Evelyn Pringle, Coretta King & Ellis Smith

Hump day, hump day, it takes us half the way! :D So a funny e-mail today. It wasn't meant to be funny. At least I don't think so. But a Bambi groupie wrote me to say that Bambi was going to win "because Allah wants him to win." My reply? "Put it on a t-shirt and bumper sticker. I'm sure that will really help him turount votes." :D I have no idea who God would vote for. I would assume God has other things to worry about. But I'm Catholic so maybe I'm missing something?

As Ma pointed out recently, in the heartland of America not only is the Jeremiah Wright issue not over, they're not taking the coastal view that 'opinion shapers' at the big papers have tried to cram down their throats. This is the opening of DeWayne Wicham's "Pastor's angry attacks put him far from civil rights leader's vision:"

I don’t know if Jeremiah Wright ever met Martin Luther King Jr., but it seems to me he never really knew him.
Wright is the United Church of Christ minister whose fiery sermons have become a troubling matter for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, a longtime member of the congregation Wright led until recently. Snippets of the sermon in which the Chicago pastor shouts "G** damn America" to condemn this nation's treatment of blacks has gotten more airtime on national television than Britney Spears' meltdown.

I censored the above out of respect for Betty's father who is a deacon in his church and is highly offended by the out-of-touch press trying to portray all Black churches as the sort where Wright's nonsense would fly. And speaking of Wright, Michael Eric Dyson teaches sociology for some reason (he has a phd. in religion and his books are pop-cultural nonsense). Here's an excerpt of Coretta King and Ellis Smith's write up of Dyson's speaking:

He compared those that have a problem with angry statements made by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to those who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.
He also defended R. Kelly's illegal sexual behavior by comparing him to Thomas Jefferson and his alleged affair with a black servant, saying that Jefferson was "trumped by his erotic attractions."
When he could not defend something on moral grounds, he instead talked of slavery and the South's troubled past.For instance, when he began talking about the recently unearthed anti-American and racist comments by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's pastor and mentor, he passed them off by saying, "If black people told white people what we really think, it would scare a whole bunch of brothers & sisters."
The audience found this funny for the most part, but a few sat in stony silence. He justified Rev. Wright's behavior by bringing up some churches' past exclusion of blacks by saying, "You can't keep me out the club and then tell me how to run mine."
Dr. Dyson also attacked Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas, who is a black man, for "shirking his constitutional duties," and not doing enough to help the community." He saved his fiercest criticism for the President George W. Bush, mocking him in what can only be described as a white accent, and accusing him of launching a "testosterone-fueled war," as exclamations of "keep it real!" emanated from the audience.
Speaking to no one in particular, he exclaimed, "God will rise up to break the backbone of your power," before launching into an explanation of how to conduct proper relationships.
He told the audience, "If you are a strong black man you will accept and love a strong black woman." No advice was given to or about white or Latino students in attendance. As he launched into a spate of relationship advice, the tone of his voice lowered until he sounded like a late night Jazz DJ, and in fact behaved like one as he closed his speech with an musical montage, with audience assistance, describing the progression of relationships.
Dr. Dyson was mobbed following his speech, but quickly had to move into an adjoining room for a live via satellite interview on Larry King Live. He sat spotlighted alone in silence, waiting to be called on by Larry King, in contrast to only minutes earlier. It appeared that he was being asked about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, because, although those in the room couldn't hear what was going on, Dr. Dyson began saying that there was no need to "fan the flames of divisiveness," and began criticizing what he termed the media's "disparagement" of Rev. Wright. It truly brought to life the statement he had made earlier in the afternoon when he said, "It depends on where you [are] to determine how you act."

He's a crackpot. Only a crackpot would compare those troubled by Wright's statement to anyone killing anyone. He's a friend of Amy Goodman's and that probably tells you more than you need to know. Crackpot.

This is "HUBdate: Swing State Lead:"

Swing State Lead: A new Quinnipiac poll shows Hillary leading in key swing states. In Florida, she leads McCain 44-42 while Obama trails McCain by 9 points. In Ohio, Hillary leads McCain 48-39 while Obama is only ahead of McCain by 1. Read more.
Strong on the Economy: Today, Hillary wraps up her "Solutions for the Pennsylvania Economy" tour with a 21st Century Jobs Summit in Pittsburgh, PA focused on Hillary's "insourcing" agenda that provides $7 billion in tax incentives and investments for firms creating jobs in America. Preview the Summit here.
Recapping Yesterday: Hillary announced her plan to create 3 million jobs by investing in infrastructure at the AFL-CIO in Philadelphia, PA. Read excerpts of the speech.
Recalling Rocky: Yesterday Hillary "recall[ed] a famous scene on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art [and] said to end her presidential campaign now would be as if 'Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those art museum steps and said, 'Well, I guess that's about far enough.'"” Read more.
Too Much Democracy?: On last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart pokes fun at calls for Hillary to quit: "Too much democracy… killing Democratic Party... must make it stop." Watch here.
Run, Hillary, Run: A North Carolina columnist writes "With the race so close, Clinton would be a fool to hand Sen. Barack Obama a nomination he has yet to legitimately earn." Read more.
A Record to Run On: In the Senate, Hillary has sponsored or co-sponsored 54 bills that became law. Read more.
By the Primary Numbers: A new SurveyUSA poll shows Hillary leading in Indiana by nine points (52-43).
Roots: Hillary tells supporters in Wilkes-Barre, PA: "My family has deep roots here…and we don’t quit. From the coal mines to the lace mills, we have worked our hearts out, and I will work my heart out for you." Read more.
April Fool's: Yesterday, Hillary surprised reporters, challenging Sen. Obama to a bowl-off..."It is time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all the pins to be counted...When this game is over, the American people will know that when that phone rings at 3 a.m., they'll have a president ready to bowl on day one." Read more.
Just Words: On the campaign trail, Senator Obama has spoken as though he were opposed to the Bush Administration's energy policy, but in 2005 he voted for the administration's Energy Bill, written in secret by Cheney and the energy lobby. Read more.

This is a sample of Evelyn Pringle's "Barack Obama - The Wizard Of Oz" which is the first of a three-part series on Barack Obama:

The most trusted leaders of the Democratic party, such as John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, ought to be ashamed of themselves for supporting Barack Obama. With use of the internet, a fifth grader could connect the dots to show a picture of a guy who was picked up in college and carried up the political ladder by a corrupt gang of influence peddlers.
John McCain is just drooling waiting for Obama to become the nominee so that he can come out with the trail of dirt that the Democratic party is too afraid to reveal this late in the in the game. If nominated, Obama will not survive a month when faced with the Republican attack machine.
If he becomes the nominee, the web of corruption leading to Obama's rise to power that this investigative journalist was able to untangle in less than three weeks, will be front page news right up until election day, handing the Republicans their only chance in hell of winning the White House.
Instead of the leaders of the Democratic party doing their homework, a small group of investigative reporters in Chicago will be credited with exposing the corrupt backbone of Obama political career and the mainstream media need only follow their lead if the Democrats hold him out to be a viable candidate. The list of reporters deserving of credit for doing the investigative work that should have been done by the leaders of the Democratic party before they got behind Obama, includes, but is not limited to, Chicago Sun-Times reporters, Tim Novak, Dave McKinney, Fran Spielman, Chris Fusco, Natasha Korecki, Steve Warmbir and Lynn Sweet. Chicago Tribune reporters especially deserving of credit include Jeff Coen, Bob Secter, John Chase, Virginia Groark, Rick Pearson, David Jackson, John McCormick, Mickey Ciokajlo, Rudolph Bush and Dan Mihalopoulos.
This article is the first in a series that will give the details of Obama's rise to fame. As for the most recognized allegation against Obama, that helped slumlords operate in Chicago, while accepting their campaign contributions, its true. Obama was a member of the political machine that helped a whole gang of slumlords funnel local, state and federal tax dollars, over the backs of poor people in need of affordable housing, to line their own pockets and fund the campaigns of politicians in positions to recommend and award contracts.
The Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland law firm, where Obama worked for nearly a decade, served as a hub for a slew of slumlord deals, many that benefited the firm's founder, Allison Davis, and Obama's claims that he knew nothing about the inner workings of this small firm, represent an insult to the intelligence of the American public.
Tony Rezko was Obama political Godfather. Obama received his first contributions of $2,000, to launch his political career as a state senator on July 31, 1995, from Rezko. Obama started out saying that Rezko only raised $50,000 or $60,000 for his political career but after a year of lying his way through the primaries, the latest total he gave to the Sun-Times and Tribune during interviews on March 14, 2008, adds up to $250,000.
For a year, he also minimized his relationship with Rezko by telling the media that he only had dinner or lunch with Rezko one or twice a year. But when confronted by Sun-Times reporters during the March 14 interview, with the allegation that an FBI mole saw him coming and going to Rezko’s office often and that three sources said he talked to Rezko on the phone daily, Obama changed his tune.
Now the story is that he may have talked to Rezko daily at times during campaigns but sometimes he went for a whole month without talking to him. “I have to say we're talking over the course of 10 years,” Obama said, “there might have been spurts where I talked to him daily."
But then he added: "There might have been stretches over a month where I wouldn't have talked to him at all." This story is a far cry from the picture Obama gave to the public of him and Rezko meeting once or twice a year, and he never did respond to the allegation by the Times reporter that an FBI mole "saw you coming and going from Rezko’s office a lot."
Without Rezko's fundraising, Obama would not have been elected to the Illinois senate, or the US Senate, and he would not have sold the books he wrote about himself because like the Wizard of Oz, Obama is nobody special.

