BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX --- DC.
REPUBLICAN RICHARD CURTIS SERVES IN THE WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE AND HE IS NOT GAY.
OR HE DID SERVE THERE. AS HIS ONCE WEB PAGE ANNOUNCES: "
The Representative you are looking for is no longer a member of the Legislature and the page has been removed accordingly." HIS RESIGNATION STATEMENT READS:
"Today I submitted my letter of resignation to Governor Gregoire effective immediately. While I believe we've done some good and helped a lot of people during the time I served in the Legislature, events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people. I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused. "This has been damaging to my family, and I don't want to subject them to any additional pain that might result from carrying out this matter under the scrutiny that comes with holding public office."
"UNDER THE SCRUTINY THAT COMES WITH HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICE"? IT WASN'T THE PRESS THAT RAN TO THE POLICE SAYING, "I AM BEING BLACKMAILED!"
IT ALL STARTED FAR AWAY FROM CONSTITUENT EYES IN THE HOLLYWOOD EROTIC BOUTIQUE WHERE CURTIS, 48-YEARS-OLD, EYED CODY CASTAGNA, 24-YEARS-OLD, APPARENTLY HOLDING A COPY OF "STUD TOPS TWINK BOTTOMS."
THE LITTLE LEAGUE SAFETY OFFICER, U.S. AIR FORCE VETERAN, MARRIED, FATHER OF TWO CURTIS EXPRESSED HIS INTEREST AND THE TWO MEN SETTLED ON A PRICE FOR SERVICES TO BE RENDERED. THEY THEN WENT TO THE DAVENPORT HOTEL.
THE POLICE REPORT ALSO NOTES AN EARLIER SEXUAL ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE TWO MEN AT THE HOLLYWOOD EROTIC BOUTIQUE AND THAT CURTIS WAS WEARING "RED STOCKINGS AND A BLACK SEQUINED LINGERIE TOP" UNDERNEATH HIS STREET CLOTHES.
AFTER THE HOTEL ENCOUNTER, CURTIS CLAIMS HE WAS TUCKERED OUT AND FELL ASLEEP AT WHICH POINT CASTAGNA STOLE CURTIS WALLET. CASTAGNA CLAIMS CURTIS DID NOT HAVE THE $1,000 FEE AND TOLD HIM TO HOLD THE WALLET UNTIL CURTIS COULD PAY OFF HIS DEBT -- APPARENTLY NO OFFER WAS MADE TO WORK OFF THE DEBT IN TRADE.
AT THE START OF THE WEEK, CURTIS WAS INSISTING, "I AM NOT GAY. I HAVE NOT HAD SEX WITH A GUY." APPARENTLY REPUBLICAN MALES BELIEVE THERE IS NOTHING STRAIGHTER THAN HAVING SEX WITH A MAN AND PAYING FOR IT. POSSIBLY THE PAYMENT WAS A MEASURE MEANT TO ASSIST THE ECONOMY?
BEFORE STEPPING DOWN THE NOT-GAY CURTIS VOTED AGAINST A DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP LAW AND A LAW THAT WOULD OUTLAW DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE LGBT COMMUNITY.
NO WORD ON A VOTING RECORD REGARDING PROSTITUTION.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Over the weekend, Paul St. Armand's Parallels won the Canadian Reflections Award at the enRoute Student Film Festival in Toronto. Among those serving as judges for the festival were film producer Denise Robert, actor-writer-director Patrick Huard, director-animator Torill Kove, director Atom Egoyan, producer Robert Lantos, actor-producer Donald Sutherland and film critic (Toronto Star) Geoff Pevere. Halifax' The Daily News explains, "Parallels is a double portrait of U.S. amry deserters from the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The film won Best Documentary at the 2007 BC Student Film Festival, was a Golden Sheaf nominee at the Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival, and is a current nominee at Kevin Spacey's Triggerstreet Online Film Festival." The documentary short explores the lives of James D. Jones and Joshua Key. Originally, Paul St. Armand thought he was making a documentary that would look at Vietnam war resisters in Canada three decades later. James D. Jones was one of the war resisters from that era he spoke with. Then the War Resisters Support Campaign hooked him up with Iraq War resister Joshua Key and St. Armand noted similarities in the two resisters stories. Key's story is also among those told in Michaelle Mason's documentary Breaking Ranks (where he states, "As we got down the Euphrates River and we took a shartp right turn, all we seen was heads and bodies. And American troops in the middle of them saying 'we lost it'.") and in the book he wrote with Lawrence Hill, The Deserter's Tale. From Key's book, page 176:
By our sins of willful neglect, we were about to have a child's blood on our hands. I knew it was wrong then, and now I know exactly what the Geneva Conventions say about the protection of women and children in war.
"Women shall be the object of special respect and shall be protected in particular against rape, forced prostitution, and any other form of indecent assault."
I knew how things were going to begin for that thirteen-year-old Iraqi girl, that day, but there was no telling how they would end. We had every means at our disposal to protect that girl. I say this because, in Iraq, sergeants and officers in my company generally behaved however they wanted in the presence of Iraqi civilians, employees, police officers, and border officials. In my opinion, it wouldn't have mattered in the slightest to my superiors what Iraqis throught of our actions. If one of our officers or sergeants had chosen to intervene and protect the girl, no Iraqi working at the border would have been in a position to stop him. We were the ones with the ultimate authority at the border. Indeed, one of our roles at al-Qa'im was to teach the Iraqi border officials and police officers how to inspect a car, and to tell them what we would allow Iraqis to take out of their country and what we prohibited as export items. We were the occupiers and we controlled the border, but when it came to the fate of the thirteen-year-old girl who was about to be raped, we did nothing.
Meanwhile Steve Woodhead (The Brock Press) reports on war resister Michael Espinal recent speaking event at Brock University at St. Catharines, Ontario. Espinal explains of one thing explains about his time in Iraq, "We were told to walk right past injured civilians, even children who were lying bleeding on the ground. I've seen soldiers take up to $20,000 U.S. from homes during house raids . . . Soldiers would go around in civilian cars we picked up at border checkpoints." Like many war resisters, Espinal had to go online to find information about war resistance.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
Turning to the topic of the mercenary company Blackwater, an editorial from the Los Angeles Times notes today: "Congress should also begin investigating growing evidence of an overly cozy relationship between the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and Blackwater. It appears that the bureau hired the contractors, supervised their activities, allowed them to use deadly force, began to investigate the long-simmering allegations of excessive use of force only after the outcry over the September shootings, and then promised some contractors immunity without asking permission from the Justice Department. This behavior is more disturbing given reports that Blackwater has hired former State Department officials at high salaries, raising questions about whether the 'revolving door' presented a conflict of interest for investigators. Certainly Blackwater seems to have unwarranted influence in Washington, as evidenced by the letter it procured from the State Department ordering it not to disclose information to Waxman's committee. Who's in charge here, the U.S. government or Blackwater?" As questions continue to rise, John M. Broder and David Johnston (New York Times) inform that the Defense Department and not the State Department will now be in charge of oversight and quote US House Rep Jan Schakowsky stating, "It feels like they're [the State Department] protecting Blackwater." However, Noah Schatman (Wired) reports that the Department of Defense will not provide oversight because "The US Regional Cooperation Offices -- also called 'Reconstruction Operations Centers' -- are themselves outsourced, through a recently renewed $475 million contract to the British firm Aegis. And Aegis is run by the infamous old-school gun-for-hire, Tim Spicer." Which calls into question the noted by Peter Grier (Christian Science Monitor), made by Geoff Morrell -- Pentagon flack, that "the military, for its part, would now excercise some control over contractor training" -- a bit hard for the Pentagon to do if oversight has already been contracted out. Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) notes the limited-immunity the State Department offered Blackwater over the September 16th slaughter of Iraqi civilians in Baghdad and observes, "New details about the 'protections' given Blackwater contractors allegedly involved in the shootings sparked outrage from congressional Democrats yesterday, along with a flood of letters to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from committee chairmen demanding more information." Tim Harper (Toronto Star) observes of the immunity offered (with no input from anyone outside the State Department), "But legal experts said the state department move makes an already difficult prosecution even more difficult and keeps those who allegedly did the shooting in a legal zone which authorities may not be able to penetrate. Democrats accused the Bush administration of shielding potential killers and the chair of the powerful oversight committee gave U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice until Friday at noon to answer questions about the decision of her investigators." Of course, Rice isn't supposed to be in the US then. She's supposed to be in Turkey for a scheduled conference. Facing reporters in yesterday's State Dept briefing, Sean McCormack repeatedly fell back on a claim that he couldn't speak, "First of all, we have to draw a box around the specific events of September 16th and anything involved with that particular case." Other comments on the news emerging this week regarding the State Department and Blackwater included, "This is an area that I can't venture into."; "Again, I can't speak to the specifics of the September 16th case."; "In general, you have exhausted my legal knowledge concerning this case."; and "I'm just not going to have anything to say about the September 16th case." Even on something as general as the process of the incident reports that are supposed to be required whenever a contractor under the State Department fires a weapon in Iraq, McCormack stonewalled with comments such as "Let me just see if there's a standard procedure that I can talk about" and "I'll talk to the lawyers and see what we can do." Discussing the procedures on incident reports, on who sees them and the process itself does not require speaking to an attorney. Furthermore, in a democracy (open government), the process is not a secret. When Helen Thomas pressed White House flack Dana Perino on the immunity issue yesterday, Perino refused to expand on more than "Helen, as I said, it's a matter that's under review" and refused to state whether the Bully Boy had been briefed on the immunity deal the State Department offered.
As the tensions and fallout from the September 16th slaughter continues in Iraq, the puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki feels pressure to do something (his earlier public statements regarding Blackwater having since been clamped down on) so he has proposed a measure that would overturn Paul Bremer's Order 17 which granted immunity (from the Iraqi government) to contractors operating in Iraq. Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports the proposed bill "was written by" al-Maliki's legal adviser. Asked about that in the briefing yesterday, Sean McCormack was again evasive stating "Well, it's their law as I understand it -- unless I'm wrong here and that has been known to happen. . . . But as I understand it, they have the ability to changer their laws. Now, let's take a look at exactly what has been proposed and has yet to be debated in their legislature. But once we have a look at it and have a chance to analyze it, perhaps we'll have more to say about it." Left unstated is exactly why the State Department or the US should have anything to say about the allegedly independent nation-state Iraq. Meanwhile Christian Berthelsen and Raheem Salman (Los Angeles Times) report that Iraqi eye witnesses to the slaughter say the FBI agents investigating "appear focused on whether anyone fired first on the American convoy and have been aggressively gathering ballistic evidence" and citing an unnamed "U.S. source" report that the team of investigators left Iraq Sunday.
Staying on the topic of crime, the US military has found a number of anthropologists who will betray their field. Earlier this month, the BBC noted, "The Pentagon is pulling out all the stops in Iraq and Afghanistan" to recruit wayward academics to assist their Human Terrain System; however, "very frew anthropologists in the US are willing to wear a uniform and receive the mandatory weapons training." The article also notes the Network of Concerned Anthropologists an organization created to preven the betryal of the social science and the unethical use of the field to harm or destroy a people. One founding member of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists is David Price. In a well researched and documented article entitled "Pilfered Scholarship Devastates General Petraeus's Counterinsurgency Manual" (CounterPunch), Price walks readers through how even on something as basic as a monogram, those involved are applying no academic standards and he notes that Montgomery McFate appears to believe that merely stumbling across a passage written by another academic means she can claim it as her own -- word for word -- without credit or attribution. That's theft, plagiarism and shoddy scholarship. Monty is as she was -- forever and ever. Price also examines the press-love for Monty and writes, "In a recent exchange with Dr. McFate, Col. John Agoglia and Lt. Col. Edward Villacres on the Diane Rehm Show, I pressed McFate for an explanation of how voluntary ethical informed consent was produced in environments dominated by weapons. In response, McFate assured me that was not a problem because 'indigenous local people out in rural Afghanistan are smart, and they can draw a distinction between a lethal unit of the U.S. military and a non-lethal unit'." The Diane Rehm Show referred to was broadcast October 10th. In that broadcast, though Monty claimed the local population was able to discern, the New York Times' David Rohde was asked how clear the lines were by USA Today's Susan Page (filling in for Rehm) -- "does it seem transparent for them" when they meet with "Tracy":
David Rohde: Um, she was transparent with them. I don't think she gave her full name, I think she does identify herself as an anthropologist. I saw her briefly, but I don't know what she does at all times. She personally, um, actually chose to carry a weapon for security that's not a requirement for members of the team, I've been told. And she wore a military uniform which would make her appear to be a soldier, um, to Afghans that she wasn't actually speaking with.
Susan Page: And so you think Aghans knew that she wasn't a soldier even though she was wearing a military uniform and carrying a weapon? Or do you think that they just assumed that she probably was?
David Rohde: I would think that they assumed that she was.
