? I followed about half of it. It's over my head. I like Danny and that's why I'm including it. Hopefully, you could follow all of it. "Subprime"? I donnu know. I don't have a mortgage. I've never applied for one. It's a housing crisis brought on by greedy bankers and they were preying on people with bad credit that they knew would have to struggle and eventually lose their homes. They were set up to fail. I'd recommend Danny's movie In Debt We Trust. (And I'm not slamming him for the stuff above, I'm just noting some of it's beyond me. It's important, he knows it's important, so I included it and hopefully other people will be able to follow it entirely.)

Now here he and Amy Goodman are talking about censorship and this I could follow:

DANNY SCHECHTER: Amy, that is so great. And, you know, the thing about this is, of course, AT&T is saying, no, it was one of our contractors that did this in an unauthorized way. We're working with the band to get this song out online. You know, they're basically not boasting that they did it. They're basically trying to, you know, cover up the fact that they were involved or implicated in it.
But, you know, this is only part of a much deeper problem. I spent ten years in rock and roll radio, and, you know, I was just back up in Boston. WBCN was the station I worked for. And the radio there is terrible. It's all controlled by big corporate media outlets. There's very little of the diversity on the airwaves that we really need. So this is a problem, and a serious one, of censorship. But the real censorship seems to be the manipulation by big telecom companies and radio companies and media companies, basically, of our airwaves. So it comes back to that once again.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s interesting. A reader to the -- emailed the Chicago Sun-Times saying AT&T's Blue Room Webcast had also silenced comments during two performances -- I may be pronouncing this wrong -- at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee last June, cutting remarks by the John Butler Trio bemoaning the lack of federal response to Hurricane Katrina and comments about Bush and the war in Iraq by singer Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. The article from the Chicago Sun-Times saying it's not the first time AT&T has done these edits. AT&T did confirm that other unspecified political comments had been cut from its webcasts.
DANNY SCHECHTER: Yeah, nor will it be the last time, unless we take on this issue and begin to speak up for democracy on the airwaves, not just Democracy Now!, but broader, more diversity on the airwaves and more support for artists who are speaking out on important issues. And, you know, this just brings that issue back in front of our faces again.

They also talked about the news of a departure. If you're asking what departure, check out
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Karl Rove Leaves the Administration" below:

karlroveleaves

Now let's talk The Third Estate Sunday Review:

Truest statement of the week -- Marjorie Cohn was the pick because she cut through all the crap last week. It was the truest statement of the week.

A Note to Our Readers -- Jim breaks down the edition.

Editorial: The way it was/is -- Every week, Rebecca tries to work in a Barbra Streisand song. :D This week, she finally was able to. This is a perspective and historical editorial and moves surprisingly quick.

TV: P(ure)BS -- a lot of people worry Jim puts too much pressure on Ava and C.I. to deliver but, be honest, when Ava and C.I. turn out something like this as a result from a last minute request, Jim's pressure may not be a bad thing. This is great. They're addressing The Charlie Rose Show and the so-called History Detectives, both on PBS.

2 Books, 20 minutes -- Book discussion and we're reviewing two great books, Aidan Delgado's book (don't make me type the title, I'll mispell it!) and Army of None. If you're not familiar with them, go read the discussion. If you are familiar with them, read the discussion to see if your favorite parts were what we emphasized. They are both great books.

Roundtable -- I don't know what to say here. Betty, Cedric, Ty, Rebecca and Ava are really strong in the opening so praise to them. As it moves along, you get the bombshell. I've been asked not to name the backstabber so I really don't have anything else to say about this other than read it.

She's a celebrity, get her out of here! -- Koo Koo Katrina is a celebrity, not a journalist!

Weeks load of crap in one morning -- Yeah, the thing that was e-mailed by one of their readers, what we're responding to, came from Lotta Links. Are you surprised? Lotta Links is a lot of cowardice. Of course they'd come out strong for rapists and murderers.

