Rub a dub dub Bambi & the boys in the tub

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- CHICAGO.

 

FADED BOX OFFICE SEMI-STAR AND TV CUT UP GEORGE CLOONEY CAME OUT TODAY STATING, "I'VE BEEN AN OBAMA GUY FOR A YEAR AND A HALF AND I'M VERY EXCITED BY HIS CAMPAIGN."  REMEMBER, WHEN CHARLOTTE RAE'S FORMER CO-STAR SPEAKS . . . AMERICA SNOOZES.  OR ELSE DEMANDS A REFUND FOR OCEAN'S 12.

 

IN OTHER NEWS, CHET CULVER CONTACTED THESE REPORTERS TODAY.  WHEN WE SAW HIM ON OUR CALLER I.D. WE GROANED.  "GUYS!  GUESS WHAT!  I'M GOING TO ENDORSE OBAMA!"

 

AS POLITELY AS POSSIBLE, THESE REPORTERS EXPLAINED TO GOVERNOR CULVER THAT HIS STATE ALREADY HAD THEIR DAY, THEIR CAUCUS AND THE PRESS NEEDED AT LEAST 4 MORE YEARS BEFORE THEY COULD STOMACH IOWA AGAIN.

 

"B-B-BUT, DON'T YOU LOVE ME NO MORE?  DON'T YOU CARE WHAT IOWANS THINK AND DO AND WHERE WE GET OUR HAIR CUT AND WHERE WE GET OUR GROCERIES AND WHAT WE THINK THE REAL MEANING IS  AND . . ."

 

"TUNNEL," WE LIED AND HUNG UP.

 

JUST IN TIME TO CATCH A CALL FROM BAMBI HIMSELF WHO WANTED TO KNOW, "DOES BIG TONY LOOK LIKE HE'S EATING?"

 

YES, HE DOES!  BIG TONY REZKO, BAMBI ROLL DOG, APPEARED TODAY IN FEDERAL COURT SPORTING SOME DON JOHNSON WHISKERS AND WEARING A SMASHING ORANGE JUMP SUIT. 

 

"DID HE MENTION ME?"

 

NOT YET, WE REPLIED, BUT HE WASN'T ON THE WITNESS STAND.

 

 

 

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

 

Starting with war resistance.  Chuck Wiley is a US war resister currently in Canada.  He and his wife (also in the military) left after Wiley served in the Persian Gulf and realized he couldn't take part in an illegal war.  In doing so, he gave up a lengthy military career.  "Drastic and difficult measures" is how the The Whig Standard characterizes it in their editorial "Welcome U.S. war resisters" advocating that the Canadian Parliament take action on the part of the war resisters and pass the motion for safe harbor put forward by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration:

 

Canada should welcome these combat refugees without hesitation.        
Most Canadians recognize that the conflict in Iraq is an unjust war. That's why former prime minister Jean Chretien opted to fight the war on terror in Afghanistan, not Iraq. Chretien knew invading Iraq was unjustifiable and that there were some places one shouldn't follow even a close ally.          
Some will argue that men and women like Wiley knew when they enlisted that some day they might find themselves in combat; that it would be their sworn duty to fight on behalf of their country.          
But Bush, as the American commander-in-chief, abused the trust of his military personnel. We should not send them back to face further injustice.        

 

Reality check -- where is independent media?  Matty Rothschild could weigh in on Super Duper Tuesday at The Progressive.  Katrina vanden Heuvel at The Nation is stomping her feet and insisting that "Howard Dean and the state parties need to head off a situation in which back-room deals determine the Democratic nominee."   Where are they on war resistance?  It's not as if they're shy about writing about governments or other countries.  But independent media -- print and broadcast -- has shown no interest in this story.  In November the Canadian Supreme Court refused to weigh in.  The Canadian Parliament is the only answer and there is a window of time for passage.  But it's not 'pressing' apparently.  And let's not forget Professor Patti who, apparently flipping through the latest People magazine yet again, manages to write about Britney Spears but not one damn word about war resisters.  Professor Patti's a law professor and surely the latest on Spears is more pressing than granting refugee status to resisters of an illegal war.

 

Unlike them, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada.  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 Josh Randall, Robby Keller, 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, 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).

 

 

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

 

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.

Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.

Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.

Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.

In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.

Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

 

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."  As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers.