That's the reality and, strangely, when Rohde was done speaking, Monty had nothing to add even though every false claim she'd offered in the roundtable had just been demolished. Price notes "a recent New York Times op-ed by Chicago anthropologist Richard Shweder indicates a stance of inaction from which the travesties of Human Terrain can be lightly critiqued while anthropologists are urged not to declare themselves as being 'counter-counterinsurgency'." that nonsense ran on A31 of last Saturday's Times and mainly serves to update his November 2006 op-ed embarrassment where he gushed -- alleged anthropologist -- "The West is the best". The non-thinking person's anthropologist -- to anthropology what recipes on the back of a bag of Frito Lays are to fine cooking -- justified the program. While loose with the truth Monty and lost in stimulation Shweder attempt to put forth the lie that anthropologists are not being used for counter-insurgency measures (thereby assisting an occupying power by gathering information on a population -- information that will then be used against said population which is a clear betrayal of the field), Jacob Kipp, Lester Grau, Karl Prinslow and Don Smith, attempting to get the Happy Talk out on the program for the US military, wrote "The Human Terrain System: A CORDS for the 21st Century" for the September/October 2006 edition of Military Review and which not only makes clear that this is a counter-insurgency program but cites the CIvil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) as a model. CORDS was created under LBJ to "pacify" (destroy) the people studied. As Bryan Bender (Boston Globe) notes, CORDS "helped identify Vietnamese suspected as communists and Viet Cong collaborators; some were later assassinated by the United States." [Elaine addressed Price's article last night.]
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Turkey and Iraq (but don't ask 'front runners')"
"the naomis - there are at least 2"
"NLG, peace movement coverage"
"David Frost, Torture"
"David Price, Dr. Randall Forsberg"
"Ann Wright, e-mails"
"Barack turns on the red light"
"THIS JUST IN! POLITICAL PROSTITUE BARACK OBAMA!"
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Barack turns on the red light
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX --- DC.
BAD TIMES FOR BAMBI CONTINUE POSSIBLY INDICATING THAT WHEN YOU HAVE SERVED ONLY 2 YEARS OF YOUR 1ST EVER 6-YEAR-TERM IN THE SENATE, YOUR 1ST EVER NATIONAL OFFICE, YOU DON'T RUN FOR PRESIDENT.
BARACK OBAMA IS ATTEMPTING TO RE-INTEREST THE PRESS IN HIS FAILED RUN FOR PRESIDENT AND HAS DECIDED THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT IS LIE AND DECLARE THAT SOCIAL SECURITY NEEDS "FIXING."
A NUMBER OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVISTS FEEL BETRAYED -- JOIN BARACK'S GAY AND LESBIAN SUPPORTERS WHO WERE THROWN UNDER A BUS EARLIER -- BY YET ANOTHER CRAVEN ATTEMPT FROM SENATOR EYE LASHES.
HAD THEY BEEN PAYING ATTENTION, THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN BAMBI PRAISING THE REAGAN ERA ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY ON ABC'S THIS WEEK IN MAY.
WHO ATTACKS SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TODAY? THE D.L.C. AND BARACK OBAMA, AS GLEN FORD REVEALED, IS D.L.C.
AS IF THAT'S NOT DISGUSTING ENOUGH, BAMBI IS CHARGING PEOPLE TO MEET HIM -- CALL IT POLITICAL PROSTITUTION. EARLIER HE CHARGED $15.00 A HEAD TO THOSE HEARING HIM GIVE A SPEECH (SEE "The dregs" AND "THIS JUST IN! THINNING OF THE HERD!"), BUT THIS WEEK, HE RAISED THE RATE TO $29.00 A HEAD. MAYBE HIS PIMP THREATENED TO BEAT HIM UP? WHAT'S AMAZING IS THAT NO PROGRESSIVE VOICE WILL CALL THIS OUT. NOT LAURA FLANDERS. NOT MATTHEW ROTHSCHILD. NOT PATRICIA J. WILLIAMS. NOT JOHN NICHOLS.
MANY OF THEM WILL CALL OUT THE NEED FOR ELECTION REFORM BUT THEY AREN'T AT ALL TROUBLED THAT SOMEONE CAMPAIGNING TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES -- CAMPAIGNING TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES -- THINKS IT IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO MEET ONLY WITH PEOPLE WHO CAN PAY. THIS ISN'T BIG DONORS, THESE ARE THE STANDARD STOPS ON ANY CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
MAYBE IT'S TIME ROTHSCHILD, FLANDERS, NICHOLS AND WILLIAMS WOKE UP TO THE FACT THAT A SINGLE PARENT WITH CHILDREN WANTING TO BE INVOLVED IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS MAY NOT HAVE $29 TO BLOW IN THAT WEEK'S BUDGET? OR MAYBE THEY CAN GRASP THAT CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE SHOULD APPEAR FREELY BEFORE THE PUBLIC?
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Steve Gardner (Kitsap Sun) writes of the just published "The Most Influential People of 2007" in Seattle Magazine. and notes "Iraq war resister U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada appears, as does Olympic Sculpture Park shepherd Chris Rogers (who the magazine selected as the 2007 Person of the Year). Early learning advocate and the state's former first ladey Mona Locke is on the list, and so is former U.S. Attorney John McKay and Google's Narayanan 'Shiva' Shivakumar." Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. After months of working with the military (in good faith), Watada went public in June of 2006 after it became obvious that the military was stringing him along with false assurance. Watada (rightly) judges the Iraq War as illegal. In February of this year he was court-martialed in a kangaroo hearing presided over by Judge Toilet (aka John Head) who called a mistrial over defense objection and after the prosecution had presented their case which means double-jeopardy should prevent Watada from standing before a court-martial again. (Watada's service contract has already expired. He has been kept in the US military for months due to the issue of a potential court-martial.) US District Judge Benjamin Settle Friday is reviewing that and other issues and has extended the stay on Watada's case through November 9th.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
On the above NLG event, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) notes today, "Meanwhile the National Lawyers Guild is criticizing the Bush administration for refusing to allow a prominent Cuban attorney into the country. The guild had invited Guillermo Ferriol Molina to speak at the group's 70th anniversary convention this week but he was apparently denied a visa. Molina is the Vice-President of the Labor Law Society of the Cuban bar association and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers."
How does that happen? "There's this horrible phase in a closing democracy when leaders and citizens still think it's a democracy but the people who have already started to close it are just kind of drumming their fingers waiting for everyone to realize that that's not the dance anymore," explains Naomi Wolf on the October 26th episode of The Bat Segundo Show. Her new book is The End of America: Letters of Warning to a Young Patriot where she argues that democracy needs to be reclaimed in the United States before it is lost. Covering a large historical terrain, she outlines the "echoes" present in the US today that have been signals of a shift to a closed society in our historical past. Addressing the inaction of Congress on so many topics (including impeachment and the refusal to listen to the citizens on the issue of the illegal war), Wolf declared, "Congress is like an abused woman that keeps thinking, 'Surely my boyfriend will be nice now. What do you mean you're not turning over your e-mails? We're Congress! You can't just not listen to us.' So you're right to notice the American people are getting it before Congress is. The people in power right now are no longer engaged in the democratic social contract and so it does take us recognizing that we can't heal democracy only through conventional means of democracy. So, Nancy Pelosi, is saying we're not going to impeach. Guess what? The founders didn't intend for Nancy Pelosi to decide what the people are going to do when there's this kind of criminal assault on the Constitution and checks and balances. It's up to us. And that's why we started the American Freedom Campaign which is a democracy movement which now has five million members in really, like two months, across the political spectrum and we're driving a grassroots movement to push, to confront Pelosi, and to confront the leaders in Congress and to let them know this is an emergency, it's not business as usual and they can't unilaterally take issues like that off the table. We're now, impeachment is not yet an AFC position, this is just me speaking for myself, but from the historical blue print, seeing what is now in place -- it is not safe to leave those people in power anymore and I'm saying this to Republicans and Democrats alike. It is not safe to entrust the next election with them. So I don't think we just need to move forward with impeaching, this is me speaking personally -- not for the AFC, but from the historical blueprint, we need to do it now and also we need to prosecute for treason because it's not enough to get people like this out of power you have to get them behind bars." Will impeachment be an issue for AFC? Wolf explained that since it's a grassroots movement, the goals will be determined by the members. The fifty minute broadcast touches on a large number of issues and we'll note Wolf on another topic:
Blackwater just got another billion dollar contract after massacring 17 innocent civilians in Iraq, okay? They operate fully outside the law in Iraq. Order 17, Paul Bremer, guaranteed that they were unaccountable. So it's not just the Iraqis who have to worry about Blackwater. The second step in the ten-point blue print [of moving a state from democracy to fascist, Wolf charts this in her book The End of America] is to create a paramilitary force that's not answerable to the people. This is how, in Italy, Mussolini closed democracy using the Black Shirts. And this is how, in Germany, Hitler closed democracy using Brown Shirts. Paramilitary forces excerpt pressure on civilians. So what Americans don't know is that Blackwater is already operating in the United States. Homeland Security already brought them in to patrol the streets of New Orleans after Katrina. And Jeremy Scahill reported that they were firing, our contractors, were firing on civilians. We don't know, most of us, that Blackwater's business model calls for increased deployment here in the United States in the event of say a natural catastrophe or quote 'a public emergency.' And with Defense Authorization Act 2007, it is the president, who's hand in hand with Blackwater, who now has the unilateral power to determine what is a national emergency that calls for a quote 'restoration of public order.' And I just want to tell you that the invoking of a national emergency and the call to restore public order is the is the tenth step in the blue print to close down an open society.
Staying on the topic of the mercenaries of Blackwater USA new developments can be classified under "What Condi forgot to tell Congress about Blackwater." US Secretary of State and Anger Condi Rice most recently offered testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week on Thursday, October 25th. Rice declared that ("thank God so far" -- putting someone or Someone on notice?) Blackwater was needed and that she just wouldn't know how to run the department she heads without Blackwater (prior to the rise of Blackwater and other mercenaries, embassy security staff were responsible for guarding State Dept employees in foreign countries) and insisted, "But we do recognize that their must be sufficient oversight, sufficient rules and that is why I have accepted the recommendations of the panel on the private security contractors." That would have been a good time to insert an item in today's news; however, she didn't. When speaking of reports that puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki had made a backdoor deal to grant immunity from prosecution to members of his cabinet, Rice did not want to talk about "rumor" or "unsubstantiated" claims "I'd like to state again, Mr. Chairman, because I'd rather state it in my own words than have it be stated for me. It is the policy of this administration -- and I'm quite certain that the president would feel strongly about this: That there shouldn't be corrupt officials anywhere. And that no official -- no matter how high -- should be immune from investigation, prosecution or, indeed, punishment should corruption be found." So no immunity for officials in al-Maliki's cabinet. Rice could have used that moment -- "in my own words" -- to address the issue of immunity that the State Department was granting. Because the department she heads had granted immunity. Noting that the Associated Press broke the story Monday, David Johnston (New York Times) reports today, "The State Department investigators from the agency's investigative arm, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, offered the immunity grants [to Blackwater] even though they did not have the authority to do so, the officials said. Prosecutors at the Justice Department, who do have such authority, had no advance knowledge of the arranement, they added. Most of the [Blackwater] guards who took part in the Sept. 16 shooting were offered what officials described as limited-use immunity, which means that they were promised they would not be prosecuted for anything they said in their interviews with the authorities as long as their statements were true."
This news came out Monday via AP. On Thursday, Rice faced the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Blackwater was a topic many touched on (Democrats and Republicans). Rice was not forthcoming. When the issue of immunity came up -- with regards to al-Maliki's cabinet -- Rice made no effort to inform Congress that the department she heads, the department which she is supposed to provide oversight to, had offered Blackwater guards involved in the incident immunity -- an immunity that her department did not have the power to offer.
CBS and AP report, "Law enforcement officials say the State Department granted them immunity from prosecution before taking their statements. They can still be prosecuted, bur fromer prosecutor David Laufman said it will be harder to make a case, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported. . . . The FBI can still interview the guards, but Laufman doubts they will cooperate." Terry Frieden (CNN) notes Senator Patrick Leahy has "accused the Bush 'amnesty administration' of letting its allies, including security contractors in Iraq, shirk responsibility for their actions" and Quotes Leahy declaring, "In this administration, accountability goes by the boards. That seems to be a central tenet in the Bush administration -- that no one from their team should be held accountable, if accountability can be avoided." Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) offers this perspective: "Under State Department contractor rules, Diplomatic Security agents are charged with investigating and reporting on all 'use of force' incidents. Although there have been previous Blackwater shootings over the past three years -- none of which resulted in prosecutions -- the Sept. 16 incident was by far the most serious." Johnston reports, "The immunity deals were an unwelcome surprise at the Justice Department, which was already grappling with the fundamental legal question of whether any prosecution could take place involving American civilians in Iraq. . . . In addition, the Justice Department reassigned the investigation from prosecutors in the criminal division who had read the statements the State Department had taken under the offer of immunity to prosecutors in the national security division who had no knowledge of the statements."
Waxman writes Rice today about the immunity:
Multiple news reports are asserting that the State Department compromised the investigation into the shootings and the potential for prosecutions of Blackwater personnel by offering immunity to the Blackwater guards. According to one report, agents of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security promised Blackwater personnel 'immunity from prosecution' in order to elicit statements. Another report stated that the State Department offered 'limited-use immunity' without authority to do so so and without consulting with the Justice Department. According to these accounts, prosecution of Blackwater personnel has become, at minimum, "a lot more complicated and dfficult."
This rash grant of immunity was an egregious misjudgement. It raises serious questions about who conferred the immunity, who approved it at the State Department, and what their motives were. To help the Committee investigate these matters, I request that the State Department provide written responses to the following questions no later than noon on Friday, November 2, 2007:
1) What form of immunity was offered to the Blackwater personnel?
2) What limitations does this form of immunity impose upon the investigation?
3) Who authorized the offers of immunity?
4) Who was aware of the offers of immunity at or before the time that they were delivered?