I can't wait to read her next installment. She's right, by the way, the press is geared up to run Obama stories non-stop if he gets the nomination and it won't be the fawning crap they've served up all during the campaign. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, April 2, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Senator Joe Biden gets pro-active, Jacob Bruce Kovco's death remains a mystery, and more.

Starting with war resisters. "Watada is the only officer in the U.S. armed forces who has taken seriously his oath to uphold the Constitution." Justin Hughes (Golden Gate [X]Press) quotes whistle blower Daniel Ellsberg explaining that to a large turnout Sunday at San Francisco's Unitarian Universalist Church: "He praised Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused to deploy to Iraq in 2006 because of moral opposition to the war. Watada was the first commissioned officer in the U.S. armed forces to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq." Watada, whose service should have ended in December 2006, remains in limbo as the US military attempts to mount an argument which would explain why the Constitution has no meaning and the double-jeopardy clause should be set aside. Without overriding the Constitution, the US military cannot retry Watada. In February 2007, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) overruled defense objections and declared a mistrial (due to the fact that the prosecution was losing) with the hopes of handing the military a do-over. The Constitution forbids that and forbids it just for that reason. November 8, 2007, Judge Benjamin Settle issued an injunction and Watada's case remains on hold.

Since refusing to deploy in June of 2006, Watada has continued to report for duty. Despite the fact that his service should have ended in December 2006, he continues reporting. This issue should have been settled some time ago and should not be forgotten in election year hype. Watada took a brave and public stand. It was so brave and so public that no officer has yet to follow him, all this time later. Which is why Ellsberg notes that of all the officers in the military, only Watada grasped what the Constitution meant and required.

Joshua Key is a US war resister. He, Brandi Key and their children moved to Canada when Key returned from Iraq and realized he could not continue to take part in the illegal war. He was among the earliest to publicly draw the comparison between foreign forces in Iraq and what would happen if foreign forces occupied the US? Would US citizens resist? He tells his story in The Deserter's Tale (written by Key and Lawrence Hill). He is also telling his story, the Canadian Press reports, to Canada's Federal Court today as he attempts to win on appeal after his claim for refugee status was denied last November by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board ("board" in name only -- one person rules) following their denial of his claim because he wasn't a War Criminal (truly, the board's decision states he would have been admitted if he'd committed war crimes) leading his attorney Jeffry House to declare that decision "patently preposterous."

In April of last year, Tracy Bowden (Australia's ABC) reported on Keys and other US war resisters in Canada. "I'm not a baby killer," Key told Bowden. "I am not a civilian killer. You know of course I'm a solider and I'm here to kill enemy combatants but I was never seeing that. All I was seeing was civilians getting hurt, getting killed, traumatised and still no justification for it." In August of last year, Tony Jones (Lateline) interviewed Key. Click here for the YouTube video.

TONY JONES: Now you were in some of the worst fighting in Fallujah and you claim to have seen at least 14 civilians killed. Can you tell us about the circumstances?JOSHUA KEY: From one of the incidents, we were at a mayor cell, which is sort of where you would -- like where the mayor of the city stayed. I was in the back part; I saw the after-effect of it. Of course the ground was -- outrageous amount of gunfire. Of course we were getting ready ourselves. It came over the radio that, you know, that something in the front was happening. I guess the overall circumstances of it were, the end result was 12 Iraqi civilians were killed. The reason why is because somebody had gotten trigger-happy and that was one of my first instances with death there, of course, was that. I mean, it was apparent very very - the first day we got into Iraq that if you felt threatened you shoot, you ask questions later. Our actions were completely unsupervised and we did, as we will. Just -- as well with the 12 Iraqis there was no reason for them to be dead. Somebody got trigger-happy, there's death.TONY JONES: When civilians were killed, what happened? Did your officers make reports? Did they try and investigate what had happened?JOSHUA KEY: I myself never got questioned in the course of my ranking I had no idea what my commanding officers were doing, if anything was wrote or not. I know in many of the circumstances I witnessed myself in Iraq I asked later on if any mission statements had been written. Has anything been written about what happened last night and I was told on many occasions that it was none of my concern and none of my business.TONY JONES: One of the most horrific incidents you record was in the night during a raid in Ramadi and you describe the circumstances with one of your sergeants actually saying, "Tonight is retaliation time in Ramadi." Tell us about that incident?JOSHUA KEY: Well, we had many -- for that incidence, for the retaliation, prior to that there had been a commander in the third Army Recovery Regiment which was the regiment I was with that had gotten injured. I don't know exactly, I don't even know if he was a fatality. That was said after that fact. In Ramadi the second time there was so many incidents, of course. You're on a QRF mission, which is like you're the quick reaction force for the military. It's like you're a swat team. For that 24-hour period you're in control. If anything happens within that city then you're sent out to, as they say, calm down the uprising. The night we got the call we were on it, we were going to our designated spot. We took a sharp right turn by the banks of the Euphrates River. On the left side I saw bodies that were decapitated. My truck stopped. I was asked to see if there were - of course I was the lowest ranking and I was told to get out to see if I could find evidence of a fire fight, which means, you know, shell casings. When I got out of the back of my truck I heard one American soldier screaming that we had lost it. I mean, I looked to the other side and I seen American soldiers kicking the head around like a soccer ball. I got back inside of my APC, which is an armoured personnel carrier, said I wouldn't have no involvement. Of course the next day I asked if anything had been filed for that, because to me that was completely unacceptable. That's when my - I said that's when my will started to change, of course.TONY JONES: I have to get you to go back over that because of the way you just described it. Are you saying you saw American soldiers kicking around the decapitated head of a dead Iraqi?JOSHUA KEY: Yes, that was -- of course I live with that nightmare every day. That's something I have a lot of problems with, of course. But to me that was completely -- there's no justification and no reason why that should have happened like that. There's nothing - there's no reason; it only takes one shot to kill a person, even if it was for that standpoint. But there's no reason whatsoever to decapitate a human person by means of gunfire.

You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki had his strings pulled by the White House leading to the disaster that was the assault on Basra. Fallout is not limited to the wounded and the dead. Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) report that the "paltry results have silenced talk at the Pentagon of further U.S. troop withdrawal any time soon" and quote an unnamed "senior U.S. military official in Washington" declaring, "There is no empirical evidence that the Iraqi forces can stand up." Kevin Sullivan (Washington Post) reports a similar effect in England where Minister of Defence Des Browne has nixed the announced withdrawals and stated, "It is prudent that we pause any further reductions while the current situation is unfolding." The assault was a failure on every level. It failed in terms of military strategy. It demonstrated (yet again) how weak the Iraqi military was and how weak Iraqi soldiers ties were to the military (since so many of them defected sides during the fighting). It revealed the intense and widespread loathing for al-Maliki among Iraqis. It revealed that Iran is a power broker in the area and, indeed, a peace broker in the conflict. It inflated Moqtada al-Sadr's standing throughout Iraq. Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) observes, "It also left the United States once more painted as the villain by the Sadrists although the offensive is widely thought to have been the brainchild of Maliki and his inner circle of advisors. The Sadrists made clear that this latest chapter would be used against U.S. forces in Iraq" going on to quote an Iraqi who explaines, "America is looking for a man who would take over from the occupation forces to target the Iraqi people, and now Maliki has achieved this ambition. Maliki has somehow started to execute the American project and the Iraqi people considers Maliki a tool in the hands of the Americans." Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) probes the survivors of the continued US violence in Baghdad interviewing the survivors of US snipers -- snipers the US repeatedly denies the existance of -- such as Karrar Ali Hussein (sixteen-years-old and 'guilty' of playing soccer) and Ammar Ensayer ("guilty" of going to the marketplace). Fadel also speaks with the victims of the US air strikes such as Jabar Abdul Ridha who lost wife Kareema Hafout and daughter Nisrene Jabar when the US military elected to bomb their home as Kareema was hanging laundry. In complete denial, Maj Gen Kevin J. Bergner (US military flack) declared in Baghdad today praised the assault and maintained it demonstrated al-Maliki's "legitimate authority" and claimed "there are already indications that many citizens are working in support of their government."

