"7 Marines, Naval Corporal Charged With Murdering Iraqi Civilian" (Democracy Now):
The US military has charged eight service members with the murder and kidnapping of an unarmed Iraqi. Hashim Ibrahim Awad was pulled from his home last April in the town of Hamdania. Military investigators believe the Marines shot him and then planted a shovel and an AK-47 rifle at the scene to make it appear he was an insurgent. Awad was in his 50's with a lame leg and bad eyesight. His family has alleged a small group of U.S. servicemembers offered them money in exchange for supporting the Marines' version of the killing. The charges were announced Wednesday at California's Camp Pendleton, where the servicemembers are being held. If convicted, the suspects could face the death penalty.
Marine spokesperson Colonel Stewart Navarre: "It is important to note that the charges are accusations, against the individual, and the accused is presumed innocent. All marines are trained in the law of armed conflict, and are expected to fully comply with it. The marine corps takes allegations of wrongdoings by its members very seriously, and is committed to thoroughly investigating such allegations."
In The Third Estate Sunday Review's "When War Hawks Lied," we wrote:
Look if you will at the faces
Don't you dare turn away
This is the war that was heavily sold
This is what we get when
War Hawks Lie
Get the feeling that a lot are turning away? I do. I can't believe that there are eight charged with such an awful crime and we get so little on it. I didn't even hear anyone talking about this for the longest today. I went into work this morning and said, "I'm just going to wait and see how long it takes." If it wasn't brought up by lunch, I'd bring it up. It was ten o'clock before someone brought it up. I heard about Mark Cuban saying the NBA was rigged and a lot of talk wondering if he was right (most felt he was) and whether or not he'd sell off his team (Dallas Mavericks -- though one guy participating thought Cuban owned the LA Lakers -- he was trying to act like he followed basketball). I heard about internet predators. After 20 minutes of that from the woman and the man whose desk was closest to mine, I had to pipe up and say "Brian Doyle." Who, they asked? The deputy press secretary of Homeland Security until he was busted in April when he got soliciting sexual relations with a child online.
At ten, the boss came in. He was going desk to desk and saying hi. He stopped at mine and said, "Please tell me you heard about the troops being charged." He'd gone desk to desk and found no one who had. Sort of tells you what we get out of our corporate news.
"Senate Rejects Minimum Wage Increase" (Democracy Now):
Back in the United States, the Senate rejected a measure Wednesday that would have raised the minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade. The proposal called for a 40 percent increase from the current wage of Five Dollars and Fifteen cents an hour. A study released this week by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the real-dollar value of the minimum wage is now at its lowest level in more than fifty years. But Congress has not rejected all federal pay hikes: last week, House lawmakers voted to increase their salaries by more than Three Thousand Dollars. It was their seventh straight pay raise.
Hey, I could use a three thousand dollar raise. I think I got 3% in the last pay raise. And no, that didn't add up to three thousand dollars. Add in that my insurance went up 2% in January so I really only got a 1% bump. C.I. put this item with "an excerpt from Antonia Juhasz' The Bush Agenda: Invading The World, One Economy at a Time (page 100):"
Just compare CEO pay to that of the average worker. Twenty years ago, U.S. corporate CEOs earned on average forty-two times more than production workers. Today, they earn a whopping 431 times more. Put another way, if the average production worker's pay had kept pace with that of CEOs, he or she would be taking home more than $110,000 a year instead of less than $28,000. Likewsie, the average minimum wage earner would be taking home over $23 an hour instead of $5.15. Imagine what one could do with an extra $18 an hour -- perhaps afford a better place to live, child care during work hours, or health insurance for the entire family.
Mike and I are teaming up tonight because Elaine has Thursday's off. Be sure to visit Mikey Likes It! I'm covering the third segment of WBAI's Law and Disorder and Mike's grabbing the second. Ruth will grab the first (she says "hopefully" because she's playing with the format of her report and trying to make them "less chatty" and "more focused"). I love her reports anyway she does them. But I know from just grabbing my segment that there's so much more to cover than I have time for.
My segement was on prisons. First up, host Heidi Boghosian talked about her recent visit with Mumia Abu-Jamal who is on death row (25 years) and deserves a fair trial -- something he's never gotten. She was visiting him on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild. (Host Michael Smith pointed out that all four hosts are members -- Dalia Hashad and Michael Ratner are the other two hosts.) The National Lawyers Guild is going to file a friend of the court brief for a new trial. She spoke of two of the many issues in his trial. There is the issue of the racism in the selection of the jury. And there's the prosecutor telling the jury that their sentence (their verdict) was "reviewable, there will be appeal after appeal." That last one is the issue the National Lawyers Guild is going to be filing their brief on because the Supreme Court has found it "clearly influences" the jury. Boghosian said that with the other issues this is "grounds for reversal" of the conviction. (Wrongful conviction in my opinion.)
She also talked about how, at his prison, there are random searches of cars in the parking lot and how "they swab your hands" inside testing "for the presence of drugs."
Michael Ratner guessed that this will be heard sometime in the fall. You can hear Abu-Jamal on Free Speech Radio, by the way. He does commentaries. If you read Amy Goodman and David Goodman's Exception to the Rulers (great book) you know that NPR wanted him to do commentaries but then chickened out when there were some protests. He does them now on Free Speech Radio.
David Gilbert was who Michael Smith visited. I don't know much about his case. Chesea Boudin is Gilbert's son. That put a face to it for me because I got to see Boudin give a speech. (Smart guy.) He was transporting bank robbers ("trying to liberate funds to fund a movement -- Black Liberation Army"). He and Kathy Boudin (Chesea's mother) were waiting in a parking lot in a U-Haul during the robbery. Those who committed the robbery then met up with them because the police would be looking for African-Americans who committed the robbery and Gilbert and Boudin are White. They were stopped by the police for some reason (maybe it was a checkpoint set up) and during the encounter, the robbers came from the back of the U-Haul and began firing and three police officers were killed. Michael Smith explained that during the sentencing, Gilbert refused to take part saying that he was a political prisoner, that the people involved were prisoners of war and that "I don't recognize the authority of your court" before turning his back. The court came down extremely hard (severly) and sentenced him to three terms of life.
Michael Smith said that the earliest Gilbert would be eligible for parole was in 2056 and right now he is already sixty-one years old. I'm not remembering him from the movie Weather Underground which I did see. C.I. gave me Thai Jones' A Radical Line (great book) but he's got only on two pages in that book. The longer of the two is where Thai Jones is talking about how he is a child living undercover with his parents (Jeff Jones and Eleanor Raskin). This is page 271:
He and Eleanor were both listening to the radio in their bedroom when the announcer flashed in with breaking news: a botched armored truck robbery in Rockland County, two police-officers and a security guard dead, four unidentified people -- two whites and two blacks -- in custody. My parents looked at each other and had the exact same thought: I bet they're friends of ours.
"No matter how this unfolds," Jeff said to her, "our lives are not going to be the same." There was no explicit reason that the trail should lead to us and nothing we could do to avoid trouble. Jeff and Eleanor took me to school and then went to work. The story of the Brink's robbery developed throughout the day. The suspects' names were released and that initial hunch had been correct: Kathy Boudin, Judy Clark, and David Gilbert were old, old friends.
Michael Smith and Michael Ratner talked about how Gilbert has written a book called No Surrender. You can also find some of his writings by clicking here.
Check out Wally's "THIS JUST IN! PSYCHIC CASEY SAYS 'HONEY, THEY SHRUNK THE ARMY!'" and I'm closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Chaos and violence continue in Iraq. Elsewhere some merely strike poses.
In the United States, the Senate has said "NO!" to US forces leaving Iraq by July 2007. As the so-called coalition continues to break apart with other nations deciding to pull their troops out of Iraq, one might think the issue would garner a serious debate. Always one to posture, John McCain (Senator from Arizona) declared: "The United States, with our Iraqi partners, has the responsibility to see this through" apparently auditioning for the role of passenger on the Titanic. Russ Feingold (Senator from Wisconsin) stated: "It is time to tell the Iraqis that we have done what we can do militarily." Instead of addressing that reality, most preferred to posture; however, 13 senators did vote in favor of the proposal John Kerry and Feingold were supporting (troops out by July 2007). The other (weaker and, as Sandra Lupien noted on KPFA's The Morning Show, "nonbinding") proposal much supported by Democratic Party hacks such as DiFi and Harry Reid? It lost in a 60-39 vote. In Vienna, the Bully Boy faced questions about Iraq. "What's past is past," declared the Bully Boy on the issue of Iraq. What's past? How about what's passed? The 2500 mark for American military fatalities. As Amy Goodman noted today on Democracy Now!, 2512 is the current fatality count.
While the United States Congress can't say "Withdrawal" and the Bully Boy can't even toss out a phrase correctly (it is: "What's done is done."), it's not suprising that it has become increasing harder for US military recruiters to meet the needed recruitment numbers. As the UK's Daily Mail notes, the U.S. Army's decision to raise the maximum age for recruitment, to forty-two, is the second time this year that the military has raised the age. In January, the maxium age was raised from 35 years-old to 40. Why the Army? As Reuters notes: "More than three years into the war, the Army continues to provide the bulk of U.S. ground forces in Iraq." Which is why military recruiters, when not stalking school campuses, attempt to recruit at NASCAR events.
Speaking to Fluxview, for their AWOL in Canada series, Christopher Mogwai noted that, "In the Vietnam era they didn't kick you out for drugs, now they do" so some choose any number of means to leave the service. Fluxview also interviews war resistors Darrell Anderson and Ryan Johnson.
Noting the charging of "eight US troops with kidnapping and murdering a handicapped Iraqi civilian," Demetri Sevastolulo and Neil Buckley (Financial Times of London) note that the speaker of the Iraqi parliment is asking "the US to investigate the killings of 'many innocent people' by American forces." According to CNN, Masmoud al-Mashhadani is specifically calling for "an investigation . . . into this week's U.S. bombing of a poultry farm in northern Iraq." This is the incident Amy Goodman noted yesterday where a human rights worker states that "two of the dead were young boys aged ten and twelve." As Al Jazeera noted: "The Association of Muslim Scholars said US warplanes bombed a house and a poultry farm in al-Bushahin village in northeast Baquba, then dropped soldiers to kill the survivors of the attack."
In Baghdad today, CNN notes a car bomb went off by a movie theater and two people were killed, five wounded. Reuters notes a motorcycle bombing, in Baghdad, which resulted in two dead and eight injured.
In Baquba, Reuters reports that Raad al-Mowla was wounded in a roadside bomb (al-Mowla is the governor of the Diyala province). The Associated Press notes a bomb in Jibla that resulted in the death of an unidentified civilian and an "Iraqi army solider." As Amy Goodman noted this morning, "at least fifty of the more than eighty [kidnapped] workers have been released or freed."
Reuters notes the discovery of 14 corpses of electricity plant workers who were "abducted and killed June 12". Associated Press notes that six corpses ("bullet-riddled bodies") were found in Kut. In Najaf, a police officer was shot dead, Reuters notes, and, in Dhuluiya, an Iraqi soldier was shot dead. Like the US Congress, John Howard (prime minister of Australia) plays baby Bully Boy and speaks of how things might get even riskier for Australians stationed in Iraq, Australia's ABC reports Labor leader Kim Beazley's response in Parliment: "Iraq is a quagmire and staying htere is not in our national interest. Make no mistake about it, we are opposed to the war in Iraq, we want these troops in Al Muthanna province home now."
While Japan used the Iraq government's decision to take over responsiblity for the Al Muthanna province as a sign to withdraw troops, Howard has decided to move Australian troops to other areas in Iraq. Though of little concern to the mainstream US press, the shooting by Australian security guards yesterday of three Iraqi bodyguards (one dead, two wounded) for Iraq Trade Minister Abdel Falah al-Sudany has resulted in an expression of regret from the Australian Defense Force and, today, has led al-Sudany to issue a statement that he "demands an apology and payment of compsenation." Reuters notes: "The incident could potentially embarrass Australia, which has been trying to imrpove trade ties with Iraq after Iraq suspended dealings with Australia's monopoly wheat exporter AWB over a kickbacks scandal."
Besides trade deals being put at risk (remember, it's the markets), Labor and Green reps in Australia says that the incident is another reason Australia needs to withdraw troops from Iraq. Kim Bezley stated, "The point is this: we shouldn't be there." Bob Brown, Greens leader, stated: "It should send a signal to this Prime Minister, who just does not seem to connect that we should be bringing the troops home. They shouldn't have been there, they should be brought home."
Speaking to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales on Democracy Now! today, Italian journalist Giulana Sgrena discussed the details of her kidnapping in Iraq as well as the details of the rescue that went wrong when US troops fired on her vehicle as it was enroute to the airport. During the interview, Sgrena stated: "So there are many things that we don't know and we would like to know. I don't want to accuse Mario Lozano to know who was in the car and to shoot because he knew that there, there were agents and me. But we want the prosecution just to know, to have more information of what happened, because we gave the information to the commander, the Italian one that was in touch with the American one in the airport, that we were on this road to the airport. And we know that they were monitoring the telephone that we used in the car, the Americans, and they were monitoring the mobile telephone on the satellite." Remember that: Sgrena will be in New York City Friday June 23rd for an event with Amy Goodman at Columbia University. (Event starts at 7:30 p.m.)
the daily jot
mikey likes it
like maria said paz
the common ills
democracy now
giuliana sgrena
amy goodman
iraq
kpfa
the morning show
sandra lupien
darrell anderson
christopher mogwai
ryan johnson
juan gonzalez
antonia juhasz
wbai
law and disorder
michael ratner
heidi boghosian
michael smith
dalia hashad
national lawyers guild
david gilbert
mumia abu-jamal
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Summary post
I'm going for four posts this week, maybe five. Nothing long. Rebecca says she's doing better and Mike's got a long thing on that going up. I told Mike I wasn't in the mood to do a long post tonight and asked him if he was doing WBAI's Law and Disorder? He said he forgot and has been online forever. So I'll use that as my out tonight. He's grabbing the taser, I'm grabbing the prison segment and Ruth will grab the first segment. "Ruth's Public Radio Report" went up this morning. She didn't cover the first segment from last week. She was hoping to but then she found out about Rebecca miscarrying and, like everybody else, she knows how Rebecca wants children so she just wasn't in the mood to do much with her report.
I think it was a strong report. Check it out.
I'll talk about The Third Estate Sunday Review and do C.I.'s snapshot and call that my entry. Here's the new content at The Third Estate Sunday Review:
"Truest statement of last week" -- we all agreed Barbara Lee had the best statement that we heard last week.
