Monday, April 14, 2008

THIS JUST IN! KATTY VAN-VAN TALKS!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE.
 
 
SHE NIXED A PHOTOGRAPHER "FOR OBVIOUS REASONS."
 
BUT SHE AGREED TO A FREE WHEELING INTERVIEW AND THESE REPORTERS SHOWED UP EXPECTING JUST THAT.
 
WE ASKED HER FIRST OF ALL WHERE SHE GOT OFF WRITING "FIGHTING FOR THE FRANCHISE" WHEN SHE AND HER LOUSY MAGAZINE REFUSED TO DEFEND THE DEMOCRATIC VOTERS IN MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA WHO ARE BEING DISENFRANCHISED.
 
"DO YOU THINK I'M PRETTY?" SHE ASKED.  "I THINK I'M PRETTY.  A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T THINK I'M PRETTY.  BUT I THINK I'M PRETTY.  AREN'T I PRETTY?"
 
THEN WE ASKED HOW PROUD DOES SHE FEEL, AS A DEMOCRAT, WHEN SHE LETS "JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL" ARI BERMAN REPEAT THE G.O.P. LIES ABOUT THE LINCOLN BEDROOM WAS SOLD "OFF TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER" DURING THE YEARS OF BILL CLINTON'S PRESIDENCY?
 
"OH, THAT'S A MISTAKE," SHE INFORMED US AND WE THOUGHT SHE MEANT BERMAN HAD MADE A TYPO IN HIS SMUTTY LITTLE SCRIBBLE FOR THE NATION MAGAZINE.
 
"WHAT DO I CARE ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?" ASKED KATTY-VAN-VAN.  "I'M A LOSER AND I'M CHANNELING ALL MY MONEY -- WELL GRANDDADDY'S MONEY, I CAN'T MAKE ANY ON MY OWN AND NEITHER COULD MY FATHER -- INTO FRONT ORGANIZATIONS TO DESTROY THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.  I WANT THE DEMOCRATS TO LOSE UNTIL THEY'RE AS AWFUL AS ME.  I'M REALLY AWFUL, YOU KNOW.  I KEEP LYING THAT I WON AN AWARD FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD BUT, TRUTH IS, THE AWARD WENT TO THE MAGAZINE.  BUT NO ONE EVER CHECKS ANYTHING SO I KEEP LYING.  I LIE A LOT.  AND I HAVE MY ASSISTANTS SCRUB UNFLATTERING TRUTHS FROM MY WIKIPEDIA PROFILE.  WE HAD AN INTERN RECENTLY AND I TOLD HER 'SCRUB EVERYTHING ON MY FATHER!' AND SHE DID."
 
AS THESE REPORTERS WAITED IN THE LENGTHY SILENCE THAT FOLLOWED, KATTY-VAN-VAN FINALLY SPOKE, "WILL YOU PLEASE WRITE THAT I'M PRETTY?  I REALLY AM, YOU KNOW.  IN SOME CULTURES ANYWAY.  DADDY USED TO TELL ME THAT GROWING UP.  I USED TO SEARCH FOR THOSE CULTURES BUT FINALLY GREW BORED.  BUT SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD, I AM CONSIDERED PRETTY."
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Writing earlier this month about a protest for the 4,000 mark (US service members killed), the Catalyst Project's Clare Bayard (Indybay IMC) notes, "Every day, people act to resist the U.S. military, from around the world, from within its ranks.  And how do we know how many of those names read out last night belong to resisters?  How many were carrying an unloaded weapon, like Agustin Aguayo did for a year while the Army denied his conscientious objector status?  How many were considering going AWOL?  How many were pursuing, if they knew the option existed, a conscientious objector status?  How many had done something recently to stand up to racism, misogyny, or some random violence within their unit?  Mostly we'll never know because now their mouths are filled with dirt and their stories will be carried only by those suriving them."  Last month, Joanne Tucker (Daily 49er) reported on a rally Aguayo attended noting he "spent almost seven months in jail after going absent without official leave (AWOL) before his second deployment to Iraq as an Army medic" and quotes Aguayo declaring to the crowd, "We came back and we feel lucky. I have my limbs.  I have my family, but still, it's hard to function.  I'm glad you're here and you do want change." Aguayo served in Iraq on one of tour of duty.  When he arrived, he wasn't prepared for what he saw and he had a spiritual transformation/awakening.  He grasped immediately that what was taking place was against his moral beliefs and took to not loading his weapon.  He applied for CO status and the military rejected it.  The thrust of their argument is offensive which is that you are who you  are -- in terms of spirituality and religious belief -- when you sign up.  They argued against what almost every religion practiced in the US maintains, that your spirituality in, your commitment to, the religion can deepen and increase. The reason they got away with that is that so few people know Aguayo's story.  If most people knew the US military was rejecting a claim for CO status (or for anything) based on the argument that a religion has a fixed point, they would be offended and outraged.  (Especially considering the basic issue of who is the US military to weigh in on religion?) Aguayo took the issue to the civilian courts which had agreed to hear it.  That alone should have made the US military back off long enough to let the court system weigh in.  They didn't back off, Aguayo got across how serious he was about not being able to ethically, religiously and morally deploy to Iraq.  Though gone less than 30 days -- the usual yardstick for whether someone is prosecuted for being AWOL -- and though he had turned himself in, the US military decided to court-martial him for desertion.  The court-martial took place March 6, 2007 at which he declared, "I respect everyone's views and your decision.  I understand that people don't understand me.  I tried my best, but I couldn't bear weapons and I could never point weapons at someone. . . . The words of Martin Luther come to mind, 'Here I stand, I can do no more'."
 