Why would anyone say something so absurd? For the same reason the assault was launched, to prepare the rollout for US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Gen David Petraeus' testimonies to Congress this month. The assault was a disaster in that regard as well. It was supposed to give a p.r. boost, another wave of Operation Happy Talk that the two men could ride to justify the lack of progress and their cries for more illegal war.

In September, Congress acted like idiots. They allowed the White House roll out to take place with nothing to counter it. This week, US Senator Joe Biden uses his position as chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to do the sort of work Congress should have been doing last September. "Iraq After The Surge" was the title of two of today's hearings with the first being military prospects and the second being political prospects. It was a time for Senators on the committee (and anyone following the hearing) to get a grasp on some realities before the p.r. blitz begins.

"Last year I rejcted the claim that it [the 'surge'] was a new strategy. Rather, I said, it is a new tactic used to achieve the same old strategic aim, political stability. And I foresaw no serious prospects for success. I see no reason to change my judgment now," declared Lt. General William E. Odom (Retired). He was one of four witnesses testifying on the first panel. Joining him were retired Generals Barry McCaffrey (General) and Robert H. Scales, Jr. (Major General) as well as War Hawk Michele Flournoy who doesn't serve in the military, just wants to send it everywhere. Odom was the one to listen to of the four as he felt no need to sweeten up his findings. One example was when he addressed the "Awakening" Councils -- turncoat thugs now supporting the US because the US is paying them:

Let me emphasize that our new Sunni friends insist on being paid for their loyalty. I have heard, for example, a rough estimate that the cost in one area of about 100 square kilometers is $250,000 per day. And periodically they threaten to defect unless their fees are increased. You might want to find out the total costs for these deals forecasted for the next several years, because they are not small and they do not promise to end. Remember, we do not own these people. We merely rent them. And they can break their lease at any moment.

If Congress is going to take advantage of the opportunites the hearings Biden held provided, they will be requesting that information right now. They will not, instead, merely wait to ask Petraeus and Crocker when they appear. If they do that, the two men will beg off with, "I don't have that information before me." So put in the requests now. Let the White House know you want the dollar amounts.

Odom was thinking of the coming testimonies and urged the committee, "When the administration's witnesses appear before you, you should make them clarify how long the army and marines can sustain this band-aid strategy."


Odom rejected the nonsense of "bottom up" building of a nation-state and noted that, historically, it has no known antaecedents. It's a shame he wasn't also on the second panel because this administration talking point was favored by two panelist.

"This idea of fight terrorism" bothers Joe Biden because if the US left, any al Qaeda that is present would leave as well and "I find it not plausible that if we left al Qaeda will gain a foothold." Odom agreed with the point (and had noted it himself in his opening remarks.)

More importantly, Biden felt, "We don't talk much about the downsides of staying. The downsides of staying are overwhelming . . . but we have fallen into the jargon that if we leave . . . that these terrible things would happen. Is the opposite true that if we leave . . . we're likely to damage the ability of al Qaeda" to remain in Iraq? General McCaffrey agreed with that assessment noting that "it's hard to imagine that we went to Iraq to fight al Qaeda" in the first place of that the US needs to remain in Iraq for that reason.

Biden reminded everyone of "the state purpose" by the White House for the so-called "surge" which "was to get to the point where there was a change in the space on the ground . . . in order to give the administration an opportunity to come up with a political solution" and for the "warring factions" to come together. Odom rejected the notion floated by some which was the need for "trainers" to be left behind. He rightly noted that not only is that not a withdrawal, it's an invitation for further violence. Biden agreed noting that you cannot "transition into a training emphasis" while withdrawing troops "without leaving trainers exposed."


Odom addressed the elephant in the room: the violence that likely follows a withdrawal. "We don't have the physical choice to prevent chaos when we leave," he declared. "It's going to happen . . . no matter what we do. . . . We have the blame because we went in [to Iraq] . . . We do have the choice not to send more US troops. That's the moral choice we're facing." He also noted how trainers were "besides the point" when Iraq is plauged with conflict and divided loyalties.

General Scales fancy the country a circus performer, one that can walk a tightrope: "The key is a delicate balance between pulling out American pwoer and withdrawing." He went on to compare it a "balance beam or a teeter-totter."

Odom dismissed that idea and noted that this was a critical moment and that there had been a series of them throughout the Iraq War. "The first engagement was when we went in, we won that," he explained. That was the last time he judged a 'win' had taken place and "we have been on the defense ever since."

US Senator Richard Lugar cited Gen. Richard A. Cody's "stark assessment" when testifying to the Senate yesterday that he had "never seen our lack of strateig depth be where it is today." Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reports that Cody is set to be replaced with Lt Gen Raymond Odierno whose confirmation hearing is set for tomorrow. Odierno is a big Happy Talker and also fond of repeating charges against Iran without any backing.
the forces depleted to the point that they are today. Luger referenced a "Spike in Attacks" chart in the Washington Post and noted, "It points out that a surge . . . buys time." He then reviewed various figures to demonstrate that US service members are repeatedly targeted and that the 'low' is still not low (see chart).

Noting those who were serving in the US military in Iraq, Senator John Kerry offered, "What we're here to do is find out whether we have a strategy worthy of" them, he sounded like a very distant cousin to the young man who once asked the United States Senate, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?" He felt that the Iraqi governmet was "corrupt to the core and dysfunctional to the corps" but wanted "conditional engagement" which would mean Iraqis do X and the US do Z. But what's the point of any "engagement" with a government "corrupt to the core"? Kerry was better in the second panel but in the first panel, he was all over the map. "This is intolerable, folks, absolutely intolerable," he declared in a functioning moment. Odom agreed that the dynamic needed to change but stated (rightly) "the only thing that will change the dynamics is withdrawal."

"The president," Odom noted, "and I even hear it on this committee -- you're not going to get out [of Iraq] leaving order. . . Every year we've stayed, the price has gotten higher. . . . You don't have any other choices" except to get out. This led Biden to offer, "Excuse my cynicism, I expect that's why they're leaving it for the next administration."

Senator Chuck Hagel noted that listening to the testimony of all (on the first panel) telgraphed one point: "we have no good options." He heard a lot of questions but, "the real question is: 'How do we get out of this mess?' That is the only question."

While Odom was offering truths and realities (including that the people the US is currently training are the ones who will most likely lose a civil war in Iraq after the US withdraws), Flournoy was insisting that the "keep[ing] that surge funding going is absolutely critical." Flournoy had nothing to offer. She's a centrist stalling, trying to prevent withdrawal. Even when the senators were addressing that option (some gingerly). Senator Robert Menendez pointed out that what seemed very likely is that the US would remain in Iraq to support some "two-star general" -- an Iraqi 'strong man' installed to bring 'order' and "maybe he'll be liked and maybe he won't be" but was that the really the purpose of all the suffering and dying? Menendez pointed out the problems for Iraqi children, the lack of access to potable water and wondered, "How much more money is it going to take before we do this right?"

Noting the strain put on the US military (never a concern for Flournoy), US Senator Jim Webb again addressed deployments noting that "as long as you've been deployed, you should have that much time at home."

The second panel consisted of Yahia Said (Revenue Watch Institute), Stephen Biddle (Council on Foreign Relations) and Nir Rosen (NYU). The latter broke from stay-keep-the-war-going talking points and engaged the interest of Biden leading to a dialogue between the two about the realities. While Rosen was noting the violence was inevitable, Biddle insisted that it could be "low enough so it wouldn't be on the front page of newspapers." And that tells you just about everything you ever need to know about the Council of/for/from Foreign Relations. Senator Kerry was much more focused during this panel and quickly noted of Biddle, "So you're in the 100-year-war school." Biddle denied it but kept insisting on the "bottom up approach" which Odom had noted in the first panel just doesn't happen. Kerry noted that any "stability is only going to be maintained while we are there" and wondered how long the US could afford spending "ten to twelve million dollars a month" to pursue temporary stability? Yahia Said didn't make his testimony go over any easier by suggesting that the hope was an emerging 'strong man' causing Kerry (in his strongest moment) to ask, "Is that what our troops are dying for?"