"Editorial: What's news?" -- I didn't work much on this. I tossed out some ideas right around the time we heard Rebecca's news (or around the time C.I. figured out what had happened). Ty said they really weren't in the mood and that it was basically C.I. and Jim coming up with stuff and the rest of them smoothing it over.
"Iraq snapshot" -- Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim helped C.I. by going through the e-mails for Sunday's "And the war drags on . . ." -- picking highlights. That gave C.I. the time to do the snapshot for the entry (which they've pulled and posted as it went up at The Common Ills). C.I. thinks the entry was a joint entry because without that help there wouldn't have been time for the snapshot Sunday. They disagree and say that's C.I.'s work and give C.I. the credit.
"TV Review: There's always a platform for some" -- Ava and C.I. weren't in the mood. They'd spoken to two people for this review and thought they'd have something really funny. They said it was a pain to write (because their minds were elsewhere) and Ava points out that one section (the part around the "Woops!") was just for them to get through and they'd go back and fix it before it posted. Jim read it and said it was perfect as is. So they had to wait to get someone's permission to include the "Woops!" section. I think it is funny. I also think it's true about how it is easier to get a White point of view on TV than anything else.
"Incident you should have heard of" -- Look at the right, at the top and you'll see my CODEPINK button. We were working on this story, about how CODEPINK was stabbed in the back, and saying we wish we could do something more than just that story. Dallas, who always hunts down the links, ended up looking around the CODEPINK site and told us they had web buttons. Great idea on Dallas' part. (Great find too.) Kat's crashed, her site. It took awhile to fix it and after that we were all asking C.I. what to do? So C.I. copied the code and that's why we're all using the same button. We can change it now and C.I. told us where to put the code in but I'll probably stay with that one. Even Trina added one. She got up at 4:20 her time to get things ready because she wanted her husband to have a good father's day. Mike heard her in the kitchen (she's Mike's mother) and went down to ask her if she wanted a button on her site. She did so we've all got them now. We mean what we say in this piece but the buttons are just a visual way for us to show our support for a group that works hard to do what needs to be done. They do a great job.
"When War Hawks Lied" -- We were using another song. I said, "How about Prince's 'When Doves Cry?' and that might be my only input. At first, it was called "When War Hawks Lied." That got changed but the title didn't get fixed. You can sing it to "When Doves Cry" too (try it).
I think this was mainly Kat, Betty, C.I. and Jess with the rest of us trying to stay out of their way. It went very quickly. We were all tired (and wiped out from the news) so this was actually a good, easy piece where most of us, including me, were mainly just saying, "Yeah!"
"RadioNation with Laura Flanders" -- This got lost. No backup copy. Had to redo from scratch. It was a nightmare. (The show was great.)
'"We Were All Wrong!' Not so fast Pt. II" -- Should have been quick. Wasn't. We'll grab Howard Zinn next time, if you're wondering. There's a hateful woman who was interviewed by The Progressive last week. C.I., Elaine, Dona, Betty, Rebecca, Jess and Ava were adament that no links go to The Progressive website until the woman's interview wasn't on the front page. C.I.'s attitude was that they can interview whomever they want but they're not getting traffic while their interview with her is on the front page. I ended up getting upset the more I heard. She's a woman who trashes other women. I said I doubted they'd provide a reactionary African-American. She's considered by some to be progressive. Her statements are more along the lines of Ann Coulter but because they're aimed at women, it's apparently okay. Katha Pollitt, Gloria Steinem, Naomi Wolf . . . There's pretty much no woman she hasn't trashed. Since then, I've looked at some of her stuff (library and I didn't check it out so she didn't get "circulation" off me) and I really just get more offended. I guess the magazine was 'big tenting' last week. There's always room in the 'big tent' for those who attack women or people of color.
There was also a roundtable that we did early on. It ran in the print edition that goes out Sunday morning. But Dona said, "Hold on" about posting it. (I'd already bailed.) I asked her why and she remembered there were some comments Rebecca made when she thought everyone would just think she was having cramps from a period. Dona said that since it would probably be discussed at sites (the miscarriage), she didn't want the roundtable posted online. Rebecca was being open and under the impression of one understanding when it was being done (the roundtable) and she (Dona) just felt it wasn't fair to Rebecca to run it online. (And wished she'd realized that before the print edition went out.) There was also two other things in the print edition. A poem and I'm not even remembering the other thing. It's been a long week and it's only Tuesday.
Check out Trina's "Potato Casserole in the Kitchen." Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Chaos and violence continue in Iraq. Outside of Iraq?
As noted by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, "the so-called coalition of the willing continues to shrink:" Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister of Japan, declared that Japanese troops are leaving Iraq by "year's end.". Reuters notes that, although no Japanese troops were "killed or wounded in Iraq," "six Japanese citizens, including two diplomats, have been killed by insurgents in Iraq." China's Xinhau reports that the prime ministers discussed the intended withdrawal "with leaders of the ruling coalition and opposition parties" on Tuesday morning "shortly before the announcement." As Amy Goodman reported, Japan joins Italy with the announcement of pulling troops out by year's end and that "Spain, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Nicaragua, the Philipines and Honduras have already pulled out." Noting "Japan's Kyodo news agency," the Financial Times of London states the withdrawal "process could be completed by the end of July." Xinhua notes the same possibility and credits word on it to "Japanese government officials."
While Japan prepares to remove troops from the ground in Iraq, in the United States, a watered-down, weaker version of John Kerry's call for US troops out of Iraq is allowing for posturing. Caterwauling on the Senate floor today, Bill Frist exclaimed, "We cannot surrender. We cannot go wobbly. The price is far too high." Possibly a mantra he once repeated to himself while dissecting felines? Meanwhile, always one to run from a fight, Harry Reid's less concerned with exit plans for the US, and knowing there's no democracy in Iraq, focuses instead on a possible amnesty plan Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister and occupation puppet Nouri al-Maliki. Adnan Ali al-Kadhimi was fired/resigned following his comments to the press regarding the potential plan. But it's a nice, dead-hypothetical to rage and rattle about as opposed to dealing with reality. In other news on the spineless, John Walsh (CounterPunch) reports that what recent book sales didn't get across, phone calls might have -- Baby Cries a Lot took three calls complaining about his War Hawk position on the war. Walsh does not note if Baby Cries a Lot attempted to garner sympathy by sobbing, breaking into tears or using his own children to justify an ongoing war (children who do not and have not served in Iraq or, for that matter, the military). In non-spineless news, AP reports that Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold and John Kerry "intend to push for a vote on their own proposal."
In Seattle yesterday, Sara Jean Green reports: "Ann Wright appeared with 1st Lt. Ehren Watada and his parents at a news conference at University Lutheran Church to announce a national day of action June 27, when anti-war demonstrations will be held in cities across the country in support of Watada." Green reports that Wright, "retired army colonel and former State Department official," will appear at a "news conference today at University Lutheran Church on behalf of another Fort Lewis soldier, Suzanne Swift". Watada, whose parents joined him for yesterday's news conference, is the first commission officer to refuse deployment in Iraq. Click here to sign an online petition supporting Watada. Suzanne Swift was arrested last week after deciding she couldn't return to Iraq and going AWOL.
In Iraq, as reported by Jonathan Finer (Washington Post), Kristian Menchaca and Thomas L. Tucker, two US soldiers who were abducted last Friday, were found dead "near a power plant in Yusifiyah." The discovered corpses are said to have signs of "barbaric" torture. Meanwhile, the Mujahedeen Shura Council is claiming credit for the deaths. The Financial Times of London concludes: "The news will tarnish the positive image US and Iraqi officials have been projecting recently of a government that is gradually getting to grips with the security situation and turning the tide against the insurgents."Other corpses were discovered in Iraq today, Reuters notes that two were found in Hilla ("blindfolded and hands tied") while in Baghdad, five corpses were found ("handcuffed with gunshot wounds in the head").
Bombings? Baghdad saw a series of bombings. RTE News reports on one near "a second-hand clothes market in central Baghdad" which resulted in at least two dead and and at least 28 wounded. Al Jazeera notes that roadside bomb as well as a cra bomb "in a a crowded market in the eastern district of Jamila in Baghdad" that left seven dead and 18 wounded. The BBC reports that, in Basra, "at least one elderly woman was killed along with a suicide bomber who blew himself up inside a home for the elderly". Reuters notes that five others were wounded. Another car bomb went off in the Hurriya district of Baghdad "killing at least five people and wounding 11".
Reuters reports that while the US miliatry is saying Ramadi is not the target for a major offensive, the Red Cross has "voiced concern on difficult living conditions in Ramadi". Reporting for IPS, Dahr Jamail and Ali Fdhil write: "A week spent in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad, reveals that residents are suffering from lack of water, electricity, cooking gas and medical supplies for the hospitals. The streets are eerily empty, and it appears that many people have now left the city, althought possibly as many as 150,000 still remain in their homes, either because they are too afraid to leave or they have nowhere to go."
As noted by Sandra Lupien on KPFA's The Morning Show the US military is claiming an exchange was aimed at insurgents with 15 dead while Iraqi witnesses disputing the official (US) account*. The exchange took place in Bushahin ("village . . . north of Baghdad") The AP reports that "AP Television News footage showed blood splattered on the ground and matresses and spent bullet casings inside a poultry farm, where residents said the civilians were killed." Reuters quotes Mohammed Jaba al-Qaduir, father of Jassem and Mazen killed in the raid, "They did not attack any Americans or Humvees. We don't have any problems with the Americans. We don't have any foreigners here." Reuters mentions that one of the corpses, according to a "police source" was that of a twelve-year-old boy."
Finally, Barbara McMahon, Michael Howard and Julian Borger report (for the Guardian of London) that four prosecutors in Rome have signed "[t]he request to charge Mario Lozano, a national guardsman from New York, with the murder of Nicola Calipari." As noted by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!: "Calipari was escorting Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena after she had been released by kidnappers. U.S. troops opened fire on their car killing Calipari and injuring Sgrena. . . . Tune in to Democracy Now on Thursday when Giuliana Sgrena joins us in the Firehouse studio." Also remember that: Sgrena will be in New York City Friday June 23rd for an event with Amy Goodman at Columbia University. (Event starts at 7:30 p.m.)
*Thanks to Zach and Mia for passing on the Lupien item.
democracy now
amy goodman
the common ills
iraq
dahr jamail
kpfa
the morning show
sandra lupien
ann wright
suzanne swift
ehren watada
the washington post
jonathan finer
john walsh
I think it was a strong report. Check it out.
I'll talk about The Third Estate Sunday Review and do C.I.'s snapshot and call that my entry. Here's the new content at The Third Estate Sunday Review:
"Truest statement of last week" -- we all agreed Barbara Lee had the best statement that we heard last week.
"Editorial: What's news?" -- I didn't work much on this. I tossed out some ideas right around the time we heard Rebecca's news (or around the time C.I. figured out what had happened). Ty said they really weren't in the mood and that it was basically C.I. and Jim coming up with stuff and the rest of them smoothing it over.
"Iraq snapshot" -- Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim helped C.I. by going through the e-mails for Sunday's "And the war drags on . . ." -- picking highlights. That gave C.I. the time to do the snapshot for the entry (which they've pulled and posted as it went up at The Common Ills). C.I. thinks the entry was a joint entry because without that help there wouldn't have been time for the snapshot Sunday. They disagree and say that's C.I.'s work and give C.I. the credit.
"TV Review: There's always a platform for some" -- Ava and C.I. weren't in the mood. They'd spoken to two people for this review and thought they'd have something really funny. They said it was a pain to write (because their minds were elsewhere) and Ava points out that one section (the part around the "Woops!") was just for them to get through and they'd go back and fix it before it posted. Jim read it and said it was perfect as is. So they had to wait to get someone's permission to include the "Woops!" section. I think it is funny. I also think it's true about how it is easier to get a White point of view on TV than anything else.
"Incident you should have heard of" -- Look at the right, at the top and you'll see my CODEPINK button. We were working on this story, about how CODEPINK was stabbed in the back, and saying we wish we could do something more than just that story. Dallas, who always hunts down the links, ended up looking around the CODEPINK site and told us they had web buttons. Great idea on Dallas' part. (Great find too.) Kat's crashed, her site. It took awhile to fix it and after that we were all asking C.I. what to do? So C.I. copied the code and that's why we're all using the same button. We can change it now and C.I. told us where to put the code in but I'll probably stay with that one. Even Trina added one. She got up at 4:20 her time to get things ready because she wanted her husband to have a good father's day. Mike heard her in the kitchen (she's Mike's mother) and went down to ask her if she wanted a button on her site. She did so we've all got them now. We mean what we say in this piece but the buttons are just a visual way for us to show our support for a group that works hard to do what needs to be done. They do a great job.
"When War Hawks Lied" -- We were using another song. I said, "How about Prince's 'When Doves Cry?' and that might be my only input. At first, it was called "When War Hawks Lied." That got changed but the title didn't get fixed. You can sing it to "When Doves Cry" too (try it).
I think this was mainly Kat, Betty, C.I. and Jess with the rest of us trying to stay out of their way. It went very quickly. We were all tired (and wiped out from the news) so this was actually a good, easy piece where most of us, including me, were mainly just saying, "Yeah!"
"RadioNation with Laura Flanders" -- This got lost. No backup copy. Had to redo from scratch. It was a nightmare. (The show was great.)
'"We Were All Wrong!' Not so fast Pt. II" -- Should have been quick. Wasn't. We'll grab Howard Zinn next time, if you're wondering. There's a hateful woman who was interviewed by The Progressive last week. C.I., Elaine, Dona, Betty, Rebecca, Jess and Ava were adament that no links go to The Progressive website until the woman's interview wasn't on the front page. C.I.'s attitude was that they can interview whomever they want but they're not getting traffic while their interview with her is on the front page. I ended up getting upset the more I heard. She's a woman who trashes other women. I said I doubted they'd provide a reactionary African-American. She's considered by some to be progressive. Her statements are more along the lines of Ann Coulter but because they're aimed at women, it's apparently okay. Katha Pollitt, Gloria Steinem, Naomi Wolf . . . There's pretty much no woman she hasn't trashed. Since then, I've looked at some of her stuff (library and I didn't check it out so she didn't get "circulation" off me) and I really just get more offended. I guess the magazine was 'big tenting' last week. There's always room in the 'big tent' for those who attack women or people of color.