5) When did you, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Griffin, Ambassador David Satterfield, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker learn of the grant of immunity?
6) What consultation, if any, was conducted with the Justice Department prior to the offers of immunity?
7) Has the State Department ever offered immunity to security contractor personnel as part of other investigations into contractor conduct? Please describe each such occasion.
I further request that knowledgeable officials appear at the previously scheduled briefing for Committee staff on November 2 to respond to questions about the State Department's written response to these questions.
Finally, I request that the State Department produce the following documents no later than Friday, November 9, 2007:
1) All communications relating to any offers of immunity to Blackwater personnel relating to the September 16, 2007, Nissor Square incident; and
2) All communications relating to any offers of immunity to Blackwater personnel or other private military contractors relating to other incidents in Iraq.
The letter is available online by [PDF format warning] clicking here.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"What Condi forgot to tell Congress about Blackwater"
"a little bit of everything"
"Little Squirt want 'to scorn' me"
"The signature wound of the illegal war"
"Isaiah, Matthew Rothschild interviews Tariq Ali"
"Ann Wright, Third"
"The press that loves Obama"
"Sleazy press supports sleazy candidate"
"THIS JUST IN! HARD TIMES FOR BAMBI, HARD TIMES FOR THE PRESS!"
BAD TIMES FOR BAMBI CONTINUE POSSIBLY INDICATING THAT WHEN YOU HAVE SERVED ONLY 2 YEARS OF YOUR 1ST EVER 6-YEAR-TERM IN THE SENATE, YOUR 1ST EVER NATIONAL OFFICE, YOU DON'T RUN FOR PRESIDENT.
BARACK OBAMA IS ATTEMPTING TO RE-INTEREST THE PRESS IN HIS FAILED RUN FOR PRESIDENT AND HAS DECIDED THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT IS LIE AND DECLARE THAT SOCIAL SECURITY NEEDS "FIXING."
A NUMBER OF GRASSROOTS ACTIVISTS FEEL BETRAYED -- JOIN BARACK'S GAY AND LESBIAN SUPPORTERS WHO WERE THROWN UNDER A BUS EARLIER -- BY YET ANOTHER CRAVEN ATTEMPT FROM SENATOR EYE LASHES.
HAD THEY BEEN PAYING ATTENTION, THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN BAMBI PRAISING THE REAGAN ERA ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY ON ABC'S THIS WEEK IN MAY.
WHO ATTACKS SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TODAY? THE D.L.C. AND BARACK OBAMA, AS GLEN FORD REVEALED, IS D.L.C.
AS IF THAT'S NOT DISGUSTING ENOUGH, BAMBI IS CHARGING PEOPLE TO MEET HIM -- CALL IT POLITICAL PROSTITUTION. EARLIER HE CHARGED $15.00 A HEAD TO THOSE HEARING HIM GIVE A SPEECH (SEE "The dregs" AND "THIS JUST IN! THINNING OF THE HERD!"), BUT THIS WEEK, HE RAISED THE RATE TO $29.00 A HEAD. MAYBE HIS PIMP THREATENED TO BEAT HIM UP? WHAT'S AMAZING IS THAT NO PROGRESSIVE VOICE WILL CALL THIS OUT. NOT LAURA FLANDERS. NOT MATTHEW ROTHSCHILD. NOT PATRICIA J. WILLIAMS. NOT JOHN NICHOLS.
MANY OF THEM WILL CALL OUT THE NEED FOR ELECTION REFORM BUT THEY AREN'T AT ALL TROUBLED THAT SOMEONE CAMPAIGNING TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES -- CAMPAIGNING TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES -- THINKS IT IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO MEET ONLY WITH PEOPLE WHO CAN PAY. THIS ISN'T BIG DONORS, THESE ARE THE STANDARD STOPS ON ANY CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
MAYBE IT'S TIME ROTHSCHILD, FLANDERS, NICHOLS AND WILLIAMS WOKE UP TO THE FACT THAT A SINGLE PARENT WITH CHILDREN WANTING TO BE INVOLVED IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS MAY NOT HAVE $29 TO BLOW IN THAT WEEK'S BUDGET? OR MAYBE THEY CAN GRASP THAT CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE SHOULD APPEAR FREELY BEFORE THE PUBLIC?
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Steve Gardner (Kitsap Sun) writes of the just published "The Most Influential People of 2007" in Seattle Magazine. and notes "Iraq war resister U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada appears, as does Olympic Sculpture Park shepherd Chris Rogers (who the magazine selected as the 2007 Person of the Year). Early learning advocate and the state's former first ladey Mona Locke is on the list, and so is former U.S. Attorney John McKay and Google's Narayanan 'Shiva' Shivakumar." Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. After months of working with the military (in good faith), Watada went public in June of 2006 after it became obvious that the military was stringing him along with false assurance. Watada (rightly) judges the Iraq War as illegal. In February of this year he was court-martialed in a kangaroo hearing presided over by Judge Toilet (aka John Head) who called a mistrial over defense objection and after the prosecution had presented their case which means double-jeopardy should prevent Watada from standing before a court-martial again. (Watada's service contract has already expired. He has been kept in the US military for months due to the issue of a potential court-martial.) US District Judge Benjamin Settle Friday is reviewing that and other issues and has extended the stay on Watada's case through November 9th.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
On the above NLG event, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) notes today, "Meanwhile the National Lawyers Guild is criticizing the Bush administration for refusing to allow a prominent Cuban attorney into the country. The guild had invited Guillermo Ferriol Molina to speak at the group's 70th anniversary convention this week but he was apparently denied a visa. Molina is the Vice-President of the Labor Law Society of the Cuban bar association and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers."
How does that happen? "There's this horrible phase in a closing democracy when leaders and citizens still think it's a democracy but the people who have already started to close it are just kind of drumming their fingers waiting for everyone to realize that that's not the dance anymore," explains Naomi Wolf on the October 26th episode of The Bat Segundo Show. Her new book is The End of America: Letters of Warning to a Young Patriot where she argues that democracy needs to be reclaimed in the United States before it is lost. Covering a large historical terrain, she outlines the "echoes" present in the US today that have been signals of a shift to a closed society in our historical past. Addressing the inaction of Congress on so many topics (including impeachment and the refusal to listen to the citizens on the issue of the illegal war), Wolf declared, "Congress is like an abused woman that keeps thinking, 'Surely my boyfriend will be nice now. What do you mean you're not turning over your e-mails? We're Congress! You can't just not listen to us.' So you're right to notice the American people are getting it before Congress is. The people in power right now are no longer engaged in the democratic social contract and so it does take us recognizing that we can't heal democracy only through conventional means of democracy. So, Nancy Pelosi, is saying we're not going to impeach. Guess what? The founders didn't intend for Nancy Pelosi to decide what the people are going to do when there's this kind of criminal assault on the Constitution and checks and balances. It's up to us. And that's why we started the American Freedom Campaign which is a democracy movement which now has five million members in really, like two months, across the political spectrum and we're driving a grassroots movement to push, to confront Pelosi, and to confront the leaders in Congress and to let them know this is an emergency, it's not business as usual and they can't unilaterally take issues like that off the table. We're now, impeachment is not yet an AFC position, this is just me speaking for myself, but from the historical blue print, seeing what is now in place -- it is not safe to leave those people in power anymore and I'm saying this to Republicans and Democrats alike. It is not safe to entrust the next election with them. So I don't think we just need to move forward with impeaching, this is me speaking personally -- not for the AFC, but from the historical blueprint, we need to do it now and also we need to prosecute for treason because it's not enough to get people like this out of power you have to get them behind bars." Will impeachment be an issue for AFC? Wolf explained that since it's a grassroots movement, the goals will be determined by the members. The fifty minute broadcast touches on a large number of issues and we'll note Wolf on another topic:
Blackwater just got another billion dollar contract after massacring 17 innocent civilians in Iraq, okay? They operate fully outside the law in Iraq. Order 17, Paul Bremer, guaranteed that they were unaccountable. So it's not just the Iraqis who have to worry about Blackwater. The second step in the ten-point blue print [of moving a state from democracy to fascist, Wolf charts this in her book The End of America] is to create a paramilitary force that's not answerable to the people. This is how, in Italy, Mussolini closed democracy using the Black Shirts. And this is how, in Germany, Hitler closed democracy using Brown Shirts. Paramilitary forces excerpt pressure on civilians. So what Americans don't know is that Blackwater is already operating in the United States. Homeland Security already brought them in to patrol the streets of New Orleans after Katrina. And Jeremy Scahill reported that they were firing, our contractors, were firing on civilians. We don't know, most of us, that Blackwater's business model calls for increased deployment here in the United States in the event of say a natural catastrophe or quote 'a public emergency.' And with Defense Authorization Act 2007, it is the president, who's hand in hand with Blackwater, who now has the unilateral power to determine what is a national emergency that calls for a quote 'restoration of public order.' And I just want to tell you that the invoking of a national emergency and the call to restore public order is the is the tenth step in the blue print to close down an open society.
Staying on the topic of the mercenaries of Blackwater USA new developments can be classified under "What Condi forgot to tell Congress about Blackwater." US Secretary of State and Anger Condi Rice most recently offered testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week on Thursday, October 25th. Rice declared that ("thank God so far" -- putting someone or Someone on notice?) Blackwater was needed and that she just wouldn't know how to run the department she heads without Blackwater (prior to the rise of Blackwater and other mercenaries, embassy security staff were responsible for guarding State Dept employees in foreign countries) and insisted, "But we do recognize that their must be sufficient oversight, sufficient rules and that is why I have accepted the recommendations of the panel on the private security contractors." That would have been a good time to insert an item in today's news; however, she didn't. When speaking of reports that puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki had made a backdoor deal to grant immunity from prosecution to members of his cabinet, Rice did not want to talk about "rumor" or "unsubstantiated" claims "I'd like to state again, Mr. Chairman, because I'd rather state it in my own words than have it be stated for me. It is the policy of this administration -- and I'm quite certain that the president would feel strongly about this: That there shouldn't be corrupt officials anywhere. And that no official -- no matter how high -- should be immune from investigation, prosecution or, indeed, punishment should corruption be found." So no immunity for officials in al-Maliki's cabinet. Rice could have used that moment -- "in my own words" -- to address the issue of immunity that the State Department was granting. Because the department she heads had granted immunity. Noting that the Associated Press broke the story Monday, David Johnston (New York Times) reports today, "The State Department investigators from the agency's investigative arm, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, offered the immunity grants [to Blackwater] even though they did not have the authority to do so, the officials said. Prosecutors at the Justice Department, who do have such authority, had no advance knowledge of the arranement, they added. Most of the [Blackwater] guards who took part in the Sept. 16 shooting were offered what officials described as limited-use immunity, which means that they were promised they would not be prosecuted for anything they said in their interviews with the authorities as long as their statements were true."
This news came out Monday via AP. On Thursday, Rice faced the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Blackwater was a topic many touched on (Democrats and Republicans). Rice was not forthcoming. When the issue of immunity came up -- with regards to al-Maliki's cabinet -- Rice made no effort to inform Congress that the department she heads, the department which she is supposed to provide oversight to, had offered Blackwater guards involved in the incident immunity -- an immunity that her department did not have the power to offer.
CBS and AP report, "Law enforcement officials say the State Department granted them immunity from prosecution before taking their statements. They can still be prosecuted, bur fromer prosecutor David Laufman said it will be harder to make a case, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported. . . . The FBI can still interview the guards, but Laufman doubts they will cooperate." Terry Frieden (CNN) notes Senator Patrick Leahy has "accused the Bush 'amnesty administration' of letting its allies, including security contractors in Iraq, shirk responsibility for their actions" and Quotes Leahy declaring, "In this administration, accountability goes by the boards. That seems to be a central tenet in the Bush administration -- that no one from their team should be held accountable, if accountability can be avoided." Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) offers this perspective: "Under State Department contractor rules, Diplomatic Security agents are charged with investigating and reporting on all 'use of force' incidents. Although there have been previous Blackwater shootings over the past three years -- none of which resulted in prosecutions -- the Sept. 16 incident was by far the most serious." Johnston reports, "The immunity deals were an unwelcome surprise at the Justice Department, which was already grappling with the fundamental legal question of whether any prosecution could take place involving American civilians in Iraq. . . . In addition, the Justice Department reassigned the investigation from prosecutors in the criminal division who had read the statements the State Department had taken under the offer of immunity to prosecutors in the national security division who had no knowledge of the statements."
Waxman writes Rice today about the immunity:
Multiple news reports are asserting that the State Department compromised the investigation into the shootings and the potential for prosecutions of Blackwater personnel by offering immunity to the Blackwater guards. According to one report, agents of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security promised Blackwater personnel 'immunity from prosecution' in order to elicit statements. Another report stated that the State Department offered 'limited-use immunity' without authority to do so so and without consulting with the Justice Department. According to these accounts, prosecution of Blackwater personnel has become, at minimum, "a lot more complicated and dfficult."
This rash grant of immunity was an egregious misjudgement. It raises serious questions about who conferred the immunity, who approved it at the State Department, and what their motives were. To help the Committee investigate these matters, I request that the State Department provide written responses to the following questions no later than noon on Friday, November 2, 2007:
1) What form of immunity was offered to the Blackwater personnel?
2) What limitations does this form of immunity impose upon the investigation?
3) Who authorized the offers of immunity?
4) Who was aware of the offers of immunity at or before the time that they were delivered?
5) When did you, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Griffin, Ambassador David Satterfield, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker learn of the grant of immunity?
