Hump day, hump day, why can't you be pump day? :D It's Wednesday and 91 US service members have been killed so far this month in the illegal war. I got a disc in the mail and I'm going with the first half. Sorry to Wally and Cedric, my title of this post is going long.
WBAI's Law and Disorder (other stations too, but I think it airs first each week on WBAI) this week had a segment on Agent Orange that I might talk about tomorrow but (and I might not) tonight I'm going to focus on the first half. This was a debate between Laura Flanders and Stanley Aronowitz. Kat wrote about it yesterday in "Law and Disorder: Laura Flanders, Stanley Aronowitz" and I love what she wrote. I disagree with some of it. (I called her and she said, "That's cool." But I went back to listen to the first segment over after I called her which is why I'm really not interested in talking about the second half which I haven't heard as much of.)
Kat points out that it was more of a discussion between Flanders and Aronowitz and I'd agree with that. But there was a debate. Between Aronowitz and the moderator who was flat out rude. "Stanley, Stanley . . ." he says at one point with so much superiority and listen to the questions he ask Flanders and then the ones he asks Aronowitz.
Wally and I didn't go see it. We were talking about it but wiped out (a) from the weekend in Chicago for the Socialist Forum and (b) wiped out from cleaning up my kid sister's mess from her wild weekend alone. I'm glad we didn't go because I would have been booing the moderator. (His name is not mentioned because chicken sh*ts who work Darrell Anderson's name into an article in May, quote Anderson and don't have the guts to note that Anderson is a war resister don't get promoted at my site.) I really would have been booing that jerk. He was so confrontational with Stanley. He was supposed to be the moderator and that doesn't mean "favor one side over the other." He was just a real ass.
Kat and I have talked a lot about Stanley's idea for a left newspaper (we both love that idea). She notes that Stanley appears to be getting at things like that in his answers, the need for it. I agree with that. But I also think Stanley's talking theoretical and Laura Flanders is offering concrete examples of things happening on the ground.
The only thing I strongly disagreed with Flanders on was Iraq Veterans Against the War which is one of the most dedicated and hard working organizations around. I think they do real work (unlike a lot of others on the left). But Flanders brought up that she felt they should be leading the marches. I don't. We've dealt with this at Third. They should be up front and certainly in leadership roles. But I don't believe we play hide behind the vets.
That's for the right. Bully Boy did that to sell a war. Iraq Veterans Against the War have earned a place on the stage and a place at the front but not as the only ones in the front. The peace movement needs to be diverse and speak to all and, I think C.I. pointed this out at Third, if we do that, what we're saying is that with the next illegal war, we'll have to wait until vets start coming back to make any real attempts to halt the illegal war. There's no question that the people of IVAW should be at the front, but they shouldn't be the only ones. We need students, we need older people, we need to make sure the diversity of the peace movement is present.
There's also the fact that, no matter where they are or what order they speak in, Iraq Veterans Against the War get through to people. So I'm not really nervous that they're going to get lost. They stand out because they are not afraid to speak the truth.
But is this movement just to stop the war in Iraq? If so, let's turn it over IVAW (who I think would do a better job leading than any other group currently). But if this is about building a movement that can call out illegal wars, I don't know that we turn everything over to one group (any group) and if it's IVAW, the worry is that if we enter an illegal war with North Korea, we'll have to wait for US vets to start returning from that war in order to get traction.
Vietnam vets who spoke out then deserve a place now. And with the next war, IVAW will too. But if we're rushing to hide behind IVAW then what do we do with the next war?
I don't like the idea of rushing to hide behind anyone. I think the ones up front should be the strongest voices and most inspiring and, on that alone, IVAW has a right to be up front because they really are the main source of life today (too many other organizations seem to be focused on lobbying Congress these days as opposed to getting the message out). I'm all for, for instance, Kelly Dougherty and Garrett and Adam being upfront because they've earned it. But, if they're still alive during the next war and as active, I'm all for them being upfront then too. And there are people like Ron Kovack (spelling?) from Vietnam that are just amazing today and should be up front. But the danger is we just end up waiting (next time) for vets to return and do the speaking for us. That's not democracy and it just prolongs a war.
I'm not big on NOW these days and, having endorsed Hillary Clinton, pull their position at any march or demonstration. Give it to others. That's fine with me. But there are people who do amazing work and they need to be heard. I just don't believe we hide behind anyone.
Look at Cindy Sheehan. A lot of people hid behind her. She became the big target and that, and the lack of support from people who think "Vote Democrat!" is the ultimate answer, and IVAW is carrying on but a lot of groups aren't. We don't need just one person or one group of people out front. There's a vet that's already burned out. (Wally called that a few months back.) It's a lot of work to be up front. Cindy and one vet have burned out. We shouldn't hide behind people. And we shouldn't be silent when someone like Cindy is attacked.
The war's not going to end by anyone group, it's going to take all of us. So I disagreed with Laura Flanders on that. (And her wording, this was a small point of a larger point, might have been rushed. She might not disagree with the points I'm making. She might, however, disagree. That's fine. It's how I feel and it's not changing.)
Flanders was pointing to actions on the ground, to concrete things. Stanley wasn't talking about that. Stanley was talking about the death of socialism and the need for new theories. It's like that Carly Simon song my folks love (I love it too), "Let all the dreamers wake the nation." That's from "Let The River Run." That's what Stanley was about.
Laura was about, look at what people are accomplishing! And she's right, they are accomplishing. But he was getting at the need for theories and frameworks (not framinings -- he's not a hula hoop kind of guy). Laura Flanders was talking about how people were doing work with little or no support and that is happening. But Stanley's point seemed to me to be that was like a car that had run out of gas and, yeah, it's great that people are able to keep going, push it to a gas station, but where's the thing that they're going to fill up on?
He talked about how when Karl Marx wrote, he was writing about things that hadn't happened, he was dreaming. Stupid moderator started harping on how there is optimism in the real world today. No sh*t, dumb ass. That wasn't Stanley's point (and maybe if the moderator would have let Stanley speak . . .) Yeah, there is optimism, there is hope. Hope that we can stop this or stop that. But where's the framework, where's the theory?
I didn't think Laura Flanders came off like a cheerleader for the Democratic Party or even a cheerleader for the people doing things around the country. She noted those and usually because she was asked about it. Those are important things (and you should read her book Blue Grit). And they give us all hope in dark times. But, to me, that's hope that we will survive and, to me, Stanley's points were that we need more than that. We need something larger than what we're being provided and individual battles may train us and all but we really need to have a larger theory. That's what his newspaper idea is about. It's what Laura Flanders did with her show when it was live. She would make the connections. Sometimes her callers would, but if they didn't, she would. She could relate Hurricane Katrina and Iraq and whatever scandal the administration was facing at that week. She could pull it all together and I think she's got a framework (I don't know what it is) and that's why she can do that. But Stanley's point is that we need to be getting a framework out there. (Again, she did when her show was live.)
It's easy to go "I'm for social justice." Or "I'm for peace and justice." And some people do that. But what does that really mean? The fact that Our Modern Day Carrie Nations have gotten so far with their push for war on Darfur demonstrates to me that a framework is sorely needed.
I don't know that Marxism or socialism is dead. Stanley's a smarter guy then I am so I'll take his word for it. But what's the unifying theory and don't give me buzz words. Don't say "social justice" because those crazy Carrie Nations use those same buzz words to scream for war on Darfur.
Okay, C.I.'s got Iraq addressed in the snapshot so I think that's going to be it for me except for a few links. Disgusted with 'news' yet? If not read Wally's "THIS JUST IN! JUNK NEWS DOMINATES!" and Cedric's "More Blonde Woman "News" to Distract the US " about how one junk news topic replaces another. Oh good!. Elaine's "Spying, Marjorie Cohn." She types much faster than me (your dog types faster than me) and I knew what she was covering tonight and wanted to give her a shout out. (I give her multiple shout outs in private! :D) And like she says, you should also read Kat's "Ford and CIA discuss Jane Fonda, Kissinger tries to cover his own War Criminal ass" and Rebecca's "gonzales & other scandals" and make sure you read C.I.'s "On the Dangers of an Unchecked Bully Boy" from last year.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, June 27, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, Turkey makes noises about an armed mission into northern Iraq, the US military announces another death, Falluja remains under siege, a paper editorializes in favor of Adam Kokesh, Gordon Brown is a 'new man' acting just like the last one, and more.
Starting with war resistance, Ehren Watada has provided a spark fueling actions in Washington. Watada is the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq (June 2006) and the first to be court-martialed for it (a kangaroo hearing that ended in a mistrial back in February). Linda Averill (ZNet) observes that Watada's "defiance, amplified by an effective defense effort, inspired many anti-war activists, including Gibbs" referring to Molly Gibbs who attempted to get Congressional attention for Watada but only "got the runaround" from Senator Patty Murray and decided, "I'm done dealing with my congressional representatives. It is in our hands. We have to do something." Which for Gibbs including counter-recruitment at high schools and joining with others in SDS, Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace and United for Peace of Pierce County in actions like shutting down ports which, Averill observes, take those participating "from demonstrators and lobbyists into direct actors against the war masters, blocking streets and facing arrest as needed." And, in Hawaii, Watada is hailed as a hero at a "War and Peace Art Exhibit." Gary T. Kubota (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports the Maui event brought over "100 artists and writers" to 1134 Makawao Ave (exhibit closes Saturday -- may move to "galleries in California, Oregon and Arizona") and included a piece by Tom Seweel involved the "scanned . . . faces of more than 3,00 American soldiers who have died in Iraq into the stars and stripes of the U.S. flag." Along with adult artists, the exhibit in Maui (closes Saturday, repeating) also included artwork done by children. Watada inspires as do others standing up.
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, 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.
Iraq Veterans Against the War have been targeted by the US military brass in an attempt to force them to stop speaking out. The three targeted are Liam Madden, Cloy Richards and Adam Kokesh. Bob Audette (Brattleboro Reformer) speaks with Madden who explains he will not enter agree to any deals to end the matter -- deals offered by the military brass -- until the note in writing "that my statements are neither disloyal nor inaccurate." Madden also discussed the strong reception to Iraq Veterans Against the War's summer base tour which goes to Camp Lejune in Jacksonville, NC tonight at 7:00 pm and follows with: Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina on June 18th 7:00 pm; the US Social Forum in Atlanta, GA on June 30th at 7:00 pm; Fort Benning in Columbus, GA on July 1st at 7:00 pm; a fundraiser in Philadelphia on June 3rd at 6:00 pm; a fundraiser in NYC on July 5th at 7:00 pm; the Naval Sub Marine Base in Groton, CT on July 6th at 7:00 pm; and concluding at Fort Drum in NY on July 8th at 4:00 pm. And Kokesh is the subject of an editorial from the Charleston Gazette which basically states that the brass needs to back off and cites
VFW head Gary Kupius' statements echoing that ("These Marines went to war, did their duty, and were honorably discharged from the active roles. I may disagree with their message, but I will always defend their right to say it.") before concluding: "Kokesh and Kurpius both merit praise for defending free speech as guaranteed in America's Bill of Rights."
In Iraq, Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Governmental and political parties' sources in Khalis disputed a U.S. military statement that was issued a few days ago; the statement said that a U.S. helicopter killed 17 terrorists but these sources say these men were protecting their own town from terrorist attacks. They said that Abbas Muthafar Hashim, Shakir Adnan, Ali Jawad, Jassim Jaleel, Abbas Jaleel, Kamal Hadi, Jamal Hassan and Mohammed Abdul Kareem were killed and 8 others were injured. They noted that the killed were members of what is called the popular committees that protect the area from the terrorists attacks, as they said." The US military press release on that incident was issued Friday, June 22nd and noted that those killed were "17 al-Qaeda gunmen" and that they US forces "observed more than 15 armed men attempting to circumvent the IPs and infiltrate the village. The attack helicopters, armed with missiles, engaged and killed 17 al-Qaeda gunmen and destroyed the vehicle they were using." Obviously the people of town differ with the US military on the dead and, since they knew the dead and didn't just observe them from the air, one would assume a follow up by the military is in order. Those very likely wrongful deaths make the news as Molly Hennesy-Fiske (Los Angeles Times) reports this from today, "Witnesses said U.S. troops opened fire on civilians in the sprawling Sadr City neighborhood of the capital after a passerby fired a revolver into the air to settle a family dispute. The ensuing gunfire left two men dead and three injured, witnesses said. A spokesman for the U.S. said he had not received reports of soldiers firing at civilians."