Senator Lisa Murkowski asked the panel to "define a stabilizaed Iraq" and Biddle declared that it would be "an end to large scale violence." "And we do that through the bottom up approaching you are endorsing?" Murkowksi asked. Yes, Biddle asserted. Said felt that approach "has almost" -- almost -- "reached its limits." Nir Rosen noted the opinions of the Iraqi people and stated, "I think they should withdraw as soon as possible." Senator Russ Feingold wnated to know about the opinions on timetables. Not much happened until Senator Barbara Boxer was allowed her allotted time.

Barbara Boxer: Did you just say that Maliki uses the Iraqi security forces as his militia? Did you say that?

Biddle: Yes.

Barbara Boxer: If that's true and Maliki uses his military as a force to bring about peace -- that's scandalous and that we would have paid $20 million to train [it] and someone that we consider an expert says it's a militia, that's shocking.

She then attempted to question Rosen who attempted to add details. Details weren't needed and ate into the time needed for Boxer to make the case she was making. "I come out with a picture of Iraq today," she explained, "as a bloody lawless place, run by militias, a place that has undergone ethnic cleansing and the Shias won that . . . and also that the US presence there is only putting off the day when the Iraqis will find the way."

This was a yes or a no. Nir Rosen didn't need to offer stories. (But he did.) He's very lucky Boxer didn't tell him to hold his thoughts (she did tell Biddle that). She noted, "I'm surprised because that's not what General Petraeus tells us. He tells us he's proud" of how the training is coming and "that's not what Condi Rice tells us . . . I'm surprised."

Had Nir Rosen known when to shut his trap, Boxer might have a soundbyte for the evening news. Boxer wanted Biddle to explain his remarks and explain how the US could still be a peacekeeping force in Iraq while they were engaging warlords in Iraq which boils down to taking sides. ("You cannot count" on them, Boxer pointed out of the warlords on the US dime.) She rejected as offensive Biddle's suggestion that that sitting down with warlords was an answer. "There is no good solution to this nightmare," she pointed out, "so why not just figure out a way to tell the Iraqis, 'We've spilled the blood, now it's your turn.'"

Biddle was unusually snarky even for him and made a cutting remark implying that only those willing to keep US troops in Iraq for years actually cared about the outcome in Iraq leading Boxer to call him out loudly and to state, "And for you to suggest that I don't care about the outcome is a total, total slap to those of us who were against the war." Biddle made a mealy-mouthed statement about how that wasn't what he meant leading Boxer to snap, "I'll take that as an apology."

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?


Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that US airplanes "bombed some targets in Sadr city," 3 Baghdad roadside bombings that claimed 3 lives wounded twenty, 2 Baghdad mortar attacks that wounded four people, A Diyala Province bombing killed 1 woman and left a man wounded, a Diyala Province roadside bombing claimed 3 lives and left eight people wounded and a Mosul car bombing claimed the life of 1 woman and left four police officers wounded.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two women were shot dead in Baghdad today and their driver wounded, an Iraqi soldier and an Iraqi police officer were shot dead in Salahuddin, 2 people were shot dead in Kirkuk, an armed clash in Al Anbar among police officers and the US paid "Awakening" council resulted in five people wounded and, in Basra, a shooting targeted "the spokesman of the MOD" who survived but a Hurra TV correspondent was wounded. Reuters notes 2 police officers and 1 civilian were shot dead in al-Baaj

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 2 corpses were discovered in Mosul.

Turning to Australia, in April 2006, Jake Kovco became the first Australian service member to die in Iraq (April 26, 2006). How he died was not clear even after a laughable "inquiry" that lasted for much of 2006's summer. A coronial inquest issued a ruling yesterday. Australia's ABC reports that the Australian Defence Association are stating that the ruling "strengthens the case for reforms to the military justice system." And the findings themselves? The inquest found that Jake Kovco died from self-inflected wounds. The verdict is a joke and we'll get to that in a moment. During the coronial inquest, Amy Coopes (Herald Sun) reported that William Green, then stationed in Iraq, testified that in the military inquest, he was approached in Iraq by Warrant Officer Tim Cuming with a warning about his scheduled videolink testimony (he didn't end up testifying). This latest inquest did not address or explain the issue of DNA: "Forensic testing of the grip and slide of the pistol showed DNA in dominant amounts from Pte Kovco's barracks rommate and duty partner Pte Steve Carr." The Mercury notes, "Judy Kovco was the driving force behind the establishment of the coronial inquiry, accusing the military of a cover-up over her son's death." Jacob Kovco also left behind two young children as well as widow who wants her privacy, as she so frequently tells the press. Malcolm Brown (Sydney Morning Herald) asks Judy Kovco if she believes the proceedings were stage-managed and she responds, "That is exactly what they did. They cut 100 witnesses out." Judy notes Rod Cross from Sydney University's Department of Physics who "had written a report at the request of the police and concluded that Private Kovco had not been acting irresponsibly." Judy Kovco tells Brown, "What they seem to have forgotten, it is my son. I know better than anyone he would not do that. What they have tried to do is to make him out to be a lunatic, and he was not anything like that. It is a bit hard to swallow. It is more than a bit hard." And no wonder. Judy Kovco was promised a real hearing and that's now what took place. Dan Box (The Australian) notes that "the inquest did reveal a series of flaws in the military investigation into Kovco's death. These included the loss of potential evidence and the use of a crude 'cut-and-paste' technique that meant pages of witnesses statements were almost identical." For what's beein presented as the final word and something so obvious, it's amazing that the jury would have so much trouble deliberating. Had the needed witnesses been called, there might have been a different finding and exactly what John Agius' whine that the original finding must be backed up to prevent 'pain' to the living (primarily the soldier whose DNA was found on Jake Kovco's gun) had to do with anything is a puzzler. But in the same way that truth was not the concern in the 2006 inquest, it doesn't appear to have been the focus in this inquest either.

US Rep Shelley Berkley (noted in yesterday's snapshot) announces that southern Nevada will finally be getting their first full-service VA medical center. And Senator Hillary Clinton issued the following statement on World Autism Awareness Day:

I am pleased to join the United Nations in recognizing the inaugural World Autism Awareness Day. Today offers us the opportunity to reaffirm a commitment to addressing the need for increased treatment, services, and research into autism spectrum disorders.
In the United States and other countries, we have seen a rise in the number of individuals diagnosed with autism. Throughout my time in public service, I have met with families who have shared their experiences in dealing with autism, and trying to seek the best possible care for their loved ones with the disorder. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 150 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder. In order to respond to these increases, we need to have a commensurate investment in services and programs for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. I also believe that we should increase our efforts to research autism, so that we better understand the causes and the best treatments for this condition.
In November, I announced a comprehensive plan to address autism. My plan provides nearly $1 billion over five years for autism research, surveillance, awareness, and early identification. I will create an Autism Task Force charged with investigating evidence-based treatments, interventions, and services. We need to know what works and start investing in those efforts. I will also expand access to post-diagnosis care so that once children have been identified as autistic, they receive appropriate evidence-based treatment immediately. No child should experience a delay in receiving services that can improve his or her quality of life. But too often today, children are forced to wait for months for care. I'll also provide funding to school districts and universities to train teachers and other health and social services professionals in how to work most effectively with autistic children, since the number of children with autism in our public schools has skyrocketed in recent years. I'll make sure every young person has a transition plan before they leave high school. I will also ensure that both children and adults with autism have access to the services they need -- including housing, transportation, employment - to live rich and full lives. In all, I will commit $500 million annually to provide services to improve the quality of life for all people living with autism.
This plan builds on my work in the Senate to help individuals and families impacted by autism. Last year, I introduced the Expanding the Promise for Individuals with Autism Act, which would increase the availability of effective treatment, services and interventions for both children and adults living with autism. I was also a cosponsor of the Combating Autism Act, and have worked to secure funding for the research programs authorized by that act.
I hope that today's commemoration will once again allow us to highlight the needs of children, adults, and families impacted by autism, and I look forward to working to continue to raise awareness about autism spectrum disorders.