There was also a roundtable that we did early on. It ran in the print edition that goes out Sunday morning. But Dona said, "Hold on" about posting it. (I'd already bailed.) I asked her why and she remembered there were some comments Rebecca made when she thought everyone would just think she was having cramps from a period. Dona said that since it would probably be discussed at sites (the miscarriage), she didn't want the roundtable posted online. Rebecca was being open and under the impression of one understanding when it was being done (the roundtable) and she (Dona) just felt it wasn't fair to Rebecca to run it online. (And wished she'd realized that before the print edition went out.) There was also two other things in the print edition. A poem and I'm not even remembering the other thing. It's been a long week and it's only Tuesday.
Check out Trina's "Potato Casserole in the Kitchen." Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Chaos and violence continue in Iraq. Outside of Iraq?
As noted by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, "the so-called coalition of the willing continues to shrink:" Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister of Japan, declared that Japanese troops are leaving Iraq by "year's end.". Reuters notes that, although no Japanese troops were "killed or wounded in Iraq," "six Japanese citizens, including two diplomats, have been killed by insurgents in Iraq." China's Xinhau reports that the prime ministers discussed the intended withdrawal "with leaders of the ruling coalition and opposition parties" on Tuesday morning "shortly before the announcement." As Amy Goodman reported, Japan joins Italy with the announcement of pulling troops out by year's end and that "Spain, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Nicaragua, the Philipines and Honduras have already pulled out." Noting "Japan's Kyodo news agency," the Financial Times of London states the withdrawal "process could be completed by the end of July." Xinhua notes the same possibility and credits word on it to "Japanese government officials."
While Japan prepares to remove troops from the ground in Iraq, in the United States, a watered-down, weaker version of John Kerry's call for US troops out of Iraq is allowing for posturing. Caterwauling on the Senate floor today, Bill Frist exclaimed, "We cannot surrender. We cannot go wobbly. The price is far too high." Possibly a mantra he once repeated to himself while dissecting felines? Meanwhile, always one to run from a fight, Harry Reid's less concerned with exit plans for the US, and knowing there's no democracy in Iraq, focuses instead on a possible amnesty plan Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister and occupation puppet Nouri al-Maliki. Adnan Ali al-Kadhimi was fired/resigned following his comments to the press regarding the potential plan. But it's a nice, dead-hypothetical to rage and rattle about as opposed to dealing with reality. In other news on the spineless, John Walsh (CounterPunch) reports that what recent book sales didn't get across, phone calls might have -- Baby Cries a Lot took three calls complaining about his War Hawk position on the war. Walsh does not note if Baby Cries a Lot attempted to garner sympathy by sobbing, breaking into tears or using his own children to justify an ongoing war (children who do not and have not served in Iraq or, for that matter, the military). In non-spineless news, AP reports that Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold and John Kerry "intend to push for a vote on their own proposal."
In Seattle yesterday, Sara Jean Green reports: "Ann Wright appeared with 1st Lt. Ehren Watada and his parents at a news conference at University Lutheran Church to announce a national day of action June 27, when anti-war demonstrations will be held in cities across the country in support of Watada." Green reports that Wright, "retired army colonel and former State Department official," will appear at a "news conference today at University Lutheran Church on behalf of another Fort Lewis soldier, Suzanne Swift". Watada, whose parents joined him for yesterday's news conference, is the first commission officer to refuse deployment in Iraq. Click here to sign an online petition supporting Watada. Suzanne Swift was arrested last week after deciding she couldn't return to Iraq and going AWOL.
In Iraq, as reported by Jonathan Finer (Washington Post), Kristian Menchaca and Thomas L. Tucker, two US soldiers who were abducted last Friday, were found dead "near a power plant in Yusifiyah." The discovered corpses are said to have signs of "barbaric" torture. Meanwhile, the Mujahedeen Shura Council is claiming credit for the deaths. The Financial Times of London concludes: "The news will tarnish the positive image US and Iraqi officials have been projecting recently of a government that is gradually getting to grips with the security situation and turning the tide against the insurgents."Other corpses were discovered in Iraq today, Reuters notes that two were found in Hilla ("blindfolded and hands tied") while in Baghdad, five corpses were found ("handcuffed with gunshot wounds in the head").
Bombings? Baghdad saw a series of bombings. RTE News reports on one near "a second-hand clothes market in central Baghdad" which resulted in at least two dead and and at least 28 wounded. Al Jazeera notes that roadside bomb as well as a cra bomb "in a a crowded market in the eastern district of Jamila in Baghdad" that left seven dead and 18 wounded. The BBC reports that, in Basra, "at least one elderly woman was killed along with a suicide bomber who blew himself up inside a home for the elderly". Reuters notes that five others were wounded. Another car bomb went off in the Hurriya district of Baghdad "killing at least five people and wounding 11".
Reuters reports that while the US miliatry is saying Ramadi is not the target for a major offensive, the Red Cross has "voiced concern on difficult living conditions in Ramadi". Reporting for IPS, Dahr Jamail and Ali Fdhil write: "A week spent in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad, reveals that residents are suffering from lack of water, electricity, cooking gas and medical supplies for the hospitals. The streets are eerily empty, and it appears that many people have now left the city, althought possibly as many as 150,000 still remain in their homes, either because they are too afraid to leave or they have nowhere to go."
As noted by Sandra Lupien on KPFA's The Morning Show the US military is claiming an exchange was aimed at insurgents with 15 dead while Iraqi witnesses disputing the official (US) account*. The exchange took place in Bushahin ("village . . . north of Baghdad") The AP reports that "AP Television News footage showed blood splattered on the ground and matresses and spent bullet casings inside a poultry farm, where residents said the civilians were killed." Reuters quotes Mohammed Jaba al-Qaduir, father of Jassem and Mazen killed in the raid, "They did not attack any Americans or Humvees. We don't have any problems with the Americans. We don't have any foreigners here." Reuters mentions that one of the corpses, according to a "police source" was that of a twelve-year-old boy."
Finally, Barbara McMahon, Michael Howard and Julian Borger report (for the Guardian of London) that four prosecutors in Rome have signed "[t]he request to charge Mario Lozano, a national guardsman from New York, with the murder of Nicola Calipari." As noted by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!: "Calipari was escorting Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena after she had been released by kidnappers. U.S. troops opened fire on their car killing Calipari and injuring Sgrena. . . . Tune in to Democracy Now on Thursday when Giuliana Sgrena joins us in the Firehouse studio." Also remember that: Sgrena will be in New York City Friday June 23rd for an event with Amy Goodman at Columbia University. (Event starts at 7:30 p.m.)
*Thanks to Zach and Mia for passing on the Lupien item.
democracy now
amy goodman
the common ills
iraq
dahr jamail
kpfa
the morning show
sandra lupien
ann wright
suzanne swift
ehren watada
the washington post
jonathan finer
john walsh
Monday, June 19, 2006
On the bus
Not much to say tonight, but Rebecca called and asked me to post something. She thinks we're all too worried about her [read "nancy keenan, rick hertzberg (the useless 1s)] and insists she's fine. I'm sure she is but I'm also sure she's trying really hard to keep things as usual. If my posting helps any, I'm happy to do what I can.
Not much to talk about. How about two guys on the bus today? They apparently never learned how to speak in public. They were loudly using the f-word, another word for a cat, a word that rhymes with rich and 'ho' this and 'ho' that. They were also talking about their 'peckers' and how they'd lean on some 1 with that. For all their talk of women, this was the surprise to me and came up when I went up to say something, it turns out that they're gay.
There were kids on the bus, it was the evening. And they didn't need to hear the f-word or all the other curse words. I was thinking, should I say something or not because by kids, I'm talking 5 years old through 9 years old. So I decide I should and move to the front, they'd grabbed the front seats, to say something. As I'm almost there, they're talking about 1 of the boyfriends and about how they don't let anyone do anal them, just oral. "I'm a f**king pitcher."
So then I ended up thinking, do I have a right to say anything?
But I said something. I told them they needed to clean up the language because everyone could hear them all over the bus (I was on the very back seat and heard them) and kids were on the bus. That's actually the job of the driver, by the way. I've seen them kick off high school kids who couldn't clean up the language.
One of them got angry but the other said I was "cute" and promised to keep it down. Which they more or less did.
Why would two gay men trash women like that? There's a director with a film this summer and he was trashing 'chick flicks' recently in a paper. I saw it because my cousin and I want to see the movie and he sends me everything he finds online about the movie. I asked C.I. about it and C.I. said, "What? He's gay. He said that?"
He did say it. (I'd name it if I knew he was out. Rebecca said she thought everyone knew but until I see something online, I won't name him.)
I don't expect a gay man to act like a stereotype. But I also don't expect a gay man to endorse a stereotype. So they're gay, they're African-American, and all they can do is talk about how women are (fill in any curse word).
I just don't get it. I know African-American, straight males who do that and it always bothers me because, as African-Americans, we should know better than to go around using stereotypes.
My mind's elsewhere tonight. I'll note C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Chaos and violence continue.
ADDED: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS REPORTING "THE U.S. ARMY HAS CHARGED THREE SOLDIERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEATHS OF THREE IRAQIS WHO WERE IN MILITARY CUSTODY IN NORTHERN IRAQ LAST MONTH".
In Baghdad, Reuters notes two bombings, a "car bomb" at "a police checkpoint" resulted in three deaths and three wounded and a "sucicide car bomber" who killed at least four others and wounded at least ten. CBS and the AP note "[a] parked car bomb" that killed five and wounded nine.
The BBC notes: "Violence is continuing in Baghdad despite the introduction of stringent new security measures last week that have seen more than 40,000 Iraqi and US forces deployed in the city." Dahr Jamail reports on the days since Bully Boy's photo-op in the Green Zone and concludes: "Each passing day only brings the people of Iraq and soldiers serving in the US military deeper into the quagmire that the brutal, despicable, tortured occupation has become."
Bombings also took place outside of Baghdad. The AP notes that three people were killed in Fallujah when a roadside bomb exploded while another roadside bomb, in Hillah, killed at least person and wounded at least four others. Reuters notes that, in Najaf, one person died from a bombing while at least five were wounded.
Reuters also reports an attack in Karbala where "a senior police officer" was shot to death and two of his bodyguards were wounded. AP identifies the man as Abdel-Shahid Saleh and notes that Saadoun Abdul-Hussein Radi, electrician, was shot to death in Amarah.
Kidnappings? Reuters reports that the Mujahideen Shura Council, which most recently claimed credit for four of the seven Saturday bombings in Baghdad, is now claiming to be holding four Russian diplomats which, Reuters notes, appears to be a reference to the June 3rd attack. The attack resulted in the death of Russian diplomat Vitaly Vitalyevich Titov and the four who were kidnapped were identified by the Russian embassy as: Feodor Zaycev, Rinat Agliulin, Anatolii Smirnov and Oleg Feodosiev. AFP reports that the Mujahideen Shura Council is also claiming that it has the two US soldiers reported to have been taken by "masked gunmen" on Friday. AFP describes it as a body that "groups eight armed factions led by Al-Qaeda."
The US military has not confirmed the abduction of the two soldiers. AFP reports that their names have been released: "Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Thomas L. Tucker, 25."
Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) reported that "more than 8,000" US and Iraqis are searching for Menchaca and Tucker and the AFP notes that seven US troops have been wounded since the search began Friday.
Meanwhile, CBS and AP quote Christina Menchaca, wife of Kristian, saying, "We're basically just watching the news because no one else knows anything about it, no one has heard anything about it."
On the American, Keith Maupin, who has been MIA since April 8, 2004, the AFP reports: "The Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera aired a video a week later that showed the American seated on the floor surrounded by masked gunmen. A month later it aired what it said was the execution of an American soldier, but the images were unclear and the army said it was inconclusive."
Al Jazeera is reporting that Iraq forces will be responsible for Muthanna relieving the British forces. This is the area that Japanese troops were also responsible for possibly adding creedence to the press coverage of the rumors that Japan will be announcing, prior to June 29th, that it is withdrawing all of its troops from Iraq. CBS and the AP note that Japan, England and Australia will "continue moving to "support role." The AP notes: "The decision, announced after [Nouri] al-Maliki met with Japan's ambassador, does not necessarily mean that any U.S.-led coalition forces will be withdrawn from Muthana province."
Ramadi? As noted by Sandra Lupien on KPFA's The Morning Show, "major military operations" continue as "helicopters and airplanes are flying over the town." Reuters reports that "seven tanks moved along Maarif Street and July 17 Street. Two explosions were heard but the cause was not clear." Ali Hussein Mohammed is quoted as saying: "The water is totally cut off. We have to go to the river to get water. There has been no water for 24 hours and we have no gas to boil the river water to drink it."
Meanwhile, in Italy, the AFP reports that prosecutors are saying that the US marine who shot Nicola Calipari should be put on trial. Calipari had been sent to Iraq by the Italian government to rescue kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena. Though he and Sgrena made it safely to the car, while traveling to the airport to leave Iraq, their car (or "caravan" in some reports at the time) was shot at by US forces. In the attack, Calipari was killed. Sgrena will be in New York City Friday June 23rd for an event with Amy Goodman at Columiba University. (Event starts at 7:30 p.m.)
Finally, Bully Boy is due to visit Vienna this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) and a group is attempting to organize a loud, if not welcoming, reception for him. "Bush Go Home" organizer Michael Proebsting tells the AAP: "The name George Bush, the name of the American president, has become a symbol for war crimes, for Abu Ghraib, for Guantanamo, for Jenin."
Not much to talk about. How about two guys on the bus today? They apparently never learned how to speak in public. They were loudly using the f-word, another word for a cat, a word that rhymes with rich and 'ho' this and 'ho' that. They were also talking about their 'peckers' and how they'd lean on some 1 with that. For all their talk of women, this was the surprise to me and came up when I went up to say something, it turns out that they're gay.
There were kids on the bus, it was the evening. And they didn't need to hear the f-word or all the other curse words. I was thinking, should I say something or not because by kids, I'm talking 5 years old through 9 years old. So I decide I should and move to the front, they'd grabbed the front seats, to say something. As I'm almost there, they're talking about 1 of the boyfriends and about how they don't let anyone do anal them, just oral. "I'm a f**king pitcher."
So then I ended up thinking, do I have a right to say anything?
But I said something. I told them they needed to clean up the language because everyone could hear them all over the bus (I was on the very back seat and heard them) and kids were on the bus. That's actually the job of the driver, by the way. I've seen them kick off high school kids who couldn't clean up the language.
One of them got angry but the other said I was "cute" and promised to keep it down. Which they more or less did.
