Saturday, March 29, 2008

Leahy embarrasses himself again

 
ON THE HEELS OF HIS CRY FOR HILLARY CLINTON TO DROP OUT OF THE DEMOCRATIC RACE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION, THESE REPORTERS CAUGHT UP WITH SENATOR "PADDY" LEAHY TO GET HIS THOUGHTS ON THE MATTER.
 
"WELL, I JUST THINK THERE'S NO ONE BETTER TO BE PRESIDENT THAN BAMBI OBAMA," LEAHY EXPLAINED. 
 
BECAUSE OF HIS RECORD, THESE REPORTERS ASKED CAUSING LEAHY TO BURST OUT LAUGHING.  AFTER THE OLD MAN GOT HIS BREATH BACK, HE SIGHED.
 
"WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, I COULDN'T SUPPORT THOSE UPPITY NEGROES, YOU KNOW LIKE JOHNNY MATHIS.  ALWAYS IN YOUR FACE WITH THEIR BLACK SKIN.  BUT THEN ONE DAY, I SAW MICK JAGGER AND REALIZED SOME BLACK PEOPLE ARE OKAY."
 
WHEN THESE REPORTERS POINTED OUT THAT MICK JAGGER WAS A WHITE MAN LEAHY'S MOUTH DROPPED.
 
"WITH THOSE LIPS?" HE ASKED IN DISBELIEF.
 
"WELL, ALL I KNOW IS," LEAHY SAID, "AMERICA HAS WRONGED THE NEGRO MAN AND WE OWE IT TO THE NEGRO MAN TO MAKE HIM PRESIDENT.  IS HE QUALIFIED?  NO.  BUT, TO BE HONEST, I REALLY DON'T CARE FOR THE NEGROES AND IF WE DON'T GET OBAMA INTO THE WHITE HOUSE, NEXT THING YOU KNOW, WE GOT A SECOND NEGRO IN THE SENATE, THEN A THIRD.  I SEE PUTTING OBAMA IN THE WHITE HOUSE AS KIND OF LIKE BUSSING.  GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"
 
LEAHY STOPPED LAUGHING WHEN HE NOTICED THE SHOCK EXPRESSIONS ON THESE REPORTERS' FACES.
 
 
Moving quickly.  War resisters in Canada are attempting to seek asylum.  They need support as a measure is expected to be debated next month.  For those in Canada, the nation's Parliament remains the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, 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 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).  
 
The assault on Basra continues.  CBS and AP report that, added to the mix, "U.S. warplanes bombed sites in the southern Iraqi city of Basra overnight, targeting Shiite militia members".  Robin Stringer and Camilla Hall (Bloomberg News) cite UK Maj Tom Holloway stating that the US bombed "positively identified militia targets".   Of course they did. And, no doubt, Basra being an inhabited city, they also cleared out all civilian populations as well, right?  (No.)   US planes aren't the only ones dropping bombs.  Damien McElroy (Telegraph of London) reported this morning, "British warplanes have carried out bomb attacks on Shi'ite militia positions in Basra, directly entering the fray for the first time since the Iraqi army began the crackdown in the southern city."  Meanwhile Sudarsan Raghavan and Sholnn Freeman (Washington Post) report, "U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in the vast Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, and military officials said Friday that U.S. aircraft bombed militant positions in the southern city of Basra, as the American role in a campaign against party-backed militias appeared to expand."  Appeared to expand?
 
Tuesday, the word was that the British were sitting it out.  And from the start we've heard of 'Commander' Nouri, rushing to Basra, to oversee the battle.  A decisive battle, we were told.  CNN gushed, "Al-Maliki is said to be personally overseeing efforts to restore order in Basra". That was Tuesday.  By Wednesday (when it was obviously a failed effort) the Pentagon was hoping to grab some bragging rights but it was still "It's All Nouri!" -- and meant it in a positive manner.  By Thursday, displeasure wasn't being murmured, it was being stated clearly and on the record such as when  Sudarsan Raghavan and Sholnn Freeman (Washington Post) reported that "independent Kurdish legislator" Mahmoud Othman was quoted declaring, "Everybody is asking, 'Why now?' . . . . People have ill-advised Maliki.  The militias like the timing.  Iran likes the timing.  They want to show there's no progress in Iraq."  It was falling apart before the assault was ever launched. But as late as Thursday, that still wasn't grasped as evidenced by James Glanz (New York Times) reporting how "American officials have presented the Iraqi Army's attempts to secure the port city as an example of its ability to carry out a major operation against the insurgency on its own.  A failure there would be a serious embarrassment for the Iraqi government and for the army, as well as for American forces eager to demonstrate that the Iraqi units they have trained can fight effectively on their own." 
 
Today, Bully Boy declared at the White House that "any government that presumes to represent the majority of people must confront criminal elements or people who think they can live outside the law. And that's what's taking place in Basra and in other parts of Iraq. I would say this is a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq. There have been other defining moments up to now, but this is a defining moment, as well. The decision to move troops -- Iraqi troops into Basra talks about Prime Minister Maliki's leadership."  As usual, it would appear someone left Bully Boy out of the loop.  "Criminal elements" echoes Nouri's statements throughout the week but let's note that if you're going to tackle alleged criminal elements, you give the Parliament a heads up.  This is a turf war.   Wednesday on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show featured McClatchy Newspapers' Leila Fadel.
 
 
Leila Fadel: Well Basra has been spiraling out of control for months now, the British military pulled out late last year basically handing it over to Shia militias in a city that are battling for power.  Maliki, the prime minister here, finally declared a security operation on Monday night and the battle has been fierce mainly between Iraqi government forces and the Mehdi Army which is loyal to the Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.  Basra is a strong-hold for the Mehdi Army and the Sadrists are saying this is a battle against them to consolidate power  for their Shia rivals, the Supreme Council here in Iraq. 
 