6) What consultation, if any, was conducted with the Justice Department prior to the offers of immunity?
7) Has the State Department ever offered immunity to security contractor personnel as part of other investigations into contractor conduct? Please describe each such occasion.
I further request that knowledgeable officials appear at the previously scheduled briefing for Committee staff on November 2 to respond to questions about the State Department's written response to these questions.
Finally, I request that the State Department produce the following documents no later than Friday, November 9, 2007:
1) All communications relating to any offers of immunity to Blackwater personnel relating to the September 16, 2007, Nissor Square incident; and
2) All communications relating to any offers of immunity to Blackwater personnel or other private military contractors relating to other incidents in Iraq.
The letter is available online by [PDF format warning] clicking here.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"What Condi forgot to tell Congress about Blackwater"
"a little bit of everything"
"Little Squirt want 'to scorn' me"
"The signature wound of the illegal war"
"Isaiah, Matthew Rothschild interviews Tariq Ali"
"Ann Wright, Third"
"The press that loves Obama"
"Sleazy press supports sleazy candidate"
"THIS JUST IN! HARD TIMES FOR BAMBI, HARD TIMES FOR THE PRESS!"
Monday, October 29, 2007
The press that loves Obama
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX & TFIAGM PRESS -- WEAK-ASS MAINSTREAMVILLE.
WITH A CAMPAIGN THAT HAS REFUSED TO PICK UP STEAM, THE SELF-PROCLAIMED "ROCK STAR" HAS, LIKE A FREAK SHOW IN THE CIRCUS, PULLED IN THE CROWDS BUT NOT THE VOTERS.
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA IS DESPERATE FOR VOTERS. SO DESPERATE THAT HE TURNS OVER HIS CAMPAIGN TO HOMOPHOBE AND IDIOT DONNIE MCCLURKIN WHOSE COMMENTS INDICATE THAT MCCLURIKIN IS NOT A SUPPORTER OF GAYS, LET ALONE SCIENCE.
THE PATHETIC AND SHAMEFUL MOVE WAS MADE AS A RESULT OF THE FACT THAT DESPITE THE LIKES OF TIME MAGAZINE AND THE NATION MAGAZINE PUSHING HIM AS "THE BLACK CANDIDATE," HE IS NOT. HE IS BI-RACIAL. AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS ARE TRUSTING WHITE HILLARY CLINTON IN LARGER NUMBERS THAN BI-RACIAL BARACK. SO BARACK, WHO DID NOT GROW UP IN THE CHURCH, DECIDED TO INVENT SOME GOSPEL ROOTS AND "GOSPEL ROOTS" TO HIM INCLUDE A STRONG DOSE OF HOMOPHOBIA. IT SAYS A GREAT DEAL ABOUT HOW "BLACK" BARACK SEES AFRICAN-AMERICANS THAT HE BELIEVES HOMOPHOBIA IS NECESSARY TO "REACH OUT" TO THEM.
THE NATION FRONTS HOMOPHOBIA BY IGNORING IT IN A PIECE WRITTEN BY A LESBIAN WHO FOCUSES ON TORTURE AND REDUCES BAMBI'S EMBRACE OF HOMOPHOBIA TO A SINGLE SENTENCE: "NEXT TACKLE HOMOPHOBIA!" PATHETIC. SHAMEFUL. DISGUSTING. AS BAD AS MAKING JOKES ABOUT ONE STUDENT BEING JUMPED BY SEVERAL. REPEATING: DISGUSTING! PATHETIC! SHAMEFUL!
SO DESPERATE IS THE NATION TO DEFEAT HILLARY THAT THEY WILL IGNORE BAMBI'S EMBRACE OF HOMOPHOBIA.
YET DESPITE A NON-STOMP PIMPING THAT HAS GONE ON FOR NEARLY A YEAR -- BEGINNING WITH PROFESSOR PATTY WILLIAMS DROOLING OVER THE FACT THAT BARACK WAS PRESIDENT OF THE HARVARD LAW REVIEW -- BAMBI'S TANKING.
THING TO WATCH FOR IN 2008 IF HILLARY CLINTON GETS THE NOMINATION? THE NATION URGING EVERYONE TO VOTE FOR HILLARY . . . AFTER SPENDING MONTH AFTER MONTH TEARING HER DOWN WHILE IGNORING EVERY BIT OF SLEAZE COMING OUT OF BARACK OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN.
HEY RICHARD KIM, DID THE MAGAZINE SILENCE YOU? ARE YOU GOING TO GO ALONG WITH THE SELF-HATING AND SEAT YOURSELF IN THE BACK OF THE BUS OR ARE YOU GOING TO CALL OUT BAMBI'S EMBRACE OF HOMOPHOBIA? IT'S NOT A SIDE ISSUE AND IT GOES TO HOW THE SLEAZE WILL BEHAVE IN OFFICE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Saturday protests took place around the world. Brett Clarkson (Toronto Sun) reports that their protests included chants of "George Bush we know you, your daddy's a killer too!," that at least 1500 marched "from the U.S. Consulate to Moss Park in opposition to the Canadian military presence in Afghanistan and the U.S. war in Iraq" and that among those standing up for peace was US war resister Patrick Hart formerly "of the 101st Airborne Division, stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky. Hart, who is facing deportation from Canada, went AWOL in August 2005". Meanwhile Nicholas Davis (Toronto Sun) tells the story of Isaiah Trickey -- who grew up in Kenabeek Ontario with his two brothers and three sisters and both of his parents -- realization growing up that his mother was a historical figure. Isaiah's mother is Minnijean Brown Trickey one of The Little Rock Nine who stood up to racism, violence and the Arkansas National Guard to attend Little Rock Central High in 1957 therebysmashing the "Whites Only" policy at the high school. Over the years -- she served in the Clinton administration's Department of Interior -- when asked how a young, teenage woman could stand up, she's usually responded with some variation of, "It had to be done." Which it did but that didn't mean it didn't require tremendous bravery and strength for all nine of The Little Rock Nine (or their parents, as Minnijean Brown Trickey always notes). She married Roy Trickey in September of 1967 (by the way -- most of this isn't in the article, we're having a history lesson -- a needed one if any of this is new to you). Members of the SNCC, they actively protested the war in Vietnam. When Roy Trickey received his draft notice, he applied for CO status but when that was not granted, they left the US for Toronto, made a home there and raised their six children. The marriage ended in 1992 and Minnijean Brown Trickey returned to the US in 1999.
Turning to Hawaii, Rachel Gehriein (Kaui Garden Island News) reports that the Kaua's Peace 'Ohana rally on Saturday, "Supporter Linda Estes had one goal in mind as she held a sign in support for Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Watada, a Honolulu native, was the first commissioned officer in the U.S. armed forces to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq in June 2006. Watada believe the war to be illegal and wound make him party to war crimes."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
On this week's Progressive Radio, Matthew Rothschild interviewed Tariq Ali.
Matthew Rothschild: How stuck is the United States right now in Iraq? I mean Bush is trying the so-called surge of course and there seems to be no end in sight.
Tariq Ali: There is no end in sight till the US troops and the troops of their allies are withdrawn from that region. As long as US troops remain there, the area will be destabilized. The big question now is: Are the Iraqi parties going to succeed -- and the Iraqi groups -- going to succeed to rise above narrow identity politics and create a national government which preserves and maintains the unity of Iraq? This is an open question. I can't answer definitively one way or the other the way the occupation has gone it's sort of quite strange that when there are imperial, colonial style occupations, one of the things they do is divide the country.
Matthew Rothschild: It seems that the Bush administration is kind of leaning that way right now.
Tariq Ali: It does look like it. And Peter Galbrath and other Democrats writing in The New York Review of Books are more or less arguing for that. It's deeply shocking.
Matthew Rothschild: He's been pushing for that for awhile. Of course he's also been a lobbyist for the Kurds in the north.
Tariq Ali: He has. I think that is what explains it. But you know the nation that you can create a US-Israeli protectorate in northern Iraq and call it Kurdistan is not going to work because even as we speak the Turkish armies are massing on the border, the Turkish parliament has approved by an overwhelming majority -- I was surprised by the size of the majority -- that Turkey has the right to cross the border and take out the Kurds. Essentially, they've done that so that is going to destabilize them. And the Mediterraen -- cause Turkey is sort of a staunch pillar of NATO and has been since the second world war. So if they're now going to antagonize the Turks for the sake of creating a tiny protectorate in northern Iraq, it's not going to look good for them.
Matthew Rothschild: What do you make of the just kind of bread and butter arguments that are thrown around here in the United States for justifying the continued occupation? Tariq Ali, one is that we need to stay there for humanitarian reasons, that there's going to be a bigger bloodbath if we leave?
Tariq Ali: This is one of the more grotesque arguments which I hear. You know, if you look at it, you go in, you occupy a country, nearly a million people are dead -- civilians -- not combatants, 2 million refugees, the entire social infrastructure of the country is destroyed, it's divided basically into three regions and then you say if we leave there will be a mess. How could there be a bigger mess?
Tariq Ali went on to note that when the US leaves it won't be sunshine and flowers "but in the medium term there's a much, much better chance for Iraqis sorting this out than with foreign troops and bases on their soil." Elaine will note the interview tonight at her site Like Maria Said Paz.
Ali spoke of the growing tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq. From Friday's snapshot: "Meanwhile, CBS and AP report that Turkey has decided to put on hold the decision of what to do about or not do 'until the prime minister visits Washington in November before deciding on a cross-border offensive into northern Iraq, the country's top military commander said Friday'." If th assessment was accurate, it fell through quickly. Eric Margolis (Toronto Sun) notes, "No one should be surprised by the dangerous crisis between Turkey and Iraq-based Kurdish separatists. Critics long warned the U.S. invasion of Iraq would inevitably release the genii of Kurdish nationalism. Creation of a virtually independent, U.S.-backed Kurdish state in northern Iraq was certain to provoke Turkish fury." Barbara Miller (Australia's ABC) reports that "weekend talks between Iraqi and Turkish officials have broken down" and quotes Kurd and Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari state that the Turkish demands (turning over PKK leaders) "is a very heavy demand". Noting that 40 "Turks have been killed by the PKK in the past month," Lara Marlowe (The Irish Times) also sees the realationship between the two countries "continue to deteriorate".
Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) observes, "Iraqi Kurdish officials, for their part, appear to be politely ignoring American calls for action, saying the only serious solution is political, not military. They have taken their own path, allowing the guerrillas to exist on their territory, while at the same time quietly trying to persuade them to stop attacks." Tim Butcher (Telegraph of London) reports, "Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq are warning local people to prepare to run for the hills if Turkey attacks" and quotes Kurdish farmer Mohammed Rajoul declaring, "They came and said we must get ready. They said if we see Turkish planes or helicopters we must not hide in our hourses but must hide outside among the rocks. This is the first time we have been told to prepare for attacks and we are afraid." As the tensions escalate, oil prices soar. AP reports, "Oil prices rose above $93 a barrel to a new trading high Monday in Asia on growing political tensions in the Middle East, a weak dollar and worries about the supply outlook ahead of winter." BBC also notes that crude has broken $93 a barrel. Mark Shenk (Bloomberg News) informs the price per barrel hit $93.80 "in New York after Mexico shut a fifth of its production and the dollar fell to a record low." Moming Zhou and Steve Goldstein (MarketWatch) note that after reaching $93.80 the price dropped to . . . $93.53 thereby closing "at a new record high". New Zealand's The National Business Review warns, "Prices are approaching all-time highs set in 1979 and early 1980, when prices rose to $38 a barrel, or the equivalent of $96 to $101 a barrel or more in today's dollars."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Iraq and Turkey"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Look who's back, Chalabi's back"
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Rudy G Wants Your Vote"
"Ruth's Report"
"Intelligence not a requirement for NYT op-ed pages"
"Truest statement of the week"
"Editorial: Re-selling the illegal war"
"A Note to Our Readers"
"TV: The Wall St. Journal's Entertainment Program"
"Save the Country: Nyro's passion"
"Ty's Corner"
"Mumia"
"Mailbag"
"As long as you're dipping into the vaults . . ."
"Dear Canada: Let US War Resisters Stay"
"Highlights"
"Rudy G courts the rape vote"
"THIS JUST IN! RUDY G DECLARES 'CLAYTON SPEAKS FOR ME!'"
WITH A CAMPAIGN THAT HAS REFUSED TO PICK UP STEAM, THE SELF-PROCLAIMED "ROCK STAR" HAS, LIKE A FREAK SHOW IN THE CIRCUS, PULLED IN THE CROWDS BUT NOT THE VOTERS.
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA IS DESPERATE FOR VOTERS. SO DESPERATE THAT HE TURNS OVER HIS CAMPAIGN TO HOMOPHOBE AND IDIOT DONNIE MCCLURKIN WHOSE COMMENTS INDICATE THAT MCCLURIKIN IS NOT A SUPPORTER OF GAYS, LET ALONE SCIENCE.
THE PATHETIC AND SHAMEFUL MOVE WAS MADE AS A RESULT OF THE FACT THAT DESPITE THE LIKES OF TIME MAGAZINE AND THE NATION MAGAZINE PUSHING HIM AS "THE BLACK CANDIDATE," HE IS NOT. HE IS BI-RACIAL. AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS ARE TRUSTING WHITE HILLARY CLINTON IN LARGER NUMBERS THAN BI-RACIAL BARACK. SO BARACK, WHO DID NOT GROW UP IN THE CHURCH, DECIDED TO INVENT SOME GOSPEL ROOTS AND "GOSPEL ROOTS" TO HIM INCLUDE A STRONG DOSE OF HOMOPHOBIA. IT SAYS A GREAT DEAL ABOUT HOW "BLACK" BARACK SEES AFRICAN-AMERICANS THAT HE BELIEVES HOMOPHOBIA IS NECESSARY TO "REACH OUT" TO THEM.