Meanwhile the tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq continue. Al Jazeera reports that Turkish General Yasar Buyukanit declared today, "I have said [in April] that we need a cross-border operation and that this would bring benefits. I repeat this view now." "BBC correspondents say attacks in Turkey by rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have increased recently, sometimes carried out by rebels based across the border in northern Iraq," notes the BBC as well as the fact that Buyukanit's statements may also have Parliamentary intent (attempting to prove the controlling party -- AK party -- is "weak on terrorism") right before the elections scheduled for the fourth week next month. Damien McElroy (Telegraph of London) reports that Turkey is shelling villages in Iraq currently as "part of an effort by Turkey to create a de facto 10-mile buffer zone inside Iraq and stop terrorists of the Kurdish independence movement, PKK, infiltrating its borders from their mountain training camps. Turkey has mobilised more than 20,000 of its soldiers in an operation to stop the PKK using Iraq as a staging post for a new campaign of violence. Yesterday Turkish newspapers sounded an alarm over the terrorist group after it staged an Iraqi-style suicide truck bomb attack on Turkish troops for the first time." Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which generally announces every visit in Iraq or abroad with a dignitary, carries no annoucement of this meeting. The alleged statements come at a time when the US is not seen positively around the world. Alan Fram (AP) reports that an international poll ("46 nations plus the Palestinian territories") found that "wide-ranging majorities think the U.S. does not consider their intersts when formulating policy; worry that U.S. customs are hurting their countries; and think the U.S. contributes to the gap between rich and poor nations", that even the 'coalition' partner England has gone from "75 percent favorable" opinion "in 2002 to 51 percent now".
In news of other neighboring countries, Al Jazeera reports that during a visit to Iran by Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared, "The main elements of insecurity in Iraq which are behind the current atrocities are the US and the Zionist regime intelligence services and some accompanying nations."
Meanwhile in the US, Bill Schneider (CNN) reports on CNN's latest polling which has found
54% "of Americans do not believe U.S. action is morally justified," support for the illegal war has now fallen to an "all-time low of 30 percent," 69% "of Americans believe the war is going badly" and that Republicans are among those (obviously, when approximately 70% of Americans are against the illegal war) and 42% of them "support some form of troop withdrawal." CBS, MTV News and the New York Times did a joint poll of young adults (17 y.o. to 29 y.o.) on their attitudes today. In the Times write up, Adam Nagourney was doing his usual spin but the real news (unreported by the Times) was that 58% of young people say that the US should have "stayed out" of Iraq and 72% say that the illegal war is going badly (34% "somewhat badly" plus 38% "very badly").
In Iraq, Asad al-Hashimi remains 'at large.' al-Hashimi is Iraq's Culture Minister. Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) notes the arrest warrant issued yesterday for al-Hashimi resulted in a raid on the minister's home and that some Sunnis are seeing the efforts against al-Hashimi as "a trumped-up attempt to discredit a Sunni leader." John Ward Anderson (Washington Post) reports, "A statement by Hashimi's party, the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, said two gunment involved in the attack had been tortured into falsely implicating Hashimi. The minister, in a telephone interview with the al-Jazeera satellite television network, said the case was 'fabricated' to damage his party and 'to run us out of the country'." AP notes the incident in question took place Feburary 8, 2005 and was an "ambush against then-parliamentary candidate Mithal al-Alusi, according to governmental spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. Al-Alusi escaped unharmed but two of his sons were killed." Al Jazeera quotes Mithal Allusi stating, "He is on the run now and hiding in one of the houses of an Iraqi official in the Green Zone." Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) observe that Mithal al-Alusi is yet another exile who came back to Iraq after the US invaded -- could we poll on how many holding powerful positions in the puppet government actually never went into exile -- and "Returning to Baghdad from exile in Germany he headed a committee that purged thousands of Iraqis from government jobs because of their membership in Iraq's ousted ruling party. He allied himself with Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, the kingmakers in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq".
Bombings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that claimed the lives of 3 people and left ten more wounded, a Baghdad car bombing "targeting an Iraqi police checkpoint on the western side of Al Jadiriyah Bridge" which left 1 police officer dead and 3 more wounded as well as 3 civilians wounded, a Diyala attack using gunfire and a mortars with the mortar attack resulting in 5 deaths and fifteen being wounded. Molly Hennessy-Fiske (Los Angeles Times) reports a Samarra roadside bombing that killed "four Iraqi police commandos" and wounded three more. Reuters reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 7 lives.
Shootings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that the combined mortar and gunfire attack in the Diyala province resulted in 14 Iraqis being shot dead (thirteen more wounded), an attack on a Kirkuk police station that left 4 police officers dead, an Iraqi soldier was shot dead in the Salaheddin province, two men were shot dead in Basra, a police officer was shot dead in Al Zubair and "Men in Iraq Ministry of Interior commandos uniforms executed a 60 year-old-man in front of his grocery shop in Mariam makret in central Samara this afternoon." Reuters notes that "two members of the Assyrian's Beth-Nahrain Association Union" were shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 21corpses discovered in the capital today, while in Tikrit the detached head of someone "wearing an Iraqi military hat" was discovered in a bus station, and 1 corpse was discovered in Kirkuk.
Today, the US military announced: "One Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West was killed June 26 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province." The announcement brings the total number of US service members killed in the illegal war to 3568 since the start of the illegal war (ICCC). The monthly total thus far is 91 which puts June (so far) behind May (126) and April (104) but ahead of March, February and Januray. The total thus far also makes June 2006 the most deadly June for US service members since the war began. In June of 2003, 30 US service members were announced dead, in June of 2004 42 were announced, in June of 2005 78 were announced dead, and in June of 2006 61 were announced dead (ICCC).
Yesterday, Ellen Massey (IPS) article on Iraqi women was noted but the link was included. Click here to read Massey's article. Today Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reports on the two month seige of Falluja (attacked in April of 2004 and destroyed in November of 2004) noting that "Cars have not been permitted to move on the streets of Fallujah for nearly a month now. A ban was also enforced on bicycles, but residents were later granted permission to use them" which prompts a school teacher named Ala to say (this is sarcasm for any who miss it), "Thank God and President Bush for this great favour. We are the only city in the liberated world with the blessing now of having bicycles moving freely in the streets." al-Fadhily notes that aid is being prevented (by the US military) from reaching the city and that "[m]edical services are inaccessible".
Finally, the poodle is no longer prime minister. In England, Gordon Brown has succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister. As Chris Bambery (Socialist Worker) observes, don't throw the confetti just yet: "Yet in accepting the leadership, Brown made clear his devotion to Blair's policies -- in particular to the 'strong relationship' with the US, and to Britain continuing to play a central role in the global 'war on terror'. The closest he came to acknowledging the failure of the war was when he said that Iraq had 'been a divisive issue for our party and our country' and that his government would 'learn lessons that needed to be learned'. But he then concluded that the war had been 'necessary'." For corporate economic enrichment?
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Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tony Peyser, Ron Jacobs
Tuesday. The day nothing big happens but you're finally rested from the weekend. I'm going to jump right in. Elaine's highlighting something and I'm going to as well. We're pissed off by something that happened and so is C.I. which is where Elaine heard about it. It's also true that this community does have members with special needs and as a member of this community with a site, it's my duty to call it out.
The little nobody Ryan Reynolds, whose career never took off and probably never will, now thinks he's funny. And he thinks he's funny when he writes his own lines. He's not funny and he's not a comedian. One of the things that I really hated growing up was South Park. I hated it then and I hate it now. People hear things on that show and think it's funny. (That show is done by two right-wingers.) They repeat the things they hear trying to get a laugh. That pretty much describes Ryan Reynolds. Tony Peyser's "The Column Arianna Huffington Doesn't Want You To Read" is a response and explanation of why Ryan Reynolds isn't funny and this is the first part of Peyser's column:
I contacted the higher-ups at HuffPo to complain about a recent guest column by actor Ryan Reynolds in which he used this arguably inelegant phrase:"f***ing super-retards"Should someone who appeared in 81 episodes of "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" be passing judgments of any kind on his fellow man? I think not but I digress. Reynolds' comment was in the context of the absurdity of competitive eating competitions but for those of us who have children with developmental disabilities, "retards" is a fighting word.It's often hard for people outside my part of the population to connect the hate speech dots. But from where we sit, "retard" is the new "ni**er." It's also the new "k*ke" and the new "f*gg*t." It's a slur that knows how to multi-task. And the fun part is the people at whom it's directed often lack verbal skills and can't talk back. S-weet! It's like picking a fight with Stephen Hawking.The special needs community has long been shamed into thinking we should just remove ourselves from the culture at large. That position -- and calling people "retards" -- is so last century. Bear in mind that it wasn't all that long ago when Blacks, Jews, and gays were routinely referred to with vile epithets. For many Southern Republicans and members of country clubs, those troubled times had a name: "the good old days."
Ryan Reynolds is disgusting and a little boy because I wouldn't do that and no man I know would. Scared, whining boys would. The column also goes on to note Bill Maher's disgusting behavior and I'll second that as well. You will never find a link to Bill Maher at any community site and you can go through the archives of any site as well. We know he's crap. We're not like The Nation, selling out our beliefs to focus on Maher or Howard Stern. Howard Stern is pretty much disgusting and it is amazing that The Nation would champion his cause (he's being censored, he's moving to satellite radio) with a cover story when they offered nothing but the weakest of weak support for Lynne Stewart and, no, they didn't put her on the cover. The argument presented in the magazine (by a 'legal scholar') was, "Yes, Stewart did wrong but she shouldn't go to jail." No, Lynne Stewart did not do anything wrong. But the WEAK ASS Nation magazine can't take a stand for the left. They'll bend over backwards to prop up a racist like Howard Stern but they run from defending the left.
And you know Katrina vanden Heuvel's not going to write one word about Ryan Reynolds because she only calls out African-Americans and women.
Ron Jacobs is a name I got to know because C.I. highlighted him a lot. I also read his book on the Weather Underground and really enjoyed that. Considering how useless The Nation is, let's all be glad that there's CounterPunch and that it regularly features Ron Jacobs' work. C.I. notes this article in the snapshot today but I used the link and read it and it's a really long article. It's a good one too so I'm going to pull from the start of "Are the Neocons Really Going?:"
Recently, it has become popular to sound the death knells for the neoconservative movement. I, myself, am not a ready to dismiss this section of the power elite as other, but, no matter what, in order to address this question it is essential to refresh our minds as to what the neocons represent and where they come from. One thing about this group of US policy makers--they don't hide. They like to advertise themselves and are therefore quite easy to track down. The fact is that this section of the US power elite has been around since the 1960s where some of its origins can be found in the writings of Norman Podhoretz, who was once a leftist and wrote a book about his turnabout. More seeds of this movement can be found in the writings of Irving Kristol, who was editor of the once-liberal anticommunist rag Commentary before Mr. Podhoretz. Besides these fine examples of US intellectualism, other early neocons included Democratic party members that opposed the antiwar wing of their party that came to fruition in the McGovern campaign of 1972. Henry "Scoop" Jackson is the prominent name in this group of politicians. Jackson, who represented Washington State--home of Boeing and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation--was known as th e Senator who never met a defense contract he didn't like.
