Saturday, December 01, 2012

3 ring circus


BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

IF YOU THOUGHT HE LEARNED A DAMN THING FROM HIS FIRST TERM, YOU WERE WRONG.

PICKING A CABINET IS JUST AS CONFUSING FOR CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O THIS GO ROUND AS IT WAS LAST.

IF WE CAN ALL SET ASIDE CONCERNS FOR THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY, WE CAN JUST SIT BACK AND LAUGH AT THE INEPTITUDE AND THE INABILITY TO LEARN FROM MISTAKES AS WE GO FROM THE GIDDY HIGH OF ONE FAILED NOMINATION TO THE NEXT.

WHO BROUGHT THE POPCORN?


 FROM THE TCI WIRE:


 
Today is the 921st day Iraq War veteran Bradley Manning has spent in military custody.  Today, he again spoke in court and we start with that because the US military has yet again demonstrated it is a culture that refuses to adapt and is so rooted in the status quo that it is responsible -- continues to be responsible -- for the deaths of its own.
 
Background, Monday April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks released US military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Monday June 7, 2010, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Leila Fadel (Washington Post) reported in August 2010 that Manning had been charged -- "two charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first encompasses four counts of violating Army regulations by transferring classified information to his personal computer between November and May and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system. The second comprises eight counts of violating federal laws governing the handling of classified information." In March, 2011, David S. Cloud (Los Angeles Times) reported that the military has added 22 additional counts to the charges including one that could be seen as "aiding the enemy" which could result in the death penalty if convicted. The Article 32 hearing took place in December. At the start of this year, there was an Article 32 hearing and, February 3rd, it was announced that the government would be moving forward with a court-martial. Bradley has yet to enter a plea and has neither affirmed that he is the leaker nor denied it. The court-martial was supposed to begin before the election but it was postponed until after the election so that Barack wouldn't have to run on a record of his actual actions. 
 
 
Bradley appeared in military court yesterday and we'll note various details about the case itself.  But the most important detail is one that effects all serving and veterans who have served -- as well as their family members.
 
 
No, it did not.  AP, from time to time, exists solely to keep Dorothy Parker's adage alive: You can lead a whore to culture but you cannot make her think.
 
Taking away his clothes was never about his protection.  And, at Third, we noted that as soon as those details became public and we pointed out that there were non-cloth items he could be provided with to wear if it really was about his safety.  (And didn't the military then suddenly discover that to be true?)  It was not about his protection.
 
 
Bradley being forced to sleep in the nude -- nude and on full display -- is not normal, it is not therapeutic and for the AP to suggest that it is is as offensive if they started running "She asked for it" columns on rape.
 
If the US military wasn't trying to punish Bradley (I believe they were trying to humiliate him, my opinion), their actions do not suddenly become 'good.'  It goes to the larger issue that you have a  lot of idiots who don't know what they're doing.
 
Forcing anyone to be on public display is humiliating and counter-productive enough, adding nudity to it? 
 
Immediately after he was taken into military custody, Bradley was transferred from Iraq to Kuwait.  He was not told what was taking place or if he would stay there or be moved.  Extraordinary rendention was already well known and discussed in the press.  When Jane Mayer was an actual reporter and not the partisan hack she's since morphed into, you could read all sorts of tales by her about what the US government was allowing to be done in the name of 'interrogation.'
 
In such a climate, a very young man, already under stress, was taken into military custody.  He had no idea what would happen to him.  In Kuwait, at one point he made a knoose.  He's called it that in his testimony.  The artist rendering of what prosecutor held up is not actually a knoose.  It's a sheet with a series of knots in it. 
 
The military prosecution is attempting to assert that this knoose or 'knoose' along with another statement is why certain measures were taken with Bradley.  The AP apparently feels it is their job to make the military's case for them as opposed to being a skeptical press.
 
The statement?  Arriving at Quantico, he was admitted.   When he was being admitted into Quantico, Bradley wrote on a form, in response to a question about suicide, "always planning and never acting."
 
Are you telling me that the US military didn't have a follow up?
 
If there was a follow up verbal question, then there was a follow up verbal response.  Why isn't that noted?
 
Because it wouldn't back the military's assertion?  Possibly.
 
That's disturbing.  More disturbing would be that there was no verbal follow up to a statement like that on a form. 
 
To be clear, that statement is perfectly 'normal.'  At different points in their lives, many Americans will consider suicide.  Maybe for a few seconds each time they do, maybe in an elaborate fantasy that has actually deals with something other than suicide.
 
The statement is not 'troubling.'  For a number of reasons.  One, it is an opening to discuss a serious issue and, two, it demonstrates that the person being assessed has some comfort level discussing the issue.  Someone being admitted who was planning to kill themselves and wanting to kill themselves once admitted to a facility, most likely would be close-lipped about any sucidal thoughts.
 
The narrative that the military prosecutor presented to the military court is that Bradley arrived back in the US and wrote during the intake assessment that he was "always planning and never acting" upon.  "Planning" should have resulted in Bradley being asked to define "planning."  Is that thinking, is that an abstract, is that an elaborate plan?  If you were to take your own life, how would you do it?  A whole string of questions were prompted by "always planning and never acting."
 
Where were those questions?
 
Was someone too uncomfortable to ask?  Was a medical professional not present at intake?  That seems strange considering the high-profile nature of Bradley's case even then; however, I would assume the military would train those working at Quantico or any other brig on suicide.
 
What it appears is that, at best, Bradley suffered because the military is not training those required to do supervision on issues like suicide.  
 