Iraq -- Betty's idea. I hated this. I've read over and don't now. I had minimal participation in this. So the fact that it turned out okay doesn't have anything to do with me.

David Bacon's "Living Under Trees" now showing -- In Fresno, David Bacon has an exhibit. This gives you some of the details. If you're in that area (I'm not), you should check it out.

Highlights -- Kat, Wally, Rebecca, Cedric, Betty, Elaine and me wrote this and picked the selections except where noted.

So that's the edition and here's who worked on it:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
and Wally of The Daily Jot

Now for everyone who e-mailed asking if my mother was really okay, yes, and if you still don't believe me, be sure to read her "Spinach, Orange and Almond Salad in the Kitchen."
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, August 13, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, Operation Happy Talk makes a splash and thank the left and 'left' voices there, US withdrawal fights a strong push-back via spin while one of Bully Boy's nearest and dearest withdraws from the White House, John Howard flaps his gum yet again -- this time in a letter to the puppet of the illegal occupation, the puppet doesn't have time for mail as he faces stinging criticism, and more.


Starting with war resistance, Agustin Aguayo is the focus of Mary Wiltenburg's "When a US soldier in Iraq won't soldier" (Christian Science Monitor) which traces Aguayo's involvement in the US military, working two and three jobs to support his family, Aguayo thought of joining the Army Reserves but was persuaded the Army was the better choice, went to basic training and was distrubed by the chants ("Left, right, kill!," "We are not men. We are beasts," etc.), realized on the eve of deployment to Iraq that he couldn't kill anyone. Helga Aguayo searched online and discovered conscientious objector, a term that applied to her husband and one they had never heard of. That's why it's shameful when publications such as The Nation (the 'leading magazine of the left') refuse to cover war resisters in print or reduce Camilio Mejia (as they did in their overly praised article last month) to a 'deserter' while never noting that his 8-year-contract was up, had been up, and that as a noncitizen the US military could not extend Mejia's contract. Mejia applied for CO status and was rejected. But by all means, let's applaud The Nation for it's repeated cowardice and it's repeated silence. The AP has done a better job covering the war resistance than the laughable Nation magazine. (Community members remember, check in on Labor Day.) In fairness, voices who didn't use the platform to note Ehren Watada but were happy to use their platforms to note a reporter should share the shame of The Nation.


Like Mejia, Agustin's CO application was rejected. Wiltenburg notes, "The decision was divided: Aguayo's company commander and investigating officer called him 'absolutely sincere' and said he had a 'legitimate concern with being a soldier.' The next four levels of command recommended rejection; one called Aguayo's application 'an attempt to remedy [the] anxiety all soldiers face during an extended deployment in a combat theater'." Perspective. "The investigating officer said that it was in the best interest of the military to discharge him and that he believed that Agustin was sincere. However, higher ups in the chain of command -- that never met with my husband -- decided that he wasn't sincere and just didn't really give a reason, just said that he didn't qualify as a conscientious objector," Helga Aguayo speaking to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) Arpil 20, 2007. Mary Wiltenburg's "When a US soldier in Iraq won't soldier" (Christian Science Monitor) is the first of multi-part story on Aguayo The Christian Science Monitor is doing. So those wanting to be informed can look to that paper and ignored the useless Nation magazine..

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. IVAW and others will be joining Veterans For Peace's conference in St. Louis, Missouri August 15th to 19th.



Over the weekend, the US military made a number of announcements including Saturday when the US military announced: "A Task Force Lightning Soldier died Friday in a non-combat related incident, which is currently under investigation." And, on Sunday, the US military announced: "A Task Force Marne Soldier was killed by small arms fire while conducting a dismounted patrol southeast of Baghdad August 11." and they announced: "Four Task Force Marne Soldiers were killed and four others were wounded by an explosion during combat operations south of Baghdad Aug. 11." Today, they announced: "A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was attacked during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 13." The deaths bring the total number of US service members killed in the illegal war ever closer to 3700. The cakewalk that had Bully Boy declaring "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended" beneath the banner declaring "Mission Accompished" in May 1, 2003 over four years ago When that lie was told at a photo op to sell the illegal war, Jesse Alan Givens was the 140th US service member to die in the illegal war. ICCC's current total is 3690. 3,550 US service members have died in Bully Boy's illegal war since he strutted around on the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath the manner crowing, "In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." Repeating that, 3,550 have died since Bully Boy's photo op. The 3700 mark looms and, so far this month, 32 US service members have lost their lives in Bully Boy's illegal war.