It was the presidency of Ronald Reagan, however, that truly brought the neocons into the upper echelons of US power. Anecdotal proof of this can be found in the fact that many of them were eventually implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal of that period. Reagan's opposition to government interference in business issues and his belief that Washington should spend as little money on social programs and as much money on the military is a simplified definition of the ideal neocon government. Many neocons were once liberals and even leftists who (as they like to say) grew up. Implicit in this statement is that they went where the money is. Other well known neocons include Wolfowitz, Perle, Negroponte, Adelman, and Cheney--all Republicans.
Now, about their philosophy---perhaps the best statement of the neocon philosophy is the document guiding the current administration--the Project for a New American Century. Briefly put, that statement calls for increased military spending and the use of that military to maintain and expand US hegemony. First and foremost, this means gaining control of the world's essential resources--oil and gas being foremost among those. Secondly, this means isolating and destroying any forces opposed to the first endeavor--and they mean any forces, whether they happen to be popular or governmental..
Culturally, and this explains in part their fascination with Reagan, the neocons are millenarianists. They want the culture of the lily-white United States of the 1950s back for everyone. Irving Kristol once wrote: "If there is any one thing that neoconservatives are unanimous about, it is their dislike of the counterculture." Norman Podhoretz agreed: "Revulsion against the counterculture accounted for more converts to neoconservatism than any other single factor." Continuing this tradition, today's neocons rail against Sixties-influenced culture, hiphop, Hollywood (other than Clint Eastwood and Rocky movies), and feminists; that is when they aren't busy railing at gays, Cindy Sheehan and the antiwar movement.
I think he's right. I think he's right throughout but I'll note that much (fair use) and just talk about it. I'm trying to think of the idiot's name at the Center for American Progress and forgetting it because I believe being an idiot is a requirement to joining the Center for American Progress. Couldn't remember and called C.I. Scott Lilly is the idiot.
Scott Lilly is a dumb ass who decided he wanted to hold (or maybe fondle) centrist David Obey's testicles. He wrote an idiotic piece -- even for the Center for American Progress -- where he basically lied about Tina Richards and they have never corrected that piece of crap. (One example, Tina Richards had not just gone to Congress, she had been there for six weeks already.) That pretty much sums up the Crap Ass Center for American Progress. The mother of a disabled veteran can be attacked so that they can prop up an elected centrist.
Scott Lilly, from his column, is also a coward. Gramps wanted everyone to identify with him down to the last liverspot so he trots out Vietnam and how, during that, he was afraid he would be called to serve in Vietnam. So Lilly didn't serve and Lilly didn't speak out. Lilly is a coward.
These days, he's a liver spotted coward who should probably be in a zoo somewhere so kids could laugh at him on field trips.
Back when that idiotic piece of drivel appeared, some idiot e-mailed it to me and I was mad and reading it to C.I. over the phone and I'll quote C.I. here: "How nice. The war lasted, according to Lilly, because of the people as opposed to the leaders who started it and continued to support it even after the public had turned on it." That's what he does. He's just a chicken s**t blaming Vietnam's length on people who were active then.
Isn't that the hallmark of 'establishment' thinking?
LBJ and Nixon both lied about Vietnam to the American people repeatedly and the problem, according to Lilly, were some hippies and Yippies? What a chicken s**t coward. There's no link to it and if you want to read that crap look it up. This community does not stand with the Scott Lillys. We stand with the Tina Richards. People who are effected by what our government does. Tina Richards suffers. You better believe her son Cloy suffers. But I've got a mother and I know how they are. Every day, she's out there fighting for her kid. Not because Cloy can't fight. He does fight. He stands up and speaks out. But she's not going to let anyone trash her son and she's not going to let the government get away with screwing over her son and then discarding him. That's what we're talking about and what Scott Lilly and the Center for American Progress can't talk about. They don't want to talk about that.
They want to hide behind leaders and probably tongue the asses of leaders. They don't want to stand up for the people who need it. David Obey is important to them because he's in Congress. They don't give a damn about Tina Richards or Cloy Richards. And you better believe they don't give a damn about you. They're all about the DC power. They don't give a damn about the people.
Now I'm talking about Americans above, but it's true that they don't give a damn about Iraqis either and you can read C.I. critiquing that dumb ass 'plan' from them in the snapshot.
But Ron Jacobs is talking about the threads in the establishment and how, forget the labels, they all do work together. It's not about the people. And they are threatened by people movements, like feminism or anything else. They are for official power and that is all they embrace.
And they're not doing crap to end the war and they never will. They're trying to hop a wave and trying to steer it in a new direction because they fear and hate the people. It's much too late for those dip sh*ts to get traction at this point. And, basic point, "progress" never comes from the "center" so they really are idiots to call themselves the Center for American Progress.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, Liam Madden gets an offer from the US military, a faux left think tank blathers, and more.
Starting with news of war resistance. Eli Israel is an Army Specialist resisting the illegal war while stationed in Iraq. Iraq Veterans Against the War and Courage to Resist (among others) have been getting the word out on the 26 year-old who "told his commanding officer and sergeants that he will no longer be a combatant in this illegal, unjustified war." Courage to Resist notes that he did have a MySpace blog until the military cracked down on that and includes these statements:
I want you all to know, that most of us that are over here, came to Iraq, with the very best of intentions, and really thought that the Iraqi people wanted us here. Now that I'm here, I realize that they want to work it out themselves, and I know we should respect that.
We'll return to that later on, for now note the wisdom -- far more wisdom than some paid for 'insight' can manage. Resisting the war takes courage and the stand not only results in attacks from the right, it leads many on the left and 'left' to play mute. But covered or not, it remains an important action.
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, 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.
In addition to highlight Eli Israel's brave stand, Iraq Veterans Against the War are also launching a new action -- a summer base tour and have already visited Washington DC (June 23), Norfolk, VA (June 24). Next up? Camp Lejune in Jacksonville, NC on June 27th at 7:00 pm; Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina on June 18th 7:00 pm; the US Social Forum in Atlanta, GA on June 30th at 7:00 pm; Fort Benning in Columbus, GA on July 1st at 7:00 pm; a fundraiser in Philadelphia on June 3rd at 6:00 pm; a fundraiser in NYC on July 5th at 7:00 pm; the Naval Sub Marine Base in Groton, CT on July 6th at 7:00 pm; and concluding at Fort Drum in NY on July 8th at 4:00 pm.
In addition to the bus tour, Iraq Veterans Against the War continue to fight the US military brass that is both (a) scared of them and (b) attempting to silence them. Liam Madden, Cloy Richards and Adam Kokesh have all been targeted. At his site, Kokesh gives a heads up to the latest on Madden via Madden's reply to Lt Col Blessing:
This letter is in response to the offer of the Marine Corps Mobilization Command relayed to me via my military appointed attorney. I am prepared to accept the settlement proposed in which the Marine Corps agrees not to continue with the discharge proceeding regarding my alleged disloyal statements and protest activity. I understand that this is contingent on my oral promise not to engage n further political protest while wearing articles of my Marine uniform.
I will make such an oral agreement and stand by my good word if the Marine Corps is prepared to meet the following condition.
I will orally agree to not wear my military uniforms while engaged in any political protests, hell, I'll have it carved into stone if you'd like, upon receiving a signed, written statement on official USMC letterhead acknowledging that my statements in question were neither disloyal nor inaccurate. If the Marine Corps issues this statement, apologizing for erroneously (or possibly vindictively) accusing me of disloyalty to my country, I will not share it with another living soul.
Madden's letter continues at Kokesh's site.
Turning to Iraq and focusing on trends of violence, in yesterday's New York Times, Alissa J. Rubin noted, "Farther north, in Mosul, a policewoman was shot to death by gunmen as she left home for work. A 35-year-old Iraqi journalist was also shot to death on her way home from work in Mosul, The Associated Press reported. The journalist, Zeena Shakir Mahmoud, had been writing about women's affairs for the newspaper Al Haqiqa." Ellen Massey (IPS) reports on the "one important group that has largely been left out of the process: women. But they are refusing to be left behind. With little international support or media attention, a network of more than 150 women's organisations across Iraq is fighting to preserve their rights in the new constitutional revision." And, Massey reports, they are attempting to enlist support from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Not all have been silent on the attacks on women and women's rights. In March, MADRE issued "Promising Democracy, Imposing Theocracy: Gender-Based Violence and the US War on Iraq" (which can be read in full in PDF format or, by sections, in HTML). RadioNation with Laura Flanders' Laura Flanders (writing at The Huffington Post) observed: "Call me crazy but it still gets my goat that the entire Iraq debate takes place without the input of the female majority." Flanders also interviewed MADRE's Yanar Mohammed on RadioNation with Laura Flanders in December (December 9, 2006).
May 14th, Amy Goodman spoke with Yanar Mohammed (Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq). In April, Bay Fang's "The Talibanization of Iraq" (Ms. magazine, spring 2007 issue) addressed the issue. Yifat Susskind, author of the MADRE report, wrote, at CounterPunch, a very realistic look at the attacks on women and their rights in Iraq and notes: "The US has empowered Islamist political parties whose clerics promote 'honor killing' as a religious duty. The US has empowered Islamist political parties whose clerics promote 'honor killing' as a religious duty. . . The US also destroyed the Iraqi state, including much of the judicial system, leaving people more reliant on conservative tribal authorities to settle disputes and on unofficial 'religious courts' to mete out sentencing, including 'honor killings'." To be fair, those and others have noted to attacks on women. Most media has sat out (big and small) but it's equally true that so have the faux think tanks. Women are also facing other problems created by the US war and occupation (illegal war, illegal occupation). Last month, Katherine Zdepf (New York Times) examined life for Iraqi demale refugees and found . . . prostitution. Nihal Hassan (Independent of London) addressed the topic this week and noted, "There are more than a million Iraqi refugees in Syria, many are women whose husbands or fathers have been killed. Banned from working legally, they have few options outside the sex trade. No one knows how many end up as prostitutes, but Hana Ibrahim, founded of the Iraqi women's group Women's Will, puts the figure at 50,000." In a further sign of how bad things are for women in Iraq, the US military reports that an Iraqi women "safely delivered a newborwn thanks to the efforts of Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soliders and the Iraqi Army." A pregnant woman nows needs "the help of troops from 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division" in order to avoid a home birth. Speaking in Chicago last week, Dahlia Wasfi (via the US Socialist Worker) summed the situation up: "Women have all but disappeared from their roles in the workforce. Once contributors to Iraqi society as teachers, judges, lawyers, doctors, engineers, traffic police and more, the threat of violence and kidnapping now imprisons many women in their homes. But even there, they are not safe from the terrorism of daily house raids by American soldiers and their subordinate Iraqi police."
Turning to another Iraq topic that trends repeatedly, bridges. What should now be apparent is that Iraqi bridges are being targeted not by accident or whim but with an intent to control the traffic flow and deny access. IRIN reports today that the destruction of and to bridges is impeding "delivery of humanitarian aid in war-torn Iraq" and "Some analysts see the attacks on the bridges as an attempt to make it difficult for Iraqi and US troops to bring supplies from one side of the [Tigris] river to the other. Others believe the goal is to divide the city's predominately Shia east bank, known as Risafa, from the mostly Sunni west bank, or Karkh." And for those who still can't grasp how serious the issue is, note that the US military has issued a press release on it in which the world learns that, following the June 2nd bombing of the Sarihah Bridge, the US military and Iraqi forces were able to create "a critical bypass road to reestablish traffic around the Sarihah Bridge near Tuz Khurmatu, Iraq, June 24." Now potable water, among many other things, the Iraqis have waited and waited in vain for. But on June 2nd a bridge is bombed and within three weeks a "critical bypass" had been completed. Even if some still do not grasp what's going on, the US military brass grasps the danger.