Two years prior (May 10, 2005), Pablo Paredes was court-martialed.  Pablo Paredes was schedule dto deploy in 2004, but he refused to board the ship.  Rick Rogers (San Diego Union-Tribune) reported on it in real time noting December 7, 2004, "Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes followed through on his plan: He refused to board his Navy ship yesterday morning when it sailed for Iraq with thousands of Camp Penleton Marines. . . . Paredes might be the first local sailor to refuse deployment on the grounds of being philosophically opposed to the Iraq war, said Sam Samuelson, spokesman for the San Diego Naval Station." National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn testified at Paredes court-martial.  As she observed in May of 2005:
 
In a stunning blow to the Bush administration, a Navy judge gave Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes no jail time for refusing orders to board the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard before it left San Diego with 3,000 sailors and Marines bound for the Persian Gulf on December 6th.  Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant found Pablo guilty of missing his ship's movement by design, but dismissed the charge of unauthorized absence.  Although Pablo faced one year in the brig, the judge sentenced him to two months' restriction and three months of hard labor, and reduced his rank to seaman recruit.  
"This is a huge victory," said Jeremy Warren, Pablo's lawyer.  "A sailor can show up on a Navy base, refuse in good conscience to board a ship bound for Iraq, and receive no time in jail.  Warren added.  Although Pablo is delighted he will not have to go to jail, he still regrets that he was convicted of a crime.  He told the judge at sentencing: "I am guilty of believing this war is illegal.  I am guilty of believing war in all forms is immoral and useless, and I am guilty of believing that as a service member I have a duty to refuse to participate in this War because it is illegal."
 
Scripps News noted Pablo Paredes at the end of last month when addressing Pew Hispanic Center's polling which found only 24% of Latinos were in favor of the the Iraq War and noting that Paredes "now works as a peace educator with the American Friends Service Committee."  At the same time, Parades and Jess Quintero contributed a piece for Scripps Howard News Service with Quinteror providing reasons Latinos should enlist and with Parades offering reasons why Latinos should be opposed to US involvement in Iraq.  Parades reasons are below:
 
1. Hispanics are overrepresented in the most dangerous roles of the military and sorely underrepresented in the officer ranks and elite jobs.         
2. Recruitment programs that target Hispanics make false promises of education, a better economic status and citizenship.             
3. Hispanics who have served honorably come home to face inequality and discrimination; they aren't provided access to adequate veterans' benefits.           
4. Hispanics' historical ties to the U.S. military have been destructive to their ancestors. "Marines are taught to sing about the pillaging of the 'Halls of Montezuma.' "             
5. The war has propelled the rise of vigilante groups such as the Minutemen who in their propaganda messages stereotype and scapegoat all Hispanics as national-security risks.          
 
Meanwhile war resisters in Canada wait to find out whether they will be granted safe harbor.  The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue.  You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).  
 