 

Turning to Iraq.  UK MTV News reports, "Angelina Jolie has made a surprise visit to Iraq in her role as a UN goodwill ambassador.  The gorgeous actress touched down in the Baghdad today to raise awareness of the 2 million refugees displaced in the war-torn Middle Eastern country."  Video of Jolie being interviewed by Arwa Damon (CNN) here and transcript of the interview here.  Jolie explains, "Well I came to the region about 6 months ago, I first went to Syria because I work with U.N.H.C.R. and there are 1.5 million refugees in Syria alone from Iraq and while I was there, I went inside and met with some internally displaced people.  And this trip is to get a better picture of the internally displaced people and to discuss with the local government, with our government, with the NGOs and with local people, the situation and to try to understand what is happening, because there are over 2 million internally displaced people and there doesn't seem to be a real coherent plan to help them and there's lots of good will and lot's of discussion -- but there seem to be a lot of uh -- just a lot of talk at the moment and a lot of pieces need to be put together."  Jolie goes on to note that more than four million Iraqi refugees exist and, of the four million, two million are internally displace with an estimate that the latter includes 58% under the age of the twelve.  Note that it's Angelina Jolie talking about the issue which we will get back to later in the snapshot.  The Iraqi Red Crescent Organization explains, "Pregnant mothers and young children suffer particular hardships and health risks as a result of the instability and displacement of the war.  Electricity shortages, insufficient clean water, deteriorating health services and worsening living conditions have led to a doubling of the child mortality rate since 1990.  Chronic child malnutrition has reached 21% of the population." In addition, they note of the internal refugees, "Some families have been forced out of their homes as a result of the sectarian realignment that has affected many areas, and many have had their living space destroyed as a result of the armed conflict.  Families fleeing the violence take immediate shelter wherever they can find it, sometimes in areas of uncertain safety, too often with limited access to clean water."

 

As Jolie calls attention to the internal refugees, new developments emerge on the external refugees.  Working from AP and AFP wire reports, the Taipei Times reports the numbers are yet again rising in Iraqis fleeing Iraq and going to Syria: "A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), citing Syrian immigration officials, said that late last month, an average of 1,200 Iraqis came to Syria ever day compared with around 700 who returned."  As before, the ones who go back to Iraq are not returning due to the 'safety' myth, they are doing so because they have exhausted their funds or are unable to receive visas (or have them extended).  And while the UN was looking at externam refugees, Reuters reports the Iraqi Red Crescent has found the same trend among the internally displaced, "Iraqi officials have been eager to stress that displaced families, who fled across Iraq or to other countries because of fierce clashes between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Muslims, were coming back in large numbers as security improved. But the IRC's report for January, seen by Reuters on Thursday, said the number of internally displaced people (IDP) returning home had slowed sharply.  The number of registered IDPs fell by 110,000 in October, but dropped by fewer than 3,000 in December, it said." 

 

In what sounds like an attempt to change the dialogue (while actually doing nothing), the puppet government in Baghdad is making noises about 'help' on the way.  IRIN reports that Ali Shaalan, of the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration's planning directorate, is announcing "compounds" will be construction "nationwide" that will provide 'homes' to the displaced and he declares, "We are still at the drawing-board phase for residential compounds to be built over 50,000 square metres, scattered nationwide.  We expect to complete this phase in about a month.  So far we've managed to buy land in only seven provinces including Missan, Karbala, Basra and Thi Qar; we are planning to buy more land nationwide."  Drawing-board?  Yeah.  And note that homes will be "compounds."  The UNHCR report is entitled [PDF format warning] "UNHCR Syria Update on Iraqi Refugees."  The report offers the estimate of 1.5 million Iraqi refugees residing in Syria and that the "UNHCR has registered over 153,516 Iraqi refugees (53% male, 47% female).  18,969 registered since 2007 are classified as victims of torture/violence in Iraq.  21,546 registered since 2007 have an important medical condition.  2,654 registered since 2007 are considered to be women at risk."  The report also notes, "The Office is following up to secure access to 50 Iraqi women in Douma Prison, and Iraqi Girls (12-17 years old) in the Juvenile and Rehabilitation Centre.  The majority of the women are charged because of their involvement in prostitution acts, and the majority of the girls are survivors of SGBV including rape and forced prostitution."  Those who turn to prostitution are then at risk for deportation because the report outlines that prostitution, "forring documents" and "petty crimes" are among the crimes that can lead to deportation in Syria.  The Syrian government has now implemented a policy where visas are only valid for three months. 

 

 

RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"The numbers"
"the 'fighting' kucinich"
"Dennis Kucinich puts impeachment off the table"
"About impeachment . . ."
"Reverend Irene Moore"
"Letter to an Old Sell Out"
"Bambi implosion"
"Banned from Democracy Now!"
"THIS JUST IN! KICKED OFF THE DN! SET!"

 

---

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.