Another trend story that can't be captured in the daily violence summaries is life for Iraqi children. IRIN noted in May that Iraqi's vaccination supplies have been largely destroyed. In April, IRIN sounded the alarm for the increased risk of "[d]ehydration, cholera and bacterial infections" which would impact children (and the elderly) in greater numbers. And near the middle of this month, IRIN noted that thousands of Iraqi children now live on the streets and are forced to work, as young as 12, to provide family income. As Dahlia Wasfi observed last week, "For the children . . ., during the first three and a half years of occupation, 270,000 newborns received no immunizations. Eight hundred thousand Iraqi children are not in school due to the chaos, lack of security and severe poverty. According to the State of the World's Mothers report, released last month by Save the Children, the chance that an Iraqi child will live beyond age 5 has plummeted faster in Iraq than anywhere in the world since 1990. In 2005, one in eight Iraqi children died of disease or violence before reaching the age of 5. Operation Enduring Freedom would more appropriately be named Operation Dead Children." And today, Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported on the "immense and largely unnoticed psychological toll on children and youth that will have long-term consequnes" and noted: "Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes, half of them children, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. Many are being killed inside their sanctuaries -- at playgrounds, on soccer fields and in schools. Criminals are routinely kidnapping children for ransom as lawlessness goes unchecked. Violence has orphaned tens of thousands."
The above three trends result from the illegal war and occupation. But no 'benchmarks' address women, children or infrastructure. Faux think tanks are happy to press for the theft of Iraqi oil but no interest at all in something as basic as vaccinations for children.
The violence continued today and among the events were . . .
Bombings?
Reuters reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left three wounded. The US military notes that British Royal Air Force GR-4 Tornado bombed a building "near Slman Pak" today with a "2,000-pound bomb" and, with the help of two OH-58D helicopters, killed at least six people who they hope, really, really hope were so-called 'insurgents.'
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Dr. Nihad Mohammed Abdul Rhman ("assistant dean of Al Nahrain college") was shot dead in Baghdad, that Hussein Al Najjar ("Iman of Al Arab msoque") was shot dead in Basra and Hamid Abid Sarhan Al Shijiri ("sheikh of Shijirat tribe") was shot dead in Baghdad. Following yesterday's Baghdad hotel bombing, which claimed the lives of four sheikhs, this 'random act of violence' might not be so random. Reuters note a police officer shot dead in Baghdad (three more injured) and a student shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 21 corpses were discovered in the capital.
Turning to faux think tanks, allegedly on the left. Today, on NPR's The Diane Reham Show, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Republican Lawrence Hart (there will be no correction to that characterization, words and actions indicate he remains a member of the Reagan cabinet in heart and mind). Now if our goal was to waste time, we could gush and note every word out of Brezezinski's mouth. But we don't give a damn. Similarly, we do not give a damn about a xenophobic, faux peace plan coming out of the centrist Democratic think tank known as The Center for American Progress. Yes, some of the left are stroking it. We won't.
A few basics. You cannot say you are opposed to "permanent bases in Iraq" (as the laughable report claims) and that this a 'troops home now' proposal when the reality is, your plan staffs the "embassy" with troops and the Baghdad embassy is not an embassy, it is a fortress -- 104 acres. In addition, the report would allow troops to be left in Iraq in order to "work with Kurdish peshmerga in protecting Iraqis who have fled to northern Iraq to escape the violence . . ." Oh, are we still serving that lie? Are we still pretending that there's any real difference in that section?
There's not. The attention's been on the Shi'ite and Sunni conflict, the bloodbath in nothern Iraq's never received much attention outside of a few human rights organizations. That region, and the people holding power in it, got the gold star and the US looked the other way. The reality is the same competition of resources and power going on throughout Iraq (and instigated and stoked by the US) is going on there as well (and expected to increase).
It's one falsehood after another from the laughable report put out by the laughable Center for American Progress. Take the claim that moving thousands of US troops (remember -- people are calling this a 'peace plan') to "Afghanistan to complete the unaccomplished missing of eradicating Al Qaeda there." Eradicating al Qaeda? First of all, the US military is currently responsible for more deaths in Afghanistan than any other group or grouping. Second of all, the problems throughout the 90s are the same problems today and you can thank the US administration for bombing an already war torn country, strutting around with big words, only to turn the country back over to the same war lords.
Now the centrist Center may not be stupid. They may just be attempting to take the easiest road. Or they may be attempting to clampdown on very real outrage (the Center includes a lot of Council for Foreign Relations types including Lawrence J. Korb)? It doesn't matter.
If you have any respect for Iraqis, for Americans, for humanity, read through the 61 page (counting end credits) report and try not to be offended. It won't be easy and what the Center is STILL selling is the notion that the US can or should dictate terms to Iraqis. Equally appalling is that the report fails to note that the US presence fuels the resistance (let alone why that reaction is). When you can't even talk that reality, you have nothing worth saying.
Last week, a report was issued [PDF format warning] that did actually attempt to address reality, the "Independent Report on Iraq:"
Executive Summary [Read] [French]Map of Major Coalition Attacks, Bases and Prisons [See map]Political Map of Iraq [See map]1. Introduction [Read]2. Destruction of Cultural Heritage [Read]3. Indiscriminate and Especially Injurious Weapons [Read]4. Unlawful Detention [Read]5. Abuse and Torture of Prisoners [Read]6. Attacks on Cities [Read]7. Killing Civilians, Murder and Atrocities [Read]8. Displacement and Mortality [Read]9. Corruption, Fraud and Gross Malfeasance [Read]10. Long-Term Bases and the New Embassy Compound [Read]11. Other Issues [Read]- Iraqi Public Opinion and the Occupation- Cost of the War and Occupation12. Conclusion and Recommendations [Read]
Apparently CounterSpin is to be the only national media that will cover it?
Meanwhile the faux think tank gets attention, gets coverage and the reality is that it has nothing to offer. Assume for a moment that the plan was not so offensive and did not assume Iraqis are 'bad' children, is Bully Boy going to implement it? No. It's nothing but cover. "We had a plan!" And, apparently, if a Dem gets in the White House, this 'plan' will allow the Dem to propose another year of illegal war?
As is too often the case, Ron Jacobs (CounterPunch) is ahead of the curve. Today he addresses the realities of neocons ("their goals for the US are no different than the goals of the rest of the Washington establishment. Only their means differ at times.") and the realities of the lead up to this war which did not come in 2002 or 2001:
But, someone might say, Al Gore wouldn't have invaded Iraq. Yet, Bill Clinton and Al Gore attacked Iraq several times, maintained an illegal flyover program on the country that bombed the country almost daily, and enforced sanctions that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. All of these policies along with others not mentioned created the situation George Bush and his administration found themselves in in March 2003.
That's why the left doesn't need faux 'left' think tanks and why the left shouldn't be in bed with them. Yes, so-called "Student Nation" that means you.
tony peyser
the common ills
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
iraqadam kokeshliam madden
chris cappsiraq veterans against the war
the new york timesalissa j. rubin
radionation with laura flanders
laura flanders
bay fang
ms.
ms. magazine
democracy now
amy goodman
ron jacobs
the washington postsudarsan raghavan
The little nobody Ryan Reynolds, whose career never took off and probably never will, now thinks he's funny. And he thinks he's funny when he writes his own lines. He's not funny and he's not a comedian. One of the things that I really hated growing up was South Park. I hated it then and I hate it now. People hear things on that show and think it's funny. (That show is done by two right-wingers.) They repeat the things they hear trying to get a laugh. That pretty much describes Ryan Reynolds. Tony Peyser's "The Column Arianna Huffington Doesn't Want You To Read" is a response and explanation of why Ryan Reynolds isn't funny and this is the first part of Peyser's column:
I contacted the higher-ups at HuffPo to complain about a recent guest column by actor Ryan Reynolds in which he used this arguably inelegant phrase:"f***ing super-retards"Should someone who appeared in 81 episodes of "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" be passing judgments of any kind on his fellow man? I think not but I digress. Reynolds' comment was in the context of the absurdity of competitive eating competitions but for those of us who have children with developmental disabilities, "retards" is a fighting word.It's often hard for people outside my part of the population to connect the hate speech dots. But from where we sit, "retard" is the new "ni**er." It's also the new "k*ke" and the new "f*gg*t." It's a slur that knows how to multi-task. And the fun part is the people at whom it's directed often lack verbal skills and can't talk back. S-weet! It's like picking a fight with Stephen Hawking.The special needs community has long been shamed into thinking we should just remove ourselves from the culture at large. That position -- and calling people "retards" -- is so last century. Bear in mind that it wasn't all that long ago when Blacks, Jews, and gays were routinely referred to with vile epithets. For many Southern Republicans and members of country clubs, those troubled times had a name: "the good old days."
Ryan Reynolds is disgusting and a little boy because I wouldn't do that and no man I know would. Scared, whining boys would. The column also goes on to note Bill Maher's disgusting behavior and I'll second that as well. You will never find a link to Bill Maher at any community site and you can go through the archives of any site as well. We know he's crap. We're not like The Nation, selling out our beliefs to focus on Maher or Howard Stern. Howard Stern is pretty much disgusting and it is amazing that The Nation would champion his cause (he's being censored, he's moving to satellite radio) with a cover story when they offered nothing but the weakest of weak support for Lynne Stewart and, no, they didn't put her on the cover. The argument presented in the magazine (by a 'legal scholar') was, "Yes, Stewart did wrong but she shouldn't go to jail." No, Lynne Stewart did not do anything wrong. But the WEAK ASS Nation magazine can't take a stand for the left. They'll bend over backwards to prop up a racist like Howard Stern but they run from defending the left.
And you know Katrina vanden Heuvel's not going to write one word about Ryan Reynolds because she only calls out African-Americans and women.
Ron Jacobs is a name I got to know because C.I. highlighted him a lot. I also read his book on the Weather Underground and really enjoyed that. Considering how useless The Nation is, let's all be glad that there's CounterPunch and that it regularly features Ron Jacobs' work. C.I. notes this article in the snapshot today but I used the link and read it and it's a really long article. It's a good one too so I'm going to pull from the start of "Are the Neocons Really Going?:"
Recently, it has become popular to sound the death knells for the neoconservative movement. I, myself, am not a ready to dismiss this section of the power elite as other, but, no matter what, in order to address this question it is essential to refresh our minds as to what the neocons represent and where they come from. One thing about this group of US policy makers--they don't hide. They like to advertise themselves and are therefore quite easy to track down. The fact is that this section of the US power elite has been around since the 1960s where some of its origins can be found in the writings of Norman Podhoretz, who was once a leftist and wrote a book about his turnabout. More seeds of this movement can be found in the writings of Irving Kristol, who was editor of the once-liberal anticommunist rag Commentary before Mr. Podhoretz. Besides these fine examples of US intellectualism, other early neocons included Democratic party members that opposed the antiwar wing of their party that came to fruition in the McGovern campaign of 1972. Henry "Scoop" Jackson is the prominent name in this group of politicians. Jackson, who represented Washington State--home of Boeing and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation--was known as th e Senator who never met a defense contract he didn't like.
It was the presidency of Ronald Reagan, however, that truly brought the neocons into the upper echelons of US power. Anecdotal proof of this can be found in the fact that many of them were eventually implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal of that period. Reagan's opposition to government interference in business issues and his belief that Washington should spend as little money on social programs and as much money on the military is a simplified definition of the ideal neocon government. Many neocons were once liberals and even leftists who (as they like to say) grew up. Implicit in this statement is that they went where the money is. Other well known neocons include Wolfowitz, Perle, Negroponte, Adelman, and Cheney--all Republicans.