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Maya Angelou, and 'wedge issues'

Tuesday. Four days until the weekend! Yes, I'm already counting. :D I just cross-posted C.I.'s stuff at the mirror site. I'm posting late and probably everyone is because we were waiting for the snapshot. C.I. called me tonight around six p.m. and said it would be very late and asked that I pass that on and tell everyone they could go ahead and post without it if they wanted. No one wanted to and we're probably all posting late. It's worth it, by the way. C.I.'s covering the veterans healthcare 'expert' testifying before Congress today. Okay, Maya Angelou is one of Betty's favorite writers. I think she's actually Betty's all time favorite. So let's start off with her
"Celebrating Women: A Note from Dr. Maya Angelou:"

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
This is not the first time you have seen Hillary Clinton seemingly at her wits end, but she has always risen, always risen, much to the dismay of her adversaries and the delight of her friends.
Hillary Clinton will not give up on you and all she asks of you is that you do not give up on her.
There is a world of difference between being a woman and being an old female. If you're born a girl, grow up, and live long enough, you can become an old female. But, to become a woman is a serious matter. A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies.
Hillary Clinton is a woman. She has been there and done that and has still risen. She is in this race for the long haul. She intends to make a difference in our country.
She is the prayer of every woman and man who long for fair play, healthy families, good schools, and a balanced economy.She declares she wants to see more smiles in the families, more courtesies between men and women, more honesty in the marketplace. Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to what it can become.
She means to rise.
She means to help our country rise. Don't give up on her, ever.
In fact, if you help her to rise, you will rise with her and help her make this country a wonderful, wonderful place where every man and every woman can live freely without sanctimonious piety, without crippling fear.
Rise Hillary.
Rise.

Meanwhile, is this for real? Supposedly this is a speech Bambi gave today but I think it's got to be an April Fool's Day joke:

It is time to end the exploitation of farmed animals on American soil. It is time to give up hamburgers as we have given up slave-holding. It is time for us to end our dependence on milkshakes as we must end our dependence on foreign oil. It is time to acknowledge that the fishing industry does damage to our oceans far beyond that of emissions from our coal burning power plants. I invite all Americans to join me in a bright future free of cruelty and exploitation, free of the blood of innocents killed only for our pleasure.

I think it's a joke and that he didn't really say that. But be like Amy Goodman and repeat stuff as true when you don't know if it is. Be a Goodman for a day and tell everyone "Obama's a vegan now." :D

Bambi's sendings gays to the back of the bus, not just throwing them under it, these days. Same-sex marriage? Bambi has 'real' issues to deal with, so just f**k off already and leave the prince alone! This is from Dylan Vox' "This Gay Week in Review: Ellen DeGeneres, Barack Obama:"

If you're thinking of speaking about gay marriage, just don't do it around Barack Obama. The Democratic delegate count front runner Obama, who has long been a proponent for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, this week referred to gay marriage as a "wedge issue" in political campaigning.
While speaking to rally attendees in Medford, Oregon Obama stated, "The planet is, you know, potentially being destroyed. We've got a war that is bankrupting us. And we're going to argue about gay marriage? I mean, that doesn't make any sense."
Obama has been losing ground to Hillary Clinton in recent polls, and according to many gay political advocates has made very few efforts to connect with the gay community.
It remains to be seen whether or not he will "wedge" out Clinton for the party nomination.
Also losing ground is Obama’s top supporter Oprah Winfrey, who was crushed in a recent popularity poll by out and proud Ellen DeGeneres. The poll on AOL Television received over 1.35 million votes, and fans decidedly named Ellen as the number one talk show hostess.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the only "unity" in that campaign is 'uniting' behind an ego-maniac who's not qualified to be president. He has repeatedly attacked gays in his lousy campaign. He's a disgusting, opportunist liar.

I got an e-mail from Beau about the "HUBdate" that's been up here lately. He wasn't complaining, he was glad to see it. He said he always wants to visit Hillary's website but feels bad because he doesn't have any money to give (he voted for her in his state's primary and is rooting for her now, that makes him a supporter). So with it up here, he gets to have an overview of what's going on with the campaign without any guilt. So that's great and I hadn't thought about that. But last week, during the roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin, Jim brought up a story in the New York Times about the campaigns that was oohing and awwweing over Bambi's links onlines. So we were all talking and those of us in the evening can post the HUBdate. (It's not up each morning when C.I.'s doing the morning entries at The Common Ills). By going with the HUBdate, we're able to post something that includes lots of links for Hillary. We can't control what other people do online but we can use our own forums wisely so that's why you've been seeing it at community sites. Here's today's "HUBdate: Strong on the Economy:"

Strong On The Economy: Hillary outlined her plans yesterday to provide tax relief to American families that could surpass $100 billion annually. She also called for immediate action to strengthen the regulation of financial markets and said the Bush administration’s proposal "comes late and falls short."
Yesterday in PA: Hillary hosted a roundtable discussion with middle class voters in Harrisburg, PA and held a "Solutions for the Pennsylvania Economy" Rally in Fairless Hills, PA. One supporter's reaction: "We love her so much. She has the experience and the heart that will put our country back to where it needs to be." Read more.
Polling Prowess in Kentucky: In a new poll, Hillary builds an impressive 2 to 1 lead over Sen. Obama among Democratic voters in the Bluegrass State, garnering support from 58 percent of those interviewed. View Results.
Not So Fast: An editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette argues "the Clinton-Obama race still has a way to run" - "Mrs. Clinton says she will fight on - and she's right to do so...Simply put, this fight isn't over." Read more.
For the Long Run: Hillary reinforced her commitment to ensuring that the votes of remaining states count. She told a TV station from Billings, MT: "My take on it is a lot of Senator Obama's supporters want to end this race because they don't want people to keep voting...That's just the opposite of what I believe. We want people to vote. I want the people of Montana to vote, don't you?" Read more.
Setting the Record Straight: Today’s NYT features an op-ed written by former White House staff members traveling with Hillary to Bosnia in 1996: "The video of Hillary's arrival on the tarmac in Bosnia may be great theater and easy fodder for commentators, but it shouldn’t be allowed to obscure what else was happening on this important trip when the cameras weren't rolling." Read more.
Today On The Trail: Hillary continues her swing through the Keystone State with a tour of MJ Donovan Company in Philadelphia, and hosts "Solutions for the American Economy" events in Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre, and Erie.
The Hillary I Know: Dr. Maya Angelou describes why she continues to stand alongside Hillary. "Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to what it can become. She means to rise. She means to help our country rise. Don’t give up on her, ever." Read here.
On Tap: Hillary will wrap up her Economic Tour of Pennsylvania with an economic summit in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Obama v. Obama: Sen. Obama on the primary: "good thing" or "Bataan death march"? Read more.

Now are you ready for Iraq? A lot of double-talk about healthcare took place today. C.I. sets you straight in "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, April 1, 2008. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, the US military announces another death, the US Congress gets a song and dance on PTSD and TBI, they do learn that 12 months IS TOO SOON for redeployment, the puppet Nouri tries to claim sucess while begging the victors to return items, and more.


Starting with war resisters, Cherise Ryan (World On the Web) zooms in on war resister Phil McDowell who is not in Candad and cites a Washington Post report on McDowell in explaining how he enlisted following 9/11, deployed to Iraq and made the grade of sergeant, discharged and returned to civilian life only to discover he was being stop-lossed and re-deployed to Iraq. Instead, McDowell decided to seek refugee status in Canada, as many other war resisters have done. Currently, McDowell is among many waiting to find out what the Candidan Parliament will decide this month.

A measure is before it that would grant safe harbor to war resisters. Canada granted that to US war resisters during Vietnam. There's a really bad editorial from a right-wing Canadian paper that keeps popping up everywhere and argues that back then Canada was taking in draft dodgers and there is no draft. (What do you call stop-loss then?) No, there's not a draft but a lot of bloated men who sat out Vietnam in the US via a variety of deferrments sure do love to lie and claim opposition to the illegal war then was all due 'to the draft, man.' We've noted before the damage their lies (one took to inflating his 'service' and 'trauma' from enduring a physical -- he was never drafted, he had a college deferment among other things) do, their bragging, their boasting. It damages the peace movement (provides a nice easy out to avoid working harder) and we've also noted how it continues to damage the cases war resisters are attempting to make in Canada.