 
 
Yesterday, the Defense Dept released the US Army's suicide numbers for last month: "20 potential suicides: five have been confirmed as suicides, and 15 remain under investigation" which is an increase of five from September's numbers.   DoD notes that 2011 resulted in 165 deaths confirmed as suicides and that 2012 has seen 105 confirmed and 61 which are still being investigated.  So if all under investigation currently were to be ruled suicide, October will be the month that 2012 surpassed 2011 for number of army members taking their own lives (166 is the number of suicides if the 61 under investigation end up determined to be suicides).  With two months of data remaining for the calendar year, it is likely 2012 will see an increase in the number of suicides.
 
 
Quantico brig would be a natural location for potentially at-risk persons.  Those working at Quantico should have a minimum level of training.  That minimum level should have included staff providing direct supervision -- eyes on -- of Bradley being alarmed over what public nudity might do to the mental well being of a supposed suicide risk.
 
There was nothing healthy about what was done to Bradley.  If the military's narrative, as presented by the prosecution, is correct, then the Defense Dept is the cause of suicides.  It's not merely failing to provide assistance, it's creating an unhealthy environment that encourages and assists suicides via its own ignorance and negligence.
 
This is not an abstract.  There is a suicide crisis in the military today.
 
Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  This week, she proposed that the Defense Authorization Bill be expanded so that it will "require DoD to create a comprehensive, standardized suicide prevention program."
 
 
Senator Patty Murray:  Time and time again, we've lost servicemembers and veterans to suicide.  But while the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have taken important steps towards addressing this crisis, we know more must be done.  We know that any solution depends upon reducing wait times and improving access to mental health care; ensuring proper diagnosis; and achieving true coordination of care and information between the Departments.  This amendment would require a comprehensive, standardized suicide prevention program across the DoD.  It would require the use of the best medical practices, in suicide prevention and behavioral health programs to address serious gaps in the current programs.
 
Murray's remarks appear in full in the November 28th snapshot.  I strongly support Murray's proposal.  Not only that, I hope attorneys around the country start thinking class-action lawsuit against DoD.  A huge number of veterans and servicemembers have taken their own lives.  They've often done so because the help they needed was not present and the people who should have seen the risks weren't trained to see the risks.
 
If the military is going to stand by the assertion that what Bradley experienced -- the 'diagnosis' and the 'treatment' -- was standard and humane military treatment, then it's really time for lawyers to start filing law suits against the DoD and the VA regarding suicides.
 
 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, November 30, 2012

He's on fire


BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


FOR THE POSSIBLY UNEDUCATED -- LIKE TERRELL TEXAS' BIGGEST NUT JAMIE FOXX -- BLASPHEMY INCLUDES "THE ACT OF CLAIMING THE ATTRIBUTES OF DEITY."

IF YOU'RE NOT RELIGIOUS, IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER.  BUT IF YOU ARE, REMEMBER THAT BLASPHEMY USUALLY RESULTS IN A STEEP PENALTY IN ALL RELIGIONS.  AND 'I WAS JUST JOKING' USUALLY DOESN'T MITIGATE THE PENALTY.

IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, BLASPHEMY IS SUPPOSED TO MEAN THE PITS OF HELL.  HAVE FUN BEING THE 'HOTTEST THING' DOWN THERE, JAMIE.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:


 
Today Martin Kobler addressed the United Nations Security Council in New York.  Kobler is the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy in Iraq and heads United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).  As usual when we note the report on Iraq to the Security Council, we do it in two snapshots.  It was a presentation that lasted over 20 minutes.  It is important enough -- how the UN officially views Iraq for public consumption -- to be included in full.  So we spread it out over two snapshots.
 