Now, about their philosophy---perhaps the best statement of the neocon philosophy is the document guiding the current administration--the Project for a New American Century. Briefly put, that statement calls for increased military spending and the use of that military to maintain and expand US hegemony. First and foremost, this means gaining control of the world's essential resources--oil and gas being foremost among those. Secondly, this means isolating and destroying any forces opposed to the first endeavor--and they mean any forces, whether they happen to be popular or governmental..
Culturally, and this explains in part their fascination with Reagan, the neocons are millenarianists. They want the culture of the lily-white United States of the 1950s back for everyone. Irving Kristol once wrote: "If there is any one thing that neoconservatives are unanimous about, it is their dislike of the counterculture." Norman Podhoretz agreed: "Revulsion against the counterculture accounted for more converts to neoconservatism than any other single factor." Continuing this tradition, today's neocons rail against Sixties-influenced culture, hiphop, Hollywood (other than Clint Eastwood and Rocky movies), and feminists; that is when they aren't busy railing at gays, Cindy Sheehan and the antiwar movement.
I think he's right. I think he's right throughout but I'll note that much (fair use) and just talk about it. I'm trying to think of the idiot's name at the Center for American Progress and forgetting it because I believe being an idiot is a requirement to joining the Center for American Progress. Couldn't remember and called C.I. Scott Lilly is the idiot.
Scott Lilly is a dumb ass who decided he wanted to hold (or maybe fondle) centrist David Obey's testicles. He wrote an idiotic piece -- even for the Center for American Progress -- where he basically lied about Tina Richards and they have never corrected that piece of crap. (One example, Tina Richards had not just gone to Congress, she had been there for six weeks already.) That pretty much sums up the Crap Ass Center for American Progress. The mother of a disabled veteran can be attacked so that they can prop up an elected centrist.
Scott Lilly, from his column, is also a coward. Gramps wanted everyone to identify with him down to the last liverspot so he trots out Vietnam and how, during that, he was afraid he would be called to serve in Vietnam. So Lilly didn't serve and Lilly didn't speak out. Lilly is a coward.
These days, he's a liver spotted coward who should probably be in a zoo somewhere so kids could laugh at him on field trips.
Back when that idiotic piece of drivel appeared, some idiot e-mailed it to me and I was mad and reading it to C.I. over the phone and I'll quote C.I. here: "How nice. The war lasted, according to Lilly, because of the people as opposed to the leaders who started it and continued to support it even after the public had turned on it." That's what he does. He's just a chicken s**t blaming Vietnam's length on people who were active then.
Isn't that the hallmark of 'establishment' thinking?
LBJ and Nixon both lied about Vietnam to the American people repeatedly and the problem, according to Lilly, were some hippies and Yippies? What a chicken s**t coward. There's no link to it and if you want to read that crap look it up. This community does not stand with the Scott Lillys. We stand with the Tina Richards. People who are effected by what our government does. Tina Richards suffers. You better believe her son Cloy suffers. But I've got a mother and I know how they are. Every day, she's out there fighting for her kid. Not because Cloy can't fight. He does fight. He stands up and speaks out. But she's not going to let anyone trash her son and she's not going to let the government get away with screwing over her son and then discarding him. That's what we're talking about and what Scott Lilly and the Center for American Progress can't talk about. They don't want to talk about that.
They want to hide behind leaders and probably tongue the asses of leaders. They don't want to stand up for the people who need it. David Obey is important to them because he's in Congress. They don't give a damn about Tina Richards or Cloy Richards. And you better believe they don't give a damn about you. They're all about the DC power. They don't give a damn about the people.
Now I'm talking about Americans above, but it's true that they don't give a damn about Iraqis either and you can read C.I. critiquing that dumb ass 'plan' from them in the snapshot.
But Ron Jacobs is talking about the threads in the establishment and how, forget the labels, they all do work together. It's not about the people. And they are threatened by people movements, like feminism or anything else. They are for official power and that is all they embrace.
And they're not doing crap to end the war and they never will. They're trying to hop a wave and trying to steer it in a new direction because they fear and hate the people. It's much too late for those dip sh*ts to get traction at this point. And, basic point, "progress" never comes from the "center" so they really are idiots to call themselves the Center for American Progress.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, Liam Madden gets an offer from the US military, a faux left think tank blathers, and more.
Starting with news of war resistance. Eli Israel is an Army Specialist resisting the illegal war while stationed in Iraq. Iraq Veterans Against the War and Courage to Resist (among others) have been getting the word out on the 26 year-old who "told his commanding officer and sergeants that he will no longer be a combatant in this illegal, unjustified war." Courage to Resist notes that he did have a MySpace blog until the military cracked down on that and includes these statements:
I want you all to know, that most of us that are over here, came to Iraq, with the very best of intentions, and really thought that the Iraqi people wanted us here. Now that I'm here, I realize that they want to work it out themselves, and I know we should respect that.
We'll return to that later on, for now note the wisdom -- far more wisdom than some paid for 'insight' can manage. Resisting the war takes courage and the stand not only results in attacks from the right, it leads many on the left and 'left' to play mute. But covered or not, it remains an important action.
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, 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.
In addition to highlight Eli Israel's brave stand, Iraq Veterans Against the War are also launching a new action -- a summer base tour and have already visited Washington DC (June 23), Norfolk, VA (June 24). Next up? Camp Lejune in Jacksonville, NC on June 27th at 7:00 pm; Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina on June 18th 7:00 pm; the US Social Forum in Atlanta, GA on June 30th at 7:00 pm; Fort Benning in Columbus, GA on July 1st at 7:00 pm; a fundraiser in Philadelphia on June 3rd at 6:00 pm; a fundraiser in NYC on July 5th at 7:00 pm; the Naval Sub Marine Base in Groton, CT on July 6th at 7:00 pm; and concluding at Fort Drum in NY on July 8th at 4:00 pm.
In addition to the bus tour, Iraq Veterans Against the War continue to fight the US military brass that is both (a) scared of them and (b) attempting to silence them. Liam Madden, Cloy Richards and Adam Kokesh have all been targeted. At his site, Kokesh gives a heads up to the latest on Madden via Madden's reply to Lt Col Blessing:
This letter is in response to the offer of the Marine Corps Mobilization Command relayed to me via my military appointed attorney. I am prepared to accept the settlement proposed in which the Marine Corps agrees not to continue with the discharge proceeding regarding my alleged disloyal statements and protest activity. I understand that this is contingent on my oral promise not to engage n further political protest while wearing articles of my Marine uniform.
I will make such an oral agreement and stand by my good word if the Marine Corps is prepared to meet the following condition.
I will orally agree to not wear my military uniforms while engaged in any political protests, hell, I'll have it carved into stone if you'd like, upon receiving a signed, written statement on official USMC letterhead acknowledging that my statements in question were neither disloyal nor inaccurate. If the Marine Corps issues this statement, apologizing for erroneously (or possibly vindictively) accusing me of disloyalty to my country, I will not share it with another living soul.
Madden's letter continues at Kokesh's site.
Turning to Iraq and focusing on trends of violence, in yesterday's New York Times, Alissa J. Rubin noted, "Farther north, in Mosul, a policewoman was shot to death by gunmen as she left home for work. A 35-year-old Iraqi journalist was also shot to death on her way home from work in Mosul, The Associated Press reported. The journalist, Zeena Shakir Mahmoud, had been writing about women's affairs for the newspaper Al Haqiqa." Ellen Massey (IPS) reports on the "one important group that has largely been left out of the process: women. But they are refusing to be left behind. With little international support or media attention, a network of more than 150 women's organisations across Iraq is fighting to preserve their rights in the new constitutional revision." And, Massey reports, they are attempting to enlist support from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Not all have been silent on the attacks on women and women's rights. In March, MADRE issued "Promising Democracy, Imposing Theocracy: Gender-Based Violence and the US War on Iraq" (which can be read in full in PDF format or, by sections, in HTML). RadioNation with Laura Flanders' Laura Flanders (writing at The Huffington Post) observed: "Call me crazy but it still gets my goat that the entire Iraq debate takes place without the input of the female majority." Flanders also interviewed MADRE's Yanar Mohammed on RadioNation with Laura Flanders in December (December 9, 2006).
May 14th, Amy Goodman spoke with Yanar Mohammed (Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq). In April, Bay Fang's "The Talibanization of Iraq" (Ms. magazine, spring 2007 issue) addressed the issue. Yifat Susskind, author of the MADRE report, wrote, at CounterPunch, a very realistic look at the attacks on women and their rights in Iraq and notes: "The US has empowered Islamist political parties whose clerics promote 'honor killing' as a religious duty. The US has empowered Islamist political parties whose clerics promote 'honor killing' as a religious duty. . . The US also destroyed the Iraqi state, including much of the judicial system, leaving people more reliant on conservative tribal authorities to settle disputes and on unofficial 'religious courts' to mete out sentencing, including 'honor killings'." To be fair, those and others have noted to attacks on women. Most media has sat out (big and small) but it's equally true that so have the faux think tanks. Women are also facing other problems created by the US war and occupation (illegal war, illegal occupation). Last month, Katherine Zdepf (New York Times) examined life for Iraqi demale refugees and found . . . prostitution. Nihal Hassan (Independent of London) addressed the topic this week and noted, "There are more than a million Iraqi refugees in Syria, many are women whose husbands or fathers have been killed. Banned from working legally, they have few options outside the sex trade. No one knows how many end up as prostitutes, but Hana Ibrahim, founded of the Iraqi women's group Women's Will, puts the figure at 50,000." In a further sign of how bad things are for women in Iraq, the US military reports that an Iraqi women "safely delivered a newborwn thanks to the efforts of Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soliders and the Iraqi Army." A pregnant woman nows needs "the help of troops from 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division" in order to avoid a home birth. Speaking in Chicago last week, Dahlia Wasfi (via the US Socialist Worker) summed the situation up: "Women have all but disappeared from their roles in the workforce. Once contributors to Iraqi society as teachers, judges, lawyers, doctors, engineers, traffic police and more, the threat of violence and kidnapping now imprisons many women in their homes. But even there, they are not safe from the terrorism of daily house raids by American soldiers and their subordinate Iraqi police."
Turning to another Iraq topic that trends repeatedly, bridges. What should now be apparent is that Iraqi bridges are being targeted not by accident or whim but with an intent to control the traffic flow and deny access. IRIN reports today that the destruction of and to bridges is impeding "delivery of humanitarian aid in war-torn Iraq" and "Some analysts see the attacks on the bridges as an attempt to make it difficult for Iraqi and US troops to bring supplies from one side of the [Tigris] river to the other. Others believe the goal is to divide the city's predominately Shia east bank, known as Risafa, from the mostly Sunni west bank, or Karkh." And for those who still can't grasp how serious the issue is, note that the US military has issued a press release on it in which the world learns that, following the June 2nd bombing of the Sarihah Bridge, the US military and Iraqi forces were able to create "a critical bypass road to reestablish traffic around the Sarihah Bridge near Tuz Khurmatu, Iraq, June 24." Now potable water, among many other things, the Iraqis have waited and waited in vain for. But on June 2nd a bridge is bombed and within three weeks a "critical bypass" had been completed. Even if some still do not grasp what's going on, the US military brass grasps the danger.
Another trend story that can't be captured in the daily violence summaries is life for Iraqi children. IRIN noted in May that Iraqi's vaccination supplies have been largely destroyed. In April, IRIN sounded the alarm for the increased risk of "[d]ehydration, cholera and bacterial infections" which would impact children (and the elderly) in greater numbers. And near the middle of this month, IRIN noted that thousands of Iraqi children now live on the streets and are forced to work, as young as 12, to provide family income. As Dahlia Wasfi observed last week, "For the children . . ., during the first three and a half years of occupation, 270,000 newborns received no immunizations. Eight hundred thousand Iraqi children are not in school due to the chaos, lack of security and severe poverty. According to the State of the World's Mothers report, released last month by Save the Children, the chance that an Iraqi child will live beyond age 5 has plummeted faster in Iraq than anywhere in the world since 1990. In 2005, one in eight Iraqi children died of disease or violence before reaching the age of 5. Operation Enduring Freedom would more appropriately be named Operation Dead Children." And today, Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported on the "immense and largely unnoticed psychological toll on children and youth that will have long-term consequnes" and noted: "Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes, half of them children, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. Many are being killed inside their sanctuaries -- at playgrounds, on soccer fields and in schools. Criminals are routinely kidnapping children for ransom as lawlessness goes unchecked. Violence has orphaned tens of thousands."