Why would two gay men trash women like that? There's a director with a film this summer and he was trashing 'chick flicks' recently in a paper. I saw it because my cousin and I want to see the movie and he sends me everything he finds online about the movie. I asked C.I. about it and C.I. said, "What? He's gay. He said that?"
He did say it. (I'd name it if I knew he was out. Rebecca said she thought everyone knew but until I see something online, I won't name him.)
I don't expect a gay man to act like a stereotype. But I also don't expect a gay man to endorse a stereotype. So they're gay, they're African-American, and all they can do is talk about how women are (fill in any curse word).
I just don't get it. I know African-American, straight males who do that and it always bothers me because, as African-Americans, we should know better than to go around using stereotypes.
My mind's elsewhere tonight. I'll note C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Chaos and violence continue.
ADDED: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS REPORTING "THE U.S. ARMY HAS CHARGED THREE SOLDIERS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEATHS OF THREE IRAQIS WHO WERE IN MILITARY CUSTODY IN NORTHERN IRAQ LAST MONTH".
In Baghdad, Reuters notes two bombings, a "car bomb" at "a police checkpoint" resulted in three deaths and three wounded and a "sucicide car bomber" who killed at least four others and wounded at least ten. CBS and the AP note "[a] parked car bomb" that killed five and wounded nine.
The BBC notes: "Violence is continuing in Baghdad despite the introduction of stringent new security measures last week that have seen more than 40,000 Iraqi and US forces deployed in the city." Dahr Jamail reports on the days since Bully Boy's photo-op in the Green Zone and concludes: "Each passing day only brings the people of Iraq and soldiers serving in the US military deeper into the quagmire that the brutal, despicable, tortured occupation has become."
Bombings also took place outside of Baghdad. The AP notes that three people were killed in Fallujah when a roadside bomb exploded while another roadside bomb, in Hillah, killed at least person and wounded at least four others. Reuters notes that, in Najaf, one person died from a bombing while at least five were wounded.
Reuters also reports an attack in Karbala where "a senior police officer" was shot to death and two of his bodyguards were wounded. AP identifies the man as Abdel-Shahid Saleh and notes that Saadoun Abdul-Hussein Radi, electrician, was shot to death in Amarah.
Kidnappings? Reuters reports that the Mujahideen Shura Council, which most recently claimed credit for four of the seven Saturday bombings in Baghdad, is now claiming to be holding four Russian diplomats which, Reuters notes, appears to be a reference to the June 3rd attack. The attack resulted in the death of Russian diplomat Vitaly Vitalyevich Titov and the four who were kidnapped were identified by the Russian embassy as: Feodor Zaycev, Rinat Agliulin, Anatolii Smirnov and Oleg Feodosiev. AFP reports that the Mujahideen Shura Council is also claiming that it has the two US soldiers reported to have been taken by "masked gunmen" on Friday. AFP describes it as a body that "groups eight armed factions led by Al-Qaeda."
The US military has not confirmed the abduction of the two soldiers. AFP reports that their names have been released: "Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Thomas L. Tucker, 25."
Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) reported that "more than 8,000" US and Iraqis are searching for Menchaca and Tucker and the AFP notes that seven US troops have been wounded since the search began Friday.
Meanwhile, CBS and AP quote Christina Menchaca, wife of Kristian, saying, "We're basically just watching the news because no one else knows anything about it, no one has heard anything about it."
On the American, Keith Maupin, who has been MIA since April 8, 2004, the AFP reports: "The Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera aired a video a week later that showed the American seated on the floor surrounded by masked gunmen. A month later it aired what it said was the execution of an American soldier, but the images were unclear and the army said it was inconclusive."
Al Jazeera is reporting that Iraq forces will be responsible for Muthanna relieving the British forces. This is the area that Japanese troops were also responsible for possibly adding creedence to the press coverage of the rumors that Japan will be announcing, prior to June 29th, that it is withdrawing all of its troops from Iraq. CBS and the AP note that Japan, England and Australia will "continue moving to "support role." The AP notes: "The decision, announced after [Nouri] al-Maliki met with Japan's ambassador, does not necessarily mean that any U.S.-led coalition forces will be withdrawn from Muthana province."
Ramadi? As noted by Sandra Lupien on KPFA's The Morning Show, "major military operations" continue as "helicopters and airplanes are flying over the town." Reuters reports that "seven tanks moved along Maarif Street and July 17 Street. Two explosions were heard but the cause was not clear." Ali Hussein Mohammed is quoted as saying: "The water is totally cut off. We have to go to the river to get water. There has been no water for 24 hours and we have no gas to boil the river water to drink it."
Meanwhile, in Italy, the AFP reports that prosecutors are saying that the US marine who shot Nicola Calipari should be put on trial. Calipari had been sent to Iraq by the Italian government to rescue kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena. Though he and Sgrena made it safely to the car, while traveling to the airport to leave Iraq, their car (or "caravan" in some reports at the time) was shot at by US forces. In the attack, Calipari was killed. Sgrena will be in New York City Friday June 23rd for an event with Amy Goodman at Columiba University. (Event starts at 7:30 p.m.)
Finally, Bully Boy is due to visit Vienna this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) and a group is attempting to organize a loud, if not welcoming, reception for him. "Bush Go Home" organizer Michael Proebsting tells the AAP: "The name George Bush, the name of the American president, has become a symbol for war crimes, for Abu Ghraib, for Guantanamo, for Jenin."
Thursday, June 15, 2006
2500 American troops dead
"Kerry Calls for Troop Withdrawal" (Democracy Now):
Today's debate comes as major splits continue to emerge within both parties over the war. On Tuesday, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry told a gathering of liberal voters at the "Take Back America" conference in Washington that the Iraq war was a mistake and he was wrong to vote for it. Kerry announced he is introducing a resolution for a withdrawal of troops by the end of the year. Kerry attacked the war's architects as "armchair warriors whose front line is an air-conditioned conference room." In an interview with the Boston Globe, Kerry later added: "It is both a right and an obligation for Americans to… end a war in Iraq that weakens the nation each and every day we are in it." Kerry's proposal would keep some troops in Iraq to train Iraqi soldiers.
That was Tuesday and Kerry got applause and Hillary Clinton got booed. Bet she'd be booed even louder today because we just hit the 2500 dead mark for US forces serving in Iraq. So all these stay-the-coursers, they okay with that? They okay with two or three more years (at least) before they admit the reality (we're not going to "win") and the whole time they live in denial, we're stuck with fatalities mounting month after month? We okay with the number get higher? The 2500 will get higher but I mean the monthly toll. With Italy pulling out and more to follow, we'll have to put more Americans over there on the ground and you better believe as soon as the next election is over, Bully Boy will be shipping more over. By sticking with 150,000 (I think the figure's 130,000-plus right now), they've been able to keep the fatalities down. They double that number and people really will be streaming across the borders.
It's time to bring the troops home. Maybe it's easier for me to say that because I'm African-American and, as a group, we didn't support Bully Boy's illegal war from the beginning. We connected it to oil, to empire, to racism. Attack the 'darkies' -- that's all Bully Boy wanted. Like Kayne said: Bully Boy don't like Black people.
"Reporters, Attorneys Barred From Guantanamo Bay" (Democracy Now):
The US has barred journalists and lawyers from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. A group of visiting reporters was forced off the island Wednesday under a directive from the Pentagon. A Pentagon spokesperson said the removal was ordered following complaints from other media outlets who had complained they were being denied equal access. But questions are being raised over whether the removals were motivated by the reporters' coverage of the aftermath of Saturday's three detainee suicides. Their articles included interviews with the detainees' attorneys who criticized their clients' treatment. The reporters work for the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer. A Pentagon spokesperson said the revoking of the permissions came not from Guantanamo commanders but from the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Meanwhile, lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees have also been barred from visiting their clients at the prison. A lawyer representing a group of detainees said she was told the ban will be lifted on Monday. In a statement, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented scores of detainees, said: "At a time when the administration must be transparent about the deaths at Guantanamo, they are pulling down a wall of secrecy and avoiding public accountability. This crackdown on the free press makes everyone ask what else they are hiding down there? The Bush Administration is afraid of American reporters, afraid of American attorneys and afraid of American laws."
Why do they want the reporters gone? Why won't they let lawyers meet with the prisoners? Because they're doing something even uglier than usual and don't want anyone to know? Because there have been more suicides and they want to put a clampdown on the news? (They waited almost three days, according to Amy Goodman today, before telling the lawyers that their clients had committed suicide.)
And where's Hillary Clinton on Guantanamo? Where's her concern there? No where. She can't say a word about it because she's just a sell out. She needs to buy a clue. She's Whitney Houston. She got into the Senate and may keep her seat but she got in on sympathy.
People were sympathetic for Whitney at first too. After awhile, she just seemed trashy for staying with Bobby Brown. Hillary may think her "I love me a Rough Neck!" will make her loveable but I think everyone's tired of it. They'll give Bill a pass the way they do Bobby, but Hillary's going to be held to the Whitney standard and people are just going to think, "You are so trashy for living with that." I'm talking his past, by the way, not about any rumors today.
If she got the nomination, Republicans would have a field day. (Nomination for president.) They're be all these jokes about, "Do we want to let Bill back in the White House? Who will save the interns?" You can picture it without even trying. What would have saved her was her living up to her old image. Same with Whitney. But Whitney tried to prove she could do dance and all this other nonsense. People liked her because of her ballads. People like Hillary because they thought she had liberal values. She's trying a make over after she's known for loving her some Rough Neck and no one's going to take her seriously.
The more she speaks out in favor of the illegal war, the more I hear friends putting her down. She's not Bill. She can't count on the fact that people who voted for him in 1992 will vote for her in 2008. People make excuses for the Rough Neck, they don't do the same for the woman who's dumb enough to put up with it. Republicans will probably sell doormats with her face on it at their 2008 RNC convention.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Today, Thursday, June 15, 2006, the fatality count for US troops in Iraq has officially reached 2,500. The Pentagon noted the loss of lives today. The Bully Boy marked the milestone by signing a Broadcast 'Decency Enforcement Act (because illegal wars are apparently 'decent') and by apologizing for insulting Peter Wallsten, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who had the 'nerve' to ask the Bully Boy a question while wearing sunglasses. As 2,5000 Americans have now lost their lives in Bully Boy's illegal war of choice, there's something illuminating in his actions a) what he considers 'decent' and b) compassion is trumped by his sense of entitlement that allows him to mock someone who, it turns out, "has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration that causes progressive vision loss."
While Bully Boy marked the milestone with his usual lack of attention or sense of gravity, in Iraq, chaos and violence continue. In Baghdad, the "crackdown" continues. As Bloomberg News notes of the "crackdown" : "Measures include increased checkpoints, a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and enforcement of weapons laws, the military said in an e-mailed statement today." The AFP reports that the "crackdown" also includes "a vehicle ban [which] was announced for during the Muslim midday prayer hours on Fridays."
Despite, or because of, the "crackdown" (but certainly "during" the "crackdown), the AP reports that kidnapping continues in Baghdad (an engineer) as does killing (an engineer and a "a detergent factory worker"). How common are those actions in Baghdad at this point? The Guardian of London reports those two deaths and the kidnapping while stating "but no major violence was reported in the capital." Not noted by the Guardian, but noted by Bloomberg (citing AFP) was the fact that discovered corpses remain a regular occurrence of the illegal occupation: in Baghdad on Thursday, seven corpses were found.
With "26,000 Iraqi soldiers, 23,000 Iraqi police and 7,2000 coalition forces deployed in Baghdad" (Bully Boy figures) for the "crackdown," what's happening elsewhere?The AP reports that 10 Shi'ites were pulled from a bus and shot dead in Baquba -- "as they were heading to work" notes Reuters. In Qara Taba, Reuters notes an explosion in a graveyard which wounded "[a] woman and her son." In Tikrit, the Guardian notes the storming of "a Sunni mosque . . . killing four people and wounding 15". Reuters notes that three roadside boms in Tal Afar "killed five [Iraqi] soldiers" and wounded at least six; the death of another Iraqi solider in Haweeja; and, in Baquba, the death of "police Colonerl Ali Shakir Mahmoud, director of units protecting oil installations in Baquba".
Meanwhile in Ramadi, Al Jazeera reports that roads were "blocked, and a giant wall of sand has been piled up around the perimeter, and everything went silent preparing for the final onslaught, a scene we saw two years ago in another Iraqi city, Fallujah". Al Jazeera reports that the city is surrounded on all four sides; "jet fighters" and helicopters "hover over the city"; that American troops are preventing anyone from entering or leaving while they have cut "off all electricity supplies . . . as well as drinking water facilities": and that American forces have "shelled medical supply stores, closed down all medical clinics and confiscated all medical supplies". The Marines of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are hoping to rename "the highway connecting Fallujah and Ramadi" "Darkhorse Drive" according to Marine Corps News. Possibly they should call it "Press Blackout Avenue"?
Stephen Fidler (Financial Times of London) reports that since "victims are killed by between four and 12 bullets, the cost of taking away a life in Baghdad is now $2.40." Reminder -- the US averages the worth of an Iraqi life at approximately $2,500 judging by compensation figures. As noted by Amy Goodman this moring, marine corporal Joshua Belile has stated his "song was intended as a joke and bore no connection to the killing of Iraqi civilians by US Marines." Margaret Neighbor (Scotsman) describes the song thusly: "In a four-minute video called Hadji Girl, a singer who appears to be a marine tells a cheering audience about gunning down members of an Iarqi woman's family after they confront him with authomatic weapons." As Sandra Lupien reported Wednesday on KPFA's The Morning Show the song included lyrics such as: "the blood sprayed from between her eyes." As Lupien noted today on KPFA's The Morning Show, the apologetic Belile stated that "People need to laugh at it and let it go."
The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has found that, "The global refugee population has begun to rise for the first time in four years, largely due to instability in Iraq" according to the AFP, resulting in "644,500 more Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria in 2005".
Along with noting the death of 2,500 American troops since the inception of the illegal war, the Pentagon also stated today that 18,490 troops have been wounded while serving in Iraq. On KPFA's The Morning Show this morning, Phyllis Bennis addressed the realities versus the photo ops noting that the flight in and out of Baghdad earlier this week by the Bully Boy was "One more attempt to add to a list of so-called turning points . . . We have a litany of talking points and turing points. . . . . [Reality in Iraq] is the lack of water, lack of electricity, lack of education and, worst of all, the lack of security." Commenting on the Pew Research Center poll that noted a decline in support for US policies around the world, Bennis noted that there was a line drawn between the government of the US and the people of the US in many minds because of the awareness of the peace movement against the war which "speaks to how much attention it gets globally even when the mainstream press in this country ignores it."