The five deaths announced Sunday indicate a new strategy in attacks on US service members. Megan Greenwell (Washington Post) reports the first soldier was shot dead to draw "the others to a house rigged to explode." It was a set up. And nothing in the US military press releases notes that.


As the 'cakewalk' had dragged on (and on and on . . .) some of the world leaders who supported it (the few) have been replaced. France has a new prime minister. Nicolas Sarkozy met with Bully Boy Saturday for a "casual lunch." Bruce Crumley (Time magazine) notes Sarkozy showed up Saturday for "the kennebunkport weenie roast" late, "45 minutes late," at a time when a new poll in France found 40% of the citizens want no improvement in the strained relationship between France and the United States that cratered over the illegal war and 26% of those responding expressed the desire for even greater distance between France and the United States. That's 66% of the country not wanting a big hug from the Bully Boy so, to no one's surprise, the two leaders, as Crumley characterizes it, agreed to disagree.

There remains a great deal of 'disagreement' between Bully Boy and the rest of the world and you don't need to look at the international polling and note how great the drop in favorable opinions of the US since Bully Boy began his illegal war to be aware of that. You can look at England's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, who has replaced "The Poodle" Tony Blair and isn't as pliable as Blair causing alarm in the US administration. Sean Rayment and Philip Sherwell (Telegraph of London) report: "America is preparing to pour thousands of extra troops into southern Iraq amid fears that Gordon Brown is committed to withdrawing British troops from the region early next year." While England plans to turn over southern Iraq to the Iraqis, the US prepares to station US troops there.

They can do that thanks to Bully Boy's escalation, which has led to approximately 160,000 service members stationed in Iraq (the highest number since Janutary 2005). Over the desires of the US public and the 'symoblic' resistance of the US Congress, Bully Boy began increasing the number of troops in Iraq at the start of this year. Tim Reid (Times of London) reports the Bully Boy thinks he can continue the escalation "well into next year" and cites a "a string of positive reports" on Iraq that Reid maintains have "left Democrats increasinly powerless to end the war."

The "positive reports" do not refer to any progress in Iraq or even official presentations. They refer to the waves of Operation Happy Talk that began in mid-July. An illegal war the White House refused to end and the US Congress played dumb about -- what to do? Grab a box of "Iraq War Helper!" Which is exactly what the administration began doing in July. Which is why and how you got nonsense such as US General Walter E. Gaskin declaring "we have turned the corner, we truly turned the corner" while for some reason referring to Iraqi soldiers's "hard". No one questioned it because the waves of Operation Happy Talk were splashing and isn't homoerotic subtext what we all expect from generals in the US military?

As Reuters' Kristen Roberts noted, one of the few, General Gaskin's briefing was very "optimistic." And strange and divorced from reality. But Gaskin was a piker compared to Lt. General Ray Odierno, Commander Mulitnation Corps-Iraq, who declared that a "bit more time" was needed for the illegal war and that General David Petraues's September report really wasn't going to tell anyone anything worth knowing because it would be November before anything could be known. In that press conference, Odierno immediately clarified,
"What I was saying is -- again, my remarks were, in 45 days I will have a better idea if the trends are continuing, and that's September. Obviously, we have an assessment we will conduct in September that will provide -- that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will provide. I was not looking at extending that time frame when they have to report back. What I imagine we'll have to do is do assessments that follow that initial assessment in September, and that's -- I'm assuming we'll continue to do assessments while we're here." He would clarify it again on Friday and some of our 'brave voices' would get it wrong and say he clarified it for the first time on Friday. Not true, he did it in the original press briefing. Odierno was part of the push back, the lowering of expectations.