Martin Kobler:  Mr. President, as 2012 draws to a close, it is pertinent to take stock of progress Iraq has made during the last twelve months.  During that time, Iraq has made committed efforts to enforce law and order following the withdrawal of United States forces.  Reclaiming its rightful place at the diplomatic table, it successfully hosted the 23rd Arab Summit in Baghdad in April, and, in May, it hosted talks between Iran and the permanent members of the [Security] Council plus Germany.  In terms of strengthening state institutions, the Human Rights Commission was established in April  and a new board of Commissioners of the Independent High Electoral Commission was elected in September.   The latter resulted in an agreement on the date for government council elections in April next year.  This progress, however, is in danger by two factors.  First, the stalemate between Iraq's political leaders and, second, developments in the region.  Mr. President, I regret to report to the Council that estranged relations between Iraq's political leaders have endured throughout the year.   One manifestation of this is the Arab-Kurdish rift.  The lack of trust stems from a number of pending issues of contention, including power-sharing, security and tense relations between the central government and the region of Kurdistan.  The resulting political deadlock is preventing the progress and reform necessary to consolidate Iraq's transition.  Attempts to defuse the stalemate have most recently focused on a package of political reforms which appears stalled.  The government of Iraq's decision to establish the Tigris Command Operations Command responsible for overall security in Kirkuk, Salahuddin and the Diyala Govern-ates has been highly criticized by members of the Kurdistan Regional Government.  A military stand-off ensued, incorporating the armed forces of the respective governments.  The militarization of the situation has resulted in the regrettable death of one civilian.  I should like to take this opportunity to call on the parties to exercise all due restraint at this time of increased tensions.  I count on the leadership of the politicians of Iraq to resolve their differences through political dialog in accordance with the Constitution.  In that regard, I welcome the recent efforts of Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and I also welcome the convening of a meeting between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga at the technical level earlier this week in Baghdad.  It is a step in the right direction.  And I do encourage both sides to keep the door open -- of dialog open -- and implement the understandings reached.  UNAMI stands ready to implement any possible agreement reached that would de-escalate the situation and promote confidence among the various communities.  Over the past few days, Mr. President, dozens of Iraqi security personnel and civilians -- including worshipers -- have been killed and many other dozens injured in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Karbala and Falluja.  Extremists use the political differences of the leaders to ignite either sectarian or ethnic violence and tensions in Iraq.  Immediate resolutions and compromise by all political leaders should be the response to these attempts.  The tense political standoff is thus testing Iraq's internal fault-lines.  August and September were the deadliest months in the last two years.  A particular atrocious series of attacks on October 27th targeted pilgrims during holy Eid al-Adha observance.  Left unaddressed, the political impasse will leave Iraq vulnerable to the sectarists of Iraq's ability, mainly from the spillover of violence in the wider region.  Mr. President, Iraq finds itself in an increasingly unstable region environment generated by the Syrian Civil War.  The Syrian conflict has exposed a complex web on interconnected and conflicting interests that threatens to engulf the region in violent conflict.  With no immediate solution to the crisis in sight, there are real risks of spillover, violence and destabilization.  At the domestic level, the conflict across Iraq's borders has had a significant humanitarian impact on Iraq.  The crisis also impacts on Iraq's relations with her neighbors. Iraq's relationship with Turkey has also grown increasingly tense in recent months with an escalation in the rhetoric exchanged on both sides. The divergent positions between Iraq and other states in the region on how to address the Syrian crisis have also further strained their relations.  Within this challenging context, however, it is possible to identify opportunities for UNAMI to continue to assist Iraq's transition process. Indeed, not withstanding the lack of progress between Iraq's political leaders, in resolving their differences, Iraq's expectations on UNAMI continues to grow.  UNAMI's assistance, pursuant to its Council mandate, is focusing on two priority tracks:  First, advancing national reconciliation and dialog and, second, tackling regional issues.  Since my last briefing to the Council, UNAMI has continued to encourage political leaders to engage in inclusive dialog to resolve their differences in the spirit and framework of the Constitution.  I've continued to conduct frequent visits to Erbil and Sulamaniyah to promote such a dialog.  I've also conducted intensive discussions both in Baghdad and in Kirkuk focusing on the holding of the long overdue governate council elections in Kirkuk.  UNAMI's support to the Council of Representatives on the basis of sustained facilitation and technical advice contributed to the selection of the IHEC's new board of commissioners in September -- a proficient and a genuinely and truly independent IHEC board is essential at this juncture as Iraq prepares for nationwide governor council elections on 20th of April next year and legislative elections in 2014.
 
 
Factually, we should note that the Arab League Summit was March 29th and not in April. and that it was a failure as judged by who attended. From that day's snapshot:
 
Who were the notable no-shows?  Hamza Hendawi and Lara Jakes (AP) report that the no-shows included rulers from "Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most other Gulf countries, as well as Morocco and Jordan -- all of them headed by Sunni monarchs who deeply distrust the close ties between Baghdad's Shiite-dominated government and their top regional rival, Iran." The Belfast Telegraph notes, "The only ruler from the Gulf to attend was the Emir of Kuwait, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah."
 
 
With regards to IHEC . . .
 
I like Chris Hedges.  He is someone who tries to tell his truth and I'm always willing to consider what he says.  So let's drop back to election night in the US.  There's Hedges on a really bad program that he really shouldn't have been on but was.  Ava and I debated whether or not to cover this in real time but decided not to.  Hedges offered his belief that the world itself was in danger and that the world was being destroyed, to the point that it would be uninhabitable.  He said that in the face of that, other issues were less important.  Other issues identified by him?  He immediately went to women's rights.  Isn't that the knee jerk for lefty males every time?
 
 
And Ava and I were watching and giving him consideration because it is true that planet going down in flames might trump other things.  However, Chris Hedges then remained silent as a dumb ass with a stupid organization then piped in that he agreed and, by the way, what was really important and what needed to be focused on was all the enthusiasm it was building among people of color.
 
We waited for Hedges to object.
 
There was no objection and we felt Punk'd.
 
You want us to set aside women's rights -- the basic rights of over half the planet and a group that represents every race and ethnicity known to humankind -- and yet you're okay with some crap about the 'importance' of happy thoughts  for a certain segment of people?  That trumps whether or not human life can be supported by the planet?  An abstract feeling trumps the basic legal rights of over half the population?
 
Does Heges believe that happy thoughts trump the survival of the planet?  I doubt it.  But he wasn't willing to object.  These conversations happen over and over.  In the US, it's usually a bunch of male Democrats saying the party could get more votes if they dropped their support for abortion.  (That would of course drive women voters away but the 'brains' making that proposal don't consider women 'real voters' anyway.)  On the left (I'll let the right talk about itself), in the abstract, the disabled and challenged are treated with respect, men of color are treated with respect, men of certain ethnicites are treated with respect, all these groupings get respect and no one's asking that their rights be ignored or chipped away at.  But time and again, women -- who don't even make up half the Senate in our 'advanced' United States -- are asked to sacrifice.  It's past time for the left to get honest about what it really thinks about women and how little women are valued.  These continual attacks on women, these continual slights would not repeatedly happen were women not so devalued.  And hats off to Ruth for her great catch last night where she noted George Mitrovich reduced a strong Senator to arm candy because of his own sexism and that he did so while trying to pretend he's appalled by sexism.  to decry sexism. Let's also note that his crap appeared at The Huffington Post.  Time and again, certain women sell all women out so that they can advance on their own.  (The term is "queen bee.")
 