Meanwhile, as 450 Iraqi prisoners were released for US run-prisons in Iraq, the United States Senate voted the emergency funding bill that continues to fund the illegal war in Iraq (as well as other things -- the cost continues to be tacked on in a bill here, a bill there).
In Ireland, Owen Bowcott (Guardian of London) reports that the discovery of the "handcuffed and manacled marine . . . on board a military charter flight at Shannon airport" has led to Ireland's foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern making statements that random inspections are now on the table involving US planes landing at Shannon. (Bowen reports the handcuffed marine was allegedly being transported to Georgia, reportedly accused of stealing clothes.)
Finally, again, the Pentagon has confirmed that 2,500 American troops have lost their lives in Bully Boy's illegal war of choice.
Check out Elaine's "Iraqis protest, Take Back America silences protest ," Kat's "Guns & Butter, the war hawk Hillary," Wally's "THIS JUST IN! IN THE CHURCH OF THE BULLY BOY ...," and C.I.'s "NYT: Nothing to see, is there ever?" and "Other Items (Phyllis Bennis on KPFA's The Morning Show)." And go visit Mike's site because we're covering the same items tonight.
democracy now
sarah rich
suzanne smith
the common ills
iraq
kpfa
the morning show
sandra lupien
phyllis bennis
the center for constitutional rights
Today's debate comes as major splits continue to emerge within both parties over the war. On Tuesday, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry told a gathering of liberal voters at the "Take Back America" conference in Washington that the Iraq war was a mistake and he was wrong to vote for it. Kerry announced he is introducing a resolution for a withdrawal of troops by the end of the year. Kerry attacked the war's architects as "armchair warriors whose front line is an air-conditioned conference room." In an interview with the Boston Globe, Kerry later added: "It is both a right and an obligation for Americans to… end a war in Iraq that weakens the nation each and every day we are in it." Kerry's proposal would keep some troops in Iraq to train Iraqi soldiers.
That was Tuesday and Kerry got applause and Hillary Clinton got booed. Bet she'd be booed even louder today because we just hit the 2500 dead mark for US forces serving in Iraq. So all these stay-the-coursers, they okay with that? They okay with two or three more years (at least) before they admit the reality (we're not going to "win") and the whole time they live in denial, we're stuck with fatalities mounting month after month? We okay with the number get higher? The 2500 will get higher but I mean the monthly toll. With Italy pulling out and more to follow, we'll have to put more Americans over there on the ground and you better believe as soon as the next election is over, Bully Boy will be shipping more over. By sticking with 150,000 (I think the figure's 130,000-plus right now), they've been able to keep the fatalities down. They double that number and people really will be streaming across the borders.
It's time to bring the troops home. Maybe it's easier for me to say that because I'm African-American and, as a group, we didn't support Bully Boy's illegal war from the beginning. We connected it to oil, to empire, to racism. Attack the 'darkies' -- that's all Bully Boy wanted. Like Kayne said: Bully Boy don't like Black people.
"Reporters, Attorneys Barred From Guantanamo Bay" (Democracy Now):
The US has barred journalists and lawyers from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. A group of visiting reporters was forced off the island Wednesday under a directive from the Pentagon. A Pentagon spokesperson said the removal was ordered following complaints from other media outlets who had complained they were being denied equal access. But questions are being raised over whether the removals were motivated by the reporters' coverage of the aftermath of Saturday's three detainee suicides. Their articles included interviews with the detainees' attorneys who criticized their clients' treatment. The reporters work for the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer. A Pentagon spokesperson said the revoking of the permissions came not from Guantanamo commanders but from the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Meanwhile, lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees have also been barred from visiting their clients at the prison. A lawyer representing a group of detainees said she was told the ban will be lifted on Monday. In a statement, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented scores of detainees, said: "At a time when the administration must be transparent about the deaths at Guantanamo, they are pulling down a wall of secrecy and avoiding public accountability. This crackdown on the free press makes everyone ask what else they are hiding down there? The Bush Administration is afraid of American reporters, afraid of American attorneys and afraid of American laws."
Why do they want the reporters gone? Why won't they let lawyers meet with the prisoners? Because they're doing something even uglier than usual and don't want anyone to know? Because there have been more suicides and they want to put a clampdown on the news? (They waited almost three days, according to Amy Goodman today, before telling the lawyers that their clients had committed suicide.)
And where's Hillary Clinton on Guantanamo? Where's her concern there? No where. She can't say a word about it because she's just a sell out. She needs to buy a clue. She's Whitney Houston. She got into the Senate and may keep her seat but she got in on sympathy.
People were sympathetic for Whitney at first too. After awhile, she just seemed trashy for staying with Bobby Brown. Hillary may think her "I love me a Rough Neck!" will make her loveable but I think everyone's tired of it. They'll give Bill a pass the way they do Bobby, but Hillary's going to be held to the Whitney standard and people are just going to think, "You are so trashy for living with that." I'm talking his past, by the way, not about any rumors today.
If she got the nomination, Republicans would have a field day. (Nomination for president.) They're be all these jokes about, "Do we want to let Bill back in the White House? Who will save the interns?" You can picture it without even trying. What would have saved her was her living up to her old image. Same with Whitney. But Whitney tried to prove she could do dance and all this other nonsense. People liked her because of her ballads. People like Hillary because they thought she had liberal values. She's trying a make over after she's known for loving her some Rough Neck and no one's going to take her seriously.
The more she speaks out in favor of the illegal war, the more I hear friends putting her down. She's not Bill. She can't count on the fact that people who voted for him in 1992 will vote for her in 2008. People make excuses for the Rough Neck, they don't do the same for the woman who's dumb enough to put up with it. Republicans will probably sell doormats with her face on it at their 2008 RNC convention.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Today, Thursday, June 15, 2006, the fatality count for US troops in Iraq has officially reached 2,500. The Pentagon noted the loss of lives today. The Bully Boy marked the milestone by signing a Broadcast 'Decency Enforcement Act (because illegal wars are apparently 'decent') and by apologizing for insulting Peter Wallsten, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who had the 'nerve' to ask the Bully Boy a question while wearing sunglasses. As 2,5000 Americans have now lost their lives in Bully Boy's illegal war of choice, there's something illuminating in his actions a) what he considers 'decent' and b) compassion is trumped by his sense of entitlement that allows him to mock someone who, it turns out, "has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration that causes progressive vision loss."
While Bully Boy marked the milestone with his usual lack of attention or sense of gravity, in Iraq, chaos and violence continue. In Baghdad, the "crackdown" continues. As Bloomberg News notes of the "crackdown" : "Measures include increased checkpoints, a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and enforcement of weapons laws, the military said in an e-mailed statement today." The AFP reports that the "crackdown" also includes "a vehicle ban [which] was announced for during the Muslim midday prayer hours on Fridays."
Despite, or because of, the "crackdown" (but certainly "during" the "crackdown), the AP reports that kidnapping continues in Baghdad (an engineer) as does killing (an engineer and a "a detergent factory worker"). How common are those actions in Baghdad at this point? The Guardian of London reports those two deaths and the kidnapping while stating "but no major violence was reported in the capital." Not noted by the Guardian, but noted by Bloomberg (citing AFP) was the fact that discovered corpses remain a regular occurrence of the illegal occupation: in Baghdad on Thursday, seven corpses were found.
With "26,000 Iraqi soldiers, 23,000 Iraqi police and 7,2000 coalition forces deployed in Baghdad" (Bully Boy figures) for the "crackdown," what's happening elsewhere?The AP reports that 10 Shi'ites were pulled from a bus and shot dead in Baquba -- "as they were heading to work" notes Reuters. In Qara Taba, Reuters notes an explosion in a graveyard which wounded "[a] woman and her son." In Tikrit, the Guardian notes the storming of "a Sunni mosque . . . killing four people and wounding 15". Reuters notes that three roadside boms in Tal Afar "killed five [Iraqi] soldiers" and wounded at least six; the death of another Iraqi solider in Haweeja; and, in Baquba, the death of "police Colonerl Ali Shakir Mahmoud, director of units protecting oil installations in Baquba".
Meanwhile in Ramadi, Al Jazeera reports that roads were "blocked, and a giant wall of sand has been piled up around the perimeter, and everything went silent preparing for the final onslaught, a scene we saw two years ago in another Iraqi city, Fallujah". Al Jazeera reports that the city is surrounded on all four sides; "jet fighters" and helicopters "hover over the city"; that American troops are preventing anyone from entering or leaving while they have cut "off all electricity supplies . . . as well as drinking water facilities": and that American forces have "shelled medical supply stores, closed down all medical clinics and confiscated all medical supplies". The Marines of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are hoping to rename "the highway connecting Fallujah and Ramadi" "Darkhorse Drive" according to Marine Corps News. Possibly they should call it "Press Blackout Avenue"?
Stephen Fidler (Financial Times of London) reports that since "victims are killed by between four and 12 bullets, the cost of taking away a life in Baghdad is now $2.40." Reminder -- the US averages the worth of an Iraqi life at approximately $2,500 judging by compensation figures. As noted by Amy Goodman this moring, marine corporal Joshua Belile has stated his "song was intended as a joke and bore no connection to the killing of Iraqi civilians by US Marines." Margaret Neighbor (Scotsman) describes the song thusly: "In a four-minute video called Hadji Girl, a singer who appears to be a marine tells a cheering audience about gunning down members of an Iarqi woman's family after they confront him with authomatic weapons." As Sandra Lupien reported Wednesday on KPFA's The Morning Show the song included lyrics such as: "the blood sprayed from between her eyes." As Lupien noted today on KPFA's The Morning Show, the apologetic Belile stated that "People need to laugh at it and let it go."
The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has found that, "The global refugee population has begun to rise for the first time in four years, largely due to instability in Iraq" according to the AFP, resulting in "644,500 more Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria in 2005".
Along with noting the death of 2,500 American troops since the inception of the illegal war, the Pentagon also stated today that 18,490 troops have been wounded while serving in Iraq. On KPFA's The Morning Show this morning, Phyllis Bennis addressed the realities versus the photo ops noting that the flight in and out of Baghdad earlier this week by the Bully Boy was "One more attempt to add to a list of so-called turning points . . . We have a litany of talking points and turing points. . . . . [Reality in Iraq] is the lack of water, lack of electricity, lack of education and, worst of all, the lack of security." Commenting on the Pew Research Center poll that noted a decline in support for US policies around the world, Bennis noted that there was a line drawn between the government of the US and the people of the US in many minds because of the awareness of the peace movement against the war which "speaks to how much attention it gets globally even when the mainstream press in this country ignores it."
Meanwhile, as 450 Iraqi prisoners were released for US run-prisons in Iraq, the United States Senate voted the emergency funding bill that continues to fund the illegal war in Iraq (as well as other things -- the cost continues to be tacked on in a bill here, a bill there).
In Ireland, Owen Bowcott (Guardian of London) reports that the discovery of the "handcuffed and manacled marine . . . on board a military charter flight at Shannon airport" has led to Ireland's foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern making statements that random inspections are now on the table involving US planes landing at Shannon. (Bowen reports the handcuffed marine was allegedly being transported to Georgia, reportedly accused of stealing clothes.)
Finally, again, the Pentagon has confirmed that 2,500 American troops have lost their lives in Bully Boy's illegal war of choice.
Check out Elaine's "Iraqis protest, Take Back America silences protest ," Kat's "Guns & Butter, the war hawk Hillary," Wally's "THIS JUST IN! IN THE CHURCH OF THE BULLY BOY ...," and C.I.'s "NYT: Nothing to see, is there ever?" and "Other Items (Phyllis Bennis on KPFA's The Morning Show)." And go visit Mike's site because we're covering the same items tonight.
democracy now
sarah rich
suzanne smith
the common ills
iraq
kpfa
the morning show
sandra lupien
phyllis bennis
the center for constitutional rights
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Law and Disorder, Dahr Jamail & Amy Goodman on Falluja, the death of two Iraqi women, Ramadi and more, and Jason Leopold
"Scheduled outage" is the first thing I see when I log in. It's tomorrow morning (and will probably effect C.I.'s Iraq snapshot) but hopefully that doesn't mean trouble tonight. Rebecca was really upset last night (read her "jason" and you'll know why). She called and said she knew I was probably about to post and with the time difference between us, she knew it wouldn't be too late. She tried to get off the phone after a few minutes to let me post and I told her I'd already put up the announcement while we were talking. Friends are more important.
On the subject of Jason Leopold, too bad that no one else ever got anything wrong, right? I don't know a show I've watched or listened to or paper or magazine I've read that hasn't gotten something wrong before. I don't think he said, "Let me figure out how to be called a liar . . ." I think he either got tricked or Patrick Fitzgerald lost his nerve. Considering how long he's been working on the Valerie Plame case and how little he has to show for it (plus some news on his other cases), no big surprise if he lost his nerve. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Robert Parry wrote something about that right after the Scooter Libby indictment.
It must be wonderful to never be wrong. I imagine. I wouldn't know because I've been wrong before. Everyone can be. The whole we'll now shun him is nonsense. I guess it made for good fund raising (that's my comment, not Rebecca's, all comments here are mine unless I say otherwise)? It must be nice being a "brave" voice whose only bravery is in acting like someone misled you. If Jason Leopold was wrong, a lot of people are guilty.
We highlighted his story when we saw it at The Third Estate Sunday Review. When it was tossed out, C.I. said, "Uh-uh." C.I. got on the phone and called around. There was no one else willing to say it was true (journalist) that C.I. spoke to. Which is why the title of that editorial is
"Editorial: Could it be true? Rove indicted?" and why the title reflects the tone. It's why C.I. wrote "The web today, just nuts (borrowing from Isaiah)" which was in response to all the attacks that were starting on Jason Leopold:
If you missed the editorial at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Jason Leopold has reported on an indictment of Karl Rove in the Plamegate case. (Click here to go to his Saturday report.) Rebecca phoned earlier and you can read her take here. I've heard from my friends (the ones who are in journalism) that: a) it's completely true and coming soon; b) they have accepted the official word (no indictment) as truth; c) "What do you know?"On the latter, nothing. I have no friends in the Special Counsel (Patrick Fitgerald) office.
Those who think it's true think it will break soon. My own guess (mine, not anyone I spoke to) would be that if it broke (this week) it would break either during the hearings tomorrow (to take heat off of Michael Hayden -- remember, they will be broadcast live, I'll note the details at the bottom of the post) or on Friday. That's when Scooter Libby's indictment was announced.