The latter would be the party that provides Nouri with his largest support these days after his own Da'wa party.  Provincial elections are supposed to be held at year's end and this is seen as one of the primary reasons for the assault on Basra.  Another reason was that US Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are due to put on another show for Congress next month and Petraeus has actually grumbled publicly about al-Maliki.  As have many Democrats and Republicans serving in the US Congress.  If the puppet is fingered as one of the failures, how does that look for those pulling his strings?  So this was a rock 'em, sock 'em p.r. bonanza.  If you were an idiot.
 
Moqtada al-Sadr's power was at the weakest.  He'd declared the cease-fire/truce with US and occupation forces in August of 2007.  The truce was very unpopular in the Sadr City section of Bahgdad where al-Sadr's supporters were.  al-Sadr wasn't there.  al-Sadr was assumed to be in Najaf.  So when Sadrists felt they were being openly targeted.  Then came February when al-Sadr (still not home) declded to renwer the cease-fire/truce.  Objections were strong before the truce was renewed and just the act of renewing it led "loyalists" to criticize al-Sar openly and to the press.  al-Sadr's influence was diminishing.  When a people feel attacked and their designated leader isn't with them, questions will naturally emerge and they were starting to.  And possibly those in the US government who've long plotted the 'departure' of al-Sadr felt, "This is the perfect moment!"  No, it wasn't.  And whomever okayed the operation immediatly up to Bully Boy miscalculated (Bully Boy always miscalculates) because when someone you see as an enemy is naturally weakening themselves through their own actions, you do not 'assist' them by lifting them to a higher stature.  That's what the assault on Basra did. 
 
Maybe the hope was al-Sadr would stay silent.  He didn't.  He called it out.  Who's winning hearts & minds in Iraq?  Moqtada al-Sadr because, across Iraq, Iraqis saw only one person stand up to the occupation.  Iraqis has seen Falluja slaughtered (twice), has seen their neighborhoods physically carved up with "Bremer" walls, they've seen that, five years after their country was invaded, not only are occupation forces still present (in direct opposition to the wishes of the Iraqi people) but Baghdad is pretty much off limits to most Iraqis.  Who stood up?  Moqtada al-Sadr. 
 
Nouri al-Maliki painted himself into the corner as did the US.  Wednesday on  The Diane Rehm Show al-Maliki's ultimatums were noted.
 
Leila Fadel: Well Prime Minister Maliki is saying that he wants every weapon in the hands of the government.  He wants all weapon smugglers, this is a very important city, 90% of Iraq's oil comes from there, it's a border town.  It has the main port of Iraq there.  And a lot of the weapon smuggling, oil smuggling happens there.  And so the main families that deal with oil smuggling, weapon smuggling have been targeted in Basra.  He has given what he calls outlaws 72 hours to surrender while the battle continues it seems that the main targets and the people fighting back are the Medhi army and the Sadrists are saying that they are the targets, the sole targets, of this operation.
 
al-Maliki was in no position to give ultimatums.  But it was 'strong,' it was 'bravery' -- or that's how it was supposed to play.  Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) cited al-Maliki calling al-Sadr loyalists "criminal gangs".  Leila Fadel (McClatchy) quoted Nouri insisting, "The government does not negotiate with a gang; the government does not sign understanding memorandums with outlaws."  Big tough Nouri?  Italy's AGI reports that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, has now extended his 'deadline' (April 8th now and not Saturday) and Al Jazeera notes that he declared, "All those who have heavy and intermediate weapons are to deliver them to security sites and they will be rewarded financially."  al-Maliki's reputation was on the line, as James Glanz noted, and the US government knew for sure that their puppet was going to be able to pull this off but only because they've deluded themselves into believing that Iraqis see Nouri as a legitimate ruler.  They dodn't.  Protests started the minute the assault on Basra began.  When Moqtada al-Sadr spoke out, the protests only got heavier -- across Iraq.  Moqtada al-Sadr called for a political solution and Nouri al-Maliki insisted he doesn't deal with 'outlaws' (which would mean he ignores his own ministries).  Today in Iraq, al-Sadr's not only the one who stood up to the occupying powers (a big thing in and of itself), he's the one who did so and got concessions. 
 
China's Xinhua noted the "extraordinary session" in the Iraq Parliament that Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called today and the press conference announcing it where he was joined by Ibrahim al-Jaafari (Iraq's previous prime minister) and others.  AP reports that 78 members of Parliament were present and that the committee met for "about two hours" on the issue of Basra.  Missing the point, as usual, at the White House Bully Boy was still issuing talking points, calling the assault "a test and a moment for the Iraqi government". If it was a test for Bully Boy he failed as he fell back on all his tired answers ("democracy" and mothers wanting their children to go to school are especially overused).  Standing next to him was Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who avoided all questions on Iraq and only addressed that nation in his opening remarks where he mentioned "an assistance package of some $165 million" of which "a large slice" is planned to "train their people better in agriculture and in the wider economy."  Train "their people better" in farming?  Is Rudd unaware that Iraq was considered one of the breadbaskets of the MidEast?
 
Let's stay with Bully Boy and mistakes. Not last Monday, but the Monday before (March 17th), Michael R. Gordon presented the usual unsourced junk his infamous for.  But because it was pleasing, many picked up on it.  Amy Goodman pimped it but, apparently grasping even her declining audience wouldn't accept a report from Gordo, just credited it to the New York Times.  We didn't link to it the morning of the 17th, we're not going to link to it now.  We noted the morning of the 17th, "At the New York Times Gordo's raving about his insider interviews and access. No link to trash. The thrust is that L. Paul Bremer issued a decree that disbanded the Iraqi military (true) and that this was something Bremer came up with on his own. Collie Powell declares that he was out of the country and called Condi Rice about it to object and Rice explained that it had already been done. The big villian of the piece is Bremer and Bully Boy is painted as someone who was apparently in a daze. (Maybe he was thinking of My Pet Goat?) How true is it? Who knows? It's Gordo and the ship is sinking so the rats are bailing.  If Powell knew it was a mistake (as he insists to Gordo), then Colin Powell should have something in real time -- even as an anomyous source. That's the least he should have done. Anyone with real courage would have stepped down and gone public. Again, the ship is sinking and since Bully Boy won't be working anywhere, they'll finger him as out of it (which is believable) and make Bremer the fall guy. While Bremer wins nothing but boos and hisses here, it is equally true that anyone -- not just Bully Boy -- could have objected. (That includes but is not limited to Rice.)"  It wasn't news.  The tip-off should have been the byline if not the whisper nature of the story.  But the paper then had to offer an editorial 'loosely based' on Gordo's 'reporting' entitled "Mission Still Not Accomplished" and Paul Bremer responded to the apportioning of blame Monday March 24th in a letter to the editor (A24).  Bremer's claiming that there was no military to disband and we're not in the mood for that nonsense but we will note some of his comments just because the disaster that is the illegal war has many parents and none should be left off the hook:
 