The above three trends result from the illegal war and occupation. But no 'benchmarks' address women, children or infrastructure. Faux think tanks are happy to press for the theft of Iraqi oil but no interest at all in something as basic as vaccinations for children.
The violence continued today and among the events were . . .
Bombings?
Reuters reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left three wounded. The US military notes that British Royal Air Force GR-4 Tornado bombed a building "near Slman Pak" today with a "2,000-pound bomb" and, with the help of two OH-58D helicopters, killed at least six people who they hope, really, really hope were so-called 'insurgents.'
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Dr. Nihad Mohammed Abdul Rhman ("assistant dean of Al Nahrain college") was shot dead in Baghdad, that Hussein Al Najjar ("Iman of Al Arab msoque") was shot dead in Basra and Hamid Abid Sarhan Al Shijiri ("sheikh of Shijirat tribe") was shot dead in Baghdad. Following yesterday's Baghdad hotel bombing, which claimed the lives of four sheikhs, this 'random act of violence' might not be so random. Reuters note a police officer shot dead in Baghdad (three more injured) and a student shot dead in Mosul.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 21 corpses were discovered in the capital.
Turning to faux think tanks, allegedly on the left. Today, on NPR's The Diane Reham Show, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Republican Lawrence Hart (there will be no correction to that characterization, words and actions indicate he remains a member of the Reagan cabinet in heart and mind). Now if our goal was to waste time, we could gush and note every word out of Brezezinski's mouth. But we don't give a damn. Similarly, we do not give a damn about a xenophobic, faux peace plan coming out of the centrist Democratic think tank known as The Center for American Progress. Yes, some of the left are stroking it. We won't.
A few basics. You cannot say you are opposed to "permanent bases in Iraq" (as the laughable report claims) and that this a 'troops home now' proposal when the reality is, your plan staffs the "embassy" with troops and the Baghdad embassy is not an embassy, it is a fortress -- 104 acres. In addition, the report would allow troops to be left in Iraq in order to "work with Kurdish peshmerga in protecting Iraqis who have fled to northern Iraq to escape the violence . . ." Oh, are we still serving that lie? Are we still pretending that there's any real difference in that section?
There's not. The attention's been on the Shi'ite and Sunni conflict, the bloodbath in nothern Iraq's never received much attention outside of a few human rights organizations. That region, and the people holding power in it, got the gold star and the US looked the other way. The reality is the same competition of resources and power going on throughout Iraq (and instigated and stoked by the US) is going on there as well (and expected to increase).
It's one falsehood after another from the laughable report put out by the laughable Center for American Progress. Take the claim that moving thousands of US troops (remember -- people are calling this a 'peace plan') to "Afghanistan to complete the unaccomplished missing of eradicating Al Qaeda there." Eradicating al Qaeda? First of all, the US military is currently responsible for more deaths in Afghanistan than any other group or grouping. Second of all, the problems throughout the 90s are the same problems today and you can thank the US administration for bombing an already war torn country, strutting around with big words, only to turn the country back over to the same war lords.
Now the centrist Center may not be stupid. They may just be attempting to take the easiest road. Or they may be attempting to clampdown on very real outrage (the Center includes a lot of Council for Foreign Relations types including Lawrence J. Korb)? It doesn't matter.
If you have any respect for Iraqis, for Americans, for humanity, read through the 61 page (counting end credits) report and try not to be offended. It won't be easy and what the Center is STILL selling is the notion that the US can or should dictate terms to Iraqis. Equally appalling is that the report fails to note that the US presence fuels the resistance (let alone why that reaction is). When you can't even talk that reality, you have nothing worth saying.
Last week, a report was issued [PDF format warning] that did actually attempt to address reality, the "Independent Report on Iraq:"
Executive Summary [Read] [French]Map of Major Coalition Attacks, Bases and Prisons [See map]Political Map of Iraq [See map]1. Introduction [Read]2. Destruction of Cultural Heritage [Read]3. Indiscriminate and Especially Injurious Weapons [Read]4. Unlawful Detention [Read]5. Abuse and Torture of Prisoners [Read]6. Attacks on Cities [Read]7. Killing Civilians, Murder and Atrocities [Read]8. Displacement and Mortality [Read]9. Corruption, Fraud and Gross Malfeasance [Read]10. Long-Term Bases and the New Embassy Compound [Read]11. Other Issues [Read]- Iraqi Public Opinion and the Occupation- Cost of the War and Occupation12. Conclusion and Recommendations [Read]
Apparently CounterSpin is to be the only national media that will cover it?
Meanwhile the faux think tank gets attention, gets coverage and the reality is that it has nothing to offer. Assume for a moment that the plan was not so offensive and did not assume Iraqis are 'bad' children, is Bully Boy going to implement it? No. It's nothing but cover. "We had a plan!" And, apparently, if a Dem gets in the White House, this 'plan' will allow the Dem to propose another year of illegal war?
As is too often the case, Ron Jacobs (CounterPunch) is ahead of the curve. Today he addresses the realities of neocons ("their goals for the US are no different than the goals of the rest of the Washington establishment. Only their means differ at times.") and the realities of the lead up to this war which did not come in 2002 or 2001:
But, someone might say, Al Gore wouldn't have invaded Iraq. Yet, Bill Clinton and Al Gore attacked Iraq several times, maintained an illegal flyover program on the country that bombed the country almost daily, and enforced sanctions that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. All of these policies along with others not mentioned created the situation George Bush and his administration found themselves in in March 2003.
That's why the left doesn't need faux 'left' think tanks and why the left shouldn't be in bed with them. Yes, so-called "Student Nation" that means you.
tony peyserthe common ills
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
iraqadam kokeshliam madden
chris cappsiraq veterans against the war
the new york timesalissa j. rubin
radionation with laura flanders
laura flanders
bay fang
ms.
ms. magazine
democracy now
amy goodman
ron jacobs
the washington postsudarsan raghavan
Monday, June 25, 2007
Third Estate Sunday Review, James Rothenberg
Truest statement of the week -- Amy Goodman interviewing a high schooler about censorship in his high school -- they're not allowed to talk about the ongoing, illegal war.
A Note to Our Readers -- Jim's note. He breaks it down pretty well.
Editorial: Iraq silences -- This is about all the silence on Iraq. There are almost a million Iraqis who've died since the start of the illegal war, there are 3560 dead US service members, the war passed the four year mark and where the hell is the coverage? Approximately 70% of Americans are now opposed to the illegal war and where is the press coverage? The silences are prolonging the war as much as the White House is.
TV: Hidden Yawns -- I loved this. Ava and C.I. are talking about Hidden Palms which is a really bad show -- so bad, if you're planning to catch it do so this Wednesday or next because then the piece of crap is gone forever. It's set in Palm Springs and is a teen soap opera with some adults. Nothing ever happens. For this commentary, they check into Hidden Palms and meet the characters. Very funny. They did it this way to fit with the theme of the edition which was the annual summer read, fiction issue.
Base Is Hell -- I love this. I loved it when we thought we were done and I loved it when we punched it. This is about war. It's about keeping your ass safe on base while you send people under you out to battle. It's set in the future. I really love this.
The Tired Tryst -- In this short story, YOU get to meet Bono. YOU get to sleep with Bono. YOU get to find out what's that like. Considering this a scary story.
The Asbury Park Murder -- This short story is a mystery where someone dies at the beginning and you find out the killer at the end. This was about 2 times as long and got cut to a third in the final version to make it move faster and to be a short story.
Creation Theory -- Who creates the Frankenstein's candidates? Where does these centrist creatures come from? A peak inside the DLC laboratory!
Samantha Power Between Her Knees -- This is funny and it's got a point. After the war short story, this is probably my favorite of the six.
Cut The Fat! Newt Takes It Off! -- In this piece of fiction we create a diet book from Newt Gingrich and excerpt it.
Highlight -- Rebecca, Wally, Cedric, Betty, Elaine and me worked on this one.
Ava and C.I. bonus -- This is a repost of Ava and C.I.'s great entry from last Tuesday.
Now, plus Dallas, here is who helped out for the summer read edition:
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 this is from James Rothenberg's "Hillary Does Iraq:"
I received a letter from Hillary Clinton the other day noting my "concerns" regarding Iraq. She acknowledges the "seriousness" of the situation which is a "major and constant focus of hers". I'm sure it is. The question is, for what reason?
Hillary believes that "the President should abandon his escalation of the war". She chooses not to say "his" war because it could not have been "his" war without the help of people like "her". This leaves aside the annoying distinction that this never really was a "war", in the sense of two opposing sides, but simply an attack of the most strong on the most weak, putting it in the preferred state terminology, "shock and awe".
She feels our troops (whom she "fully supports") should be given a "new strategy" in place of what, she doesn't mention, but one assumes to be an "old strategy". This may be the strategy that didn't materialize--the immaculate takeover. Had it materialized it is debatable whether she would have been overcome by the "seriousness" of the situation.
This attitude is made apparent in the following sentence. "We cannot afford to repeat past failures, such as not planning adequately for the conflict and failing to properly equip our men and women in uniform." The "conflict", the focus of her "seriousness", is tacitly justified.
She believes a full reconsideration of the terms and conditions of the authorization for the use of force in Iraq is "overdue". One may rightly ask, at what date was it first overdue?
Hillary cites her January trip to Iraq to assess the situation "firsthand" and express her "gratitude" to the troops. Anyone who has ever served in the military can tell you that the last thing you want to hear is that some dignitary is coming to visit your base because all that means is hassle and scrubdown. There is a play being staged called "Look and Act Your Best' and everyone understands this is a play except the dignitary for whom it is being performed.
She really is something, isn't she? I prefer her to Obama but I prefer the stray cat that meows all night in our neighborhood (she's in heat) to Obama.
The candidates making the emptiest statements are the ones the press rushes to push. That's not an accident. They just want someone who won't shake the boat. They exist to control the way we think and see things, not to inform us, not to serve readers.
Late, late Friday, Ma's "Mandarin Oranges & Wild Rice in the Kitchen." Make a point to read it.
My brother and sister-in-law moved in this weekend and that's pretty cool. She's finishing work this Friday. She was only postponing maternity leave because of their bills. We all figured that was the case. It would be different if it was fall, winter or spring, but as hot as it is and with her due to deliver anytime now, the heat had to be hard on her. She's really nice and we're all excited about when their daughter is born. My brother (this is my oldest) asked me to put something in here this week and I'll go ahead and toss it in tonight. If you're able to, avoid student loans. You'll borrow from one loan company, they'll sell it off, then that company sells it off. You end up with this huge debt, this interest piling up and half the time you may not even know who you owe until they e-mail you telling you that you owe them now. C.I. covers me (thank you) so I didn't have to end up doing that and a lot of people don't have the choice. My brother says that you can pay attention to the amounts you're borrowing and freak over it (we all know people who did just that and ended up dropping out because the debt was just freaking them too much) or you can accept that this is what you have to do for college. But realize that the debt is out there and once you leave the grace period after graduation, not only do they want it, the interest starts piling up.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, June 25, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, an attack in the Green Zone gathers attention (of course), US commanders grumble about the status of Iraqi forces, and more.