What if it doesn't break? What if it's not true? Again, I know no one in Fitzgerald's office and Karl Rove's still mad at me for selling him on the salsa diet -- telling him he could continue to eat everything he wanted and, as long as he topped it with salsa, he wouldn't gain a pound. (I'm joking on the Rove comment. I don't know Karl Rove.)
If it's not true, then it's not true.
But there is some sort of a drive/push to turn on Jason Leopold. Not from the right, but from some on the left and the supposed left. If it's not true then his sources burned him. That does happen. It happens at networks and at papers. It happens in the mainstream media and in independent media. Good reporters get burned, bad reporters get burned.
C.I. never thought it was likely because too many journalists were in the dark about it (that was the Saturday night/Sunday morning that we did the editorial). But when Ty said, "Well then it's not true." And C.I. said, "No one can say that at this point except Patrick Fitzgerald." We wrote it the way we did for that reason (the editorial).
If Jason Leopold was wrong, then he was wrong and we all are at some point. I'll still read him. I won't bash him.
UN Committee Against Torture studied the torture of African-Americans in Chicago and found that there were no prosecutions for the torture of 200 African-Americans in the 70s and 80s.
Did you know about that? No?
Well you don't listen to WBAI's Law and Disorder or you missed this week's episode. (It airs on other stations later in the week and my cousin heard it on a pirate radio station last week.) Heidi Boghasian pointed out that this was the first investigation that used a grand jury and was able to order witnesses to appear. Instead of dealing with the report, some are trying to derail its release. Flint Taylor (People's Law Office of Chicago) was the guest. Boghosian is one of the four hosts (Dalia Hashad, Michael Smith and Michael Ratner are the other three).
There's a move to suppress the report. The city government was against the release and only changed their position because of media pressure. If you think about when this happened, 70s and 80s, and the fact that we're over twenty years later, you can get how hard people have tried to cover up the torture. It involves a lot more than the ones doing the torture and their immediate superiors. This has been a long effort to cover this up.
And I know someone might take the attitude of, "They're prisoners, who cares?" (I actually heard that when I was talking about this week's show with some friends.) (That was a guy at another table who was listening to our conversation.) When someone is convicted, they are basically a ward of the state. (That may even be the legal term, I'm not a lawyer.) That means the state is responsible for their care. That torture could happen is awful enough. That it would happen and the state would be more interested in covering it up then living up to their obligations is hideous.
My friend Birdie had a good point she made to the guy at the other table. (He actually did get into the conversation. Which is good, maybe he'll think about what we were talking about or maybe he'll check out the show. He asked twice where I heard about this.) She said, "If we say that about prisoners, what's next? Orphans? 'Who cares? They're orphans, they don't have any parents.'"
I was hearing Birdie say that and thinking it was the wrong point to make but it ended up stopping him. He just sort of sat there for a few seconds before he had a reply. (His reply was that we'd never allow that to happen to children, which led a long discussion on Guantanamo Bay.) (By the way, Three Cool Old Guys may write about this as well. Birdie has a mini-van and I've been telling her how I wish we could get them out of the nursing home for more than church. Sometimes, after church, I'll run around with them so they can skip the van ride back and have a little fun but I'm sure they wish they were doing stuff all the time. They can leave, they're not prisoners. But it's a lot easier to go somewhere when you've got people to go with.)
This is an important story. It's important to the men that were tortured and to their families. It's important to our sense of justice. It's also important because if you don't say that this is wrong loudly, someone else will come along and try to push the barrier a little more. It's important for prisons in this country (and probably elsewhere). If you missed it, our prison population is growing. (Because we've turned it into a business and privatized it. That's what all the three-strikes nonsense is about, if you ask me.)
So what happened back then matters today. The report needs to come out. Not a year from now, or ten years. It needs to come out now and it needs to be addressed with charges against those who participated and charges against those who helped cover it up (which Flint Taylor agrees needs to happen but doesn't think it's likely, he thinks the high ups will get off without a mention or even embarrassment).
By the way, at the end of this segment they played a song. I thought it was pretty cool and assumed it was about Bully Boy until it went on some more. I asked Ruth what it was and she said it was Phil Ochs. He was a protest singer and he's most famous for "I Ain't Marching Anymore" (which I do know, I know some of his other songs mainly from all sitting around and listening when we were all in California for the week).
Meet the king of cowboys, he rides a pale pony
He fights the bad boys brings them to their knees
He patrols the highways from the air
He keeps the country safe from long hair
I am the masculine American man
I kill therefore I am.
I don't like the black man, for he doesn't know his place
Take the back of my hand or I'll spray you with my mace
I'm as brave as any man can be
I find my courage through chemistry
I am the masculine American man
I kill therefore I am.
It's called "I Kill Therefore I Am." (Thank you to Ruth who e-mailed me that part of the lyrics.) If you want to hear the song or if you want to hear the whole segment or (better) the whole show, you and go to WBAI or Law and Disorder and listen online. There are three segments to the episode. I grabbed the second one, Mike wrote about the first one ("Law and Disorder discussed Tasers plus some other stuff") and Ruth's planning on grabbing the first one this weekend.
Check out Wally's "THIS JUST IN! A BULLY BABY IS BORN!" for the truth about how government officials grab a free ride (for them, for us - we get stuck with the bill). C.I.'s "NYT: Dexy and Burnsie enjoy a reach around, Tavernise and Mizher go blank" may be the funniest thing this week. Check it out. And Elaine discusses the Hippocratic Oath in ""A difference of opinion."
Here's C.I.'s Iraq snapshot for today:
In the United States, following the actions of the so-called Take Back America leadership to silence the activist organization CODEPINK from registering their objections to war monger Hillary Clinton, Clinton's opponent in the primary, Jonathan Tasini, has issued his own comments at The Huffington Post where he wonders: "So, the question to real progressives through the country -- and funders who enable the organizations that want to stifle debate -- is simple: how are the progressives different than Republicans and pro-war Democrats if they suppress debate about the centeral electoral issue, the Iraq war?"
Hillary Clinton, though protected, was still booed. As was George Bush Snr. in Harrogate Friday. The protests are not going away which is why the Granny Peace Brigade was back in Times Square last Saturday and why they have "announced [that] they are taking their anti-war tour to Washington."
Something that won't be taking place in Baghdad anytime soon is the Arab League conference which has been postponed again. The conference has been postponed, again, due to the instability in Iraq (that would be the continued chaos and violence). As Amy Goodman noted today, a recent Pew Research Center poll has found a decline in support for US Policies. As Al Jazeera has noted, the poll finds that the US involvement in Iraq "is the biggest threat to Middle East stability."A feeling that was shared by the protestors that rallied against the Bully Boy when he visited Tuesday. As Sandra Lupien noted on KPFA's The Morning Show today, "some 2,000 protested" chanting slogans such as "Iraq is for Iraqis!" and calling for an end to the occupation. Today, as RTE News noted, protestors also made their presence felt at the Iranian consulate in Basra. Gulf News reports that they attacked the embassy and "set fire to a reception area of the building" as a result of a broadcast on "Iranian satellite station which they said had insulted a Shiite cleric in Iraq."
Meanwhile the photo-op sucked up a great deal of news space but few found the time to note that Bully Boy managed to grab time to lean on Nouri al-Maliki, occupation puppet, about Iran. Whether 'rebels' were discussed or not, the Turkish Press reports that al-Maliki desires "a dialogue with rebel groups." Roula Khalaf (Finanical Times of London) reports that "a national reconcilliation initiative that could include a conditional amnesty offer and negotiations with some some armed insurgent groups" is being prepared.
While al-Maliki's "crackdown" takes place in Baghdad, the usual violence occurs. Ceerwan Aziz offers an eyewitness account of one bombing for Reuters:
The blast sent shrapnel flying in all directions as huge balls of flames moved skyward. People fled the scene screaming and crying. The charred body of a dead man sat upright, engulfed by huge flames. A teenage boy was also on fire. He managed to grab a rod extended to him, and was pulled out of the inferno. I counted four bodies, but couldn't tell if they were dead or seriously wounded.
The Associated Press also reports four dead from the car bomb in Baghdad. Reuters notes two other car bombs in Baghdad today (this during the "crackdown"), one that claimed the lives of at least two (wounded at least seven) and another that wounded at least one person. The AP notes that a man driving his car in Baghdad was shot and killed while a roadside bomb (not covered by Reuters) took the life of one "police commando." This during the "crackdown," when, as the AFP points out, over "50,000 Iraqi and US troops patrolled the streets of Baghdad".
Outside Baghdad, CNN reports that four were killed, in Baquba, during a gunfire attack on "electronic stores" and that a skirmish of some form occurred in Diyala with officials reporting five dead and three wounded. In Mosul, the AP notes a roadside bomb that wounded four police officers. In Najaf, Reuters notes that "a construction contractor . . . working for the Iraqi government" was killed by "gunmen."
Meanwhile the WRA (Women's Rights Association) is reporting "a massive increase in reported cases of sexual abuse in Iraq." The report has found, among other things, that "nearly 60 women have been raped in Baghdad since February, while another 80 were abused in other ways." Note, that is in Baghdad only. That is reported rapes only. And that is only since February.
I was really glad C.I. emphasized the point about the rapes. It draws your attention to it so you're not just reading along and thinking, "60" and then moving on. That's from February to now. The issue of women in Iraq is probably one of the most underreported issue. Where do we think the Iraqi women went? They just said one day, "I'm used to my career and like it but I guess today I'll step several decades back and hide out, I mean, 'stay,' stay at home."?
Another underreported issue is Falluja and I was so glad that Dahr Jamail was a guest on Democracy Now! today (always am glad when he's one) and was glad that Amy Goodman brought up Falluja. Here's one section from "Another Cover-Up? U.S. Troops Kill Two Iraqi Women, One of Them Pregnant, in Samarra" where she brought it up and made a great point:
AMY GOODMAN: Can you repeat, Dahr Jamail -- because the last time we had you on, when we were asking you about Haditha, when we were talking about the killings there, you talked about Fallujah. And you said, if we're going to talk about Haditha, which is very important, we also have to talk about Fallujah. But can you repeat what happened? Because I think most people in this country don't understand what the siege of Fallujah is about. Especially as you're talking about Ramadi right now.
DAHR JAMAIL: It's a very important thing that people understand: Fallujah, during the November 2004 U.S. assault on the city, was essentially turned into an uninhabitable city, where -- most of it remains that way today. It's a city of 350,000 people, where it's estimated by Iraqi -- an Iraqi NGO within Fallujah that has tried to figure out the number of people who were killed there the best they could, that between 4,000 and 6,000 people were killed. 4 and 6,000 people were killed in one U.S. military operation. The Pentagon admitted they did use white phosphorus, which is an illegal incendiary weapon. They tried to deny this at first, but enough proof was provided, including soldier’s statements, who were in Fallujah, that they did use that weapon. It was called Whiskey Pete on the radio when they used it.
And soldiers testified of stepping over charred bodies that were hit by this themselves. And the Pentagon finally even admitted that they used it and it could have even hit civilians. They also used cluster bombs, they used uranium munitions, they used fleshettes, all of these are violations of various international laws. And the city, to this day, entire neighborhoods remain without electricity, without water. And basically, the water situation there is a disaster, where to this day, also, there remain many waterborne diseases spread rampantly. The medical system was absolutely crushed during the siege and has yet to recover to this day. People need to be very clear, that this is the equivalent of a Guernica. It was an absolute massacre of an entire city.
AMY GOODMAN: Last week, we read the first paragraph of a Newsweek piece in Fallujah, for our TV viewers, we're going to show some photographs and we're going to put this on our website for our radio listeners. This is from Newsweek, and I'd like you to respond, Dahr. 'The Marines know how to get psyched up for a big fight. In November 2004, before the Battle of Fallujah, the Third Battalion, First Marines, better known as the "3/1" or "Thundering Third," held a chariot race. Horses had been confiscated from suspected insurgents, and charioteers were urged to go all-out. The men of Kilo Compan -- honored to be first into the city on the day of the battle -- wore togas and cardboard helmets, and hoisted a shield emblazoned with a large K. As speakers blasted a heavy-metal song, "Cum On Feel the Noize," the warriors of Kilo Company carried a homemade mace, and a ball-and-chain studded with M-16 bullets. A company captain intoned a line from a scene in the movie "Gladiator," in which the Romans prepare to slaughter the barbarians: "What you do here echoes in eternity."’ And this is the kilo company that ended up in Haditha at the time of those killings. Your response, Dahr?
DAHR JAMAIL: Well, if that's correct, that what they do in Fallujah would echo in eternity, hopefully those echoes will be the voices being heard in the international criminal courts, where the people who committed the war crimes in Fallujah and, more importantly, those who gave the orders for this siege to happen, as well as declaring the entire city a "free-fire zone," will be those echoes that we all hear when justice is served. Because the entire city was declared a free-fire zone, and this type of psyching up, as described, is absolutely sick. I think that's lunacy.
And I think that's a big part of the reason why women, children and elderly suffered the most, and were on the receiving end of the bullets and bombs fired by the U.S. Military in Fallujah. That type of psyching up, as well as other statements made by a member of the U.S. military, that Satan lived in Fallujah, that Satan has a face and he is in Fallujah, saying this sort of thing, is clearly why the entire city was demonized, the people were made subhuman by this type of propaganda by the U.S. military, and psyching up. And this is one of the big reasons why it's an absolute atrocity and countless war crimes were committed there.
You should listen or watch or read that segment. I'm serious and I'll do the link one more time,
"Another Cover-Up? U.S. Troops Kill Two Iraqi Women, One of Them Pregnant, in Samarra."
On the subject of Jason Leopold, too bad that no one else ever got anything wrong, right? I don't know a show I've watched or listened to or paper or magazine I've read that hasn't gotten something wrong before. I don't think he said, "Let me figure out how to be called a liar . . ." I think he either got tricked or Patrick Fitzgerald lost his nerve. Considering how long he's been working on the Valerie Plame case and how little he has to show for it (plus some news on his other cases), no big surprise if he lost his nerve. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Robert Parry wrote something about that right after the Scooter Libby indictment.
It must be wonderful to never be wrong. I imagine. I wouldn't know because I've been wrong before. Everyone can be. The whole we'll now shun him is nonsense. I guess it made for good fund raising (that's my comment, not Rebecca's, all comments here are mine unless I say otherwise)? It must be nice being a "brave" voice whose only bravery is in acting like someone misled you. If Jason Leopold was wrong, a lot of people are guilty.