I take strong exception to your assertion that I "overrode" President Bush's national security team on disbanding the Iraqi Army.  Whatever one's view on the issue, there should be no confusion about the process leading to this decision.  President Bush's instructions to me were to report to him through Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.  I did. 
[. . .]
On May 9, two weeks before the decision was made, I sent a draft order based on these discussions to Mr. Rumsfeld, copied to Gen. Tommy Franks, head of the Central Command, and other senior defense officials.  A copy went to Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and to the commander of the coalition forces in Iraq.  
All had ample opportunity to comment on this and subsequent drafts of the order before it was issued on May 23.  Defense Department civilian leaders and military staffs provided only minor suggested revisions.  
On May 22, I briefed the president at a National Security Council meeting attended by Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser; Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage; Secretary Rumsfeld; and General Myers.  No one raised concerns or objections. 
Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, says he was unaware of the plan; that is regrettable.  But this suggests a problem with the interagency process in Washington.  
General Myers told The New York Times (front page, March 17) that there had been no "robust debate" about the draft decree.  If any top officials felt strongly at the time that the decision was misguided, as some of them now claim, they had every opportunity, and the responsibility, to make those concerns known to the Pentagon's leadership, or directly to the commander in chief.
 
Paul Bremer is correct that anyone wanting to claim they were out of the loop needs a better excuse.  If Colin Powell wants to claim he was out of the loop, that's an issue with his then Deputy Secretary.  Bremer is also correct that those opposed (none were) "had every opportunity, and the responsibility" to speak out.  They chose not to.  Now, as resume shock sets in and they realize what they own, it was very cowardly to try to add their blame to Bremer.  Bremer's not innocent and bears responsiblity for his actions.  But when you want to whisper and shove your blame off on someone else -- and you're in power -- you rush straight to Michael Gordon.  And it's a sure sign of how pathetic Panhandle Media is that they merely stripped Gordo's name from it as they rushed to repeat it.  Over and over.  I'm unaware of anyone noting Bremer's reply which ran Monday and I waited until Friday to see if any would bother with "in an update to . . ." but none did.
 
 
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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Bambi stiff us!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- VIRGIN ISLANDS.
 
NOT CONTENT TO GET 'DRUNK' ON SHIRLEY TEMPLES, BAMBI OBAMA STICKS THESE REPORTERS WITH THE BILL.
 
AS WE PREPARED TO CHECK OUT ON WEDNESDAY AND FOLLOW THE SENATOR BACK TO THE STATES, WE WERE INFORMED THAT BAMBI HAD STATED WE WOULD BE PICKING UP EXPENSES FOR HIS STAY.
 
AFTER WASHING MANY DISHES, WE ARE FINALLY SET TO LEAVE THE ISLAND AND WE WOULD BE SURPRISED BY HOW CHEAP BAMBI IS BUT DIDN'T BLOOMBERG NEWS ALREADY REVEAL THAT?
 
LAUGH ALL YOU WANT BAMBI, WE'VE GOT YOUR ON DEMAND MOVIE BILL.
 
 
Lawrence Toppman (Charlotte Observer) disses Kimberly Peirce's brave new film Stop-Loss but we'll noting his opening paragraph, "Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born on the Bayou" sears the soundtrack, a young man chooses between a tour of duty overseas and exile in Canada, an unpopular president sends people to war against their will -- did I fall into a time machine before the screening of 'Stop-Loss'? It felt as if I'd flown back 40 years, as I watched somebody go AWOL while dealing with a "de facto draft" that shoves soldiers into combat more than once."  Stop-Loss opens tomorrow.
 
In the meantime, war resisters in Canada need support as a measure is expected to be debated next month.  For those in Canada, the nation's Parliament remains the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, 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 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).    
 
Before we get to Basra, a factoid from UPI's "The almanac" worth noting, on this day "In 2003, U.S. President George Bush, seeking to calm concerns that the war in Iraq is proving tougher than expected after its first week, said the United States and Britain will battle Saddam Hussein's forces 'however long it takes to win'."  And you can be sure that, five years ago, some idiots not only applauded, they high-fived. 
 
Turning to Iraq where the assault on Basra receives more criticism.  This morning Sudarsan Raghavan and Sholnn Freeman (Washington Post) reported that "independent Kurdish legislator" Mahmoud Othman was staing that there was no discussion of the assault "with parliament or other political groups" and is quoted declaring, "Everybody is aksing, 'Why now?' . . . . People have ill-advised Maliki.  The militias like the timing.  Iran likes the timing.  They wnat to show there's no progress in Iraq."  People have ill-advised puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki?  Who could do advise a puppet?  Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that the US government is concerned over bragging rights with both the White House and the Pentagon rushing forward yesterday to attempt to grab "partial credit for the Iraqi government's new military offensive". This despite the fact that, as Youssef notes, "There was no sign from the ground, however, that the new offensive, which involves 15,000 Iraqi troops and police units, was suceeding."  Let's see, even Gen David Petraeus, due to 'report' to Congress next month, is calling out al-Maliki.  Democrats and Republicans in both houses of the US Congress are calling out the puppet.  Who would think a 'show of strength' would go over well?  The US administration.  How's it going over in Iraq? 
 