 
And time and again, women have to sacrifice and we're so damn sick of it.  Women's rights, their basic rights, Hedges was willing to toss aside for survival of the planet but not a feel-good mood about an election.  That was important and valid.  But the right to self-determination, to control one's own body, to own property, etc, these were unimportant.
 
What does this have to do with the above?
 
Kobler's bragging and boasting about IHEC -- Independent High Electoral Commission -- was embarrassing.
 
There is only one woman on the Commission.  The law requires women to be a third of the Commission.  The woman was added days after the others and probably wouldn't have been if even the Iraqi judges weren't publicly calling out the lack of women on the Commission.
 
Time and again, women are made to wait.  We're made to wait by Chris Hedges because it's all about survival, we're made to wait some other reason at some other time.  If Iraq, as it stands currently, cannot follow the law and cannot appoint three women to IHEC (appoint, not elect, what a joke that was from Kobler), then exactly when the hell will the law be followed?
 
 
Nouri al-Maliki has one female minister in his Cabinet.  All the rest -- even the so-called 'acting' ministers -- are men.  Women continues to be eliminated from positions of power, women continue to not be seated at the table.  Iraq's female politicians -- especially female members of Iraqiya -- loudly and publicly decried the IHEC board for not having the three women required by law.  But Kobler can't even note that.  Kobler happy stamps it and we're all supposed to accept that?
 
At what point is Nouri's government held accountable for its failure to follow the law?  At what point does the United Nations finally find the guts to call out the disenfranchisement of women?  Oh, yes, women were mentioned -- much later in the speech -- and we'll get to that tomorrow.  As their own little island.  As though they're not also Iraqis, as though Iraq is not also their country, as though they don't have a right to participate and as though 'success' in Iraq can be judged without considering what's happened to Iraq women.
 
How very sad.
 
 
Today Iraq was slammed with multiple bombings and shootings leading Antiwar.com to dub it a "bloodbath."  Margaret Gtiffis (Antiwar.com) counts 54 dead and 237 injured in the day's cycle of violence.  RT notes, "Two roadside bombs in the city of Hilla blew up a group of Shiite pilgrims, leaving at least 26 people dead and several dozen wounded. The bombs struck a commercial area of the city during a busy period.  Another attack happened in the shrine city of Karbala, 90 kilometers to the south of Baghdad. A car bomb killed 6 civilians and wounded 20, some of them police officers.­"  And RT has three Reuters photos of the aftermath of those two bombings.  Today's violence continues the week's trend of attacks.  Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observes, "Attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday left at least 38 people dead and more than 130 wounded."

In Hilla, AFP notes, "Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area of the blasts and set up checkpoints in the city to search cars, an AFP correspondent said, adding that shops near the site were shuttered after the attack."  Ali al-Rubaie (Reuters) quotes teacher Ihsan al-Khalidi explaining, "We started to stop civilian cars asking them to take the wounded to hospital since there were not enough ambulances to transfer them."   Sinan Salaheddin (AP) provides these details on the Hilla aftermath, "Twisted and charred remains of vehicles were seen outside damaged shops as shop owners collected their strewn merchandise from the bloodstained pavement, littered with debris."  On the Karbala attack, Al Jazeera explains,  "In the shrine city of Karbala, a car bomb killed four and left another 16 people wounded. The bomber parked the vehicle near the entrance of the Imam Abbas shrine. Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghad, said the holy site made for a 'very daring' attack in Karbala."  Xinhua adds, "Iraqi security forces blocked the roads to central Karbala which leads to the shrine of Imam Hussein, one of the 12 most Shiite revered Imams."   Al Bawaba notes that Shi'ites were the targets in the attacks on those two cities while other bombs today were targeting security forces.






Recommended: "Iraq snapshot"
"At least 10 killed in today's violence"
"'No one knows, no one cares'"
"Curiosity"
"8 women, 14 men"
"Toy auctions and the Bionic Woman"
"an idiot and a sexist of the week"
"The best Benghazi reporting today?"
"Breast cancer in Marin"
"Revenge"
"Oh, Clarence Page . . ."
"The flavorless rice"
"Santa post"
"Petraeus' would-be mistress"
"THIS JUST IN! TOMMY WANTS TO SUCK ONE!"

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Snarly meets more objections


BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


LOOKING HAGGARD IN A DIRTY OUTFIT WITH STRINGY HAIR AND SLOUCHING TO EMPHASIZE HER BELLY "POOCH," SUSAN SNARLS RICE MET WITH REPUBLICANS AGAIN YESTERDAY.

MODERATE SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS EXPLAINED SHE COULDN'T SUPPORT RICE CURRENTLY.  HOWEVER, 73-YEAR-OLD REPUBLICAN LAWRENCE KORB -- NOW WHORING AT THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN 'PROGRESS' LOVES SNARLY RICE.  TELL US ABOUT IRAN-CONTRA, LARRY KORB?

WHAT'S THAT?

YOU WON'T?

OF COURSE NOT, SO SHUT THE HELL UP YOU DECAYING OLD MAN, SHUT THE HELL UP. 


IT'S AMAZING HOW THESE CRIMINAL GERIATRICS WHO COULD HAVE SAVED THE COUNTRY STAYED SILENT AND NOW THINK WE WANT TO HEAR FROM THEM.

IN OTHER NEWS, SNARLY RICE ROUNDED OUT LAST NIGHT BY SPIT ROASTING 2 SMALL CHILDREN WHICH, UNHINGING HER JAW, SHE THEN PROCEEDED TO EAT.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:



As is too often the case, Howard Kurtz misses the point.  It's a long drop from the Washington Post to the Daily Beast and apparently he injured himself in the fall.   All together now . . .
 