We highlighted his story when we saw it at The Third Estate Sunday Review. When it was tossed out, C.I. said, "Uh-uh." C.I. got on the phone and called around. There was no one else willing to say it was true (journalist) that C.I. spoke to. Which is why the title of that editorial is
"Editorial: Could it be true? Rove indicted?" and why the title reflects the tone. It's why C.I. wrote "The web today, just nuts (borrowing from Isaiah)" which was in response to all the attacks that were starting on Jason Leopold:
If you missed the editorial at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Jason Leopold has reported on an indictment of Karl Rove in the Plamegate case. (Click here to go to his Saturday report.) Rebecca phoned earlier and you can read her take here. I've heard from my friends (the ones who are in journalism) that: a) it's completely true and coming soon; b) they have accepted the official word (no indictment) as truth; c) "What do you know?"On the latter, nothing. I have no friends in the Special Counsel (Patrick Fitgerald) office.
Those who think it's true think it will break soon. My own guess (mine, not anyone I spoke to) would be that if it broke (this week) it would break either during the hearings tomorrow (to take heat off of Michael Hayden -- remember, they will be broadcast live, I'll note the details at the bottom of the post) or on Friday. That's when Scooter Libby's indictment was announced.
What if it doesn't break? What if it's not true? Again, I know no one in Fitzgerald's office and Karl Rove's still mad at me for selling him on the salsa diet -- telling him he could continue to eat everything he wanted and, as long as he topped it with salsa, he wouldn't gain a pound. (I'm joking on the Rove comment. I don't know Karl Rove.)
If it's not true, then it's not true.
But there is some sort of a drive/push to turn on Jason Leopold. Not from the right, but from some on the left and the supposed left. If it's not true then his sources burned him. That does happen. It happens at networks and at papers. It happens in the mainstream media and in independent media. Good reporters get burned, bad reporters get burned.
C.I. never thought it was likely because too many journalists were in the dark about it (that was the Saturday night/Sunday morning that we did the editorial). But when Ty said, "Well then it's not true." And C.I. said, "No one can say that at this point except Patrick Fitzgerald." We wrote it the way we did for that reason (the editorial).
If Jason Leopold was wrong, then he was wrong and we all are at some point. I'll still read him. I won't bash him.
UN Committee Against Torture studied the torture of African-Americans in Chicago and found that there were no prosecutions for the torture of 200 African-Americans in the 70s and 80s.
Did you know about that? No?
Well you don't listen to WBAI's Law and Disorder or you missed this week's episode. (It airs on other stations later in the week and my cousin heard it on a pirate radio station last week.) Heidi Boghasian pointed out that this was the first investigation that used a grand jury and was able to order witnesses to appear. Instead of dealing with the report, some are trying to derail its release. Flint Taylor (People's Law Office of Chicago) was the guest. Boghosian is one of the four hosts (Dalia Hashad, Michael Smith and Michael Ratner are the other three).
There's a move to suppress the report. The city government was against the release and only changed their position because of media pressure. If you think about when this happened, 70s and 80s, and the fact that we're over twenty years later, you can get how hard people have tried to cover up the torture. It involves a lot more than the ones doing the torture and their immediate superiors. This has been a long effort to cover this up.
And I know someone might take the attitude of, "They're prisoners, who cares?" (I actually heard that when I was talking about this week's show with some friends.) (That was a guy at another table who was listening to our conversation.) When someone is convicted, they are basically a ward of the state. (That may even be the legal term, I'm not a lawyer.) That means the state is responsible for their care. That torture could happen is awful enough. That it would happen and the state would be more interested in covering it up then living up to their obligations is hideous.
My friend Birdie had a good point she made to the guy at the other table. (He actually did get into the conversation. Which is good, maybe he'll think about what we were talking about or maybe he'll check out the show. He asked twice where I heard about this.) She said, "If we say that about prisoners, what's next? Orphans? 'Who cares? They're orphans, they don't have any parents.'"
I was hearing Birdie say that and thinking it was the wrong point to make but it ended up stopping him. He just sort of sat there for a few seconds before he had a reply. (His reply was that we'd never allow that to happen to children, which led a long discussion on Guantanamo Bay.) (By the way, Three Cool Old Guys may write about this as well. Birdie has a mini-van and I've been telling her how I wish we could get them out of the nursing home for more than church. Sometimes, after church, I'll run around with them so they can skip the van ride back and have a little fun but I'm sure they wish they were doing stuff all the time. They can leave, they're not prisoners. But it's a lot easier to go somewhere when you've got people to go with.)
This is an important story. It's important to the men that were tortured and to their families. It's important to our sense of justice. It's also important because if you don't say that this is wrong loudly, someone else will come along and try to push the barrier a little more. It's important for prisons in this country (and probably elsewhere). If you missed it, our prison population is growing. (Because we've turned it into a business and privatized it. That's what all the three-strikes nonsense is about, if you ask me.)
So what happened back then matters today. The report needs to come out. Not a year from now, or ten years. It needs to come out now and it needs to be addressed with charges against those who participated and charges against those who helped cover it up (which Flint Taylor agrees needs to happen but doesn't think it's likely, he thinks the high ups will get off without a mention or even embarrassment).
By the way, at the end of this segment they played a song. I thought it was pretty cool and assumed it was about Bully Boy until it went on some more. I asked Ruth what it was and she said it was Phil Ochs. He was a protest singer and he's most famous for "I Ain't Marching Anymore" (which I do know, I know some of his other songs mainly from all sitting around and listening when we were all in California for the week).
Meet the king of cowboys, he rides a pale pony
He fights the bad boys brings them to their knees
He patrols the highways from the air
He keeps the country safe from long hair
I am the masculine American man
I kill therefore I am.
I don't like the black man, for he doesn't know his place
Take the back of my hand or I'll spray you with my mace
I'm as brave as any man can be
I find my courage through chemistry
I am the masculine American man
I kill therefore I am.
It's called "I Kill Therefore I Am." (Thank you to Ruth who e-mailed me that part of the lyrics.) If you want to hear the song or if you want to hear the whole segment or (better) the whole show, you and go to WBAI or Law and Disorder and listen online. There are three segments to the episode. I grabbed the second one, Mike wrote about the first one ("Law and Disorder discussed Tasers plus some other stuff") and Ruth's planning on grabbing the first one this weekend.
Check out Wally's "THIS JUST IN! A BULLY BABY IS BORN!" for the truth about how government officials grab a free ride (for them, for us - we get stuck with the bill). C.I.'s "NYT: Dexy and Burnsie enjoy a reach around, Tavernise and Mizher go blank" may be the funniest thing this week. Check it out. And Elaine discusses the Hippocratic Oath in ""A difference of opinion."
Here's C.I.'s Iraq snapshot for today:
In the United States, following the actions of the so-called Take Back America leadership to silence the activist organization CODEPINK from registering their objections to war monger Hillary Clinton, Clinton's opponent in the primary, Jonathan Tasini, has issued his own comments at The Huffington Post where he wonders: "So, the question to real progressives through the country -- and funders who enable the organizations that want to stifle debate -- is simple: how are the progressives different than Republicans and pro-war Democrats if they suppress debate about the centeral electoral issue, the Iraq war?"
Hillary Clinton, though protected, was still booed. As was George Bush Snr. in Harrogate Friday. The protests are not going away which is why the Granny Peace Brigade was back in Times Square last Saturday and why they have "announced [that] they are taking their anti-war tour to Washington."
Something that won't be taking place in Baghdad anytime soon is the Arab League conference which has been postponed again. The conference has been postponed, again, due to the instability in Iraq (that would be the continued chaos and violence). As Amy Goodman noted today, a recent Pew Research Center poll has found a decline in support for US Policies. As Al Jazeera has noted, the poll finds that the US involvement in Iraq "is the biggest threat to Middle East stability."A feeling that was shared by the protestors that rallied against the Bully Boy when he visited Tuesday. As Sandra Lupien noted on KPFA's The Morning Show today, "some 2,000 protested" chanting slogans such as "Iraq is for Iraqis!" and calling for an end to the occupation. Today, as RTE News noted, protestors also made their presence felt at the Iranian consulate in Basra. Gulf News reports that they attacked the embassy and "set fire to a reception area of the building" as a result of a broadcast on "Iranian satellite station which they said had insulted a Shiite cleric in Iraq."
Meanwhile the photo-op sucked up a great deal of news space but few found the time to note that Bully Boy managed to grab time to lean on Nouri al-Maliki, occupation puppet, about Iran. Whether 'rebels' were discussed or not, the Turkish Press reports that al-Maliki desires "a dialogue with rebel groups." Roula Khalaf (Finanical Times of London) reports that "a national reconcilliation initiative that could include a conditional amnesty offer and negotiations with some some armed insurgent groups" is being prepared.
While al-Maliki's "crackdown" takes place in Baghdad, the usual violence occurs. Ceerwan Aziz offers an eyewitness account of one bombing for Reuters:
The blast sent shrapnel flying in all directions as huge balls of flames moved skyward. People fled the scene screaming and crying. The charred body of a dead man sat upright, engulfed by huge flames. A teenage boy was also on fire. He managed to grab a rod extended to him, and was pulled out of the inferno. I counted four bodies, but couldn't tell if they were dead or seriously wounded.
The Associated Press also reports four dead from the car bomb in Baghdad. Reuters notes two other car bombs in Baghdad today (this during the "crackdown"), one that claimed the lives of at least two (wounded at least seven) and another that wounded at least one person. The AP notes that a man driving his car in Baghdad was shot and killed while a roadside bomb (not covered by Reuters) took the life of one "police commando." This during the "crackdown," when, as the AFP points out, over "50,000 Iraqi and US troops patrolled the streets of Baghdad".
Outside Baghdad, CNN reports that four were killed, in Baquba, during a gunfire attack on "electronic stores" and that a skirmish of some form occurred in Diyala with officials reporting five dead and three wounded. In Mosul, the AP notes a roadside bomb that wounded four police officers. In Najaf, Reuters notes that "a construction contractor . . . working for the Iraqi government" was killed by "gunmen."
Meanwhile the WRA (Women's Rights Association) is reporting "a massive increase in reported cases of sexual abuse in Iraq." The report has found, among other things, that "nearly 60 women have been raped in Baghdad since February, while another 80 were abused in other ways." Note, that is in Baghdad only. That is reported rapes only. And that is only since February.
I was really glad C.I. emphasized the point about the rapes. It draws your attention to it so you're not just reading along and thinking, "60" and then moving on. That's from February to now. The issue of women in Iraq is probably one of the most underreported issue. Where do we think the Iraqi women went? They just said one day, "I'm used to my career and like it but I guess today I'll step several decades back and hide out, I mean, 'stay,' stay at home."?
Another underreported issue is Falluja and I was so glad that Dahr Jamail was a guest on Democracy Now! today (always am glad when he's one) and was glad that Amy Goodman brought up Falluja. Here's one section from "Another Cover-Up? U.S. Troops Kill Two Iraqi Women, One of Them Pregnant, in Samarra" where she brought it up and made a great point:
AMY GOODMAN: Can you repeat, Dahr Jamail -- because the last time we had you on, when we were asking you about Haditha, when we were talking about the killings there, you talked about Fallujah. And you said, if we're going to talk about Haditha, which is very important, we also have to talk about Fallujah. But can you repeat what happened? Because I think most people in this country don't understand what the siege of Fallujah is about. Especially as you're talking about Ramadi right now.
DAHR JAMAIL: It's a very important thing that people understand: Fallujah, during the November 2004 U.S. assault on the city, was essentially turned into an uninhabitable city, where -- most of it remains that way today. It's a city of 350,000 people, where it's estimated by Iraqi -- an Iraqi NGO within Fallujah that has tried to figure out the number of people who were killed there the best they could, that between 4,000 and 6,000 people were killed. 4 and 6,000 people were killed in one U.S. military operation. The Pentagon admitted they did use white phosphorus, which is an illegal incendiary weapon. They tried to deny this at first, but enough proof was provided, including soldier’s statements, who were in Fallujah, that they did use that weapon. It was called Whiskey Pete on the radio when they used it.
And soldiers testified of stepping over charred bodies that were hit by this themselves. And the Pentagon finally even admitted that they used it and it could have even hit civilians. They also used cluster bombs, they used uranium munitions, they used fleshettes, all of these are violations of various international laws. And the city, to this day, entire neighborhoods remain without electricity, without water. And basically, the water situation there is a disaster, where to this day, also, there remain many waterborne diseases spread rampantly. The medical system was absolutely crushed during the siege and has yet to recover to this day. People need to be very clear, that this is the equivalent of a Guernica. It was an absolute massacre of an entire city.
AMY GOODMAN: Last week, we read the first paragraph of a Newsweek piece in Fallujah, for our TV viewers, we're going to show some photographs and we're going to put this on our website for our radio listeners. This is from Newsweek, and I'd like you to respond, Dahr. 'The Marines know how to get psyched up for a big fight. In November 2004, before the Battle of Fallujah, the Third Battalion, First Marines, better known as the "3/1" or "Thundering Third," held a chariot race. Horses had been confiscated from suspected insurgents, and charioteers were urged to go all-out. The men of Kilo Compan -- honored to be first into the city on the day of the battle -- wore togas and cardboard helmets, and hoisted a shield emblazoned with a large K. As speakers blasted a heavy-metal song, "Cum On Feel the Noize," the warriors of Kilo Company carried a homemade mace, and a ball-and-chain studded with M-16 bullets. A company captain intoned a line from a scene in the movie "Gladiator," in which the Romans prepare to slaughter the barbarians: "What you do here echoes in eternity."’ And this is the kilo company that ended up in Haditha at the time of those killings. Your response, Dahr?
DAHR JAMAIL: Well, if that's correct, that what they do in Fallujah would echo in eternity, hopefully those echoes will be the voices being heard in the international criminal courts, where the people who committed the war crimes in Fallujah and, more importantly, those who gave the orders for this siege to happen, as well as declaring the entire city a "free-fire zone," will be those echoes that we all hear when justice is served. Because the entire city was declared a free-fire zone, and this type of psyching up, as described, is absolutely sick. I think that's lunacy.
And I think that's a big part of the reason why women, children and elderly suffered the most, and were on the receiving end of the bullets and bombs fired by the U.S. Military in Fallujah. That type of psyching up, as well as other statements made by a member of the U.S. military, that Satan lived in Fallujah, that Satan has a face and he is in Fallujah, saying this sort of thing, is clearly why the entire city was demonized, the people were made subhuman by this type of propaganda by the U.S. military, and psyching up. And this is one of the big reasons why it's an absolute atrocity and countless war crimes were committed there.