Sudarsan Raghavan, Sholnn Freeman and Howard Schneider (Washington Post) report, "Thousands of supporters of hard-line cleric Moqtada al-Sadr poured into the streets of the Iraqi capital Thursday to protest an ongoing security crackdown against Sadr's militia . . .  Demonstrators rallied in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City and the neighborhood of Kazimiyah, carrying a coffin decorated with a picture of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- a symbol of the political risks Maliki has run by ordering Iraqi security forces to move against Sadr's Mahdi Army and other politically backed armed gangs in Basra."  Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) explains that on the coffin, under the photo, "were the words 'The New Dictator'."  Today's chant goes, "Maliki, keep your hands off.  People do not want you."  Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri (McClatchy Newspapers) described a popular chant in Najaf on Tuesday, "Oh Nouri, you coward.  You spy of the Americans."  James Glanz and Graham Bowley (New York Times) note, "In direct confrontation with the American-backed government in Iraq, thousands of supporters of the powerful Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia took to the streets of Baghdad on Thursday to protest the Iraqi Army's asault on the southern port city of Basra, an intense fighting continued there for a third day."  The photo by Joao Silva of those demonstrating should make the front page of the Times tomorrow -- note how many are marching.  Adam Brookes and Crispin Thorold (BBC) quote a Baghdad protestor declaring, "We are very patient but if the government does not respond to our demands, something bad will happen" and the demands are defined "the prime minister must resign; foreign troops must leave Iraq; the operation in Basra must be halted." Glanz and Bowley quote demonstrator Jabbar Azem Hassan: "They are killing our sons and they are harming innocent people.  We need to reform the national government from all parts of the Iraqi populace."
 
CNN plays stupid so before we get to the violence and its effects on the Iraqi people, let's address the nonsense Michael Ware pushes that "the Iranians" have a relationship with Moqtada al-Sadr.  No more so than with al-Maliki.  But the reality that's being missed is that al-Sadr was neutralized and on his way to little importance before the assault.  It was widely accepted that, as he continued his education, he was a hotel clerk in Najaf.  Not the stuff of legendary rebels (even allowing for the "Pirate Jenny" aspect).  He was out of Baghdad and that had turned some followers against him for the basic reason that while he was seen as 'getting on with' his own life, they felt they were under daily attack from al-Maliki's forces and militias.  The break-aways going public and criticizing were doing a very natural thing -- if your leader abandons you and the movement (and that's how it looked), he is no longer in charge.  Had the Basra assault not taken place, al-Sadr would have continued to decrease in influence.  What al-Maliki has done is 'rebrand' al-Sadr, turn him into Moqtada! and make him even more influential (regardless of the outcome) than he was before.  His influence was fading and it had nothing to do with "the Iranians" which CNN chatters on about (having absorbed that crap from the US military brass).  Basic realities, when a leader and his/her followers are apart and the leader appears to have things easier, the followers toss him or her aside.  al-Sadr's strength was waining and without the assault on Basra someone (more likely someones) would step forward claiming to be the true leader of Sadr City in Baghdad.  That person would have to gather strength slowly (and ward off rivals).  That was six to eight months time the US and al-Maliki would have had without any real issues.  Instead, they've armed al-Sadr by turning him into a rebel all over again.  No matter what happens in Basra, al-Sadr now has more power today than he ever had and that power will only continue.  Should he be killed, he will only be even more power and mythic.  But as it is, he is now seen as the one person in Iraq who is defending the Iraqis, defending the country.  This elevates him higher than in 2004 because in 2004 he had others on the scene to compete with.  Today, thanks to actions by the US and the puppet, he is Iraq. 
 
Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) underscores how al-Maliki has yet against set himself against the people of Iraq in his referring to those associated with al-Sadr was "criminal gangs".  Leila Fadel (McClatchy) quotes Nouri insisting, "The government does not negotiate with a gang; the government does not sign understanding memorandums with outlaws."  Not only has the assault increased al-Sadr's power, it's weakened al-Maliki's.  This morning, James Glanz (New York Times) reported, "American officials have presented the Iraqi Army's attempts to secure the port city as an example of its ability to carry out a major operation against the insurgency on its own.  A failure there would be a serious embarrassment for the Iraqi government and for the army, as well as for American forces eager to demonstrate that the Iraqi units they have trained can fight effectively on their own."  Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) offers, "A new civil war is threatening to explode in Iraq as American-backed Iraqi government forces fight Shia militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad. . . .  The gun battles between soldiers and militiamen, who are all Shia Muslims, show that Iraq's majority Shia community -- which replaced Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime -- is splitting apart for the first time."
 
 

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Bambi stiff us!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- VIRGIN ISLANDS.
 
NOT CONTENT TO GET 'DRUNK' ON SHIRLEY TEMPLES, BAMBI OBAMA STICKS THESE REPORTERS WITH THE BILL.
 
AS WE PREPARED TO CHECK OUT ON WEDNESDAY AND FOLLOW THE SENATOR BACK TO THE STATES, WE WERE INFORMED THAT BAMBI HAD STATED WE WOULD BE PICKING UP EXPENSES FOR HIS STAY.
 
AFTER WASHING MANY DISHES, WE ARE FINALLY SET TO LEAVE THE ISLAND AND WE WOULD BE SURPRISED BY HOW CHEAP BAMBI IS BUT DIDN'T BLOOMBERG NEWS ALREADY REVEAL THAT?
 
LAUGH ALL YOU WANT BAMBI, WE'VE GOT YOUR ON DEMAND MOVIE BILL.
 
 
 

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

This is how Pretty Boys 'work'

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- VIRGIN ISLANDS.
 
BAMBI OBAMA IS BACK FROM THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND PIMPING THE NOTION THAT "I'M BACK AT WORK."  MANY IN THE PRESS SWALLOW THAT NONSENSE DESPITE THE FACT THAT BARACK OBAMA'S MISSED MORE SENATE VOTES IN RECENT MONTHS THAN ANY OTHER U.S. SENATOR.
 