And it's a long way down
It's a long way down
It's a long way down to the place
Where we started from
-- "Ice Cream," written by Sarah McLachlan, first appears on her Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
 
 
 
It's a long way down.  Which would explain his idiotic column today on the overweight and sexist Thomas E. Ricks appearing on Happening Now.  Yes, Howie, the program has a name.  The fact that everyone wants to keep ranting "Fox News!" goes to just how turgid and for-show the nonsense has been.  Jon Scott and Jenna Lee host Happening Now on the Fox News Channel.  See there, unlike Howie, I did the actual work.  But Howie's a 'media critic.'  He wastes 27 paragraphs in a ridiculous column at CNN and he can't even name the show but let's all pretend Howie's doing out of sight work these days.  In fact, let's all pretend that going from the Washington Post to the Daily Beast is a step-up as long as we're fantasizing.
 
In a telling and whorish moment, Howie 'forgets' to mention the program's name but works in a plug for Thomas E. Ricks' latest military porn -- what is it this time?  On My Knees In The Steamroom With The Generals, Wrapping My Mouth Around That?
 
Howie Cut 'Em Off Kurtz feels that Snow shouldn't have wrapped up the interview the minute that Ricks criticized Fox News.
 
But Snow didn't do that.  And Kurtz lies to make it seem as if he did.  You can stream the video at Erik Wemple's Washington Post blog post.  This is what sends Ricks packing:
 
Jon Scott: When you -- When you have four people dead -- including the first US Ambassador in more than 30 years -- how do you call that 'hype'?

Thomas E. Ricks:  How many security contractors died in Iraq?  Do you know?

Jon Scott:  I don't.


Thomas E. Ricks:  No.  Nobody does.  Because nobody cared.  We know that several hundred died but there was never an official count done -- of security contractors in Iraq.  So when I see this focus on [. . .]
 
To be clear, Scott let him go on and finish his 'thoughts' on contractors.  I'm not including his garbage here.  Thomas E. Ricks' statements were innaccurate and offensive and it's very telling that Howie Kurtz choose to whore instead of report.  That is what ended Ricks' segment.  Kurtz pretends it never happened. 
 
But then Howie is among the many in the press who's written and said "Chris Stevens and three others . . ."  That is so offensive. And the press doesn't care.  They don't care that it's offensive to the memories of Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and Glen Doherty.  They don't care that it's offensive to the families and friends of those three people.  They don't care that it exposes their so called love for the troops as hollow and bulls**t.   Let's quote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

Today, we also recognize the two security personnel who died helping protect their colleagues. Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty were both decorated military veterans who served our country with honor and distinction. Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest gratitude are with their families and friends. Our embassies could not carry on our critical work around the world without the service and sacrifice of brave people like Tyrone and Glen. Tyrone's friends and colleagues called him "Rone," and they relied on his courage and skill, honed over two decades as a Navy SEAL. In uniform, he served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2010, he protected American diplomatic personnel in dangerous posts from Central America to the Middle East. He had the hands of a healer as well as the arm of a warrior, earning distinction as a registered nurse and certified paramedic. All our hearts go out to Tyrone's wife Dorothy and his three sons, Tyrone Jr., Hunter, and Kai, who was born just a few months ago.
We also grieve for Glen Doherty, called Bub, and his family: his father Bernard, his mother Barbara, his brother Gregory, and his sister Kathleen. Glen was also a former Navy SEAL and an experienced paramedic. And he put his life on the line many times, protecting Americans in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hotspots. In the end, he died the way he lived – with selfless honor and unstinting valor.
 
 
Now pretend you give a damn about troops, pretend all you want.  But if you're writing or stating "Chris Stevens and three others," you are making very clear that you just don't give a f**k.
 
As soon as all four names were released publicly, Marcia and I both began using all four.  It's not difficult to do.  But don't expect anyone to take your crap seriously when you want to 'talk' Benghazi but you don't have the decency to list all four names.  Of course, it was important for the media to vanish these three because their parents refuse to play along with photo ops the way Chris Stevens' parents did.  These three parents want answers.
 
I applauded the Jersey Girls in real time (and applaud them today).  I applaud any American who takes on the system to find out why their loved one died (or where their loved one is in the case of the MIAs).
 
Howie Kurtz has proven himself to be an idiot and any words about caring about the troops or anything else are flat out lies from him because he refused to note the rude treatment of two Americans who died in an attack that took place because they were American and he refused to call out Thomas E. Ricks' bulls**t. 
 
He had time to plug the latest bad book from Thomas E. Ricks.  He just didn't have time to mention Iraq War veterans killed in an attack on Americans.  Whores make their priorities very clear and we hear you, Howie.  Though for how much longer is going to be the question.
 
Fat trash Ricks is quoted by Howie saying his apology to Fox News was not an apology "but rather an explanation of why I jumped a bit when the anchor began the segment with the assertion that pressure on the White House was building, which it most clearly was not."
 
As we've noted before, Thomas E. Ricks is no longer a reporter.  (Congratulations to the European community members who made sure that his billing was corrected when he went to Europe to pimp The Gamble.  He even got confronted to his face when he attempted to claim he was "just a reporter."  No, you're not.  You haven't been a reporter in years.)  Clearly was not?  Jay Carney made a ridiculous statement yesterday that the press refused to call out.  When you admit that the administration, 47 days after the attack, knows nothing, that's kind of desperate.  My opinion, that shows pressure on the White House.  But it's just my opinion, it's not fact and Thomas E. Ricks can no longer tell the difference between fact and fiction which is why, on that segment, he announced that Susan Rice would be confirmed as Secretary of State.
 