THE NATION FRONTS HOMOPHOBIA BY IGNORING IT IN A PIECE WRITTEN BY A LESBIAN WHO FOCUSES ON TORTURE AND REDUCES BAMBI'S EMBRACE OF HOMOPHOBIA TO A SINGLE SENTENCE: "NEXT TACKLE HOMOPHOBIA!" PATHETIC. SHAMEFUL. DISGUSTING. AS BAD AS MAKING JOKES ABOUT ONE STUDENT BEING JUMPED BY SEVERAL. REPEATING: DISGUSTING! PATHETIC! SHAMEFUL!
SO DESPERATE IS THE NATION TO DEFEAT HILLARY THAT THEY WILL IGNORE BAMBI'S EMBRACE OF HOMOPHOBIA.
YET DESPITE A NON-STOMP PIMPING THAT HAS GONE ON FOR NEARLY A YEAR -- BEGINNING WITH PROFESSOR PATTY WILLIAMS DROOLING OVER THE FACT THAT BARACK WAS PRESIDENT OF THE HARVARD LAW REVIEW -- BAMBI'S TANKING.
THING TO WATCH FOR IN 2008 IF HILLARY CLINTON GETS THE NOMINATION? THE NATION URGING EVERYONE TO VOTE FOR HILLARY . . . AFTER SPENDING MONTH AFTER MONTH TEARING HER DOWN WHILE IGNORING EVERY BIT OF SLEAZE COMING OUT OF BARACK OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN.
HEY RICHARD KIM, DID THE MAGAZINE SILENCE YOU? ARE YOU GOING TO GO ALONG WITH THE SELF-HATING AND SEAT YOURSELF IN THE BACK OF THE BUS OR ARE YOU GOING TO CALL OUT BAMBI'S EMBRACE OF HOMOPHOBIA? IT'S NOT A SIDE ISSUE AND IT GOES TO HOW THE SLEAZE WILL BEHAVE IN OFFICE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Saturday protests took place around the world. Brett Clarkson (Toronto Sun) reports that their protests included chants of "George Bush we know you, your daddy's a killer too!," that at least 1500 marched "from the U.S. Consulate to Moss Park in opposition to the Canadian military presence in Afghanistan and the U.S. war in Iraq" and that among those standing up for peace was US war resister Patrick Hart formerly "of the 101st Airborne Division, stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky. Hart, who is facing deportation from Canada, went AWOL in August 2005". Meanwhile Nicholas Davis (Toronto Sun) tells the story of Isaiah Trickey -- who grew up in Kenabeek Ontario with his two brothers and three sisters and both of his parents -- realization growing up that his mother was a historical figure. Isaiah's mother is Minnijean Brown Trickey one of The Little Rock Nine who stood up to racism, violence and the Arkansas National Guard to attend Little Rock Central High in 1957 therebysmashing the "Whites Only" policy at the high school. Over the years -- she served in the Clinton administration's Department of Interior -- when asked how a young, teenage woman could stand up, she's usually responded with some variation of, "It had to be done." Which it did but that didn't mean it didn't require tremendous bravery and strength for all nine of The Little Rock Nine (or their parents, as Minnijean Brown Trickey always notes). She married Roy Trickey in September of 1967 (by the way -- most of this isn't in the article, we're having a history lesson -- a needed one if any of this is new to you). Members of the SNCC, they actively protested the war in Vietnam. When Roy Trickey received his draft notice, he applied for CO status but when that was not granted, they left the US for Toronto, made a home there and raised their six children. The marriage ended in 1992 and Minnijean Brown Trickey returned to the US in 1999.
Turning to Hawaii, Rachel Gehriein (Kaui Garden Island News) reports that the Kaua's Peace 'Ohana rally on Saturday, "Supporter Linda Estes had one goal in mind as she held a sign in support for Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Watada, a Honolulu native, was the first commissioned officer in the U.S. armed forces to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq in June 2006. Watada believe the war to be illegal and wound make him party to war crimes."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
On this week's Progressive Radio, Matthew Rothschild interviewed Tariq Ali.
Matthew Rothschild: How stuck is the United States right now in Iraq? I mean Bush is trying the so-called surge of course and there seems to be no end in sight.
Tariq Ali: There is no end in sight till the US troops and the troops of their allies are withdrawn from that region. As long as US troops remain there, the area will be destabilized. The big question now is: Are the Iraqi parties going to succeed -- and the Iraqi groups -- going to succeed to rise above narrow identity politics and create a national government which preserves and maintains the unity of Iraq? This is an open question. I can't answer definitively one way or the other the way the occupation has gone it's sort of quite strange that when there are imperial, colonial style occupations, one of the things they do is divide the country.
Matthew Rothschild: It seems that the Bush administration is kind of leaning that way right now.
Tariq Ali: It does look like it. And Peter Galbrath and other Democrats writing in The New York Review of Books are more or less arguing for that. It's deeply shocking.
Matthew Rothschild: He's been pushing for that for awhile. Of course he's also been a lobbyist for the Kurds in the north.
Tariq Ali: He has. I think that is what explains it. But you know the nation that you can create a US-Israeli protectorate in northern Iraq and call it Kurdistan is not going to work because even as we speak the Turkish armies are massing on the border, the Turkish parliament has approved by an overwhelming majority -- I was surprised by the size of the majority -- that Turkey has the right to cross the border and take out the Kurds. Essentially, they've done that so that is going to destabilize them. And the Mediterraen -- cause Turkey is sort of a staunch pillar of NATO and has been since the second world war. So if they're now going to antagonize the Turks for the sake of creating a tiny protectorate in northern Iraq, it's not going to look good for them.
Matthew Rothschild: What do you make of the just kind of bread and butter arguments that are thrown around here in the United States for justifying the continued occupation? Tariq Ali, one is that we need to stay there for humanitarian reasons, that there's going to be a bigger bloodbath if we leave?
Tariq Ali: This is one of the more grotesque arguments which I hear. You know, if you look at it, you go in, you occupy a country, nearly a million people are dead -- civilians -- not combatants, 2 million refugees, the entire social infrastructure of the country is destroyed, it's divided basically into three regions and then you say if we leave there will be a mess. How could there be a bigger mess?
Tariq Ali went on to note that when the US leaves it won't be sunshine and flowers "but in the medium term there's a much, much better chance for Iraqis sorting this out than with foreign troops and bases on their soil." Elaine will note the interview tonight at her site Like Maria Said Paz.
Ali spoke of the growing tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq. From Friday's snapshot: "Meanwhile, CBS and AP report that Turkey has decided to put on hold the decision of what to do about or not do 'until the prime minister visits Washington in November before deciding on a cross-border offensive into northern Iraq, the country's top military commander said Friday'." If th assessment was accurate, it fell through quickly. Eric Margolis (Toronto Sun) notes, "No one should be surprised by the dangerous crisis between Turkey and Iraq-based Kurdish separatists. Critics long warned the U.S. invasion of Iraq would inevitably release the genii of Kurdish nationalism. Creation of a virtually independent, U.S.-backed Kurdish state in northern Iraq was certain to provoke Turkish fury." Barbara Miller (Australia's ABC) reports that "weekend talks between Iraqi and Turkish officials have broken down" and quotes Kurd and Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari state that the Turkish demands (turning over PKK leaders) "is a very heavy demand". Noting that 40 "Turks have been killed by the PKK in the past month," Lara Marlowe (The Irish Times) also sees the realationship between the two countries "continue to deteriorate".
Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) observes, "Iraqi Kurdish officials, for their part, appear to be politely ignoring American calls for action, saying the only serious solution is political, not military. They have taken their own path, allowing the guerrillas to exist on their territory, while at the same time quietly trying to persuade them to stop attacks." Tim Butcher (Telegraph of London) reports, "Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq are warning local people to prepare to run for the hills if Turkey attacks" and quotes Kurdish farmer Mohammed Rajoul declaring, "They came and said we must get ready. They said if we see Turkish planes or helicopters we must not hide in our hourses but must hide outside among the rocks. This is the first time we have been told to prepare for attacks and we are afraid." As the tensions escalate, oil prices soar. AP reports, "Oil prices rose above $93 a barrel to a new trading high Monday in Asia on growing political tensions in the Middle East, a weak dollar and worries about the supply outlook ahead of winter." BBC also notes that crude has broken $93 a barrel. Mark Shenk (Bloomberg News) informs the price per barrel hit $93.80 "in New York after Mexico shut a fifth of its production and the dollar fell to a record low." Moming Zhou and Steve Goldstein (MarketWatch) note that after reaching $93.80 the price dropped to . . . $93.53 thereby closing "at a new record high". New Zealand's The National Business Review warns, "Prices are approaching all-time highs set in 1979 and early 1980, when prices rose to $38 a barrel, or the equivalent of $96 to $101 a barrel or more in today's dollars."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Iraq and Turkey"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Look who's back, Chalabi's back"
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Rudy G Wants Your Vote"
"Ruth's Report"
"Intelligence not a requirement for NYT op-ed pages"
"Truest statement of the week"
"Editorial: Re-selling the illegal war"
"A Note to Our Readers"
"TV: The Wall St. Journal's Entertainment Program"
"Save the Country: Nyro's passion"
"Ty's Corner"
"Mumia"
"Mailbag"
"As long as you're dipping into the vaults . . ."
"Dear Canada: Let US War Resisters Stay"
"Highlights"
"Rudy G courts the rape vote"
"THIS JUST IN! RUDY G DECLARES 'CLAYTON SPEAKS FOR ME!'"
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Rudy G courts the rape vote
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- MIDLAND, TX.
FAILED NYC MAYOR AND 2008 GOP PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL RUDY G WENT TO TEXAS WITH NARY A GAY ROOMMATE IN SIGHT BUT HE DID LATCH ON TO FORMER TEXAS GOVERNOR CLAYTON WILLIAMS WHO ENDORSED HIM.
RUDY G EXPLAINED TO THESE REPORTERS THAT HE WAS NOW ATTEMPTING TO COURT THE PREPPY RAPIST AND MUDRERER ROBERT CHAMBERS VOTE. RUDY G DECLARED, "CLAYTON SPEAKS FOR ME."
CLAYTON WILLIAMS LOST THE 1990 GOVERNOR'S RACE TO ANN RICHARDS. THIS FOLLOWED WILLIAMS DECLARING OF RAPE THAT RAPE VICTIMS "MIGHT AS WELL LIE BACK AND ENJOY IT."
RUDY G SAID THOSE WERE "WISE WORDS" AND ONES HE'S PROVIDED TO "MANY FEMALE COMPANIONS OVER THE YEARS."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Agustin Aguayo will be taking part in an Impeach Bush and Cheney Meetup with Ann Wright and David Swanson on November 2nd (6:30 pm) at the Veteran's Memorial Building in Santa Barbara (112 West Cabrillo Boulevard). That's next Friday, November 2nd. In other war resister news, Ontario's OPIRG Brock notes that war resister Michael Espinal and his partner Jennifer Harrison spoke at Brock University on Tuesday: "Michael put a very real human face on the horrors that are being committed everyday in Iraq. He spent 14 months as an explosives expert doing house raids, disarming landmines, and other explosives. Michael was reprimanded for breaking military procedure for only placing enough explosives on the doors to open them, rather than blowing the entire door and frame in the houses. If you use the amount of explosives the military states you should in its procedurces, "anyone within 5 feet of the door would be killed instantly." According to Michael most of the intelligence they relied on was from other Iraqi's who told US forces of locations where 'bad' people were. Those informants were paid about $5.00 'In all the raids I found only two grenades, and a few guns . . . if you were a male over 5 feet you were bound and taken away.' Michael said. Bibles were regularly shoved in the pockets of Iraqi's as soldiers would taunt them and tell them their religion was wrong. We constantly hear on the news of deaths and injuries of Coalition Forces in Iraq due to roadside bombs. From Michael's experience 'Most of the IED's (Improvised Explosive Device), I found were unexploded US ordinance,' or US placed landmines. When convoys would drive near the ordinance sometimes the vibration of vehicles passing would be enough to detonate it. Regardless of the source of the explosive, it is always blamed on 'terrorists'."
Meanwhile, Iraq Veterans Against the War is taking part in an event on Saturday, October 27th:
If you are a soldier or veteran who has served on active duty or in the Reserves or National Guard since 9/11, and your are frustrated and angry with the way our military has been used and abused to wage an occupation against the people of Iraq, then know that you are not alone. On October 27th, veterans, soldiers, and citizens will gather in 11 cities around this country in a national expression of the breadth and depth of antiwar sentiment in this nation. One of the biggest gatherings of IVAW members will be in Boston, where IVAW members from across the Northeast will come together for a fundraiser on Friday night, the march on Saturday, and a regional meeting immediately following the march. If you area aveteran or active duty person interested in meeting IVAW members in Boston, please e-mail newengland [at] ivaw.org or boston [at] ivaw.org. The seattle chapter has also been integral in the planning of their regional march, please contact seattle [at] ivaw.org to connect with fellow veterans in the Northwest. For additional information on regions and chapters participating in the October 27 marches and demos, including those in NYC, LA, and Orlando, please contact the regional coordinator or chapter in your area, http://www.ivaw.org/chaptersandregions. Check www.Oct27.org for directions to the events and addtional information.