"I'M BACK AT WORK' REALLY MEANS THAT THE VOTERS IN HIS STATE WHO ELECTED HIM AS A SENATOR ARE SCREWED AGAIN.
 
BAMBI AGREED WITH THAT AND GIGGLED AS HE REFLECTED ON TELLING TIM RUSSERT THAT HE PROMISED HE WOULD FINISH OUT HIS SENATE TERM AND NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT BEFORE.
 
"GREED AND MY EGO GOT THE BEST OF ME," BAMBI GIGGLED.  "I'M SO PRECIOUS!"
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Canada's CTV offers a report on war resister Phil McDowell which features text and a video clip.  Below is a transcript of the video report.
 
Tom Hayes: Phil McDowell and Michelle Robidoux hang out with a morning coffee but it's a relationship that goes much deeper.  McDowell is a US army deserter and Robidoux is helping him out.  It was this day [Sept. 11th, footage of NYC and the Pentagon shown] back in 2001that sent McDowell running to the enlistment office.  After all he felt he had to defend his country.  Then his country decided it was going into Iraq. 
 
Phil McDowell: There's no doubt that he [Saddam Hussein] has weapons of mass destruction.  There's no doubt that he has, that Saddam Hussein has ties with al Qaeda. 
 
Tom Hayes: Did they convince you?
 
Phil McDowell: They convinced me I believed it.
 
Hayes: McDowell wants to be clear: He's not afraid to go into combat, not afraid to pick up a gun.  We know this because he's already been there.  McDowell served a year in Iraq.  He was a model soldier.  He survived and was sent home.  He was then discharged.  No longer in the army, he was told to go off and get on with his life.  But a few months later, Uncle Sam wanted him back, back to fight a war he no longer believed in. 
 
Phil: This can't be right, I don't want to have anything to do with this.  They said, well you don't have a choice.  You're going back whether you like it or not.  I signed up to defend my country.  I didn't sign up to take part in wars of aggression. 
 
Tom Hayes: There are about 150 US deserters now in Toronto.  They are seeking refugee status on the grounds the US is fighting an illegal war.  But it's a tough sell.  Much tougher than in the sixties when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau welcomed Vietnam draft dodgers with open arms.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn't so keen on a motion to allow the deserters to stay.  The House of Commons will decide that by mid-April but that could already be too late for eight US war resisters who have already received deportation notices.  And if they are sent back, they will be arrested the minute they step foot on US soil.  Robidoux runs the group Resisters.ca.  She's currently helping out more than fifty US deserters.  McDowell calls her a good friend.  His wife has also joined him here in Toronto.  If he is allowed to stay, however, he faces a future without an extended family.  If he's not allowed to stay, he faces up to five years in prison.
 
Phil McDowell: I would definitely go back to visit my relatives but if it's -- the choice I made here to move to Canada rather than fight in an illegal war, I'd make the same decision any time.   
 
Tom Hayes: Tom Hayes, CTV News.
 
For those in Canada, the nation's Parliament remains the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, 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 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). 
 
[. . .]
 
 Turning to US campaign politics.  Today Barack Obama, of all people, had the nerve to toss out Iraq as his latest excuse to hide behind.  Before we get there, Barack has been hiding out in the Virgin Islands (see Wally, Cedric, Rebecca, Wally and Cedric again and Mike). Taking a page from the 'successful' John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign, Obama decided hiding out in the Virgin Islands was the perfect way to address the Jeremiah Wright controversy that is not going away.  Jeremiah Wright would be Barack's friend, mentor, pastor, and just about everything but helpmate -- for over 20 years.  Hiding out in the Virigin Islands does you little good when Wright can't stop making the news.  Specifically Anna M. Tinsley (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) reports on TCU (Texas Christian University) deciding that Jeremiah Wright -- who used his pulpit to damn the United States -- wasn't appearing on their campus. Fredreka Schouten (USA Today) reports that a Tampa, Florida church has also cancelled a schedule appearance (and, no, it wasn't due to 'security'). AP reports that THREE Houston churchs have cancelled appearances by Wright scheduled to take place this Sunday. The issue is what USA Today notes as "God d—- America for treating our citizens as far less than human." Wright damned America.  It offended many. 
 
But Obama ignored it last week and the press ran with the distraction.  He refused to address specifically the offensive remark in last week's nearly 5,000 word speech.  It should have been addressed.  Instead we got nonsense.  Lots and lots of nonsense.  And drooling in the media (mainly White) because that speech wasn't about race.  In fact, I keep waiting for someone to point out the most offensive aspect of Barack's speech.  He wanted to take it to historical oppression and go back to what he dubbed "original sin" in the region we call the US today.  Well gee, Bambi, long before anyone, ANYONE, sailed over by choice or force, Native Americans populated this region so if you're going to talk about "originial" anything, trying getting your facts right. Or try being inclusive -- Liang offered her response to that bad speech here. But as Ava and I noted, the MSM is never going to be honest about race and Panhandle Media has made sure to convey that they too only see race in two shades: Black and White.  It's amazing to hear all the gushers gushing over a speech that ignored race in the US so completely.  But the speech was never supposed to be about race.  It was supposed to distract Americans -- that is who will be voting in the presidential election in November -- from the fact that Barack Obama believes it is perfectly okay to belong to a church whose pastor uses the pulpit to damn the United States -- to damn the country Barack Obama says he can represent, says he wants to represent, says he can defend.  Defend or damn?  That's the question on many minds.
 