While Thomas was digging through the hampers of various generals today and holding the pouches of boxers and briefs up to his nose, I was at two hearings.  The one in the afternoon?  Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  It was so the Committee could publicly vet two of Barack's nominees.  Susan Rice wasn't one of them.  You had Robert Godec who is nominated to be the US Ambassador to Kenya and Deborah Ann McCarthy who is nominated to be the US Ambassador to Lithuania.
 
You know who else was at that hearing?  Senator John Kerry because he's the Chair of that Committee.  And while Thomas E. Ricks rubs his nose against military officers' crotches, I actually speak to the people who will be voting in the Senate.  And today there was a surprising amount of sympathy for John Kerry who his Democratic peers feel would be a great Secretary of State and felt that this was in the bag after Kerry's endorsement of and work for Barack during the 2008 primaries.  There's a feeling that John's not just qualified, that he's not only put in his time, but that he's being snubbed in the most rude way possible.  As a Democratic Senator not on the Foreign Relations Committee said to me and another Democratic Senator today, 'John's being asked to just go along with this media circus and if Susan Rice is nominated, he'll be the one to preside over that hearing.  And you know it's tearing him apart but he's never said a word against Rice or against Obama.'
 
So Thomas E. Ricks lunatic idea that Susan Rice is beloved by Democratic Senators for the Secretary of State post?  He might want to get his nose out of the hairy crotches of generals, wash his face and try talking to actual Senators.  (Though I doubt too many would want to talk to him.)
 
 
Decades of service and public work is what John Kerry brings to the table.  But when it's not about qualifications, why should anyone have to wait their turn?  I'm not saying Susan Rice wouldn't get confirmed.  I believe Democrats will vote for her.  But while Barack has angered the nation by yet again picking fights when he should be focused on issues that matter, he's angered Republicans and the assumption that he will go with Rice over John Kerry is really doing damage to Barack's reputation in the Senate. 
 
This was not the fight to have and we made that point the minute Susan Rice's name was floated publicly.  It's shown Barack to be petty and bickering, it's hardened tensions between the White House and Republicans in Congress (House and Senate) and it's left Democrats in the Senate demoralized as one of their own, an immensely qualified candidate for Secretary of State, appears about to be passed over for a woman more infamous for snarls than for building ties.
 
Here's Gareth Porter (TruthOut) correcting some of the damaging lies Thomas E. Ricks has put into print over the years about his wet dream David Petraeus:
 
Petraeus has been credited by Ricks and other journalists with having abandoned violent "cordon and search" operations used everywhere else in Iraq that alienated the entire Sunni population, and having replaced them with "cordon and knock" operations. In the softer version of targeted raids, the targets' homes were surrounded and the targets were invited to give themselves up peacefully. But again, the NPS thesis, based on the actual documents and the testimony of officers in Petraeus's command, tells a rather different story.
It turns out that Petraeus did not end kill-or-capture raids in Mosul: he continued to use them to kill or capture those believed to be hardcore insurgents, according to the NPS study. The less violent sweeps were used to capture "less dangerous but potentially active members of insurgent groups without alienating entire neighborhoods," the authors wrote. And when insurgent attacks went over 100 for the month of November 2003, Petraeus ordered a major increase in the level of cordon-and-search raids in December, hitting 23 targets simultaneously in one night. The number of suspects detained in Mosul soared that month to 295 - nearly three times the average over the previous five months.
Those targeted raids on suspected insurgents depended on intelligence gathered by Petraeus' own command, Special Forces operating in the area and the CIA. But how reliable was that intelligence? It is widely acknowledged that, especially that early in the war, US intelligence on the insurgency was woefully weak. The International Red Cross disclosed in a February 2004 report on detainee abuse in Iraq that US military intelligence officers had estimated that 70 to 90 percent of Iraqis they had detained were innocent. Petraeus' operation, as elsewhere in Iraq, had to rely on Iraqis volunteering information as to who was an insurgent, and, as Ricks relates, Petraeus told him "there were so many phony tips passed by Iraqis feuding with each other that this softer approach helped sort those tips without unnecessarily insulting Iraqi dignity."
 


Recommended: "Iraq snapshot"
"At least 10 killed in today's violence"
"'No one knows, no one cares'"
"Curiosity"
"8 women, 14 men"
"Toy auctions and the Bionic Woman"
"an idiot and a sexist of the week"
"The best Benghazi reporting today?"
"Breast cancer in Marin"
"Revenge"
"Oh, Clarence Page . . ."
"The flavorless rice"
"Santa post"
"Petraeus' would-be mistress"
"THIS JUST IN! TOMMY WANTS TO SUCK ONE!"
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Petraeus' would-be mistress


BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

TIRED, CRANKY WAR WHORE THOMAS E. RICKS, THE FORMER REPORTER, WENT ON FOX NEWS YESTERDAY TO ANNOUNCE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW HOW MANY CONTRACTORS DIED IN IRAQ.

 "NOBODY KNOWS.  NOBODY CARES."

HE HIMSELF MADE THAT CONFESSION WHEN ASKED ABOUT BENGHAZI AND THE FOUR AMERICANS WHO DIED THERE: GLEN DOHERTY, SEAN SMITH, TYRONE WOODS AND CHRIS STEVENS.

ASKED ABOUT THEIR DEATHS, TOM RICKS CHOSE TO SAY "NOBODY KNOWS. NOBODY CARES."