So let's review it one more time. During Vietnam, American males could go to Canada and seek asylum. There were two categories "draft dodgers" -- which everyone seems to remember -- and "deserters." A "draft doger" (also known as a "draft resister") was someone who had been called up. A "deserter" was someone already in the service. Canada's asylum then was not conditional upon someone being drafted. Those who were in the military and elected to resist were waived on through the border and welcomed the same way. There was no additional burden placed on them. They were not required, for instance, to prove that, yes, they were in the service, but they had been drafted into it. A male who chose to enlist and then began resisting after he was serving could go to Canada and be granted asylum. Pot apparently smoked the brains of not only our left 'leaders' of that period -- a pot haze is the only thing to explain the repeating of the lies of the draft -- but the Canadian education system failed to educate their citizenry on recent history because an editorial board that wants to argue -- as one did last week and all the right-wing Canadian cites have re-posted it -- that Canada should say "no" to today's war resisters because there was a draft during Vietnam and Canada only took in "draft dodgers" is merely flaunting how ignorant everyone serving on the editorial board is.

Had Canada put in a place a qualifier that said, "We will take war resisters but only those who have seen duty in Vietnam," Canada still would have been swarmed with some of the same war resisters. "Draft dodger" (or "draft resister") or "deserter," both cateogries were welcomed in Canada during Vietnam. That is reality and I'm sorry that the Canadian education system is so poor today. In terms of the US, honestly the same male 'leaders' of the left tripping out on tales of the draft today hurt the movement in many ways back then as well. They'll probably continue to do so when they are in their graves.

Then US president Gerald Ford pardoned Tricky Dick of crimes against the US citizenry, crimes against the US government, crimes against humanity and a great deal more. With the war resisters, he set conditions. Apparently he didn't think Tricky Dick's fat ass could make it through an obstacle course so he just waived Nixon on through. Ford granted war resisters an amnesty . . . . provided they went through a long process and met this criteria and that critieria and then, in the end, were judged to be worthy of the pardon. Having just pardoned the War Criminal Nixon, it was outrageous. Hearing an idiot, post-Ford's death, go on Democracy Now! and brag about Ford's program only explained to you just how much "establishment" is also in the left. In Canada (and I was visiting Canada when that program was announced) there was huge outrage and outcry -- from Canadians as well as US war resisters. Those who resisted the slaughter in Inochina were being asked to leep through hoop after hoop with no guarantee that if they made it through all the hoops they might be pardoned. Much speculation at the time was that it was a trap/trick to get US war resisters back in the United States where they would be tossed in prison. But Ford's program offered the obstacle course to both.

Jimmy Carter followed the Ford presidency. Carter didn't offer anything to deserters. Carter did offer draft resisters a limited asylum.In recent years, a number of war resisters from that era have been arrested while visiting the US. So there's really no excuse for people who lived through that time period to not know the difference. The only excuse is to provide cover for a peace movement that continues to struggle and to provide an excuse for your own inaction. (And to brag about days forty years ago which, let's face it, is all some left 'leaders' have to offer today having willingly been co-opted long ago.) Not grasping the difference, not speaking of that difference between reality then and 'reality' remembered now is hurting US war resisters and someone please throw a pie in the face of the next Baby Boom left male 'leader' who wants to gas bag about the hardships he endured due to the 'draft' that never found him called out because he knew how to game the system. It's the equivalent of fishing tales only damaging and it needs to stop. If you can't pie them, stop the males with, "When did you serve in Vietnam?" And when they stutter that they didn't, ask them how they got it. When they start to offer the tale of that 'invasive' physical, stop them and repeat, "I asked how you were able to avoid serving since you didn't go to Canada and you didn't go to Vietnam?" If one claims "I went underground" ask him, "From the time you turned 18 until Vietnam was over?" Because, no, the bulk of the 'leaders' jaw boning today did not go 'underground' and when a few did, it had nothing to do with the illegal war but everything to do with being kicked to the curb by the peace movement. But that's the story they never want to tell.

Their efforts at boasting stroke their own egos but they do not help today's war resisters. If you are interested in helping today's war resisters, you need to remember that the measure before the Canadian Parliament is supposed to be addressed early this month. You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


"Post-traumatic stress disorder is among the most common diagnoses made by the Veterans Health Administration. Of the approximately 300,000 veterans from Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom who have accessed VA health care, nearly 20 percent –60,000 veterans- have received a preliminary diagnosis of PTSD. The VA also continues to treat veterans from Vietnam and other conflicts who have PTSD." That was how US House Rep Michael H. Michaud today opened the Subcommittee on Health that he chairs. The title of the hearing was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Treatment and Research: Moving Ahead Toward Recovery and there were five panels to the hearing.

The first panel revolved around the testimony of US Army Director, Divisions of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's Col Charles W. Hoge. That's the bulk of our focus because there were enough revelations and lies in that one panel to fill a book.



US House Rep John T. Salazar spoke of a veteran who had PTSD and was being denied benefits, explained that the veteran struggles to get the help promised and to navigate the VA system while working part-time at a Subway. Hoge didn't seem overly concerned. US House Rep Shelley Berkley spoke of speaking with a lifetime friend who was also a Vietnam veteran and shared with her that basically it was the exact same problems happening all over again. Hoge didn't seem overly concernced.

What Hoge did seem concerned with was repeatedly intoning "New England Jounal of Medicine" and trying out catch phrases. On the former, Hoge published. We're not his parents, we honestly don't give a damn. On the latter, considering all the questions he couldn't answer, a little less time attempting to manufacture sound bytes and a little more time spent doing the job that US tax payers pay him to do would be appreciated.

Hoge had a big problem and the implication was that the press was the problem. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) gets too much attention, he felt. And even worse, he felt, there is mild TBI and no one wants to talk about that. When you see a story, he insisted, reported, they always go with the most extreme cases of TBI. What about mild TBI, Hoge wanted to know, what about mild TBI?

No doubt some people were grumbling, "Damn press." But the reality is, the press didn't push TBI. The Pentagon last year -- check any briefing -- repeatedly pushed TBI. Over and over. They are the ones, the generals they trotted out, who stated TBI was the signature wound of the Iraq War. Few in the press have any medical background. The easiest thing in the world is to toss out numbers and make assertions to them. If Hoge feels TBI's gotten too much attention from the press, he doesn't need to blame the press, he needs to blame the Pentagon. He was also blaming the press for the use of the term "TBI" and, no, the press did not invent the term.

Mild TBI, he insisted, was nothing more than a concussion, nothing more, he appeared to think he was really cute here, than having your bell rung -- like a boxer! But that damn press is going around chanting "TBI! TBI!" Again, check the transcripts of any Pentagon press conference (via video link or with all participants present). Who is introducing the term and topic each time, it's the Pentagon. If Hoge wants to point a finger he needs to point it at his own branch of government and not at the press. But he was more comfortable whining that, in the press, "it's often not made clear that the vast majority of those soldiers, service members, labeled as TBI injury have had concussions." Again, take it up with your own branch of government and quit blaming the press.

He did acknowledge there were also categories of "moderate and severe traumatic brain injury" but he wasn't interested in addressing that. He just wanted to repeatedly focus on mild TBI. "A lot of concern lately," he grumbled, "about mild traumatic brain injury and potential longterm effects of mild traumatic brain injury," when all it is is a concussion with symptoms such as "headaches, irrtability . . . concentration problems." He then wanted to state that mild TBI was most likely PTSD masking as mild TBI.

Apparently there is some trouble telling the difference between the two. Golly, if only there was a way to screen for PTSD and TBI. If only someone had worked on that . . . Oh, wait they have. On the first day of Iraq Veterans Against the War Winter Soldier Investigation a panel was held entitled The Crisis in Veterans' Healthcare. Among those speaking were veteran Adrienne Kinne who spoke not just of being a member and discharging in 1998 and then re-enlisting after 9-11, but of her time as a civilian following her second discharge and specifically, from that time period, of being a research assistant at a VA where she helped on a group that devised a way to screen for PTSD and TBI in such a way that there would be no confusion in diagnosing. Here's her testimony on what happened after they had study ready to be implemented.


Adrienne Kinne: And then they went to go to the next step, to actually make this happen. And I was actually on a conference call when someone said, "Wait a second. We can't start this screening process. Do you know that if we start screening for TBI there will be tens of thousands of soldiers who will screen positive and we do not have the resources available that would allow us to take care of these people so we cannot do the screening." And their rationale was that medically, medical ethics say if you know someone has a problem, you have to treat them. So since they didn't have the resources to treat them, they didn't want to know about the problem.

So Hoge, so important at Walter Reed, so informed, wanted to boo-hoo to Congress today that misdiagnosis is taking place but his branch of the government is the very branch that prevented the needed screening from taking place. The denial took place because the military didn't want to responsible for the costs resulting from TBI being identified, as Kinne noted, identify an illness and you are ethically bound to treat it. Last month, Gregg Zoroya (USA Today) reported on this issue noting:
For more than two years, the Pentagon delayed screening troops returning from Iraq for mild brain injuries because officials feared veterans would blame vague ailments on the little-understood wound caused by exposure to bomb blasts, says the military's director of medical assessments.