Today AP reports that Bambi showed up in North Carolina to claim that Wright's comments were nothing but "a half-minute sound clip" --  that's all they were? -- and that "We cannot solve the problems of America if everytime somebody somewhere does something sutpid, that everybody gets up in arms and forgets about the war in Iraq and we forget about the economy."  Uh, excuse me, Barack Obama, but who forgot the illegal war.  That would be you.  That would be you who told Elaine and I, when you were running for the US Senate and begging for money, that the US was in Iraq now and so the troops had to stay to win.  And, sure enough, when you made it into the US Senate, you didn't do a thing to end the illegal war.  And in your campaign, you haven't done a thing.  In fact, Samantha Power -- your then foreign advisor -- revealed to the world -- via BBC -- that you didn't mean a word you were saying about "combat troops out in 16 months" which you lie in your speeches and reduce to "We want to end the war now!"  That's the extent you offer on Iraq -- a bumper sticker.  Now you spoke for nearly 5,000 words last week. Yes, you appear to have cribbed my points and words (and, no, you did not have permission) but it was a bad, bad speech.  And the reality is, you haven't even tried to speak like that about Iraq.  So don't blame the fact that your pastor of 20 years, in the church you made your home, damned the United States for the fact that you won't address the Iraq War.  The president of the United States is expected to defend the US.  But when Wright damned the US, you didn't leave the church.  You still haven't called him out on it or distanced yourself from his remarks damning the US.  You want to be the leader of the US and America's not even sure you can be counted onto verbally defend the US because Wright damned the country and you did nothing.
 
As Craig Unger (Vanity Fair) points out, should Barack get the Democratic Party nomination (he means presidential, but apply it to the v.p. slot as well), the "Wright scandal" is not going away and "you can bet that it will be an issue in the general election".  Yesterday, Hillary Clinton was asked about the issue in an newspaper editorial meeting and again at a press conference. CNN reports:

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Clinton referenced a speech she gave nearly a year ago after talk-radio host Don Imus' controversial remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team.  
"I said it was time for standing up for what is right, for saying enough is enough, for urging that we turn a culture of degradation into a culture of empowerment, for saying that while we of course must protect our right of free expression, it should not be used as a license or an excuse to demean or humiliate our fellow citizens. Sen. Obama spoke eloquently at that time as well," she said.
"Everyone will have to decide these matters for themselves. They were obviously very personal matters," Clinton added. "But I was asked what I would do if he was my pastor and I said I think the choice would be clear for me." 

 
No she would not have stayed and no one running for president should have stayed with that church.  This isn't minor.  This has nothing to do with race.  It has to do with the character required to be president.  Barack Obama can agree with many of Wright's points regarding racism (I happen to) but when it comes to the issue of damning the United States and doing so from the front of the church, a pastor using all his presumed power/pull with God to damn the United States, there are serious problems and serious questions and last week's speech was the distraction from that issue.  But the issue is not going away.  USA Today cites Obama flack Bill Burton declaring that Hillary -- responding to direct questions -- is offering a "transparent attempt to distract attention." No, Burton, she was answering a question. The transparent attempt to distract was sending Barack off to the Virgin Islands to lay low and hope the outrage died down. As the cancelled appearances for Wright suggest, it has not died down. Now Barack's showing up in North Carolina to claim that anyone raising the issue is preventing talk about Iraq.  No, that's not preventing talk about Iraq and Mr. Pretty Words offered nothing but bumper stickers for months and months when no one was talking about Iraq.  He may think Americans are that stupid but that's not the case.  The only stupidity is a campaign that's refused to address an issue that won't die down.  And, again, shouldn't.  The people of the United States have a right to expect that someone running for president will defend the country.  Barack Obama has yet to prove that defending the US is a concern for him.
 
While Barack pretends that he could address Iraq if only pesky Americans would stop focusing on questions his own actions raise, Senator Hillary Clinton underscored the differences between herself and Senator John McCain on Iraq:
 
While there is much to praise in Senator McCain's speech, he and I continue to have a fundamental disagreement on Iraq. Like President Bush, Senator McCain continues to oppose a swift and responsible withdrawal from Iraq. Like President Bush, Senator McCain discounts the warnings of our senior military leadership of the consequences of the Iraq war on the readiness of our armed forces, and on the need to focus on the forgotten front line in Afghanistan. Like President Bush, Senator McCain wants to keep us tied to another country's civil war, and said "it would be fine with me" if U.S. troops were in Iraq for 50 or even 100 years. That in a nutshell is the Bush/McCain Iraq policy.
 

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Barack hopes to 'moveon' from the damning of the United States

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- VIRGIN ISLANDS.
 
BOMBED OUT OF HIS MIND ON SHIRLEY TEMPLES, SENATOR BAMBI OBAMA LURCHED AROUND THE BEACH TODAY ASKING,  "HAVE THEY FORGOTTEN YET?  HAVE THEY?"
 
NO, THEY HAVE NOT.  HE WAS REFERRING TO HIS 20 YEAR RELATIONSHIP WITH MENTOR, FRIEND, PASTOR AND ROLL DOG JEREMIAH WRIGHT WHO STOOD UP IN THE FRONT OF OBAMA'S CHURCH AND DECLARED "G-- DAMN THE UNITED STATES."
 
ATTEMPTING TO DUCK THE ISSUE, AS HE DID LAST WEEK IN HIS NEARLY 5,000 WORD SPEECH, BAMBI HOPPED IT OVER TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS HOPING IT WOULD DIE DOWN.
 
BUT YOU CAN'T KEEP AN AMERICA HATER OUT OF THE NEWS AND WHAT WAS TO BE A CEREMONY HONORING THE AMERICA HATER WRIGHT AT TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY WAS MOVED WITH TCU STATING THEY WOULD NOT HONOR WRIGHT. GO HORNED FROGS!
 
BAMBI ORDERED ANOTHER SHIRLEY TEMPLE AND LAUGHED BITTERLY BEFORE EXPLAINING, "IT DOESN'T MATTER.  OBVIOUSLY OUR ARGUMENT FOR 'CONTEXT' DIDN'T FLY.  GUESS THERE'S NO 'CONTEXT' FOR DAMNING YOUR COUNTRY.  BUT WE'VE GOT A NEW ONE.  WE'RE GOING TO FLIP IT.  REMEMBER FLIP WILSON'S GERALDINE, SHE WAS A CUTIE.  LOOKS A LITTLE LIKE MY MICHELLE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT.  WELL GERALDINE USED TO ALWAYS SAY THE DEVIL MADE HER DO IT.  WE'RE GOING TO ARGUE NOW THAT GOD MADE JEREMIAH DO IT.  WE'RE GOING TO SAY THAT DAMNING AMERICA WAS GOD'S WORDS AND WHO CAN ARGUE WITH THAT?"
 