Also, Wally has discussed how he made his own support IVAW t-shirt to wear on campus. IVAW now has t-shirts that read "I SUPPORT IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
From the National Lawyers Guild to the Center for Constitutional Rights. On October 11th, CCR filed suit against Blackwater over the September 16th slaughter of civilians in Baghdad by Blackwater USA on behalf of the families of Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbas and Oday Ismail Ibraheem (all three killed in the slaughter) and Talib Mutlaq Deewan who was wounded in the attack. Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) broke the news that day and interviewed CCR's Susan Burke who explained, "We were approached by the families of three gentlemen who were shot and killed, as well as a gentleman who was very seriously injured. They came to us because they know of our work representing the torture victims at Abu Ghraib, and they asked us whether it would be possible to try to get some form of justice, some form of accountability, against this rogue corporation." CCR continues to pursue the issue of torture. Today Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) interviewed CCR president Michael Ratner and Jeanne Sulzer of the International Federation of Human Rights about the lawsuit filed by CCR and IFHR
JUAN GONZALEZ: Jeanne, I'd like to ask you, what happened this morning in France?
JEANNE SULZER: Well, the complaint was filed yesterday before the Paris prosecutor around 5:00 p.m. Paris time. This morning, Rumsfeld was present at the conference where he was scheduled. So what we are awaiting now is signs from the prosecutor to know whether an investigation has been opened or not. So what we needed here in France was to make sure that Rumsfeld was actually present on the French territory, which is the case. He's still here in Paris.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And now, was he actually served with any papers there, or what happened when he actually spoke?
JEANNE SULZER: Well, actually, the information we have is that the complaint has not been served on him. He has not been yet asked to account for the accusations in the complaint. So, as of now, again, we are waiting to see whether the prosecutor is still reviewing the complaint, and hopefully he will not wait too long, because our fears are that Rumsfeld will escape as soon as he can. So now the big issue is the pressure on the prosecutor and, of course, the higher-ups of the French authorities to take a decision on the complaint. But France has a very clear obligation to investigate and prosecute into this case under the torture convention, as Rumsfeld is present on the French territory.
Gonzalez noted that this is case number five against Rumsfeld.
MICHAEL RATNER: The big difference with this case and the other cases is Rumsfeld is actually in France. And when an alleged torturer goes into a country, but particularly France, the obligation on the prosecutor to begin an investigation is much stronger than in other cases of so-called universal jurisdiction. We brought two cases in Germany; one of those is still on appeal. There's a case in Argentina, and there's a case in Sweden.
I think the point of all of this is to really give Rumsfeld no place to hide. And the French case, really, because he is there, is extraordinary. I mean, that he was, in my -- in a sense, Juan, dumb enough to go to France, knowing that they have this kind of jurisdiction, is shocking. And, you know, I think one of the things that people can do right now is to put pressure on the French prosecutor to make sure he opens an investigation. We're going to have that fax number, etc., on our website, which the Center has a new website now: ccrjustice.org, ccrjustice.org, which in a couple of hours you can go to to fax materials. So this is a very, very exciting effort, and I think we're going to really pin Rumsfeld in in this.
I have a question, Jeanne: if they somehow don't open the prosecution and he leaves, do they still have an obligation to open the prosecution, even after he's gone?
JEANNE SULZER: In theory, there is, because what you need is, when the complaint is being filed, that the person, the alleged person, is present on the territory, and he was when the complaint was filed. So, yes, but they could, of course, say that now that he is not present on the territory anymore, there is no jurisdiction. But, yes, they should -- actually, the investigation should be opened now. If he escapes today, there is still basis for the French jurisdiction.
CCR notes that they and IFHR have joined with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the French League for Human Rights in the filing "charging former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. . . . The criminal complaint states that because of the failure of authorities in the United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the responsibility of Rumsfeld and other high-level U.S. officials for torture despite a documented paper trail and government memos implicating them in direct as well as command responsibility for torture -- and because the U.S. has refused to join the International Criminal Court -- it is the legal obligation of states such as France to take up the case. In this case, charges are brought under the 1984 Convention against Torture, ratified by both the United States and France, which has been used in France in previous torture cases. . . . Former U.S. Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, former commander of Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, submitted written testimony to the Paris Prosecutor for the plaintiffs' case on Rumsfeld's responsibility for the abuse of detainees."
Dorren Carvajal (International Herald Tribune) notes Karpinski "contended that the abuses started after the appearance of Major General Geoffrey Miller, who was sent as an emissary by Rumsfeld to assist military intelligence interrogators. Miller crticized the interrogators for 'being too nice to the prisoners,' she said, and promised more resources. In her statement, Karpinski said he summed up the new approach in two sentences: 'Look, you have to treat them like dogs. If they ever felt like anything more than dogs, you have effectively lost control of the interrogation.' Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement that the aim of the latest legal complaint was to demonstrate 'that we will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture program are brought to justice'."
Karpinski (PDF format warning) notes, "MG Miller was working almost exclusively with the military intelligence people and the military intelligence interrogators during the course of his visit. He was not interested in assisting with detention operations; rather he was focusing on interrogation operations and teaching interrogators harsher techniques as a means to obtain more actionable intelligence. MG Miller was spending almost all of his time with the Military Intelligence Officers (J2) BG Barbara Fast and the Commander of the Military Intelligence Brigade, Colonel Pappas. During his in-brief, his introduction when he first arrived there with his team, he responded to a military interrogator's question. . . . Then MG Miller said, 'My first observation is you are not in charge of the interrogations.' He said they were being too nice to the prsioners. MG Miller said they the interrogators were not being aggressive enough. He used an example from Guantanamo Bay." In addition, Karpinski notes the Rumsfeld Memo -- "a memo posted on a column just outside of their small administrative office. The memorandum was signed by the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and it discussed Authorized Interrogation techniques including use of loud music and prolonged standing postions, amongst several other techniques. It was one page. It mentioned stress positions, noise and light discipline, the use of music, disrupting sleep patterns, those types of techniques. There was also a handwritten note out to the side in the same ink and in the same script as the signature of the Secretary of Defense. The notation written in the margin said 'Make sure this happens!' And people understood it to be from Rumsfeld. This memorandum was a copy; a photocopy of the original, I would imagine. I thought it was unusual for an interrogation memorandum to be posted inside of a dtention cell block, because interrogations were not conducted in the cell block, at least to my understanding and knowledge."
Rumsfeld served as Secretary of the Defense under both Gerald Ford and the Bully Boy. On May 7, 2004 Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee then examining the Abu Ghraib torture and declared, "Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, in recent days there has been a good deal of discussion about who bears responsibility for the terrible activities that took place at Abu Ghraib. These events occurred on my watch. As secretary of defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility." Rumsfeld was replaced with Robert Gates on December 18, 2006. There was not and has not been any accountability. [FYI, Ratner is also a co-host -- along with Heidi Boghosian, Dalia Hashad and Michael Smith -- of WBAI's Law and Disorder -- which also airs online and on other radio stations across the US.]
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Tensions continue, oil prices soar"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Wild Rice in the Kitchen "
"2 Dull White Chicks Whining and Boring the Hell Out Of Me"
"charles sullivan""naomi klein, ms. magazine, etc."
"Democracy Now!, Dave Lindorff, hysteria d.j.s"
"Pelosi Dems and their enablers"
"Kathy Kelly on Democracy Now!"
"Two of Guy Ranz' reports on NPR"
"Thoughts for Friday"
"Michael Ratner on Mukasey's nomination"
"Brief"
"Edwards & Obama avoid Iraq"
"THIS JUST IN! NEW DEM STRATEGY!"
FAILED NYC MAYOR AND 2008 GOP PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL RUDY G WENT TO TEXAS WITH NARY A GAY ROOMMATE IN SIGHT BUT HE DID LATCH ON TO FORMER TEXAS GOVERNOR CLAYTON WILLIAMS WHO ENDORSED HIM.
RUDY G EXPLAINED TO THESE REPORTERS THAT HE WAS NOW ATTEMPTING TO COURT THE PREPPY RAPIST AND MUDRERER ROBERT CHAMBERS VOTE. RUDY G DECLARED, "CLAYTON SPEAKS FOR ME."
CLAYTON WILLIAMS LOST THE 1990 GOVERNOR'S RACE TO ANN RICHARDS. THIS FOLLOWED WILLIAMS DECLARING OF RAPE THAT RAPE VICTIMS "MIGHT AS WELL LIE BACK AND ENJOY IT."
RUDY G SAID THOSE WERE "WISE WORDS" AND ONES HE'S PROVIDED TO "MANY FEMALE COMPANIONS OVER THE YEARS."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Agustin Aguayo will be taking part in an Impeach Bush and Cheney Meetup with Ann Wright and David Swanson on November 2nd (6:30 pm) at the Veteran's Memorial Building in Santa Barbara (112 West Cabrillo Boulevard). That's next Friday, November 2nd. In other war resister news, Ontario's OPIRG Brock notes that war resister Michael Espinal and his partner Jennifer Harrison spoke at Brock University on Tuesday: "Michael put a very real human face on the horrors that are being committed everyday in Iraq. He spent 14 months as an explosives expert doing house raids, disarming landmines, and other explosives. Michael was reprimanded for breaking military procedure for only placing enough explosives on the doors to open them, rather than blowing the entire door and frame in the houses. If you use the amount of explosives the military states you should in its procedurces, "anyone within 5 feet of the door would be killed instantly." According to Michael most of the intelligence they relied on was from other Iraqi's who told US forces of locations where 'bad' people were. Those informants were paid about $5.00 'In all the raids I found only two grenades, and a few guns . . . if you were a male over 5 feet you were bound and taken away.' Michael said. Bibles were regularly shoved in the pockets of Iraqi's as soldiers would taunt them and tell them their religion was wrong. We constantly hear on the news of deaths and injuries of Coalition Forces in Iraq due to roadside bombs. From Michael's experience 'Most of the IED's (Improvised Explosive Device), I found were unexploded US ordinance,' or US placed landmines. When convoys would drive near the ordinance sometimes the vibration of vehicles passing would be enough to detonate it. Regardless of the source of the explosive, it is always blamed on 'terrorists'."
Meanwhile, Iraq Veterans Against the War is taking part in an event on Saturday, October 27th:
If you are a soldier or veteran who has served on active duty or in the Reserves or National Guard since 9/11, and your are frustrated and angry with the way our military has been used and abused to wage an occupation against the people of Iraq, then know that you are not alone. On October 27th, veterans, soldiers, and citizens will gather in 11 cities around this country in a national expression of the breadth and depth of antiwar sentiment in this nation. One of the biggest gatherings of IVAW members will be in Boston, where IVAW members from across the Northeast will come together for a fundraiser on Friday night, the march on Saturday, and a regional meeting immediately following the march. If you area aveteran or active duty person interested in meeting IVAW members in Boston, please e-mail newengland [at] ivaw.org or boston [at] ivaw.org. The seattle chapter has also been integral in the planning of their regional march, please contact seattle [at] ivaw.org to connect with fellow veterans in the Northwest. For additional information on regions and chapters participating in the October 27 marches and demos, including those in NYC, LA, and Orlando, please contact the regional coordinator or chapter in your area, http://www.ivaw.org/chaptersandregions. Check www.Oct27.org for directions to the events and addtional information.
Also, Wally has discussed how he made his own support IVAW t-shirt to wear on campus. IVAW now has t-shirts that read "I SUPPORT IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
From the National Lawyers Guild to the Center for Constitutional Rights. On October 11th, CCR filed suit against Blackwater over the September 16th slaughter of civilians in Baghdad by Blackwater USA on behalf of the families of Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbas and Oday Ismail Ibraheem (all three killed in the slaughter) and Talib Mutlaq Deewan who was wounded in the attack. Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) broke the news that day and interviewed CCR's Susan Burke who explained, "We were approached by the families of three gentlemen who were shot and killed, as well as a gentleman who was very seriously injured. They came to us because they know of our work representing the torture victims at Abu Ghraib, and they asked us whether it would be possible to try to get some form of justice, some form of accountability, against this rogue corporation." CCR continues to pursue the issue of torture. Today Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) interviewed CCR president Michael Ratner and Jeanne Sulzer of the International Federation of Human Rights about the lawsuit filed by CCR and IFHR
JUAN GONZALEZ: Jeanne, I'd like to ask you, what happened this morning in France?
JEANNE SULZER: Well, the complaint was filed yesterday before the Paris prosecutor around 5:00 p.m. Paris time. This morning, Rumsfeld was present at the conference where he was scheduled. So what we are awaiting now is signs from the prosecutor to know whether an investigation has been opened or not. So what we needed here in France was to make sure that Rumsfeld was actually present on the French territory, which is the case. He's still here in Paris.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And now, was he actually served with any papers there, or what happened when he actually spoke?
JEANNE SULZER: Well, actually, the information we have is that the complaint has not been served on him. He has not been yet asked to account for the accusations in the complaint. So, as of now, again, we are waiting to see whether the prosecutor is still reviewing the complaint, and hopefully he will not wait too long, because our fears are that Rumsfeld will escape as soon as he can. So now the big issue is the pressure on the prosecutor and, of course, the higher-ups of the French authorities to take a decision on the complaint. But France has a very clear obligation to investigate and prosecute into this case under the torture convention, as Rumsfeld is present on the French territory.
Gonzalez noted that this is case number five against Rumsfeld.