Which would appear to be what Hoge was doing with his dismissive listing of symptoms such as "headaches." Amazing that a doctor wouldn't cite the ringing in the ears and hearing loss, isn't it? Zoroya noted, "In a January 2006 report, scientists at the federal Defense and Veteran Brain Injury Center urged that troops be screend for TBI 'immediately'." January 2006. It's 2008. And Hoge wants to act like that never happened and thinks the problem is the press which, by his accounting, appears to have invented the term TBI and then alarmed the country falsely.


And wanted to assert that it is "very difficult to do screening and know with accuracy what the cause of the symptoms are." Yes, it is very difficult to screen for PTSD and TBI when the study for that has been buried. Since Hoge was mentioning and alluding to money, research grants, research he was working on, someone in Congress should have asked about the study Kinne worked on and why, instead of Hoge 'developing' one, the one already developed still wasn't in place? Why is the tax payer expected to pay Hoge to devise a screening when, in fact, one already exists and has been buried?

Why isn't that screening being used right now if Hoge really believes that, "There is a risk that [veterans] might get misdiagnosed with having braing injury" when it's really "PTSD or depression." When a screening has already been devised why is he asking for more money to develop his own screening while claiming it's "very difficult to do screening and know with accuracy what the causes of the symptoms are"?

He did allow that "there was a very strong" relationship between experiencing a concussion in Iraq and then developing PTSD ("almost half" went on to develop PTSD). He also stated that "One of the issues with multiple deployments and the dwell time for soldiers when they've come back, we've learned from the research that we've done, [is] that 12 months is not enough time for soldiers to reset and go back for another deployment."

That's a very strong statement and it's one he would attempt to back off from when he was questioned about it later. At at time when the military repeatedly sends troops on second and third and fourth and fifth deployments to Iraq, if the medical doctor is stating twelve months is insufficient to reset, then there is a problem and that needs to be explored.

Most didn't. Rep Berkley did in her follow up questioning.

Berkely: Not enough time between tours of duty, did I hear you correctly?

Hoge: Yes . . . What we've found . . . Yes. That's what I said . . . The 12 months is insuf- . . . appears to be insufficient.

All ". . ." in Hoge's statements above indicate pauses. That's not noting that he's been edited. That was his stumbling response when someone rightly pressed him on the biggest news to emerge in the hearing.

Berkely asked him to "correct me if I'm wrong," about his statement and what's actually taking place, "but many are being called back in less that 12 months." She wanted to know if that was his "understanding as well?" And what wisdom did Hoge offer? "I don't know."

He'd told Congress that twelve months was insufficient time to redeploy, to reset and yet the US military continues to send to redeploy troops in twelve months or less. And Congress has been repeatedly told prior that this is a non-issue and certainly not an issue that Congress needs to address, told by witnesses trotted up before Congress. From the Feb. 28 snapshot, about the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Fiscal Year 2009 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Deptartment of the Army:


US House Rep Patrick Murphy was also concerned about readiness. He wanted to know specifically that, regardless of any upcoming announcements, would the length of tours be reduced. On Tuesday of this week, Casey and Geren appeared before the Senate's Armed Service Committee also offering testimony on the 2009 Fiscal Year. From that hearing, the only thing that the media picked up on was that tours in Iraq and Afghanistan would (maybe) drop from fifteen months to twelve months. (Some outlets picked up on the stop-loss issue, stop-loss will continue but they 'hope' to drop the numbers from 8,000 to 7,000 -- ignored was Senator Jim Webb's questioning of Casey which produced Casey's claim that the UCMJ had been applied to Defense Department contractors serving in Iraq.) Murphy wanted to know specifically with the Afghanistan War still going on, an incomplete serach for Osama bin laden, with "the majority of our military in Iraq," what happens "if we're still bogged down refereeing a civil war in Iraq?" And when Petraeus appears before Congress, Murphy wanted to know, "What happens" in terms of the reduction of tours of duty "if he comes back to us and says we need a 'pause' not a 'drawdown.' Casey maintained that regardless of a "a brief pause, as you say, that will not impact our ability to come off of 15 months . . . the most important thing for us to do is to come off 15 months."

Murphy noted that "we're begging for about 7,000 troops for Afghanistan from our allies" and wondered if Congress needed to "mandate that if you deploy for 15 months, you're home for 15 months, if you deploy for 12 months, you're home for 12 months"? Casey wasn't keen on that idea and claimed it would interfere with the military's ability to do their job. Which makes the 'promise' Casey and Geren made earlier this week seem even more hollow (even more hollow than Casey claimed, in today's hearings, his experiences in the seventies were).

Hoge admitted today that 12 months wasn't enough. When he was pressed on that statement, he attempted to back track and Congress has repeatedly been told not to worry about this issue, that the military is handling it. General Casey even said that for Congress to address it would tie the military's hands. If Congress isn't going to address this issue, who will?

Repeating from Hoge's testimony today, "One of the issues with multiple deployments and the dwell time for soldiers when they come back, we've learned from the research that we've done, [is] that 12 months is not enough time for soldiers to reset and go back for another deployment."

Berkely wasn't done with this issue even with Hoge attempting to avoid her questions. She offered an example from her own state (Nevada) where a man served in Iraq, came home and was informed he would be redeployed. The man "told his grandmother he'd rather kill himself than go back" and the military's 'medical' response was to supply him with Prozac and put on him suicide watch while they redeployed him anyway. Once in Iraq, they took him off suicide watch "and the day he was taken off suicide watch, he killed himself. It seems to me that we should be doing a better job of screening people" and grasping when they can't handle "the strain of war. Do you agree with me?"

"I do," replied Hoge before going into a lengthy blah-blah-blah leading Berkley to interrupt. "Forgive me for interuppting," she stated, "but don't you think if the military put this young man on suicide watch," he wasn't up to being redeployed? Hoge attempted to beg off by declaring that "I can't comment on the specifics" before going on to comment by insisting that he was sure "they had good reasons for doing that." It's interesting how Hoge can't comment on something but can go on to declare that he just knows there was good reason for the actions the military took. Here's reality on suicide watch (and the snapshots late because I had six different doctors walk me through it over the phone this afternoon), you're merely 'stable' at best. You may be having a good day, you may be pretending to have a good day. But the military has none of the transition phases that would take place in civilian treatment where you'd have a buddy for a set number of hours, the way someone in a civilian clinical system would. In the military, you're on it or you're off it. And it's a joke when you're on it because nothing's really done other than a superficial assessment of whether to continue it (which is nothing but regular eye checks, someone making a visible assessment and that someone isn't always a doctor but just someone assigned to take a look at X time and determine that the subject hasn't killed him or herself). In a civilian clinical setting, there are stages of transition from suicide watch (and there can be transitions to it the first time, but once played on it, you're more likely to immediately be placed back on that stage should warning signs appear). There is nothing like that system in the military.

Hoge may want to assert that he is sure there was good reason to take the man off suicide watch; however, since he's already noted that he doesn't know the case, he can't assert that with any real authority and that should have been pointed out to him. He should have also been required to explain's the military's process of suicide watch because those not familiar with the term may assume "they're doing something!" and those only familiar with how it works in a clincial setting may assume the military is doing something similar when, in fact, they are not.

Hoge was much more interested in passing off PTSD as some sort of normal evolution process in service members stationed in combat. He wanted to stress that the problems, such as sleep deprevation, were actually "needed" in combat and considering that he avoided the biggest problem with seeking treatment, that statement may have explained more than he realizes. We'll come back to that.

He couldn't stop pushing his own need for clinical trials and research (again, a screening has already been developed and only a glory hog would be asking for money to work on a new one while ignoring one that's ready to go straight into clinical trials). Psychotherapy and medical therapy had "huge gaps" and he thinks "the gaps remain." It seemed less a testimony and more of a testimonial funding pitch for his own work. "Within my own institute," he declared, "I think one of the key studies we're planning, we've done a lot of work at helping solders transition with a program called 'battle mind.' It didn't have the effectiveness we'd like to see, so my team is working on developing an advanced version of that that we'd like to test." Again, he's asking for money. He's asking for money to play with, to waste, when a screening the military has buried already exists.

What has his research produced? Nada. Nothing. He bragged that it had produced "recommendations" in three areas.

* There needs to modifications to our post deployment screening to ensure that all symptoms are addressed.