Starting with war resisters. Chris Capps (Courage to Resist via Democracy Rising) shares his story which begins in "the Army Reserves in 2004 looking to earn money for college and basically to become independent," continues to Iraq (2005) where the "chow" at Camp Victory is among the surprises:
There were Philly cheese steaks, a good salad bar, a juice bar, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, and food better then anything I had ever seen before. There was a Pizza Hut, a giant PX store, a Subway, an Arby's, a Greens Beans, and a Popeye's Chicken too.
When you're expecting a combat zone and you walk into something like this you have to wonder "What the hell is going on here?" It was surreal sitting there eating a Subway sandwich, listening to evelator music, and hearing explosions sou loud they could knock your drink right off the table, and gunfire in the distance.
KRB ran everything on Camp Victory. I eventually figured out the deal. I saw the Filipino and Pakistani contractors laboring hard while the American KBR employees drove around in brand new cars just to get from one end of the post to another. Everyone talked about the corruption. I learned about how much it cost the American taxpayer so that I could walk into that nice DFAC, sit down, and have a bite to eat.
In September 2006, he was stationed in Germany and, having seen what Kyle Huwer was going through attempting to get conscientious objector status, Capps decided to self-check out: "I remained AWOL for 60 days. At that point my unit classified me as more then AWOL -- I was now in a 'deserter status.' On May 8 I turned myself in at Fort Still, Oklahoma. Kyle had suggested Fort Sill because it, along with Fort Knox, had a designated out processing center for AWOL soldiers who turn themselves in. But if you're not yet in a 'deserter status,' chances are you will just be returned to the unit you left. It doesn't always work out so smoothly, but on May 11 I was discharged from the Army with an 'other than honorable' discharge."
Chris Capps resides in Germany now, is assisting other soldiers and attempting to start up "a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War" there. He concludes: "I don't believe in this war. I would like to see more people choosing not to deploy. I think this is the only direct and effective resistance that is going to make this war impossible to go on forever. If the politicians refuse to listen to the people, then the people need to take action. If we had resistance throughout the military then we could finally end this war here and now."
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, 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.
Sunday, Kirsten Scharnberg (Chicago Tribune) examined the efforts of the US military brass to silence dissent [Scharnberg's article is also carried by The Baltimore Sun which requires no registration] and zoomed in on the attempts to punish Iraq Veterans Against the War's
Liam Madden, Cloy Richards and Adam Kokesh for speaking out against the illegal war with Scharnberg noting: "Many of the protests involving vets in uniform are all-out street theater, like on in Washington last spring at which protesters staged a mock patrol, manhandling people at stimulated gunpoint to illustrate how they say Iraqis are treated by American troops. The intended subtext of the uniformed protests is apparent. Protesters have additional credibility because they are denouncing a war they have witnessed firstand, that the very uniforms now being used in protest have walked the real battlefield." Madden explains, "Guys like us -- veterans who served but then came believe the war is not only wrong but illegal -- are not who the military wants speaking on a national stage." Which is what it comes down -- fatiques are not dress uniforms. Those discharged (as Kokesh, Madden and Richards were) are not generally discharged from the IRR. But the brass is working overtime in an attempt to clamp down and will resort to anything, no matter how shameful.
KBR, mentioned by Chris Capps, was Kellogg Brown and Root which came together when Brown and Root merged with Halliburton's M.W. Kellogg. Jackie Northam (NPR) reported on the issue of the 120,000 contractors in Iraq for today's Morning Edition noting a hearing
exposed many other problems in the contracting industry . . . in fact, at that hearing, a spokesperson for the army couldn't even say how many contracting companies were working in Iraq. These issues have led to calls for more transperancy in the contracting industry . . . There's no central data base, no single organization to keep track of facts and figures and so that the most basic questions regarding civilian contractors cannot easily be answered. What roles do the contractors play? What nationalities? How much is it costing the American taxpayer and how many contractors have been killed? One of the most vexing questions is what legal framework do the contractors fall under?"
Heading into last weekend, the US military fatality count in Iraq stood at 3546 on Friday. Today it stands at 3560. The US military began announcing the 14 deaths on Saturday and Sunday and reaching 14 with this morning's announcement: "A Task Force Marne Soldier died in a small arms fire attack today" in Baghdad. The 14 dead come days after Peter Pace and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were attempting to push the notion that progress in Iraq had nothing to do with violence or deaths. Today Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports that "some American commanders expressed doubts about the ability of Iraqi troops to hold gains made in areas north of the capital last week . . . The American commander in Baquba, Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, and his counterpart south of Baghdad, Maj. Gen Rick Lynch, pointed to a variety of problems with the Iraqi forces, including a shortage of trained troops and a lack of basic supplies like ammunition, radios and trucks." BBC notes: "The BBC's Andrew North, in Baghdad, says US commanders blame a lack of committed and properly organised Iraqi troops for the failure of past efforts to secure the Baghdad region" and those problems do not appear to have vanished as the same-old-same-old spreads into the north. Though doing the same thing with larger numbers in northern Iraq (don't call it strategy) resulted in as many as 10,000 US service members in the Diyala province, Baghdad has been the locale for deaths in the last few days -- US and Iraqis.
This includes the incident getting the most attention today, the bombing of the al-Mansour Melia hotel in Baghdad -- which housed many journalists as well as the Chinese embassy. ITV reports that "Sunni Arab tribal leaders from western Anbar province had gathered there for a meeting." Ammar Karim (The Australian and AFP) reports the meeting was confirmed and that a bomber entered "the crowded lobby," detonated the bomb, killing himself and many others. AFP describes "charred bodies of the victims and many of the wounded were lying near the reception desk in the rubble-strewn lobby, and that the ceiling had collapsed, leaving clusters of white tiles hanging from wires. The blast damaged the stairway, the elevators, and the ceiling of the first floor of the hotel, which lies on the west bank of the Tigris river and houses diplomats and some foreign media organisations. Patches of blood stained the marble floor and scraps of human flesh were left stuck to the concrete pillars."
Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) reports that "sheiks and political figures, Sunni Arab Muslims as well as Shiite Muslims, were gathered in the lobby of the Mansour Melia hotel drinking tea and chatting when the explosion gutted a large section of the lobby and shattered windows on the high-rise's first and second levels, hotel workers said." Mike Drummond (McClatchy Newspapers) explains that, despite "tight security," the bomber apparently walked into the hotel from the street without raising any suspicion among the "armed guards" or at the car checkpoints -- both of which were on alert as the hotel was "sealed off" . . . after the bombing. CNN notes that among the at least a dozen people dead is Rahim al-Maliki who was an anchor "with Iraqiya state television". AP notes that al-Maliki (no relation to the puppet) was also a poet. CBS and AP raise the dozen dead to 13 (and remember that toll may rise as some who are wounded do not pull through and as some corpses may still be undiscovered) and note that CBS News' Lara Logan was at the hotel during the blast and reports "that al-Guooud was meeting in the lobby with other members of the Anbar Salvation Council when the blast occured". Fassal al-Guood had been the "former Anbar governor" and is among the dead. Ned Parker notes that Sheik Abdul-Aziz Fahdawi, Sheik Tariq Saleh Dulaimi and Aziz al-Yasiri were among the dead. [Video] CBS News spoke with al-Yasiri last week when he shared his belief that the puppet, Nouri al-Maliki, had established "multi-party dictatorship."
In other violence . . .
Bombings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Bahgdad mortar attack that wounded 3 Iraqis and 25 more wounded and a roadside bombing outside al Dujail claimed the life of one police officer and left 3 more wounded. Reuters notes a truck bombing in Baiji that has killed at least 27 people and left 62 injured. In addition, Reuters notes a car bombing in Mosul that left 3 dead and 40 more wounded. DPA reports: "Also Monday, a US helicopter-backed force killed two Iraqi civilians Monday in Sadr city ina raid on several houses east of Baghdad, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing local residents of the city. The attack occured during the early hours of Monday in the main street of Abu Zhar Al Ghafari, where the US helicopters pounded two house, killing two civilians and wounding a woman".
Shootings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the Baghdad shooting death of "local council member Auda Mutalq".
Corpses?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 16 corpses discovered in Baghdad and, in Basra, the corpse of "the assistant of the intelligence head of the 10th Iraqi army division in Basra". DPA identifies the man as Faris Mohammed.
Finally, Aaron Glantz (IPS) reports on Iraq veteran Jeff Kay whose story as a gay man serving in the military is told in the film Semper Fi: One Marine's Journey which begins airing on Showtime tonight. Kay was drummed out of the military after announcing on CNN live (March 31, 2004) that he was gay. The Denver Post notes:
Using scenes from his one-man stage play, along with video shot in Iraq and at his boyhood home in Alabama, Jeff Key recounts how he volunteered for the Marines at age 34, completed boot camp with men young enough to be his sons, became a lance corporal and served in Iraq, and then returned home heartbroken on many levels.What he endured in Iraq, the politics of the conflict, his realization concerning what he describes as the real causes of the war, is compounded by the way he was treated by his branch of the service once he revealed his sexual orientation.
More information on Semper Fi can be found here (Showtime website) and in this press release. Jeff Key is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
trinas kitchen
the common ills
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
mikey likes it
thomas friedman is a great man
the third estate sunday review
iraq
adam kokeshliam madden
chris capps
iraq veterans against the war
aaron glantz
A Note to Our Readers -- Jim's note. He breaks it down pretty well.
Editorial: Iraq silences -- This is about all the silence on Iraq. There are almost a million Iraqis who've died since the start of the illegal war, there are 3560 dead US service members, the war passed the four year mark and where the hell is the coverage? Approximately 70% of Americans are now opposed to the illegal war and where is the press coverage? The silences are prolonging the war as much as the White House is.
TV: Hidden Yawns -- I loved this. Ava and C.I. are talking about Hidden Palms which is a really bad show -- so bad, if you're planning to catch it do so this Wednesday or next because then the piece of crap is gone forever. It's set in Palm Springs and is a teen soap opera with some adults. Nothing ever happens. For this commentary, they check into Hidden Palms and meet the characters. Very funny. They did it this way to fit with the theme of the edition which was the annual summer read, fiction issue.
Base Is Hell -- I love this. I loved it when we thought we were done and I loved it when we punched it. This is about war. It's about keeping your ass safe on base while you send people under you out to battle. It's set in the future. I really love this.
The Tired Tryst -- In this short story, YOU get to meet Bono. YOU get to sleep with Bono. YOU get to find out what's that like. Considering this a scary story.
The Asbury Park Murder -- This short story is a mystery where someone dies at the beginning and you find out the killer at the end. This was about 2 times as long and got cut to a third in the final version to make it move faster and to be a short story.
Creation Theory -- Who creates the Frankenstein's candidates? Where does these centrist creatures come from? A peak inside the DLC laboratory!
Samantha Power Between Her Knees -- This is funny and it's got a point. After the war short story, this is probably my favorite of the six.
Cut The Fat! Newt Takes It Off! -- In this piece of fiction we create a diet book from Newt Gingrich and excerpt it.
Highlight -- Rebecca, Wally, Cedric, Betty, Elaine and me worked on this one.
Ava and C.I. bonus -- This is a repost of Ava and C.I.'s great entry from last Tuesday.
Now, plus Dallas, here is who helped out for the summer read edition:
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 this is from James Rothenberg's "Hillary Does Iraq:"
I received a letter from Hillary Clinton the other day noting my "concerns" regarding Iraq. She acknowledges the "seriousness" of the situation which is a "major and constant focus of hers". I'm sure it is. The question is, for what reason?
Hillary believes that "the President should abandon his escalation of the war". She chooses not to say "his" war because it could not have been "his" war without the help of people like "her". This leaves aside the annoying distinction that this never really was a "war", in the sense of two opposing sides, but simply an attack of the most strong on the most weak, putting it in the preferred state terminology, "shock and awe".