MICHAEL RATNER: The big difference with this case and the other cases is Rumsfeld is actually in France. And when an alleged torturer goes into a country, but particularly France, the obligation on the prosecutor to begin an investigation is much stronger than in other cases of so-called universal jurisdiction. We brought two cases in Germany; one of those is still on appeal. There's a case in Argentina, and there's a case in Sweden.
I think the point of all of this is to really give Rumsfeld no place to hide. And the French case, really, because he is there, is extraordinary. I mean, that he was, in my -- in a sense, Juan, dumb enough to go to France, knowing that they have this kind of jurisdiction, is shocking. And, you know, I think one of the things that people can do right now is to put pressure on the French prosecutor to make sure he opens an investigation. We're going to have that fax number, etc., on our website, which the Center has a new website now: ccrjustice.org, ccrjustice.org, which in a couple of hours you can go to to fax materials. So this is a very, very exciting effort, and I think we're going to really pin Rumsfeld in in this.
I have a question, Jeanne: if they somehow don't open the prosecution and he leaves, do they still have an obligation to open the prosecution, even after he's gone?
JEANNE SULZER: In theory, there is, because what you need is, when the complaint is being filed, that the person, the alleged person, is present on the territory, and he was when the complaint was filed. So, yes, but they could, of course, say that now that he is not present on the territory anymore, there is no jurisdiction. But, yes, they should -- actually, the investigation should be opened now. If he escapes today, there is still basis for the French jurisdiction.
CCR notes that they and IFHR have joined with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the French League for Human Rights in the filing "charging former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. . . . The criminal complaint states that because of the failure of authorities in the United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the responsibility of Rumsfeld and other high-level U.S. officials for torture despite a documented paper trail and government memos implicating them in direct as well as command responsibility for torture -- and because the U.S. has refused to join the International Criminal Court -- it is the legal obligation of states such as France to take up the case. In this case, charges are brought under the 1984 Convention against Torture, ratified by both the United States and France, which has been used in France in previous torture cases. . . . Former U.S. Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, former commander of Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, submitted written testimony to the Paris Prosecutor for the plaintiffs' case on Rumsfeld's responsibility for the abuse of detainees."
Dorren Carvajal (International Herald Tribune) notes Karpinski "contended that the abuses started after the appearance of Major General Geoffrey Miller, who was sent as an emissary by Rumsfeld to assist military intelligence interrogators. Miller crticized the interrogators for 'being too nice to the prisoners,' she said, and promised more resources. In her statement, Karpinski said he summed up the new approach in two sentences: 'Look, you have to treat them like dogs. If they ever felt like anything more than dogs, you have effectively lost control of the interrogation.' Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement that the aim of the latest legal complaint was to demonstrate 'that we will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture program are brought to justice'."
Karpinski (PDF format warning) notes, "MG Miller was working almost exclusively with the military intelligence people and the military intelligence interrogators during the course of his visit. He was not interested in assisting with detention operations; rather he was focusing on interrogation operations and teaching interrogators harsher techniques as a means to obtain more actionable intelligence. MG Miller was spending almost all of his time with the Military Intelligence Officers (J2) BG Barbara Fast and the Commander of the Military Intelligence Brigade, Colonel Pappas. During his in-brief, his introduction when he first arrived there with his team, he responded to a military interrogator's question. . . . Then MG Miller said, 'My first observation is you are not in charge of the interrogations.' He said they were being too nice to the prsioners. MG Miller said they the interrogators were not being aggressive enough. He used an example from Guantanamo Bay." In addition, Karpinski notes the Rumsfeld Memo -- "a memo posted on a column just outside of their small administrative office. The memorandum was signed by the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and it discussed Authorized Interrogation techniques including use of loud music and prolonged standing postions, amongst several other techniques. It was one page. It mentioned stress positions, noise and light discipline, the use of music, disrupting sleep patterns, those types of techniques. There was also a handwritten note out to the side in the same ink and in the same script as the signature of the Secretary of Defense. The notation written in the margin said 'Make sure this happens!' And people understood it to be from Rumsfeld. This memorandum was a copy; a photocopy of the original, I would imagine. I thought it was unusual for an interrogation memorandum to be posted inside of a dtention cell block, because interrogations were not conducted in the cell block, at least to my understanding and knowledge."
Rumsfeld served as Secretary of the Defense under both Gerald Ford and the Bully Boy. On May 7, 2004 Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee then examining the Abu Ghraib torture and declared, "Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, in recent days there has been a good deal of discussion about who bears responsibility for the terrible activities that took place at Abu Ghraib. These events occurred on my watch. As secretary of defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility." Rumsfeld was replaced with Robert Gates on December 18, 2006. There was not and has not been any accountability. [FYI, Ratner is also a co-host -- along with Heidi Boghosian, Dalia Hashad and Michael Smith -- of WBAI's Law and Disorder -- which also airs online and on other radio stations across the US.]
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Tensions continue, oil prices soar"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Wild Rice in the Kitchen "
"2 Dull White Chicks Whining and Boring the Hell Out Of Me"
"charles sullivan""naomi klein, ms. magazine, etc."
"Democracy Now!, Dave Lindorff, hysteria d.j.s"
"Pelosi Dems and their enablers"
"Kathy Kelly on Democracy Now!"
"Two of Guy Ranz' reports on NPR"
"Thoughts for Friday"
"Michael Ratner on Mukasey's nomination"
"Brief"
"Edwards & Obama avoid Iraq"
"THIS JUST IN! NEW DEM STRATEGY!"
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Edwards & Obama avoid Iraq
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN EDWARDS HAVE HIT ON A NEW CAMPAIGN STRATEGY: "VOTE FOR US BECAUSE WE SAY NO TO WAR WITH IRAN!"
JOHN EDWARDS, WHO VOTED FOR WAR WITH IRAQ, SAYS HE HAS LEARNED HIS LESSON. IF HE WERE IN THE SENATE TODAY, WHICH HE IS NOT, HE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR THE KYL-LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT.
BARACK OBAMA, WHO IS IN THE SENATE TODAY, SAYS HE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR THE KYL-LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT EITHER . . . IF HE HAD SHOWN UP FOR THE VOTE.
ONE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT ON THE ISSUE OF "I HAVE LEARNED!"
THE OTHER WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT ON THE ISSUE OF "I MISSED A VOTE I WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT SO I OBVIOUSLY THINK IT IS IMPORTANT BUT I AM TOO BUSY CAMPAIGNING TO DO THE JOB I WAS ELECTED TO IN NOVEMBER OF 2004 SO VOTE FOR ME FOR PRESIDENT AND MAYBE I'LL FINALLY GET DOWN TO DOING THE JOB PEOPLE EXPECT FROM ME!"
WHEN CALLED FOR COMMENTS, JOHN EDWARDS BEGAN EXPLAINING TO THESE REPORTERS ALL THE THINGS HE HAS LEARNED THE HARD WAY BUT THESE REPORTERS SAT THE PHONE DOWN AFTER 20 MINUTES.
WHILE EDWARDS CONTINUED SPEAKING, WE CONTACTED BARCK OBAMA WHO EXPLAINED, "CAMPAIGNING FOR PRESIDENT IS HARD. REAL HARD."
HARDER THAN BEING A SENATOR?
"OH, THAT'S EASY," LAUGHED BAMBI. "THEY PAY ME WHETHER I SHOW UP OR NOT!"
BOTH CANDIDATES IT WAS EASIER TO CAMPAIGN ON A WAR THAT HADN'T STARTED THAN ON HOW THEY WOULD END THE ONGOING ILLEGAL WAR.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resistance. Ted Rall (Rall.com) offers his reflections on resistance during Vietnam and resistance today: "Soldiers who want antiwar Americans to march to demand that they be brought home should take a cue from Vietnam veterans. They marched with peace protesters and threw their medals at the Capitol. Soldiers serving on the front refused orders. Some fragged their officers. Vietnam Veterans Against the War claimed more than 50,000 members by 1971. That year saw numerous dramatic acts of dissent by U.S. troops, including 50 veterans who marched to the Pentagon and demanded that they be arrested as war criminals. Fifteen vets took over and barricaded the Statue of Liberty for two days. These acts swayed opinions and helped convince lawmakers it was time to withdraw. Some soldiers in Iraq have offered resistance. After being denied conscientious objector status, Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes went AWOL in 2004. He was sentenced to two months in the brig and three months hard labor. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada refused to be sent to Iraq in 2006, telling the media that the war's illegality would make him a party to war crimes. Army Specialist Darrell Anderson, faced with a second tour of duty after being wounded by a roadside bomb deserted and fled to Canada. 'I went to Iraq willingly,' said Anderson. 'I wanted to die for my country. I thought I was going to go there and protect my family back home. All I was doing was killing other families there.' The Army decided not to prosecute him. Several other deserters have applied for political asylum in Canada, but they're only a fraction of the thousands who went there during the 1960s and 1970s."
In the October 18th snapshot, we noted someone considered AWOL (and noted he "may or may not be a war resister"): "Robert Przybyski" -- the last name is missing an "l" (my fault) Przybylski. John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) provides an update, "Capt. Robert Przbylski, the Baumholder-based officer who has been absent without leave since Oct. 10, remains missing but does not appear to be in any danger, authorities reported Wednesday. . . . Army officials remain tight-lipped about the circumstances involving the captain's disappearance."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
Turning to the US where there is an opposition party in Congress: CODEPINK. The only voice of sanity in the halls of Congress attended the House Foreign Relations Committe hearing yesterday as Secretary of State and Anger Condi Rice prepared to deliver her usual non-performance as Congress delivered their own. The Let's All Pretend It's Still A Democracy road show was interrupted by CODEPINK's Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz who, with red pain on her hands, spoke the truth no one elected can or will, "You've got the blood of millions of Iraqis on your hands." (See As Cedric and Wally's joint-post yesterday.) "Stylish" Condi pretended not to notice. White House flack Dana Perino pronounced it "despicable. And unfortunately, it seems that increasingly Congress is being run by CODEPINK." Oh, if only. Instead War Hawk Tom Lantos had all of CODEPINK kicked out of the hearing and Congress returned to its usual ineffective posture. CODEPINK's Desiree Fairooz, Lis Hourican, Lori Purdue, Medea Benjamin and Zool Zulkowitz were arrested but "The Deputy Chief of Staff of the House Foreign Relations Committee contacted the Capitol Police later in the day to again relay that their is a policy of that committee to not arrest Citizen protesters but to instead escort them out of the room." The arrest of Benjamim effected a planned action today.
Staying with CODEPINK, Tuesday Karen Miller (Free Speech Radio News) reported, "The original purpose of the database was to share information about dangerous criminals, sex offenders, fugitives and members of terrorist organizations among different levels of law enforcement. It has since become apparent that peace activists have been added to the watch list. Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group, Code Pink, was recently refused entry into Canada when she was on her way to attend a peace rally. That's why Code Pink members decided to protest today in front of the Canadian embassy in Washington DC. Benjamin has been arrested a number of times for anti-war actions, but she says Canada's decision to bar entrance to some activists is troubling: 'One, the FBI should never be putting non-violent misdemeanor offenses on a criminal database. Second, Canada should not be using a US database to say who can come into a country.' At today's protest, Code Pink delivered over 20,000 petitions from US and Canadian citizens collected over the last 2 weeks urging Canada to change its policy." From the October 4th snapshot:
Yesterday, Wright and CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin attempted to enter Canada "crossing near Buffalo to attend a conference sponsored by a Canadian peace coalition in Toronto." As CODEPINK notes, "At the Buaffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry. . . . The women were questioned at Canadian customs about their participation in anti-war efforts and informed that they had an FBI file indicating they had been arrested in acts of non-violent civil disobedience." Benjamin explains, "In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on International Women's Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition signed by 152,000 women around the world. For this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me in the country." Wright declares, "The FBI's placing of peace activists on an international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies. The Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the criteria for entering the country."
AP reported yesterday that Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin "plan to fly to Ottowa on Thursday at the invitation of several members of Parliament." Due to the arrest, Medea Benjamin was not able to fly to Ottawa. Ann Wright did. The Canadian Press reports that Wright "is being detained at Ottawa airport" and that "while other passengers passed through Customs, Wright was held back." AP quotes CODEPINK's Dana Balicki stating, "She's being turned away from the border and she's being banned from Canada for the next year."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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"david corn, etc."
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"Is it caving when it keeps happening?"
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN EDWARDS HAVE HIT ON A NEW CAMPAIGN STRATEGY: "VOTE FOR US BECAUSE WE SAY NO TO WAR WITH IRAN!"
JOHN EDWARDS, WHO VOTED FOR WAR WITH IRAQ, SAYS HE HAS LEARNED HIS LESSON. IF HE WERE IN THE SENATE TODAY, WHICH HE IS NOT, HE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR THE KYL-LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT.
BARACK OBAMA, WHO IS IN THE SENATE TODAY, SAYS HE WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR THE KYL-LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT EITHER . . . IF HE HAD SHOWN UP FOR THE VOTE.
ONE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT ON THE ISSUE OF "I HAVE LEARNED!"
THE OTHER WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT ON THE ISSUE OF "I MISSED A VOTE I WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT SO I OBVIOUSLY THINK IT IS IMPORTANT BUT I AM TOO BUSY CAMPAIGNING TO DO THE JOB I WAS ELECTED TO IN NOVEMBER OF 2004 SO VOTE FOR ME FOR PRESIDENT AND MAYBE I'LL FINALLY GET DOWN TO DOING THE JOB PEOPLE EXPECT FROM ME!"