In that, he was successful. In the same press briefing, he also attempted to sell the unproven link between the Iranian government and resistance fighters in Iraq. He was less succsessful there because reporters pressed him forcing him to admit that there was "no specific intelligence" and, still in the same press conference, "We don't see any evidence -- significant evidence". That didn't prevent the New York Times' Michael Gordon from repeatedly citing the false link in July or August or utilizing Odierno as his source (including last week). What a few others questioned, Michael Gordon ran with. No surprise since Judith Miller's former co-writer was there to sell the illegal war from the start. Of course, it helps that 'star' 'reporter' Gordo has to answer to few and that the Baghdad chief for the New York Times is John F. Burns who could, and did, start off the month publicly opining, "I think there's no doubt that those extra 30,000 American troops are making a difference." He did so not in print because reporters aren't allowed to opine on the pages of the New York Times, that's a no-no. So he took his cheerleading on over to right-winger Hugh Hewitt's radio show where he also opined that the US withdrawing from Iraq will
"lead to much higher, and indeed potentially cataclysmic levels of violence, beyond anything we've seen to date." No word yet on when Burnsie plans to handicap the Kentucky Derby.

The waves of Operation Happy Talk also saw sporting events presented as indicators of 'progress.' All the little boys of the press who never got to play sports in their pimply, geeky, sunken chest schools days grabbed their jock straps and pounded furiously at their key boards over soccer matches and what it 'means'? If it meant anything, and it didn't, the alarm should have sounded when the Iraqi soccer team defeated the one from Vietnam. That should have sent a shudder through the jock-boys' spines since, of course, Vietnam was a defeat for the US not all that long ago. So those wanting to read the tea cups (or the sweat stains on the jock cups) should have pondered if that means that, in Iraq, the US has an even stronger resistance?

Where there are no sane comparisons to be made there is John Howard. Howard is not just (for now) the prime minister of Australia, he is the last of the Bully Boy defenders who got on board with the illegal war and (for now) still holds his official title. Now Howard didn't get way on board with actual troops. In fact, his loud mouth and hyperbole appear to be a desperate attempt to compensate for that and prove he can waddle with 'the big boys.' While he talks big, he sends very few troops. (Australians would not put up with him increasing the troop levels and they may not be putting up with him much longer as the election looms.) But Howard loves to shoot the mouth and this year decided the thing to do was to interject himself in US politics as he went on attack against US Senator and 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.and the Democratic Party claiming their victories in 2008 would be a winfall for terrorists and terrorism. "Barack Obama: Warmonger" (Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report) has made embarrassing steps repeatedly though the Sammy Power crowd tries so hard to prop him up. In this instance, dropping Chicken Sop for the Soul and leaving aside the I Talk Tough rhetoric, Obama actually scored points -- against a world leader. (It should have been a tip off to his chaotic campaign, but they're all so lost.) Noting that the loud mouth John Howard liked to talk big but has only provided approximately 1,000 troops to Iraq (that would be approximately 159,000 troops less than the US), Obama declared Howard should put up or shut up, send 20,000 more troops into Iraq, because
"[o}therwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric." Howard sulked off and tried to keep his head down. But there's a wave of Operation Happy Talk to ride (actually it's over but Howard's timing has always been poor) and damned if Howard's going to miss jock talk! Australia's ABC reports Howard has dashed off a letter to puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki declaring that "Iraqis should follow the example of their nation's Asian Cup-winning soccer team". How so? By only some returning (briefly) to Iraq following the win? That is what happened. The ones he returned got a secluded, within the heavily guarded Green Zone, muted celebration. Somehow that didn't get splashed across the front pages of the New York Times, et al.

al-Maliki doesn't really have time for pen pals these days. He's just returned from trips to Turkey and Iran. Prior to leaving, he saw walk outs in the Iraqi Parliament and his own cabinet. al-Maliki's manner of dealing with it was to term those protesting obstructionists and began speaking publicly (yet again) about conspiracies to oust him. The whole country of Iraq was against him! The travel apparently did him well and he returned to Iraq, as Megan Greenwell (Washington Post) notes in a more peaceful and moderately sane (for him) mood declaring that he was committed to resolving "the growing political crisis" and that "[h]is primary goal will be to reconcile with nearly half of his cabinet members, who have stopped attending meetings in three separate protests against his leadership."