Last month Iraq Veterans Against the War's Winter Soldier took place and KPFA has a live program coming up April 22nd:

Live On Air and Online at kpfa.org!            
April 22 from 10am-1pm                    
Join us on April 22nd for this very important follow up to Pacifica's groundbreaking Winter Soldier live coverage. We will be following the San Francisco trial involving wounded vets and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this first class action lawsuit U.S. Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder sue the VA, alleging a system wide breakdown in the way the Government treats those soldiers.
During this special broadcast we will be bringing our listeners live updates from the San Francisco federal courthouse, we'll speak with wounded Veterans attorney Gordon Erspamer, (taking this case pro bono because his father was permanently disabled in World War II and never received proper health care) and speak with Veterans advocates including Veterans for Common Sense, and Vets for America.
Read more about the broadcast here.              
 
That announcement will appear in the snapshots until the broadcast.  If you missed Winter Soldier you can stream online at Iraq Veterans Against the War, at War Comes Home, at KPFK, at the Pacifica Radio homepage and at KPFA, here for Friday, here for Saturday, here for Sunday. Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz were the anchors for Pacifica's live coverage. 
 
 
Turning to Iraq,  Free Bilal. Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Bilal Hussein.  For the 'crime' of being a reporter, he has been imprisoned by the US military since April 12, 2006. As last year drew to a close the US military stated Bilal would be tried by the Iraqi legal system.  Last week, Reporters Without Borders noted that the "Iraqi appeal court panel of judges to dismiss the charges brought by the US defence department".  But the US military refused to release him.  As the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorialized last week: "To recap: U.S. forces detain a man for 20 months without any charges. They hamstring his lawyers by not allowing them proper access to the evidence against him. When he finally gets his day in court and is exonerated, the U.S. military can still refuse to free him. How's that for justice?"  At AP's Bilal folder, Robert H. Reid (AP) reports, "The U.S. military said Monday it will release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, more than two years after he was detained by U.S. Marines on suspicions of links to insurgents.  The military said it has determined Hussein is not a threat and plans to free him Wednesday."  Tom Curley, the CEO and president of AP states, "In time, we will celebrate Bilal's release.  For now, we want him safe and united with his family.  While we may never see eye to eye with the U.S. military over this case, it is time for all of us to move on." Hopefully, the news of Bilal's release will get a great deal of coverage (although some will probably breathe easier when Wednesday arrives and he's actually released). 
 
[. . .]
 
Turning to the US presidential race.  All the news is about Senator Barack Obama.  Which might be a good thing for him . . . were it not for the news.  As noted in Friday's snapshot, he declared, "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."  Instead of immediately apologizing, he tried to play it off (as his surrogates continue to).  He was offensive.  He can't garner votes and offend. Eloise Harper (ABC News) reports Hillary stated Barack should have been "owning up to his remarks" which he should have been. It's really basic. And it's not helpful to the Democratic Party.  As Fernando Suarez (CBS News) notes, Hillary explained that Sunday, "The Democratic Party has been unfortunately viewed by many people over the last decades as being elitist and out of touch."  And that killed the John Kerry momentum (which did briefly exist -- go back to the days of the young Edwards children, John and Elizabeth Edwards and John Kerry and Teresa Heinz-Kerry on the front page of the New York Times -- that period briefly existed).  Melinda Henneberger (Slate) dubs it Bambi's "worst" mistake and notes, "Sure, many Americans in places like my hometown are angry and they do 'cling'' to guns and God, though not in that order. It's connecting the two that's belittling in the extreme to the 'typical white person'-- to cite a phrase I chose to overlook at the time. Now, if Obama is sticking by the essence of what he said out of stubbornness or arrogance, that's one kind of problem. But if he really doesn't see why this could be a game-changer, that's worse. And though I've been pretty unrelievedly positive about the guy, it's the first thing he's said that's made me question his ability to win."  Jay Newton-Small (Time magazine) notes that both Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain called out Barack's remarks and that his elitist remarks "dominated" "campaign news" over the weekend and quotes Duke University's poli sci professor Michael Munger explaining the problems when gaffes "play to an underlying stereotype," ". . . the Obama stereotype is a wealthy ivy-league elitist.  He's a little too well-spoken; his suits are a little too expensive.  From him, the comment comes off as condescending." Mike Dorning (Chicago Tribune) reports it dominated the Sunday chat & chews and quotes the GOP's Mary Matalin stating, "The damage here is that what he said accurately reflects the current Democratic Party" which isn't reality but is how the GOP would use it in a general election because, as Matlin notes, his comments are "a general election nightmare."  US News & World Report explains that the weekend didn't vanish the controversy and headlines their round-up with "Obama's 'Bitter' Comment Halts His Momentum."  Anante Higgins (CBS News) reports John McCain stated today, "I think those comments are elitist."
 