WHEN CALLED FOR COMMENTS, JOHN EDWARDS BEGAN EXPLAINING TO THESE REPORTERS ALL THE THINGS HE HAS LEARNED THE HARD WAY BUT THESE REPORTERS SAT THE PHONE DOWN AFTER 20 MINUTES.
WHILE EDWARDS CONTINUED SPEAKING, WE CONTACTED BARCK OBAMA WHO EXPLAINED, "CAMPAIGNING FOR PRESIDENT IS HARD. REAL HARD."
HARDER THAN BEING A SENATOR?
"OH, THAT'S EASY," LAUGHED BAMBI. "THEY PAY ME WHETHER I SHOW UP OR NOT!"
BOTH CANDIDATES IT WAS EASIER TO CAMPAIGN ON A WAR THAT HADN'T STARTED THAN ON HOW THEY WOULD END THE ONGOING ILLEGAL WAR.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resistance. Ted Rall (Rall.com) offers his reflections on resistance during Vietnam and resistance today: "Soldiers who want antiwar Americans to march to demand that they be brought home should take a cue from Vietnam veterans. They marched with peace protesters and threw their medals at the Capitol. Soldiers serving on the front refused orders. Some fragged their officers. Vietnam Veterans Against the War claimed more than 50,000 members by 1971. That year saw numerous dramatic acts of dissent by U.S. troops, including 50 veterans who marched to the Pentagon and demanded that they be arrested as war criminals. Fifteen vets took over and barricaded the Statue of Liberty for two days. These acts swayed opinions and helped convince lawmakers it was time to withdraw. Some soldiers in Iraq have offered resistance. After being denied conscientious objector status, Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes went AWOL in 2004. He was sentenced to two months in the brig and three months hard labor. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada refused to be sent to Iraq in 2006, telling the media that the war's illegality would make him a party to war crimes. Army Specialist Darrell Anderson, faced with a second tour of duty after being wounded by a roadside bomb deserted and fled to Canada. 'I went to Iraq willingly,' said Anderson. 'I wanted to die for my country. I thought I was going to go there and protect my family back home. All I was doing was killing other families there.' The Army decided not to prosecute him. Several other deserters have applied for political asylum in Canada, but they're only a fraction of the thousands who went there during the 1960s and 1970s."
In the October 18th snapshot, we noted someone considered AWOL (and noted he "may or may not be a war resister"): "Robert Przybyski" -- the last name is missing an "l" (my fault) Przybylski. John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) provides an update, "Capt. Robert Przbylski, the Baumholder-based officer who has been absent without leave since Oct. 10, remains missing but does not appear to be in any danger, authorities reported Wednesday. . . . Army officials remain tight-lipped about the circumstances involving the captain's disappearance."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
Turning to the US where there is an opposition party in Congress: CODEPINK. The only voice of sanity in the halls of Congress attended the House Foreign Relations Committe hearing yesterday as Secretary of State and Anger Condi Rice prepared to deliver her usual non-performance as Congress delivered their own. The Let's All Pretend It's Still A Democracy road show was interrupted by CODEPINK's Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz who, with red pain on her hands, spoke the truth no one elected can or will, "You've got the blood of millions of Iraqis on your hands." (See As Cedric and Wally's joint-post yesterday.) "Stylish" Condi pretended not to notice. White House flack Dana Perino pronounced it "despicable. And unfortunately, it seems that increasingly Congress is being run by CODEPINK." Oh, if only. Instead War Hawk Tom Lantos had all of CODEPINK kicked out of the hearing and Congress returned to its usual ineffective posture. CODEPINK's Desiree Fairooz, Lis Hourican, Lori Purdue, Medea Benjamin and Zool Zulkowitz were arrested but "The Deputy Chief of Staff of the House Foreign Relations Committee contacted the Capitol Police later in the day to again relay that their is a policy of that committee to not arrest Citizen protesters but to instead escort them out of the room." The arrest of Benjamim effected a planned action today.
Staying with CODEPINK, Tuesday Karen Miller (Free Speech Radio News) reported, "The original purpose of the database was to share information about dangerous criminals, sex offenders, fugitives and members of terrorist organizations among different levels of law enforcement. It has since become apparent that peace activists have been added to the watch list. Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group, Code Pink, was recently refused entry into Canada when she was on her way to attend a peace rally. That's why Code Pink members decided to protest today in front of the Canadian embassy in Washington DC. Benjamin has been arrested a number of times for anti-war actions, but she says Canada's decision to bar entrance to some activists is troubling: 'One, the FBI should never be putting non-violent misdemeanor offenses on a criminal database. Second, Canada should not be using a US database to say who can come into a country.' At today's protest, Code Pink delivered over 20,000 petitions from US and Canadian citizens collected over the last 2 weeks urging Canada to change its policy." From the October 4th snapshot:
Yesterday, Wright and CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin attempted to enter Canada "crossing near Buffalo to attend a conference sponsored by a Canadian peace coalition in Toronto." As CODEPINK notes, "At the Buaffalo-Niagara Falls Bridge they were detained, questioned and denied entry. . . . The women were questioned at Canadian customs about their participation in anti-war efforts and informed that they had an FBI file indicating they had been arrested in acts of non-violent civil disobedience." Benjamin explains, "In my case, the border guard pulled up a file showing that I had been arrested at the US Mission to the UN where, on International Women's Day, a group of us had tried to deliver a peace petition signed by 152,000 women around the world. For this, the Canadians labeled me a criminal and refused to allow me in the country." Wright declares, "The FBI's placing of peace activists on an international criminal database is blatant political intimidation of US citizens opposed to Bush administration policies. The Canadian government should certainly not accept this FBI database as the criteria for entering the country."
AP reported yesterday that Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin "plan to fly to Ottowa on Thursday at the invitation of several members of Parliament." Due to the arrest, Medea Benjamin was not able to fly to Ottawa. Ann Wright did. The Canadian Press reports that Wright "is being detained at Ottawa airport" and that "while other passengers passed through Customs, Wright was held back." AP quotes CODEPINK's Dana Balicki stating, "She's being turned away from the border and she's being banned from Canada for the next year."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Iraq & Turkey"
"david corn, etc."
"Lance Selfa, Patrick Cockburn, Joni Mitchell"
"Two of Guy Ranz' reports on NPR"
"Robert Scheer, Tariq Ali "
"Lisa Pease, Dave Zirin, Danny Schechter"
"THIS JUST IN! COWARDLY DEMS!"
"Is it caving when it keeps happening?"
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Is it caving when it keeps happening?
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.
THE COWARDLY DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE COULD NOT BLOCK A REPUGNANT NOMINEE FOR THE FEDERAL COURTS DESPITE BEING THE MAJORITY IN THE SENATE. 12 DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE AND AN INDEPENDENT -- THAT WOULD BE JOE LIEBERMAN -- SIDED WITH REPUBLICANS TO END CLOTURE. IT'S BEING HAILED AS WIN FOR THE BULLY BOY.
BUT WHILE THE DEMOCRATICALLY CONGRESS CAN'T STAND UP TO HOMOPHOBIC, RACIST JUDICIAL NOMINEES, THEY CAN STAND UP TO CODEPINK. WITH READ PAINT ON HER HANDS, CODEPINK'S DESIREE ANITA ALI-FAIROOZ CONFRONTED CONDI RICE, ANNOUNCING THE TRUTH, "THE BLOOD OF MILLIONS OF IRAQIS IS ON YOUR HANDS!" FOR THIS ACTION, NOT ONLY WAS SHE ARRESTED BUT WAR HAWK TOM LANTOS HAD ALL MEMBERS OF CODEPINK KICKED OUT AFTER WHICH HE PUT HIS HEAD BACK IN HIS ASS AND USED HIS TONGUE IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISLODGE AN OBJECT. ASKED WHY, HE RESPONDED IT WAS THAT "OR RUN OVER ANOTHER KID'S FOOT! WOO HOO!"
WHEN REACHED FOR COMMENT SECRETARY OF STATE AND ANGER CONDI RICE SEEMED UNAWARE THAT THE CODEPINK ACTIVIST WAS PROTESTING HER.
"I WORE MY BLOOD FUR TO THE HEARING," EXPLAINED RICE PICTURED BELOW, "I THOUGHT SHE WAS APPLAUDING MY FUR AS WELL AS CONGRATULATING ME FOR ALL THE BLOOD ON MY HANDS. YOU MEAN SHE WAS TRYING TO INSULT ME?"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Judge Benjamin Settle has extended Ehren Watada's stay. Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. His reasons for that are because the war is illegal. He attempted to work through this matter with the military but when it became obvious they were stringing him along he made the decision to go public -- and went public in June 2006. In February 2006, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) presided over a rigged hearing that was supposed to pass for a court-martial despite the fact that Watada was not allowed to explain why he'd chosen to do what he did -- refuse to deploy. Judge Toilet tried real hard to rig the perfect frame up and when it didn't go the way he wanted, Judge Toilet flushed the court-martial, declaring a mistrial over defense objection and despite the fact that double-jeopardy had attached. Judge Toilet immediately scheduled a court-martial for March and then someone tutored Toilet a little on the law. The court-martial was supposed to begin the first week of this month; however, federal judge Settle issued a stay through October 26th. On Friday, Settle extended the stay through November 9th. Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) noted on Friday, "Seattle decided he had jurisdiction to hear arguments that Watada would be subject to double jeopardy, since his first trial in February ended in a mistrial, over his objections, after testimony had been heard by a panel of officers." The panel was the jury -- Watada wisely decided to go with a jury for the court-martial and not allow a judge (in this case Judge Toilet) to make the ruling.
Meanwhile on the subject of war resisters in Canada, Free Speech Radio News noted yesterday, "Canada has, in the past, been a destination for conscientious objectors to US wars. But some anti-war activists have found out from experience that Canada is using the FBI's National Crime Information Center database to stop war resisters at the border." Brad McCall was the first to go public with the new system and how he was handcuffed while attempting to enter Canada September 19th of this year. He was followed by others making reporting similar incidents at the border. A number of actions are ongoing regarding US war resisters in Canada. Citizens of Canada can sign the War Resisters Support Campaign petition as well as refer to this action page of the War Resisters Support Campaign. In the United States, Courage to Resist has a letter you can sign to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Diane Finley and Stephane Dion of the Liberal Party. If you click here you can sign electronically. If you need a physical copy, you can go to "Supporting War Resisters" and print up a scan of the letter.
Tonight the War Resisters Support Campaign has an event, Michelle Mason's breakthrough documentary . Breaking Ranks will be screened at the University of Toronto's Claude Bissell Building from six to eight p.m. followed by a question and answer session with war resisters.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
Turning to Iraq and starting with the refugee crisis which Prensa Latina reports the United Nations says is increasing "due to the border conflict with Turkey" with refugees already constituting 4.7 million Iraqis -- 2.3 million displaced internally, 2.4 million displaced externally. Among the externally displaced is Riverbend and her family who have settled in Syria. Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) reports, "By the time we had reentered the Syrian border and were headed back to the cab ready to take us into Kameshli, I had resigned myself to the fact that we were refugees. I read about refugees on the Internet daily. . . in the newspapers . . . hear about them on TV. I heard about the estimated 1.5 million plus Iraqi refugees in Syria and shake my head, never really considering myself or my family as one of them. After all, refugees are people who sleep in tents and have no potable water or plumbing, right? Refugees carry their belongins in bags instead of suitcases and they don't have cell phones or Internet acess, right? Grasping my passport in my hand like my life depended on it, with two extra months in Syria stamped inside, it hit me how wrong I was. We were all refugees. I was suddenly a number. No matter how wealthy or educated or comfortable, a refugee is a refugee. A refugee is someone who isn't really welcome in any country -- including their own . . . especially their own. . . . The first evening we arrived, exhausted, dragging suitcases behind us, morale a little bit bruised, the Kurdish family sent over their representative -- a 9 year old boy missing two front teeth, holding a lopsided cake, 'We're Abu Mohammed's house -- across from you -- mama says if you need anything, just ask -- this is our number. Abu Dalia's family lives upstairs, this is their number. We're all Iraqi too . . . Welcome to the building.' I cried that night because for the first time in a long time, so far away from home, I felt the unity that had been stolen from us in 2003." Yesterday, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees spokesperson Ron Redmond spoke to the press declaring that Syria continues to receive refugees but "in much smaller numbers than before" due to the new visa regulations Syria has imposed (obtain visa in Baghdad -- the Syrian embassy is located in a very violent neighborhood -- etc.) and that the UN estimates northern Iraq to now be "home to over 800,000 internally displaced Iraqis." Peter Apps (Reuters) notes that more violence in northern Iraq "could further increase the number of people fleeing their homes and cut off one of the remaining ways out for refugees desperate to leave Iraq, aid workers say." The tensions between the regions go far back. In yesterday's press briefing, US State Department flack Sean McCormack declared of the tensions, "It's not something that was invented over the past four years. But we now have an opportunity with an Iraqi Government that has an interest in playing a positive role in the region, an opportunity to arrive at a solution." Now the US State Department thinks there is "an opportunity" to address the situation? and what were they thinking in 2004? The War Comes Home's Aaron Glantz reported on the situation for Pacifica in April of 2004 noting a meet up in DC between the Turkish government and the US government when then US Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Meyers stated, "This is an issue the coalition forces inside Iraq take very seriously. Let me assure you that there is very close collaboration with Turkey and that they [the PKK] will be dealt with appropriately."
.
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