THESE REPORTERS WONDERED IF THE CAMPAIGN WASN'T SMOKING SOMETHING?
 
 
 
 
Starting with war resisters and returning to something from last week, James Burmeister.
Courage to Resist reported that "Burmeister recently returned from Canada and turned himself in to the Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky on March 4.  In May 2007, James refused redeployment to Iraq.  He lived in Canada for the last ten months with the help of the War Resisters Support Campaign.  James' father Erich Burmeister of Eugene, Oregon believes that the Army is getting ready to prosecute James.  He is asking people to call the Fort Knox Public Affairs office at 502-624-7451 and let them know you are concerned about PFC James Burmeister."  Burmeister returned to the United States, many still remain in Canada.
 
For those in Canada, the nation's Parliament remains the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored. We will note war resisters in Canada tomorrow.  There is not time today, my apologies.          

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).    
 
Turning to Iraq. In August, Moqtada al-Sadr declared a cease-fire truce with the US and the puppet government of Baghdad which is widely credited as part of the 'success' of the escalation.  In February, he extended the cease-fire/true.  Leila Fadel and Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "A cease-fire critical to the improved security situation in Iraq appeared to unravel Monday when a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr began shutting down neighborhoods in west Baghdad and issuing demands of the central government. Simultaneously, in the strategic southern port city of Basra, where Sadr's Mahdi militia is in control, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown in the face of warnings by Sadr's followers that they'll fight government forces if any Sadrists are detained. By 1 a.m. Arab satellite news channels reported clashes between the Mahdi Army and police in Basra."  Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) add these details: "The capital witnessed its own friction between Shiite factions Monday as the Sadr movement organized protests in west Baghdad. Leaders from Sadr's movement vowed to mount daily protests until the Shiite-run Iraqi government stops targeting its members in raids, releases detainees and apologizes for the conduct of security force members. They accused the government of trying to weaken Sadr's organization ahead of provincial elections scheduled for October."  Those descriptions were of yesterday.  Gina Chon (Wall St. Journal) reports,
"Fighting broke out Tuesday on the streets of Sadr City . . . and the Mahdi Army militia announced it had taken over Iraqi army checkpoints in an escalation of tension with Iraqi government security forces.  The sound of gunfire could be heard in Sadr City throughout the morning and Mahdi Army members walked down the streets carrying rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other weapons in what appeared to be a show of force, accodring to two witnesses."  AFP reports that fighting was ongoing in Baghdad, Basra, Kut and Hilla with the clash between Sadr's forces and the US in Baghdad being "the first time since last October".  Atul Aneja (The Hindu) explains, "The Iraqi government's decision to establish its hold over the oil city of Basra dominated by Shia armed militias has sparked heavy fighting there" and that "field commanders of the Mahdi army in Najaf ordered to the militia 'to strike the occupiers' and their Iraqi allies." Robin Stringer (Bloomberg News) notes 18 dead and forty wounded from the Basra fighting alone and threats that the actions will go "nationwide."
 
The southern port of Basra was shut down, Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri (McClatchy Newspapers) report, while citizens of the area "cowered in their homes as Mahdi Army militiamen and Iraqi security forces battled" and a college student on the outskirts of the city saw the corpses of two members of Mahdi Army and one child.  PBS' NewsHour quotes Um Hussein who was caught by suprise by the outbreak and she states, "It is a difficult situation.  Not many shops or grocery stores are open since the curfew and since the fighting began.  We have not stored households items at all."   Sam Dagher (Christian Science Monitor) adds "US air power" to the battle.  Alex Kingsbury (US News and World Reports) sees the current clashes as an indication of a power struggle for control of more than Basra -- control of Iraq -- and offers, "There are indications that the United States is, to some extent, choosing sides in the inter-Shiite power struggle.  When Vice President Dick Cheney made a visit to Baghdad earlier this month, his one foray outside the heavily fortified Green Zone was to visit Hakim's office in Baghdad.  Hakim also traveled to the White House and met with President Bush in December 2006." Hakim is Abdul Aziz al-Hakim whose political party (Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council) is the largest.  Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) points out, "Sadr loyalists accuse his Shiite rivals in the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and Maliki's Islamic Dawa party of using the Iraqi army and police to round up the cleric's followers ahead of the Oct. 1 elections."  This believe is noted by Reuters as well, "Sadrists say the truce has been abused by US and Iraqi forces to make indiscriminate arrests ahead of provincial elecitons due in October, but the US military says it only targets 'rogue' members who have ignored the ceasefire."  Paul Wood (BBC) maintains that it is Iraqi military and US military against Sadrists because the British are sitting it out, "saying the Iraqi army is demonstrating it is capable of acting on its own" and also states "Moqtada Sadr believes his hundreds of thousands of followers, many of them armed, will eventually deliver power into his hands."  CNN puts the Basra dead at "at least 50 . . . and 150 others were wounded, an official with Basra's Provincial Council said" and notes Sadrists are credited with taking "down part of a bridge in nothern Basra" via bombings today.  Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri (McClatchy Newspapers) report al-Sadr has "ordered his followers to remain calm and said they should give copies of the Quran and olive branches to the police."
 


RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Vacationing Obama

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- VIRGIN ISLANDS.
 
U.S. SENATOR BARACK OBAMA INVITED THESE REPORTERS TO ACCOMPANY HIM ON HIS THREE-DAY VACATION TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
 
SOME MIGHT WONDER HOW, WITH HIS FRIEND, MENTOR, PASTOR OF 20 YEARS, JEREMIAH WRIGHT DAMNING THE UNITED STATES IN A SERMON THAT SURFACED THIS MONTH AND WITH HIS SPEECH LAST TUESDAY NOT ADDRESSING THAT, BARACK OBAMA CAN AFFORD TO TAKE A VACATION ANYWHERE FOR THREE DAYS?
 