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Obama explains how he feels

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE.
 
APPARENTLY CAMPAINING FOR THE VOTE OF MONOPOLY'S MR. TOP HAT, SENATOR BAMBI OBAMA DECLARED THIS WEEK:
 
YOU GO INTO THESE SMALL TOWNS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND, LIKE A LOT OF SMALL TOWNS IN THE MIDWEST, THE JOBS HAVE BEEN GONE NOW FOR 25 YEARS AND NOTHING'S REPLACED THEM.  IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT THEY GET BITTER, THEY CLING TO GUNS OR RELIGION OR ANTIPATHY TO PEOPLE WHO AREN'T LIKE THEM OR ANTI-IMMIGRANT SENTIMENT OR ANTI-TRADE SENTIMENT AS A WAY TO EXPLAIN THEIR FRUSTRATIONS.
 
HAVING INSULTED SMALL TOWN AMERICA, ACTIVISTS AGAINST GLOBAL IMPERIALISM, RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AND JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER GROUP IN ONE STATEMENT, THESE REPORTERS WERE AT A LOSS TO FIGURE OU HOW THERE WAS ANY ROOM LEFT UNDER THE BUS FOR BAMBI TO THROW THE NEXT GROUP UNDER?
 
INSTEAD OF APOLOGIZING FOR HIS OFFENSIVE REMARKS, SENATOR OBAMA'S DEFENSE TODAY IS "I SAID SOMETHING THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS IS TRUE."  HE ASKED THESE REPORTERS TO ADD "SAID WITH MY TONGUE STICKING OUT AT THE COUNTRY."
 
IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THESE REPORTERS, MUST CREDIT BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX, BAMBI EXPLAINED,  "ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?  I DON'T LIKE AMERICA OR AMERICANS.  I HAVE NEVER PRETENDED OTHERWISE.  I DON'T WEAR FLAG LAPEL PINS, I DON'T PUT MY HAND OVER MY HEART WHEN THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IS SUNG, MY WIFE POINTED OUT THAT IN ALL HER YEARS -- AND SHE'S OLD, LOOK AT HER -- SHE ONLY FOUND A REASON TO BE PROUD OF THE UNITED STATES THIS YEAR: ME.  SCREW SMALL TOWN AMERICANS, THEY'RE IDIOTS.  THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS.  WHEN I'M KING, I WILL MAKE SURE THAT MY SUBJECTS KNOW JUST HOW LOWLY THEY ARE."
 
WHEN ASKED WHY HE EVEN WANTED TO BE RULE THE UNITED STATES, BAMBI EXPLAINED, "WELL, I AIN'T GOING BACK TO INDONESIA!  AND HAVE YOU MET MY KENYAN RELATIVES?  THEY GOT LIKE 100 WIVES EACH AND LIVE IN HUTS!  I AIN'T GIVING UP MY MANSION AND MOVING TO NO HUT!  I'VE PLAYED THIS COUNTRY LIKE A SUCKER AND INTEND TO KEEP ON DOING IT."
 
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  "As the Vietnam War fades into the past, the struggle for reinterpretation continues.  One area that has received insufficient attention is war resistance.  The script offered in public circles often reads like this: the war has ended for resisters; isolated numbers of people resisted military service, most of them 'draft dodgers'; all of the legal issues surrounding military resisters were resolved -- they eventually 'got off' and people only refuse military service when they face a draft.  These myths, like most others about the war, are designed to influence future generations of potential warriors," reminds Harold Jordan (AFSC) in an essay reviewing the realities now fogged and ignored.  Reality does make a difference and reality has been torn apart by those who continue to falsely insist that war resisters who went to Canada during Vietnam were just those avoiding the draft.  Some had already been inducted into the service, some had deployed to Vietnam.  There was never a procedure in Canada, during this period, where you had to state, "I left the service but I was drafted in!"  It did not matter.  In fact, it was assumed those going to Canada after serving in Vietnam were not only taking a courageous stand but were also bearing witness.  Those who repeat the lies that it was just draft evaders have made the current climate in Canada more difficult as everyone latches on to the pot-hazed memories (of people who did not resist) as proof that the Vietnam era war resisters were only granted safe haven because there was a draft.  The draft was not the issue, the illegal war was.  As it is today. 
 