MESSAGE RECEIVED OLD MAN.  AND WE THOUGHT YOUR SAGGING MAN BREASTS WERE THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING ABOUT YOU.


AND TIP FOR THOSE WHO GO ON TV, ONCE YOU GO ON A NETWORK, ANY NETWORK, YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE A HIGH HORSE TO RIDE.  POINT BEING, IF YOU CHOSE TO GO ON FOX TO PROMOTE YOUR LATEST DROOL OVER THE COCKS OF GENERALS, THEN YOU REALLY HAVE NO PLACE CRITICIZING IT.  IF YOU THINK THE NETWORK'S OFFENSIVE, DON'T APPEAR ON IT.



 FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Now let's go back to questions.
 
The questions that remain to be answered and that the President insists are answered have to do with what happened in Benghazi, who was responsible for the deaths of four Americans including our Ambassador and what steps do we need to take to ensure that something like that does not happen again?
 
 
That's Jay Carney.  The White House's plus-size spokesmodel (as Cedric and Wally have dubbed him).  And it must be great to be the White House.  All the Benghazi focus on Rice.  Hours and hours wasted on MSNBC with nonsense. 
 
Rice hasn't even been nominated for the post.  But she certainly does distract from the fact that the US was attacked on September 11th and it's now 47 days later and the official White House position, per Jay Carney, is that they don't know "what happened in Benghazi, [or] who was responsible for the deaths" or "what steps do we need to take to ensure that something like that does not happen again?"
 
It's 47 days after the terrorist attack.  And they don't know what steps to take?  How non-reassuring for American diplomats around the world.  How pathetic.
 
If Bully Boy Bush -- or his henchman toady Ari -- had declared on November 27, 2001, "We don't know who attaacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, we don't know who was responsible for the deaths and we don't know what steps we need to take to ensure that an attack like that doesn't happen again," how long do you think it would have been before Congress was openly discussing impeachment?
 
Maybe Jay Carney, not Senate Republicans, is the one "obsessed" with Susan Rice?  Clearly, the White House is not doing their job.  Not only did they fail to anticipate the attack despite all the mounting indicators leading up to the attack but 47 days later the official White House spokersperson faces the press -- by proxy the American people -- and declares that they have no idea, all these weeks and weeks later, how it happened or who was behind it?
 
 
The kind term is "incompetence."  A more harsh charge that could be tossed around would be "dereliction of duty."

Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Assisted suicide?


BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O GOES TO PENNSYLVANIA TODAY TO TRY TO LOBBY SUPPORT FOR HIS EFFORTS TO GUT THE SAFETY NET.

THERE IS NO FISCAL CLIFF.  THIS IS ABOUT SCREWING OVER AMERICANS.

AND IF BARRY O THINKS IT'S SO DAMN IMPORTANT TO 'ADDRESS' THIS ISSUE, THEN MAYBE HIS LITTLE BUTT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN AMERICA DOING THAT AND NOT ON YET ANOTHER (FAILED) VANITY TRIP OVERSEAS TO TRY TO GARNER PRESS.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


The tensions between Erbil and Baghdad continue.  Nouri al-Maliki turned a tense situation into a crisis by sending forces (Tigris Operation Command) into the disputed areas in northern Iraq.  The Kurds see this as an attempt by Nouri to seize control of the areas.  Due to Nouri's past record and his refusal to honor the Constitution he took an oath to (specifically to implement Article 140 of the Constitution to resolve disputed areas), they're wise to see this as yet another power grab on Nouri's part.   The World Tribune observes today, "Over the last 10 days, KRG and the Iraq Army have been in a standoff for control of a disputed town of Tuz Khurmatu." 
 
Zaydan al-Rabii (Al-Monitor translating Al-Khallej) reported this morning that despite the fact that "a Kurdish military delegation is arriving in Baghdad on Monday [Nov. 26] to meet officials from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, news indicates that additional Kurdish soldiers and armored vehicles are moving towards disputed areas."
 
In a development everyone is trumpeting, representatives from the KRG and the central Iraqi government met in Baghdad today.  KUNA notes, "Iraq's federal government and provincial government of Iraq's Kurdistan region reached an agreement in principle stipulating return of all military foces to their previous locations."  In principal?  And that's the more upbeat version.  Isabel Coles and Alison Williams (Reuters) lead with, "Iraqi military leaders agreed on Monday with commanders from the Kurdistan region to defuse tension and discuss pulling their troops back from an area over which they both claim jurisdiction."  That's not quite the same thing and when you include a quote from Iraq's "commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces" (that would be Nouri) that states the two sides will "discuss a mechanism to return the forces which were deployed after the crisis to their previous positions."  So they're going to discuss that.  And even less has been accomplished according to Almanar, "Top federal and Kurdish security officials agreed in Baghdad on Monday to 'activate' coordinating committees between their forces and work to calm the situation in northern Iraq, a statement said."  Almanar also notes that those attending the meeting including US Lt Gen Robert Caslen.
 
Let's take a little side trip since a US military officer is attending meetings in Iraq.  Last night,  Xinhua reported on US efforts to beef up their presence in Iraq, US military efforts.  They note Independent Press Agency has quoted an Iraqi government source stating, "Dozens of giant U.S. airplanes C-130 Hercules had carried out successive flights to the once second largest U.S. military airbase al-Asad in Iraq's western province of Anbar."  They include the official government denial.  While Buratha News Agency has noted a Special Ops unit has come into Iraq in recent weeks and that there are negotiations going on to send more in.  Then the report notes:

On Sept. 24, the New York Times newspaper quoted Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., an American commander in charge of speeding up weapons sales to Iraq, as saying that Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions.
According to Caslen, "A unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence," the newspaper.