You should listen or watch or read that segment. I'm serious and I'll do the link one more time,
"Another Cover-Up? U.S. Troops Kill Two Iraqi Women, One of Them Pregnant, in Samarra."
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
I'll post Wednesday
I'll blog tomorrow. A friend called and she's really upset. I usually blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays but this is more important so blogging's going to wait a day.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Ehren Watada on Democracy Now today you can watch it or just listen or read the transcript
"Army Lieutenant Becomes First Commissioned Officer to Refuse Deployment to Iraq" (Democracy Now!):
For the first time since the start of the war, a commissioned officer is refusing deployment to fight in Iraq. On Wednesday U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada announced his intention to disobey what he says are illegal orders to deploy to Iraq. He was supposed to make his announcement at a news conference yesterday but military officials told Watada he could not attend because he was barred from speaking publicly about his case while on duty at the base.
Watada is a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd infantry Division based at Fort Lewis near Seattle, Washington. His unit is set to be deployed later this month. Lieutenant Watada faces court martial unless the Army allows him to resign or assigns him to duties not directly connected to the war.
On Wednesday, Lieutenant Watada issued a video recording explaining why he is refusing to fight.
1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada video statement. Courtesy of Ron Smith.
We are joined now on the line by Ehren Watada and his lawyer, Legrand Jones.
1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq. He joins us on the line from Washington State.
Legrand Jones, attorney for 1st Lt. Watada in Washington state.
That's the introduction to a story on Democracy Now! today and you need to check it out. How much do I think so? I've waited hours to log in tonight. Blogger/Blogspot is screwed up and was yesterday as well. So I've been checking and checking. Long day and all I wanted was to go to bed. I'm tired, stressful day at work, the skin around my right eyebrow is twitching. I should be asleep. But that's how important this story is. So please check it out.
Also check out C.I.'s "NYT: Angels in the outfield? No, idiots in the Green Zone" and Betty's
"Thomas Friedman, the Jayne Mansfield of the New York Times." That's it for me, I'm going to sleep.
For the first time since the start of the war, a commissioned officer is refusing deployment to fight in Iraq. On Wednesday U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada announced his intention to disobey what he says are illegal orders to deploy to Iraq. He was supposed to make his announcement at a news conference yesterday but military officials told Watada he could not attend because he was barred from speaking publicly about his case while on duty at the base.
Watada is a member of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd infantry Division based at Fort Lewis near Seattle, Washington. His unit is set to be deployed later this month. Lieutenant Watada faces court martial unless the Army allows him to resign or assigns him to duties not directly connected to the war.
On Wednesday, Lieutenant Watada issued a video recording explaining why he is refusing to fight.
1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada video statement. Courtesy of Ron Smith.
We are joined now on the line by Ehren Watada and his lawyer, Legrand Jones.
1st Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq. He joins us on the line from Washington State.
Legrand Jones, attorney for 1st Lt. Watada in Washington state.
That's the introduction to a story on Democracy Now! today and you need to check it out. How much do I think so? I've waited hours to log in tonight. Blogger/Blogspot is screwed up and was yesterday as well. So I've been checking and checking. Long day and all I wanted was to go to bed. I'm tired, stressful day at work, the skin around my right eyebrow is twitching. I should be asleep. But that's how important this story is. So please check it out.
Also check out C.I.'s "NYT: Angels in the outfield? No, idiots in the Green Zone" and Betty's
"Thomas Friedman, the Jayne Mansfield of the New York Times." That's it for me, I'm going to sleep.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Law and Disorder on Ahmed Omar Abu Ali
Yesterday, Mike wrote about one aspect of WBAI's Law and Disorder (which airs each Monday morning at ten). I am focusing on the first guest, Tasneem Abu Ali. She is the sister of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali. Do you know either of their names?
You should. The segment was set up by noting that you should picture yourself a college student winning a scholarship and then have everything go horribly wrong.
What went wrong? Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted and sented to thirty years in federal prison. He is an American citizen who went abroad to study. In the War OF Terror, he became one of the victims. He was abducted by the Saudi Arabia government and tortured. This was with the knowledge of the American government. An American citizen was abducted and tortured by another government with the knowledge (I'd argue with the permission) of the American government.
Under over forty-days of torture, Ahmed finally confessed. During that time he was beaten, he was deprived of contact with others, he was interrogated over and over. Near the end, they presented him with a "confession" and asked him to copy it on paper (to have it in his own handwriting). Then they made him sign it.
It was pointed out by Dalia Hashad that Amnesty (she's over an American branch of Amnesty and I forget the exact title, sorry) has noted Saudia Arabia's policies of torture to coerce confessions.
But when Ahmed was brought back to this country, even with physical proof of torture, the court ignored it. They went with a confession obtained under torture. (Of a kid. No offense to any young readers or to Wally and Mike who might take offense because they're around Ahmed's age but this was a kid. Yes, an adult, but just barely.) In this country's it's still illegal to torture someone into confessing. (And torture doesn't lead to reliable confessions. People will say anything to avoid more torture.) But the court allowed the confession to be seen as legal.
If you don't care for Ahmed's sake or for the sake of his sister Tasneem (who's really standing by her brother), you should care for this country and for yourself. In fact, you should be frightened. When we start accepting confessions from torture into our court systems, the next step is not caring if it happened in another country or not. The next step is accepting torture as a feature of American life.
That's not what a democracy is supposed to believe in.
Ahmed needs to be released. Not in a few years with time off for good behavior. He needs to be released right now. If you can't make a case without something gained through torture, you don't have a case.
I think the kid's innocent. But it really doesn't matter under our legal system. Our legal system finds you not guilty if the evidence can't stand up. A confession under torture shouldn't stand up in a court of a law.
If you've never listened to Law and Disorder you should make a point to. Yes, they're talking about important issues. But also because it's four attornies who know the law talking about important issues. This is a really great show. Mike covered one segment ("Law and Disorder and more") and I'm covering this one. That way when Ruth writes her report this weekend, she can grab the third segment (which we assume is the one she wanted to grab). She can note anything she wants on the segments we covered but hopefully won't have to. What she's been doing takes a lot of work and way too much for anyone person. So we're trying to help her out by easing the burden. (And the show we're covering is never a 'burden' to listen to or write about.)
Now yesterday Elaine attempted to do a long post about the last edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review and lost it. I spoke with her for that and I think she probably wrote an amazing thing. She's not redoing it (Blogger/Blogspot lost her post in the posting stage). I don't blame her for that. She spent around four hours on it. Who has that kind of time? The thing I want to note here is that I'm not mad but, that said, I was really glad C.I. pointed out that while the short story that was never written was worked on and worked on for hours, my idea was forgotten. C.I. made a point of that. I appreciated that. I know people were focused on other things and it just got forgotten. I understand that. But I almost put it up here earlier. I didn't because they wanted to use it for the fiction edition.
Of course, I knew it was being overlooked. I should have said something but didn't want to come off whiney. (I also stayed silent about the four plus hours spent on the short story that never came -- and I stayed silent because I didn't want anyone thinking, "Well he just wants us to work on his short story.") Everyone else was focusing on the edition. And they were thinking this could be a great short story (the one that never resulted in anything). Ty also got overlooked and he had a great idea (a better one than I did).
When Ava and C.I. rejoined everyone after writing their TV commentary ("TV: TESR Investigates"), they were shocked that this non-story was still being worked on. They made their disgust very obvious. And that's really what it took to get us all to face that this thing wouldn't be written because there was no story there. But I noted to Elaine that I apreciated the fact that C.I. not only remembered my idea but pointed out to everyone that I'd held off writing it at this site because I'd been asked to save it for their site.
That jogged everyone's memory. And everyone was very apologetic about it. (Which I also appreciate.) But I got an e-mail about noting (in "news via Democracy Now and a conversation in three parts") the fact that C.I. had been supportive when I was worried about writing something and the e-mailer asked if that was usually the case. It's always been the case. Everyone is encouraging. I don't want to imply that they aren't. And they all listen. But C.I.'s got an elephant's memory or something. And C.I., who's never said, "Wait a minute, what about me?", is always the first to point it out when someone else is being forgotten. I was asked in the same e-mail if C.I. had ever griped about anything I'd done? Yes, about the point I made of thanking in "news via Democracy Now and a conversation in three parts." That's about the only thing I've ever done that's upset C.I. (that I know of).
This Sunday, we may or may not pick up with some more short stories. As for other people's thoughts on last Sunday, Elaine tried to cover it. (And she bailed on that short story. She was very vocal that it wouldn't work as a short story because it had no plot, no characters and no one knew what it was supposed to be about. The one that never ran because it never could be written.) I've covered my part of it. But no one was mad at anyone (that's the reason she wrote it, she had e-mails about that). We were all irritated that the edition was moving so slowly -- and we were irritated for a number of reasons.
That's it for me tonight. Betty's not blogging tonight. Kat called me and passed it on. Betty just started a new job (a promotion) at work last Tuesday. She's still trying to get used to the new demands of that. Kat and I are both going to offer her the chance do some joint posts with us this week if she wants to. But she's got no time right now to enter the world of Betinna (the lead character in her comic online novel).
You should. The segment was set up by noting that you should picture yourself a college student winning a scholarship and then have everything go horribly wrong.
What went wrong? Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted and sented to thirty years in federal prison. He is an American citizen who went abroad to study. In the War OF Terror, he became one of the victims. He was abducted by the Saudi Arabia government and tortured. This was with the knowledge of the American government. An American citizen was abducted and tortured by another government with the knowledge (I'd argue with the permission) of the American government.
Under over forty-days of torture, Ahmed finally confessed. During that time he was beaten, he was deprived of contact with others, he was interrogated over and over. Near the end, they presented him with a "confession" and asked him to copy it on paper (to have it in his own handwriting). Then they made him sign it.
It was pointed out by Dalia Hashad that Amnesty (she's over an American branch of Amnesty and I forget the exact title, sorry) has noted Saudia Arabia's policies of torture to coerce confessions.
But when Ahmed was brought back to this country, even with physical proof of torture, the court ignored it. They went with a confession obtained under torture. (Of a kid. No offense to any young readers or to Wally and Mike who might take offense because they're around Ahmed's age but this was a kid. Yes, an adult, but just barely.) In this country's it's still illegal to torture someone into confessing. (And torture doesn't lead to reliable confessions. People will say anything to avoid more torture.) But the court allowed the confession to be seen as legal.
If you don't care for Ahmed's sake or for the sake of his sister Tasneem (who's really standing by her brother), you should care for this country and for yourself. In fact, you should be frightened. When we start accepting confessions from torture into our court systems, the next step is not caring if it happened in another country or not. The next step is accepting torture as a feature of American life.
That's not what a democracy is supposed to believe in.
Ahmed needs to be released. Not in a few years with time off for good behavior. He needs to be released right now. If you can't make a case without something gained through torture, you don't have a case.
I think the kid's innocent. But it really doesn't matter under our legal system. Our legal system finds you not guilty if the evidence can't stand up. A confession under torture shouldn't stand up in a court of a law.
If you've never listened to Law and Disorder you should make a point to. Yes, they're talking about important issues. But also because it's four attornies who know the law talking about important issues. This is a really great show. Mike covered one segment ("Law and Disorder and more") and I'm covering this one. That way when Ruth writes her report this weekend, she can grab the third segment (which we assume is the one she wanted to grab). She can note anything she wants on the segments we covered but hopefully won't have to. What she's been doing takes a lot of work and way too much for anyone person. So we're trying to help her out by easing the burden. (And the show we're covering is never a 'burden' to listen to or write about.)
Now yesterday Elaine attempted to do a long post about the last edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review and lost it. I spoke with her for that and I think she probably wrote an amazing thing. She's not redoing it (Blogger/Blogspot lost her post in the posting stage). I don't blame her for that. She spent around four hours on it. Who has that kind of time? The thing I want to note here is that I'm not mad but, that said, I was really glad C.I. pointed out that while the short story that was never written was worked on and worked on for hours, my idea was forgotten. C.I. made a point of that. I appreciated that. I know people were focused on other things and it just got forgotten. I understand that. But I almost put it up here earlier. I didn't because they wanted to use it for the fiction edition.
Of course, I knew it was being overlooked. I should have said something but didn't want to come off whiney. (I also stayed silent about the four plus hours spent on the short story that never came -- and I stayed silent because I didn't want anyone thinking, "Well he just wants us to work on his short story.") Everyone else was focusing on the edition. And they were thinking this could be a great short story (the one that never resulted in anything). Ty also got overlooked and he had a great idea (a better one than I did).
When Ava and C.I. rejoined everyone after writing their TV commentary ("TV: TESR Investigates"), they were shocked that this non-story was still being worked on. They made their disgust very obvious. And that's really what it took to get us all to face that this thing wouldn't be written because there was no story there. But I noted to Elaine that I apreciated the fact that C.I. not only remembered my idea but pointed out to everyone that I'd held off writing it at this site because I'd been asked to save it for their site.
That jogged everyone's memory. And everyone was very apologetic about it. (Which I also appreciate.) But I got an e-mail about noting (in "news via Democracy Now and a conversation in three parts") the fact that C.I. had been supportive when I was worried about writing something and the e-mailer asked if that was usually the case. It's always been the case. Everyone is encouraging. I don't want to imply that they aren't. And they all listen. But C.I.'s got an elephant's memory or something. And C.I., who's never said, "Wait a minute, what about me?", is always the first to point it out when someone else is being forgotten. I was asked in the same e-mail if C.I. had ever griped about anything I'd done? Yes, about the point I made of thanking in "news via Democracy Now and a conversation in three parts." That's about the only thing I've ever done that's upset C.I. (that I know of).
This Sunday, we may or may not pick up with some more short stories. As for other people's thoughts on last Sunday, Elaine tried to cover it. (And she bailed on that short story. She was very vocal that it wouldn't work as a short story because it had no plot, no characters and no one knew what it was supposed to be about. The one that never ran because it never could be written.) I've covered my part of it. But no one was mad at anyone (that's the reason she wrote it, she had e-mails about that). We were all irritated that the edition was moving so slowly -- and we were irritated for a number of reasons.
That's it for me tonight. Betty's not blogging tonight. Kat called me and passed it on. Betty just started a new job (a promotion) at work last Tuesday. She's still trying to get used to the new demands of that. Kat and I are both going to offer her the chance do some joint posts with us this week if she wants to. But she's got no time right now to enter the world of Betinna (the lead character in her comic online novel).
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