WHEN WE ASKED BAMBI ABOUT IT, HE EXPLAINED THAT HE WAS A BIT PUZZELED ABOUT THE TIMING, "HOWEVER JOHN ASSURED ME IT'S WHAT SUCCESSFUL POLITICIANS TRYING TO BE PRESIDENT DO.  HE DID IT!"
 
YES, JOHN KERRY DID.  HE WENT WIND SURFING WHILE AMERICA TALKED NON-STOP ABOUT HIS VIETNAM WAR RECORD.  HE AVOIDED THE ISSUE.
 
"THE WAY YOU GUYS ARE TALKING," BAMBI SAID, "YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A BAD THING.  THINGS WORKED OUT FOR JOHN KERRY, RIGHT?  I MEAN HE'S LIKE A SENATOR OR SOMETHING NOW.  BUT HE WAS PRESIDENT ONCE, RIGHT?"
 
YEAH, BAMBI, RR-IIIII-GG-HH--TTTTT.
 
 
 
War resisters in Canada were dealt a setback in November  the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Though Panhandle Media can't be bothered with that story Ben Ehrenreich (the New York Times' Sunday Magazine) reported:
 
 Next month, the Canadian House of Commons is slated to debate a resolution that would allow conscientious objectors "who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations" to apply for residency in Canada. The phrasing is vague but the intent is not. The war in question is the Iraq war, and the resolution represents the culmination of a four-year debate about what to do with the small but steady stream of American soldiers who have fled across our northern border to avoid fighting in Iraq. 
It all began in Jan. 2004, when a young American with a long, serious face walked into the Toronto law office of Jeffry House to ask for help with what was at the time a highly unusual immigration case. The American turned out to be a soldier named Jeremy Hinzman, an infantryman in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. He told House that his petition for conscientious-objector status was denied while he was stationed in Afghanistan. He crossed the border into Canada just days before his unit was to be deployed to Iraq. Of the more than 25,000 American soldiers who, according to the United States Department of Defense, have deserted since 2003, the Toronto-based War Resisters Support Campaign estimates that 225 have fled to Canada. (The D.O.D defines a deserter as anyone who has been AWOL for 30 consecutive days or who seeks asylum in a foreign country; desertion carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.)        
The majority of the deserters in Canada have chosen not to make the authorities aware of their presence. Like any other illegal immigrants, they have settled for invisibility. A few dozen, though, followed Hinzman's lead. Most found their way to Jeffry House. One young Army medic named Justin Colby read an AOL news posting about Hinzman's case while stationed in Iraq. He telephoned House from Ramadi and showed up in his office a few months later.          
House would eventually represent between 30 and 35 American deserters. Most of them, like Colby, say they joined the military in part out of patriotism. "I thought Iraq had something to do with 9/11," Colby says, "that they were the bad guys that attacked our country."        
 
Canada's Parliament remains the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, 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. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored. We will note war resisters in Canada tomorrow.  There is not time today, my apologies.          

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).    
 
Sunday night MNF announced, "Four Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers were killed at approximately 10 p.m. March 23 after terrorists attacked them with an improvised-explosive device in southern Baghdad while conducting a mounted vehicular patrol. One additional Soldier was injured from this attack."  With that announcement, the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war reached the 4,000 mark. Hannah Allem and Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) note it is "a new milestone to mark the start of the sixth year since the U.S. invasion in 2003."  Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) explains, "At least 426 of the Americans killed in the war were from California, more than any other state".   Deborah Haynes for the Times of London adds, "The morbid milestone will likely strengthen calls for US forces to be withdrawn from the country; a contentious topic in this year's Presidential elections.  A US military spokesman played down the significance of the 4,000th death, which followed a day of bombings and rocket fire across the country that killed at least 60 Iraqis and left many more wounded".  Chair of the US House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee Ike Skelton issued this statement, "My heart is broken 4,000 times over.  When the history of the Middle East is written, I hope it will have been worth it.  My thoughts and prayers go out to all of our service members and military families, whose daily sacrifices must never be taken for granted."  US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement as well: "Today we mourn American's fallen heroes; the deaths of 4,000 American soldiers is a grim reminder of the enormous costs of war in Iraq: the human costs.  We honor those soldiers, America's best and bravest who have paid the ultimate price, and pray for their families and loved ones.  With 4,000 American lives lost and thousands injured, many of them permanently, Americans are asking how much longer must our troops continue to sacrifice for the sake of an Iraqi government that is unwilling or unable to secure its own future."  US Senator and Democratic presidential nominee contender Hillary Clinton declared:
 
Five years after the start of the war in Iraq, there have now been 4,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq.  On this solemn day, we remember the sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform.  We honor the tens of thousands more who have suffered wounds both visible and invisible, wounds that scare bodies and minds, and hearts as well.  We honor the sacrifices of their families, a price paid in empty places at the dinner table, in the struggle to raise children alone, in the wrenching reversal of parents burying children.  In the last five years, our soldiers have done everything we asked of them and more.  They were asked to remove Saddam Hussein from power and bring him to justice and they did.  They were asked to give the Iraqi people the opportunity for free and fair elections and they did.  They were asked to give the Iraqi government the space and time for political reconciliation, and they did.  So for every American soldier who has made the ultimate sacrifice for this mission, we should imagine carved in stone: 'They gave their life for the greatest gift one can give to a fellow human being, the gift of freedom.'  I recall the great honor of meeting many of our brave men and women who have served our country. In meeting them, I am always struck by how, no matter how great their suffering, no matter how grave their own injuries, they always say the same thing to me: 'Promise that you'll take care of my buddies. They're still over there. Promise you'll keep them safe.'  I have looked those men and women in the eye. I have made that promise. And I intend to honor it by bringing a responsible end to this war, and bringing our troops home safely.
 
Zavis also notes that "more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital" on Sunday while Allem and Fadel describe "the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the U.S. and Iraqi governments are headquartered, smoking from a barrage of rockets and mortars" on Sunday.
 
 

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