*There needs to be risk communication/education because he thinks "even just the term mild Traumatic Brain Injury, which is synonmous with concussion" is "misfortunate because 'concussion' is better understood and sounds less severe than mild TBI."

* Getting the word out. He wants to be sure that it's not "blow[n] off" the way he says "soldiers tend to do and athletes as well."

That's what his 'research' has produced, the verbal equivalent of a pamphlet. Now he wants more money. For more 'research.' Notice who gets the problem pushed off on them: the service members.

His laughable 'research' is junk-science that exists to place the blame for the failure of the medical military leaders and the military leaders period off on service members. If service members are "blowing it off," why would that be? His 'treatment' is a pamphlet for service members and avoids the issue of why there is a reluctance to go for screenings in the battle zone and why PTSD is overlooked in the battlezone -- and why both takes place outside the battle zone. The commanders are not experiencing combat. This is a remote control war for them and they're safely hidden away from all the battles and all the injuries and deaths. The closest they get to 'witnessing' is some footage a predator drone transmits. As such, they dismiss PTSD. Want to change the way it's seen? That's really not a medical issue demanding research, but if that's your goal, address the commanders. The military follows chain of command. If there's a problem in the ranks, it goes to the signals from the top. Hoge can mass produce as many pamphlets (based on his 'research') as he wants. That won't change the climate that's set at the top. Why is it set at the top that way? As he confessed, PTSD has its benefits in combats. Hyper-aware, hyper-on-edge, those can be used by the commanders. The problem is not within ranks, the problem is at the top. But just as Hoge tried to blame the press for what officials and generals had done at the Pentagon, he tried to blame the enlisted for the attitudes towards PTSD.

His attempting to "switch terminology" was noted by subcommittee chair Michaud who stated that it sounded like it might "shift the burden to the veterans." Hoge wasn't interested in that. It became obvious that all Hoge was interested in was selling his 'research' for more funding. It would be money wasted. That his 'research' has produced nothing more than the 'findings' one would come across in a veneral disease pamphlet (something the military has long produced) is appalling. He had the nerve to state the wasn't "seeing a change in perceptions" of PTSD or TBI and blame that on the ranks as well. Again, you want to change perception, you address the issue at the top. He tried to blame the veterans for the failures of the system and bemoan that there was "no way to force them" to get screenings once they left. That led to an embarrassing exchange. On Congress' part, we'll assume the questions were well meaning and they were seeking information. On Hoge's part it was more blather. PTSD is not a gun shot wound bleeding. All patients have the right to refuse treatment. That's a point Hoge never raised while 'explaining' why he didn't think screenings could be forced on anyone. It was an embarrassing exchange and, again, Congress seemed unfamiliar with the concept of 'informed consent.' That Hoge also did was appalling since he is a medical doctor. But the issue HAS NEVER BEEN, despite Hoge's claims otherwise, that a large number are refusing treatment for PTSD; the issue has been and remains that they are not getting the treatment they need and want and are often being told that their benefits do not cover it. Instead Hoge wanted to tell Congress (omitting a patient's right to refuse any treatment and informed consent) that the problem's really that a patient has to want to get better. That was patronizing, insulting and ignorant. On the latter, to 'get better,' one has to be aware there's a problem and, again, from the top of chain on down, a lot of time's been spent convincing veterans and active service members that there's not a problem and that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Hoge didn't want to address that.

Let's go to Rep Berkley again because she noted that she was hearing from doctors in Nevada treating veterans that the government was either not paying or being very slow with payments. Hoge had no response to that. Since the government has outsourced treatment (like they've outsourced everything else) this is a serious issue. But it's not a new one and it's why Elaine stopped trying to get payment for the veterans she works with as early as the end of 2003. It's why FactCheck.org has blood on its hands for stating in 2004 that the White House was fully funded veterans care -- as they rejected US Senator John Kerry's on the money claims that veterans care was a disaster and becoming more so. FactCheck.org is not a medical organization, has no medical training but was happy to LIE for the White House on the eve of the 2004 election. Everything veterans face today, all the problems with healthcare, are in part a result of FactCheck.org saying "Liar! Liar!" when John Kerry rightly noted you can't fight two wars -- increasing the number of veterans needing assistance -- and not increase the monies being spent on veterans care. The monies are not being paid to civilian doctors and they are either doing what Elaine's done for years (pro bono) or they're refusing to take on patients. That's reality. Hoge played dumb.

Berkely had asked about a specific suicide, as noted before, and he had no knowledge of it but wanted to insist that everything was done for the man. Whenever he was pressed on funds, he would attempt to beg off and then insist that the funds were being spent on research and spent well. One exchange found him declaring, "I'm not the person to comment on the expenditures of funds." But of course he went on to declare that research was adequately funded. You're either the person to comment or not. You can't have it both ways.

He was happy to blather on and on about "the grant process" and "my hope" and "clinical trials" (to produce more pamphlets?). He wasn't able to deal with reality. Such as homeless veterans which was a topic raised at length. Were they suffering grom PTSD, shouldn't this be addressed? Hoge's response in full was a flat "Yes, sir." Had he not been begging for money, he might not have even offered that. (The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs will hold a hearing on homeless veterans April 9th -- hopefully, they will have someone more qualified to testify to them.)

There were other hearings in Congress today but we're focusing on the first panel because (a) veterans healthcare is largely ignored and (b) if it's not addressed while the illegal war drags on, it won't be addressed. As Vietnam veterans saw after that illegal war ended, the US Congress and the public would rather address anything else. The 'weary' attitude already evident among so many will only set in futher when the Iraq War ends. Winter Soldier didn't get much press to begin with and what press it did ignored veterans healthcare. The US Congress also held a hearing today on oil and since 'cost of war' is a huge talking point for 'corporatist peace groups' rushing to elect Democrats this fall, you can be sure 'independent' media will steer themselves towards that instead. Probably work in something psuedo 'pithy' about Shell's announcement today that they are eager to 'help' Iraqis. They are eager to help themselves to Iraqi oil. Big difference. For more on the topic see The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Veterans Healthcare."

In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded two police officers and two civilians, 2 Baghdad mortar attacksthat wounded five people and a Mosul roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 5 "Awakening" council members and left three more wounded. This may be the same bombing that the US military refers to in Ninewah Province today but they state eight were killed (three wounded).

Shootings?

Reuters notes 6 "Awakening" council members were shot dead in Shirqat.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

Late yesterday, the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division – Center Soldier was killed as a result of an improvised explosive device attack south of Baghdad March 23.
The Soldier died of his wounds at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany March 29."

Meanwhile CBS and AP report that puppet of the occuaption Nouri al-Maliki is trying to call the assault he carried out on Basra at the US government's request a "success" -- this despite the fact that he had his lunch handed to him via Moqtada al-Sadr. al-Maliki's announcement is made all the laughable by the fact that Tahsin al-Sheikhli wants some publicity. The person in charge of Iraq's security was kidnapped last Thursday and he rushes to tell Abigail Hauslohner (Time magazine) all about it: "There were 40 of them. My guards engaged them [with gunfired] for 45 minutes. Part of the house caught fire. They destroyed it." Apparently, al-Sheikhli is going for either the sympathy factor or the "missing blonde" aspect. Neither shore up al-Maliki's absurd claim of having a "success." In the real world, Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the Sadr City section of Baghdad remains roped off by US and Iraqi military, notes that the battle over Basra is seen as a win for al-Sadr and quotes ICG's Joost Hiltermann stating, "The Iraqi government looks silly in the face of their ardent statements." Yes, they do. Especially when James Hider (Times of London) reports that the "increasingly isolated Prime Minister" has "asked gunmen to return the 50 government cars and armoured vehicles they captured from his forces during a week of fighting that left close to 500 people dead."

Fadel and Warren P. Strobel report on the Iranian who helped broker the peace arrangement over the weekend, and note, "Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, who helped U.S.-backed Iraqi leaders negotiate a deal with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr to stop the fighting in Iraq's largely Shiite south, is named on U.S. Treasury Department and U.N. Security Council watch lists for alleged involvement in terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear and missile technology. His role as peacemaker, which McClatchy first reported Sunday, underscores Iran's entrenched political power and its alliances in Iraq, according to analysts." So the winners from the assault were al-Sadr and Iran. That was not the intent when the US government asked for the assault. It was supposed to shore up al-Maliki's non-existant credentials to be leaders. It only exposed as an inept puppet right before US Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker gear up to make the rounds of Congress and deliver their 'progress' reports.

CNN notes that official figures for Iraqi deaths in March (always an undercount) show an increase after a decline had seemed the big talking point for months.

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