James Burmeister is a class of 2007 war resister -- tranlation, Panhandle Media ignored him.  While serving in Iraq, he saw the Bait and Kill teams -- US materials being planted (not just weapons, as the MSM reported when they picked up on the story in the fall of 2007) so that Iraqis could be shot when they touched US property.  Burmeister returned to the US last winter, turned himself in at Fort Knox waiting to hear what happens next.  Courage to Resist posts an interview (audio) with him and his father Erich Burmeister.  Asked whether or not Canada had placed "pressure on you to leave," James Burmeister explained, " Of course.  You know, they kind of drag out the decision on whether or not they will let us stay.  They make it hard for us to get jobs or financial assistance.  We're kind of in the middle up here and that's how they pressure us, they don't really give us the status.  They make it hard to live up here."   Erich Burmeister spoke of the help Ann Wright and Anita Anderson Dennis (Darrell Anderson's mother) have provided.  He also noted the kill teams.
 
Erich Burmeister: It was more what he was involved in there.  Particularly what really bothered him was the bait and kill thing which now is a pretty infamous subject which has come up in some of the trials of some of the soldiers that have been put on trial for murder.  This sniper, you know, putting out pieces of equipment and waiting for someone to touch it and they shoot him.  And that really, really bothered him.  Plus the fact that when they would go through these neighborhoods and, you know, kick in people's doors and raid their houses and just loot their houses, and the terror that he saw on people's faces.  He told me these things had really bothered him.  And the devestation he saw around him.  It was -- it was really hard for him to deal with that.  He told me times that he would see people digging through garbage, women digging through garbage, and he couldn't believe the conditions that the Iraqis were forced to live under and he felt like he was somewhat responsible for this. 
 
While Burmeister waits to find out what the military will do, war resisters in Canada wait to find out whether they will be granted safe harbor.  The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue.  You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).  
 
The week's biggest story is the death of 19 soldiers this week. Should have been but few seem aware of it (and, in fact, one news program yesterday evening said there were 16 deaths for the month so far, no, there have been 20 for the month thus far).  ICCC has had problems (hacking their server) and possibly that's left some outlets confused.  But yesterday's deaths resulted in 19.  There are 20 for the month.  The only death prior to this week was Travis L. Griffin who died in Baghdad from hostile fire on April 3rd.  Clicking here will show you the 20 and the days they died.  Starting Sunday (April 6th -- when 8 died), there have been 19 deaths.  The deaths, little noticed and incorrectly counted when noted, came as The Petraeus & Crocker Variety Hour got some attention.  But what would the reaction have been to the dog and pony show this week had most Americans read on the front page of their newspapers or heard at the start of their news broadcasts that 19 US service members were killed in Iraq this week thus far?  Due to the media snoozing on the job, we can only guess.
 
On today's second hour of NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, Rehm spoke with Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers), Demetri Sevastopulo (Finacial Times of London) and Michael Hirsh (Newsweek) about the week's events in the US and Iraq.
 
Diane Rehm: And this week, Moqtada al-Sadr threatened to call of the cease-fire.  What is weighing, Nancy?  And what does it mean for the security situation in Iraq?
 
Nancy A. Youssef: Well it's critical to the current, current political situation, because even the US conceeds that that cease-fire has been a key reason behind the recent drop in violence.  This week Nouri al-Maliki threatened that anyone with any sort of militia behind them would not be able to participate in the elections and I think that's one reason Sadr is considering his actions this week.  If he lifts it, it would substantially change the security situation and I think it would also raise questions about the directions he's headed in.  When he declared the cease-fire, many interpreted Sadr as trying to rebrand himself as a Shia nationalist.  He spent a lot of time in Iran building up his religious credentials if you will and if he lifts the cease-fire, I think that will put all of that into question.  It would also say that he's pretty confident that he can control those forces which I think many people question right now whether he can.
 
Diane Rehm: The other question that arises, Demetri, is to what extent did the diminishment in violence that occurred in Iraq come about because of the surge or because Moqtada al-Sadr declared a cease-fire?
 