For some Iraqi leaders, the response was, "It's not that easy." Reuters reports that Adnan al-Dulaimi ("a senior figure in the main Sunni Arab political bloc in Baghdad") has declared (in an open statement to al-Maliki), "Your brothers in Baghdad are suffering in genocide carried out by militias and the death squads with Iranian planning, instructions and weapons. If you think what is happening to us will end at Baghdad then you are wrong. By God, this war that started in Baghdad will not stop here. It will extend to every Arab spot where the Arabic tongue is spoken. It is a war of history." Others joined al-Dulaimi in condemning the puppet. Suleiman al-Khalidi (Reuters) reports Sheikh Harith al-Dari ("the top Sunni cleric") stated, "If the Americans remain with this policy and rely on the same men who proved their failure again and again then they will leave Iraq in failure. . . . The U.S. administration should rectify its position in Iraq and stop depending on puppets . . . who have proven their failure."CBS and AP focus on al-Dulaim, and ignored al-Dari, noting that al-Dulami had spoken out against the Shia militias "unprecedented genocide campign".

As the waves of Operation Happy Talk started, 'war critics' showed up to say it was winnable and few bothered to note the 'critics' had argued for the illegal war to begin with. As July drew to a close and August began, the left and the 'left' largely made themselves useless as they accepted talking points (such as 'only 72 Americans died in Iraq in July!' -- a lie when they wrote their pieces) to move to 'bigger' points. Here's reality, the push-back was obvious in July. Save your bigger points until after you address the lies that are being told right then.
They didn't, because they know best. Obviously. After all they stopped the illegal war from even starting, didn't they? Oh, no, they didn't. And if anyone needing to see how that effort failed in real time need only review those end of July start of August critiques. "Wait! We had the MSM to go up against before the illegal war started! They were all selling it!" Yes, and they were all selling it again last month and this month and where the hell were you? Which is why CBS can report a new poll that finds a 10% bump in support for the escalation that Bully Boy calls the 'surge.' Attitudes against the illegal war have hardened and that remains true as the same poll indicates -- 30% want a timetable for withdrawal, 30% want US troops home now. But via a hard-sell by the MSM and a lot of crap from left and 'left' voices, he did get a 10% bump in approval for his escalation. The bump didn't translate into a bump for the Bully Boy himself (he stands at 29% approval rating in the latest poll) but it wasn't about Bully Boy. He has no election to win. He's over. The war drags on. And what the p.r. stunt proved was that (a) the MSM would run with it, (b) the voices with platforms would largely take the spin and say, "True, but . . " instead of calling it lies out right, and (c) new 'techniques' could be seen as worth exploring if a hard sell took place. The lesson for the administration (and War Hawks) was that they might be able, if the press real hard, to string the illegal war along by tri-mesters.

The War Hawks can laugh at portions of the left who make themselves useless, who will accept the same spin the MSM does, and who will be so dense and stupid that they will applaud crap and encourage people to view it. "No End In Sight when the peace movement gets behind crap" addressed that nonsense at various left and 'left' voices began praising a 'documentary' by a Council for Foreign Relations flunky which ignored the entire issue of the illegal war to instead sell the lie that the US screwed up on the ground. No End In Sight exists for one reason only, to sell the concept of wars of choice, wars based on lies, and get us to all agree that the real problem is with the planning, not the illegalities themselves. "Blood on the scarecrow, blood on the plow," as John Mellencamp once sang.