She feels our troops (whom she "fully supports") should be given a "new strategy" in place of what, she doesn't mention, but one assumes to be an "old strategy". This may be the strategy that didn't materialize--the immaculate takeover. Had it materialized it is debatable whether she would have been overcome by the "seriousness" of the situation.
This attitude is made apparent in the following sentence. "We cannot afford to repeat past failures, such as not planning adequately for the conflict and failing to properly equip our men and women in uniform." The "conflict", the focus of her "seriousness", is tacitly justified.
She believes a full reconsideration of the terms and conditions of the authorization for the use of force in Iraq is "overdue". One may rightly ask, at what date was it first overdue?
Hillary cites her January trip to Iraq to assess the situation "firsthand" and express her "gratitude" to the troops. Anyone who has ever served in the military can tell you that the last thing you want to hear is that some dignitary is coming to visit your base because all that means is hassle and scrubdown. There is a play being staged called "Look and Act Your Best' and everyone understands this is a play except the dignitary for whom it is being performed.
She really is something, isn't she? I prefer her to Obama but I prefer the stray cat that meows all night in our neighborhood (she's in heat) to Obama.
The candidates making the emptiest statements are the ones the press rushes to push. That's not an accident. They just want someone who won't shake the boat. They exist to control the way we think and see things, not to inform us, not to serve readers.
Late, late Friday, Ma's "Mandarin Oranges & Wild Rice in the Kitchen." Make a point to read it.
My brother and sister-in-law moved in this weekend and that's pretty cool. She's finishing work this Friday. She was only postponing maternity leave because of their bills. We all figured that was the case. It would be different if it was fall, winter or spring, but as hot as it is and with her due to deliver anytime now, the heat had to be hard on her. She's really nice and we're all excited about when their daughter is born. My brother (this is my oldest) asked me to put something in here this week and I'll go ahead and toss it in tonight. If you're able to, avoid student loans. You'll borrow from one loan company, they'll sell it off, then that company sells it off. You end up with this huge debt, this interest piling up and half the time you may not even know who you owe until they e-mail you telling you that you owe them now. C.I. covers me (thank you) so I didn't have to end up doing that and a lot of people don't have the choice. My brother says that you can pay attention to the amounts you're borrowing and freak over it (we all know people who did just that and ended up dropping out because the debt was just freaking them too much) or you can accept that this is what you have to do for college. But realize that the debt is out there and once you leave the grace period after graduation, not only do they want it, the interest starts piling up.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, June 25, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, an attack in the Green Zone gathers attention (of course), US commanders grumble about the status of Iraqi forces, and more.
Starting with war resisters. Chris Capps (Courage to Resist via Democracy Rising) shares his story which begins in "the Army Reserves in 2004 looking to earn money for college and basically to become independent," continues to Iraq (2005) where the "chow" at Camp Victory is among the surprises:
There were Philly cheese steaks, a good salad bar, a juice bar, Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, and food better then anything I had ever seen before. There was a Pizza Hut, a giant PX store, a Subway, an Arby's, a Greens Beans, and a Popeye's Chicken too.
When you're expecting a combat zone and you walk into something like this you have to wonder "What the hell is going on here?" It was surreal sitting there eating a Subway sandwich, listening to evelator music, and hearing explosions sou loud they could knock your drink right off the table, and gunfire in the distance.
KRB ran everything on Camp Victory. I eventually figured out the deal. I saw the Filipino and Pakistani contractors laboring hard while the American KBR employees drove around in brand new cars just to get from one end of the post to another. Everyone talked about the corruption. I learned about how much it cost the American taxpayer so that I could walk into that nice DFAC, sit down, and have a bite to eat.
In September 2006, he was stationed in Germany and, having seen what Kyle Huwer was going through attempting to get conscientious objector status, Capps decided to self-check out: "I remained AWOL for 60 days. At that point my unit classified me as more then AWOL -- I was now in a 'deserter status.' On May 8 I turned myself in at Fort Still, Oklahoma. Kyle had suggested Fort Sill because it, along with Fort Knox, had a designated out processing center for AWOL soldiers who turn themselves in. But if you're not yet in a 'deserter status,' chances are you will just be returned to the unit you left. It doesn't always work out so smoothly, but on May 11 I was discharged from the Army with an 'other than honorable' discharge."
Chris Capps resides in Germany now, is assisting other soldiers and attempting to start up "a chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War" there. He concludes: "I don't believe in this war. I would like to see more people choosing not to deploy. I think this is the only direct and effective resistance that is going to make this war impossible to go on forever. If the politicians refuse to listen to the people, then the people need to take action. If we had resistance throughout the military then we could finally end this war here and now."
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, 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.
Sunday, Kirsten Scharnberg (Chicago Tribune) examined the efforts of the US military brass to silence dissent [Scharnberg's article is also carried by The Baltimore Sun which requires no registration] and zoomed in on the attempts to punish Iraq Veterans Against the War's
Liam Madden, Cloy Richards and Adam Kokesh for speaking out against the illegal war with Scharnberg noting: "Many of the protests involving vets in uniform are all-out street theater, like on in Washington last spring at which protesters staged a mock patrol, manhandling people at stimulated gunpoint to illustrate how they say Iraqis are treated by American troops. The intended subtext of the uniformed protests is apparent. Protesters have additional credibility because they are denouncing a war they have witnessed firstand, that the very uniforms now being used in protest have walked the real battlefield." Madden explains, "Guys like us -- veterans who served but then came believe the war is not only wrong but illegal -- are not who the military wants speaking on a national stage." Which is what it comes down -- fatiques are not dress uniforms. Those discharged (as Kokesh, Madden and Richards were) are not generally discharged from the IRR. But the brass is working overtime in an attempt to clamp down and will resort to anything, no matter how shameful.
KBR, mentioned by Chris Capps, was Kellogg Brown and Root which came together when Brown and Root merged with Halliburton's M.W. Kellogg. Jackie Northam (NPR) reported on the issue of the 120,000 contractors in Iraq for today's Morning Edition noting a hearing
exposed many other problems in the contracting industry . . . in fact, at that hearing, a spokesperson for the army couldn't even say how many contracting companies were working in Iraq. These issues have led to calls for more transperancy in the contracting industry . . . There's no central data base, no single organization to keep track of facts and figures and so that the most basic questions regarding civilian contractors cannot easily be answered. What roles do the contractors play? What nationalities? How much is it costing the American taxpayer and how many contractors have been killed? One of the most vexing questions is what legal framework do the contractors fall under?"
Heading into last weekend, the US military fatality count in Iraq stood at 3546 on Friday. Today it stands at 3560. The US military began announcing the 14 deaths on Saturday and Sunday and reaching 14 with this morning's announcement: "A Task Force Marne Soldier died in a small arms fire attack today" in Baghdad. The 14 dead come days after Peter Pace and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were attempting to push the notion that progress in Iraq had nothing to do with violence or deaths. Today Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports that "some American commanders expressed doubts about the ability of Iraqi troops to hold gains made in areas north of the capital last week . . . The American commander in Baquba, Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, and his counterpart south of Baghdad, Maj. Gen Rick Lynch, pointed to a variety of problems with the Iraqi forces, including a shortage of trained troops and a lack of basic supplies like ammunition, radios and trucks." BBC notes: "The BBC's Andrew North, in Baghdad, says US commanders blame a lack of committed and properly organised Iraqi troops for the failure of past efforts to secure the Baghdad region" and those problems do not appear to have vanished as the same-old-same-old spreads into the north. Though doing the same thing with larger numbers in northern Iraq (don't call it strategy) resulted in as many as 10,000 US service members in the Diyala province, Baghdad has been the locale for deaths in the last few days -- US and Iraqis.
This includes the incident getting the most attention today, the bombing of the al-Mansour Melia hotel in Baghdad -- which housed many journalists as well as the Chinese embassy. ITV reports that "Sunni Arab tribal leaders from western Anbar province had gathered there for a meeting." Ammar Karim (The Australian and AFP) reports the meeting was confirmed and that a bomber entered "the crowded lobby," detonated the bomb, killing himself and many others. AFP describes "charred bodies of the victims and many of the wounded were lying near the reception desk in the rubble-strewn lobby, and that the ceiling had collapsed, leaving clusters of white tiles hanging from wires. The blast damaged the stairway, the elevators, and the ceiling of the first floor of the hotel, which lies on the west bank of the Tigris river and houses diplomats and some foreign media organisations. Patches of blood stained the marble floor and scraps of human flesh were left stuck to the concrete pillars."
Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) reports that "sheiks and political figures, Sunni Arab Muslims as well as Shiite Muslims, were gathered in the lobby of the Mansour Melia hotel drinking tea and chatting when the explosion gutted a large section of the lobby and shattered windows on the high-rise's first and second levels, hotel workers said." Mike Drummond (McClatchy Newspapers) explains that, despite "tight security," the bomber apparently walked into the hotel from the street without raising any suspicion among the "armed guards" or at the car checkpoints -- both of which were on alert as the hotel was "sealed off" . . . after the bombing. CNN notes that among the at least a dozen people dead is Rahim al-Maliki who was an anchor "with Iraqiya state television". AP notes that al-Maliki (no relation to the puppet) was also a poet. CBS and AP raise the dozen dead to 13 (and remember that toll may rise as some who are wounded do not pull through and as some corpses may still be undiscovered) and note that CBS News' Lara Logan was at the hotel during the blast and reports "that al-Guooud was meeting in the lobby with other members of the Anbar Salvation Council when the blast occured". Fassal al-Guood had been the "former Anbar governor" and is among the dead. Ned Parker notes that Sheik Abdul-Aziz Fahdawi, Sheik Tariq Saleh Dulaimi and Aziz al-Yasiri were among the dead. [Video] CBS News spoke with al-Yasiri last week when he shared his belief that the puppet, Nouri al-Maliki, had established "multi-party dictatorship."
In other violence . . .
Bombings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Bahgdad mortar attack that wounded 3 Iraqis and 25 more wounded and a roadside bombing outside al Dujail claimed the life of one police officer and left 3 more wounded. Reuters notes a truck bombing in Baiji that has killed at least 27 people and left 62 injured. In addition, Reuters notes a car bombing in Mosul that left 3 dead and 40 more wounded. DPA reports: "Also Monday, a US helicopter-backed force killed two Iraqi civilians Monday in Sadr city ina raid on several houses east of Baghdad, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing local residents of the city. The attack occured during the early hours of Monday in the main street of Abu Zhar Al Ghafari, where the US helicopters pounded two house, killing two civilians and wounding a woman".
Shootings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the Baghdad shooting death of "local council member Auda Mutalq".
Corpses?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 16 corpses discovered in Baghdad and, in Basra, the corpse of "the assistant of the intelligence head of the 10th Iraqi army division in Basra". DPA identifies the man as Faris Mohammed.
Finally, Aaron Glantz (IPS) reports on Iraq veteran Jeff Kay whose story as a gay man serving in the military is told in the film Semper Fi: One Marine's Journey which begins airing on Showtime tonight. Kay was drummed out of the military after announcing on CNN live (March 31, 2004) that he was gay. The Denver Post notes:
Using scenes from his one-man stage play, along with video shot in Iraq and at his boyhood home in Alabama, Jeff Key recounts how he volunteered for the Marines at age 34, completed boot camp with men young enough to be his sons, became a lance corporal and served in Iraq, and then returned home heartbroken on many levels.What he endured in Iraq, the politics of the conflict, his realization concerning what he describes as the real causes of the war, is compounded by the way he was treated by his branch of the service once he revealed his sexual orientation.
More information on Semper Fi can be found here (Showtime website) and in this press release. Jeff Key is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
trinas kitchen
the common ills
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
mikey likes it
thomas friedman is a great man
the third estate sunday review
iraq
adam kokeshliam madden
chris capps
iraq veterans against the war
aaron glantz
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