Demetri Sevastopulo: Well I think depending on when you asked the US military and the commanders this question, the answer had been different.  For example, when President Bush went to Al Anbar Province last fall, as we were traveling out there, some officials said that the decline in violence there, the so-called Sunni "Awakening" where the shieks who had previously been fighting the Americans, allied themselves with Americans to take on al Qaeda.  And we were told that that was in some ways serendipity and that surge was now going to have to build on that. Other officials said no, it wasn't serendipity, the surge created the situation or the platform for that to happen.  I think it's very difficult to say.  What you see at the moment is that the cease-fire is in danger of unraveling.  Formally it's still in place.  But the violence in Basra, the violence in Basra that has also spread to Baghdad is showing that it's very volatile.  So I think, really, it's too early to tell and we're just going to have to wait and see.  And General Petraeus  yesterday warned that he was concerned the cease-fire could break.
 
Diane Rehm: So how did that upsurge in violence effect General Petraeus' comments,  Ambassador Ryan Crocker's outlook?
 
Demetri Sevastopulo: It's been a difficult one for them to address because when it started in Basra, when Nouri al-Maliki launched his offensive, President Bush said this was a defining moment -- the Iraqi Prime Minister was showing the Iraqi people that the Iraqi troops were standing up on their own two feet, they were fighting for their country. On the other hand, Genereal Petraeus, he welcomed that, but he also pointed out that the operation was poorly planned that Mr. Maliki did not take his military advice and I've been told by some of my sources that Mr. Maliki also rejected offers of support from British forces who've been in Basra albiet pulled back at the airport. 
 
[. . .]
 
Diane Rehm: Here's an e-mail from Josh in Athens, Ohio, Nancy, he says "What happened to the benchmarks that President Bush shared last year?  Has anyone forgotten what he said about marked progress?  How will we end this war?"  Nancy?
 
Nancy A. Youssef: You know, it's funny, the benchmark question came up during testimony on Capitol Hill this week from some legislators asking that very thing. The administration says that the Iraqis have met three of the eighteen benchmarks.  But Ryan Crocker, the Ambassador, was quick to point out that if the Iraqis meet the benchmarks that doesn't necessarily mean that the security situation will improve or that it will lead to political reconciliation -- which was very interesting.  And he, essentially, in saying that, really questioned what the benchmarks were for?  Was it for the Iraqis?  Or was it for the US to say here's tangiable proof that the Iraqi government is working on something?
 
Diane Rehm: So how much of what we're seeing in this upsurge is political and how much of it is military, Michael?
 
Michael Hirsh: You mean in terms of the politics here?
 
Diane Rehm: Yes, exactly.  Politics here and the politics there as well.
 
Michael Hirsh: I think it's equal parts both.  Clearly Petreaus is very serious about pursuing the surge and believes that Iraq would fail, come apart, if US troops were not there in current strength.  But at the same time Bush came out yesterday, essentially embraced Petraeus' recommendations, said there had been a strategic shift in Iraq and that we now had the initiative -- is how he put it -- and that's obviously a political message for the fall campaign for those who might be or might not be voting for McCain.  John McCain's candidacy, and the Republican ascendancy, and, I think,  Bush's legacy as he sees it is very much wrapped up in McCain being seen and Iraq being seen in a positive light as McCain goes into November.
 
Meanwhile Petreaus spoke with Katie Couric (CBS Evening News -- link has audio and text) for Thursday's broadcast and among the questions Couric put to him, "In our latest poll, 54 percent of Americans think the war is going badly.  More than half obviously.  How can you sustain this effort without more popular support here at home?"  He replied with a denial statement insisting there was progress while acknowledging that "you have to leave that to the American people, who have to be the judge ultimately, who have to weigh all the different consequences along with of course our leaders."  At the end of that segment, Couric notes, "General Petraeus also revealed for the first time that he's been engaged in secret diplomatic efforts.  In recent months, he's quietly visited several Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey, hoping to convince those governments to stop the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq." And of course Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador to Iraq, plan to visit Saudi Arabia to discuss Iraq.  Which leads one to wonder exactly what is the US Secretary of State doing? As US Senator Chuck Hagel noted Tuesday during the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting Condi Rice doesn't appear to be doing anything "Kissinger-esque".  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday hearing was reported on by Paul Richter (Los Angeles Times), "Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Biden Jr. (D-Del) noted that at least two of the presidential candidates disagreed with President Bush on overall Iraq policy.  He warned David Satterfield, the State Department's top Iraq advisor, that 'if the president persists in this course, the Congress will insist on a role in approving or disapproving' the agreements.  'This is folly!' Biden said."  The agreements sought by the White House are the Status of Forces Agreement and what's seen as a strategic framework agreement. 
 