CBS and AP note, "At least 37 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence nationwide. Nearly half of that number, 17, were tortured bodies discovered in Baghdad, officials said." In some of today's reported violence . . .


Bombings?Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad mortar attack claimed 1 life (three wounded),

Shootings?

Reuters notes an Iraqi soldier was shot dead in Hilla.

Kidnappings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Laylan kidnapping today where a truck driver was seized "on Gargcha bridge". Reuters notes that "the mayor of town of Dijla" was kidnapped today.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 18 corpses discovered.

Over the weekend, some realities emerged in the press. Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times)
reported that all was not as upbeat as the waves of Operation Happy Talk maintained such as in the Amil section of the capital where checkpoints are set up everywhere but that hasn't stopped Amil and the Bayaa section from accounting for being the site of 160 discovered corpses since May. Meanwhile, in the foreign press, reports emerged of a US helicopter killing 8 Iraqi electrical workers when a rocket was fired on them. Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) was pretty much alone in the MSM in picking up the story and was told by the US military that, on Thursday, in that area, a US helicopter had killed "six men" but they were 'insurgents' who were "in the back of a truck." After speaking with Oppel, the US military would issue a statement and in the military press release on the helicopter firing they would note "eight insurgents" were killed, up two by their original figure -- and consistent with the reports of the US military killing 8 electrical workers last Thursday.

As if to counteract that reality, Stephen Farrell showed up in today's New York Times selling a wave of Operation Happy Talk about the US military taking in a 9-month old girl, Fatima, and raising her on a base in the midst of a war zone with no concern as to what this will mean for Fatima when the US military leaves, no questions as to why relief agencies weren't utilized, no questions about the huge breakdown in command that allowed such a violation to occur but lots of sop to sell the illegal war for a few more tri-mesters.

In other news, the US military is trumpeting their recent war games (click here for Nancy A. Youssef's report) which predicts chaos will come to Iraq when the US withdraws. Chaos came in March 2003. The war game is a game and as useless to reality as holding the Monopoly deed to Park Place when you have no place to live. In the real world, Robert Hutton (Bloomberg News) reports that the United Kingdom's Parliament is predicting the Bully Boy's escalation will fail and that "[t]he cross-party panel of lawmakers called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to set out a policy to promote reconciliation between rival political factions in Iraq." The escalation is a failure and the US military pulled back and slowed the announcements of the deaths of US service members in an attempt to trick -- fortunately many were willing to be tricked. There has been no progress. All this time later, potable water, electricity and security remain impossible. The point being made in the British Parliament are similar to the ones made by US Senator and 2008 presidential hopeful Joe Biden on PBS' The Charlie Rose Show Thursday -- there is no diplomtic 'surge,' there is no progress in basic needs, the focus has been on the privatization of Iraqi oil at the expense of what is good for Iraqis and there is no way to claim that the escalation of US troops into Iraq has resulted in progress.


In news of withdrawals, Karl Rove will leave the White House. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) reports, Rove will leave Aug. 31st and this "comes while he is at the center of several Congressional investigations. Last month Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy subpoenaed Rove to testify about his role in the politicization of the Justice Department and the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. So far Rove has ignored the subpoena and has refused to testify, citing executive privilege. In addition, two weeks ago Rove skipped a Congressional hearing on the allegedly improper use by White House aides of Republican National Committee email accounts. Rove told the Wall Street Journal that he is resigning in order to spend more time with his family. For the past 19 years Rove worked as George W. Bush's closest political advisor, first in Texas, then in Washington. During that time he earned the nickname of Bush's Brain." Goodman explored the topic in depth today with News Dissector Danny Schechter who noted, "Well, with his brain gone, what's left? I mean, this is rats deserting a ship. You know, the ship is sinking, clearly. His comment --- President Bush's comment the other day --- he doesn't speak English --- is indicative of an administration that doesn't know what it's doing or where it's going. Bush's top adviser leaving is certainly not going to make it any easier for him. We're going to see more and more crises.

















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