Back in September,  Tim Arango (New York Times) reported:

 
Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to General Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence.


That's the New York Times report Xinhua is referring to.  And please note, 'fact checker' and corpulent TV personality Candy Crowley felt no need to tell debate watchers that very real fact.  But China's Xinhua can note what NBC News, CBS News and ABC News all ignored.  But it wasn't just television news that was ignorant of Tim Arango's report.  Mere weeks ago the editorial board of the New York Times wrote an editorial on Iraq that made clear they hadn't read what one of their own reporters had written.  And when 'fact checking' the presidential debates, the New York Times team repeatedly came up stupid when it had to do with the US government in negotiations to send more US troops into Iraq. 
 
The Chinese may end up better informed about what the US is working on in Iraq than the American people.   Back to the current standoff in Iraq.
 
 
 
Kelly McEvers has a major report on the conflict today for NPR's All Things Considered (link is audio right now -- transcript will go up at link tomorrow).  McEvers notes the history of the conflict and the recent skirmish in Tuz Khormato. Calling it the best US broadcast report on the conflict really isn't a compliment becuase it's also the only in depth broadcast report in the US so far. That said, it's a very strong report. We're going to stay with today's 'big news' and note this from her report.
 
 
Kelly McEvers: Kurdish and Arab military leaders tentatively agreed today to pull their troops back to previous positions but the restaurant owner back in Tuz Khormato is not optimstic. "It's not the politicians in high place who suffer from this war of words," he told us. "It's us. The people on the ground."

 
Things are now so tense between the Kurdistan Regional Government out of Erbil and the Baghdad-based central government of Iraq that rumors usually used to justify the start of open war are flying around. Al Rafidayn reports rumors being spread that the Kurds are sending shooters into Kirkuk in plain clothes to kill people. This is the sort of thing the US government has repeatedly used to justify moving on the Syrian government. While rumors fly, Kitabat notes that efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent armed conflict continue with talks continue.


But Nouri never plays fair. Alsumaria reports that Nouri has announced the issue is one for the federal courts. That would be the federal courts he controls.  All Iraq News notes that Jabbar Yawar, Secretary General of the Ministry of Peshmerga (Kurdish elite forces) has stated that their demand is that Nouri's forces leave the disputed areas. Alsumaria adds that Nouri has sent in six more additional military helicopters to the area.
 
This isn't surprising.  This has been building for years and there were many red flags raised in the process. 
 
 
KRG President Massoud Barzani: Iraq is facing a serious crisis today. Yesterday, we have discussed that very frankly with the President [Barack Obama], the Vice President [Joe Biden] and it's going to one-man rule. It's going towards control of all the establishments of state. So we have got a situation or we ended up having a situation in Baghdad where one individual is the Prime Minister and at the same time he's the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he's the Minister of Defense, he's the Minister of the Interior and the Chief of the Intelligence and lately he has sent a correspondence to the president of the Central Bank in Iraq that that establishment would also come under the Prime Minister. Where in the world would you find such an example? We as the people of Kurdistan, we believe that this government has come to be as a result of the blood that we have shed and as a result of the sacrifices that we have contributed. We are eager to see the situation reformed. Therefore, we will not leave Baghdad for others. So, therefore, we see the situation in Iraq that it requires to be ruled in partnership -- for that power-sharing and partnership to consist of the Kurds and the Arabs -- both the Shia Arabs and the Sunni Arabs.
 
 
 
Those words? Barzani delivered them when he spoke publicly in DC at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy April 5th. What's really changed since then? Nouri's gotten more aggressive and less interested in a power-sharing government. Days after that speech, Wladimir van Wilgenburg (Rudaw) reported:

After increased tensions between the Iraqi and the Kurdish governments, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani told Alhurra TV last Thursday that Baghdad is considering the use of F-16 fighter planes against the Kurds.
In the interview, Barzani says the issue with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is not personal, but it is about his dictatorial policies. "I still consider him a brother and a friend," he said. According to Barzani, division commanders in the Iraqi army are supposed to be approved by parliament, but this hasn't happened.
Barzani told Alhurra that he has confronted the Iraqi PM many times and been told by Maliki that he will act, but he hasn't, and suggested there is talk of a "military solution" to confront the Kurds in Baghdad. Barzani said that in an official meeting with Iraqi military commanders, it was stated that they should wait for F-16s to arrive to help push back the Kurds.
 
 
"Given the fact that the Maliki government doesn't represent a true coalition, won't this agreement [make it appear] we are taking sides in the civil war especially when most Iraqi Parliamentarians have called for the withdrawal of troops?"
 
 
That's an important question. Then-Senator Russ Feingold asked it in the April 10, 2008 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing when the US was attempting to hand Nouri the moon and stars in contract form with the Status Of Forces Agreement.  He wasn't the only senator bothered by the US government getting into bed with Nouri and the issue of a civil war in Iraq. Another senator pointed out that this arrangement raised "many red flags with me and other Americans. We've pledged we're not only going to consult when there is an outside threat, but also when there is an inside threat. We've just witnessed when Mr. Maliki engaged in the use of force against another Shia group in the south, is this an inside threat?"
 
 
Good questions.  They deserved answers.
 
 
The person asking that question, like Russ Feingold, is no longer in the Senate. The person asking that question is Joe Biden, now the US Vice President.
 
It's a shame those questions weren't answered before Joe left the Senate. 
 


RECOMMENDED:





Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)