 
Bully Boy's bad speech yesterday dominated the bulk of the press.  It was nothing new.  As US Senator Joe Biden noted of it, "The President confirmed what I've been saying for some time -- he has no plan to end this war.  His plan is to muddle through and then to hand the problem off to his successor.  So the result of the surge is that we're right back where we started before it began 15 months ago: with 140,000 troops in Iraq, spending $3 billion every week, losing 30 to 40 American lives every month -- and still no end in sight."  After week long wave of Operation Happy Talk from the administration and its surrogates, what really happened?  Peter Schmitz (Der Spiegel) observes, "Bush, in short, is changing nothing -- unless one counts the reduction in a tour of duty from 15 months to 12 months."  And that change doesn't kick in until August 1st of this year.  Anyone sent over prior to that date will be sent over on a 15 month term.  Ann McFeatters (Scripps Howard News Service) pointed to the happiness of some, "[US Senator John] McCain exulted that progress has been made, even though Petraeus stressed it is 'fragile' and reversible.'  . . . [McCain] and his buddy, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are among few optimists left in Washington." While those two got happy in the Land of Denial, Frank James (Baltimore Sun) notes John McCain's former National Security Assistant Anthony Cordsman declared this week, "The Congress, our military, and the American people deserve more than inarticulate Presidential bluster that seems to thinly camoflage a leadership vacuum."
 
 

 

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

They believe! They do!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE.
 
 
SAID BAMBI KOOL-AID DRINKER ARIEL GARFINKLE, "I THINK IT'S GREAT THAT IT HAPPENED.  IT'S LIKE WHEN A KING SPARES A LIFE.  IT ONLY MAKES ME LOVE HIM MORE.  HE IS MY GOD AND MASTER.  HE IS MY LORD.  I THINK BLIND DEVOTION TO A MAN MAKES FOR FEMINISM, OR AT LEAST PUSH-UP BRA 'FEMINISM'.  HOLD ON, I SEE A 73-YEAR-OLD WOMAN, SHE'S PROBABLY PLANNING TO VOTE FOR HILLARY SO I NEED TO GO BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HER.  PRAISE BE BAMBI.  PRAISE BE BAMBI."
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  War resistance includes resisting moves to put the draft back in place in the US so consider The Huffington Post no friend to war resisters since they insist upon running the crazy scribbles of a Bambi groupie named Frank Schaeffer who argues "progressives" (I guess that's to include the Closet Political Types and not just liberals) must support the draft and that the lack of a draft is why the illegal war drags on and that's due to an elevation of the military.  What?  Joe Lieberman tossed the 2000 election on NBC's Meet the Press when he waived all voting rules and regulations for those serving in the military who voted in Florida.  That had nothing to do with the Iraq War.  There is a glorification of the military (though not of individuals actually serving in the ranks who are ignored repeatedly in the press), there always has been.  It helps sell wars.  It's how corporations work.  Maybe Right Wing Daddy hit Frankie too hard one day but the last thing the US needs is a draft.  Wouldn't that argument, though, come from someone safely out of the age of a draft?  Yeah, it would. 
 
The lack of a draft isn't why the illegal war has dragged on.  Were there a draft in place and able to immediately implement a draft lottery on March 1, 2003, it still wouldn't have made a difference in the illegal war going on currently.  The Bully Boy believes in outsourcing.  He believes in corporate welfare.  The mercenaries (such as Blackwater) in Iraq currently would still be there even if there was a draft because the whole point -- something many generals objected to in real time (but Frankie forgets that) -- was to do the war on the cheap and to put as few boots on the ground as possible.  So a draft is nonsense, it wouldn't have made a difference.  Bully Boy wouldn't have activated it.  I'm really sick of all the closeted types hiding behind the label "progressive" but the reality is there is nothing in it for the left in calling for a draft.  That is so offensive and it would have to come from an idiot raised by a right-wing radical.  There are no standards at The Huffington Post.  We've seen that over and over.  We've seen mentally disabled children MADE FUN of by those posting articles (not comments, articles) at The Huffington Post.  There are NO standards.  Crazy Frankie loves Bambi Obama and that's good enough for Arianna.  We're not linking to that crap site.  When they thought it was okay to make fun of mentally disabled children, they crossed a serious line.  We're done with them.  And we're obviously not missing anything since Fundamentalist Frankie is a featured writer there.  (You'll note, Frankie's not a Democrat.  If they had to depend upon actual Democrats to voice support for Barack, you'd hear nothing but crickets chirping.)  The US doesn't need a draft and the left needs to loudly call that nonsense out. 
 
 
They also need to pay attention to Canada.  War resisters in Canada are attempting to be granted safe harbor.  The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue.  You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).  
 
Hearings went on today regarding Iraq and we'll note them after the reported violence in Iraq but first we'll note that, yesterday, the US Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations held a meeting presided over by Senator Bill Nelson.  Among those testifying was Mary Beth Kineston who noted at the start:
 
I hold a commercial truck driver's license and my husband John and I joined KBR on January 19, 2004 in order to go to Iraq and work for KBR at Camp Anaconda in what appeared to be an exciting and well paying truck driving job.  I would earn compensation at the rate of about $84,000.00 per year tax free when employed at KBR.  When I was hired I expected that KBR would protect my physical safety while working as far as it was able and I did not expect any special treatment merely because I was a female.  I am a hard worker and a loyal employee and can deal with my share of hardships as evidenced by the fact I voluntarily agreed to work for KBR at a forward combat basein a war zone in Iraq as a condition of my employment.  It is undisputed I was qualified for KBR employment as a truck driver at all times relevant.  However, that being said, I was not expecting to trade my self respect or right to be free from sexual assault as a condition of continued KBR employment and I did not view myself as selling my human dignity as a female employee when I accepted KBR paychecks.  I also expected that when I made a complaint about such activity, it would be thoroughly investigated in good faith, that is, with an intent to resolve the problem immediately, and that I would be protected from the perpetrator in the mean time.  I also expected that if the laws were broken by KBR relative to gender discrimination or if I were a victim of a crime I would have an adequate legal remedy for the offense.  I expected that given KBR had a sexual harassment policy and given KBR was obligated to abide by federal civil rights laws regarding gender discrimination it would protect me in the event I was a target of any sexual misconduct by co-workers.  I can assure this Committee that none of my expectations about KBR were fulfilled.
 
Along with illegal sexual harassment, being denied access to restrooms, food and water, Kineston was raped and sexually assaulted after.  She noted, "The perpetrators in my case have not spent a day in jail although they committed crimes on what amounts to in effect U.S. soil and committed acts that in this country would enver be tolerated."
 
"The bottom line," Senator Nelson stated, "is that American women working in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be assaulted while their assailants continue to go free.  Either the U.S. government has the authority to prosecute contractors for sexual assault and is failing to do so, or it doesn't have the authority or resources it needs and hasn't come to Congress.  Either way, it is a travesty."  Lesley Clark (Miami Herald) reports: "An attorney with the Defense Department told Nelson the Pentagon is ramping up efforts to stamp out sexual harassment among government contractors." That would be Assoc Dept General Counsel for Military Justice and Personnel Policy at the Dept of Defense Robert Reed who declared, "The Department of Defense has engaged in a concerted effort to combat sexual assaults within our stateside and overseas military communities.  Beginning in early 2005, over a dozen policy memorandums were issued that addressed sexual assault issues and care for victims of sexual assalt.  The Department established a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office to further these policy issues and, by June 2006, issued a DoD directive and DoD Instruction on the Sexual Assault and Prevention and Response Program.  The Program includes a netowrk of Sexual Assault and Response Coordinators and Sexual Assalut Victim Advocates who assist victims of sexual assault."  That's blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  Memos?  They issued memos?  Well that certainly is cover-your-own-ass-we've-got-documentation.  But it's not addressing the situation and they have refused to address the situation.  The programs are underfunded.  The victims are discouraged from them.  The 'justice' is non-existant.  Kim Wendel (WKYC) notes that Dawn Leamon testified of how "she was sodomized and forced to have oral sex with a soldier and a co-worker after she drank a cocktail that made her feel strange."  Maddy Sauer (ABC News) reports that when Leamon reported the sexual assaults, she was encouraged not to report it ("You know what will happen if you do") by KBR, she was "then assigned full-time security guards to her which gave her no privacy to talk about the incident, and her movements around camp were restricted, yet her attackers' movements were unrestricted."  If it sounds familiar, you may be thinking back to December when Brian Ross, Maddy Sauer and Justin Rood were reporting on 22-year-old Jamie Leigh Jones who went to Iraq to work but ended up getting gang-raped by employees for Halliburton/KBR. The rape was folloed by KBR holding Jones in a pod and denying her food, water and contact with the outside world.  A sympathetic co-worker passed her a cell phone allowing her to phone her father, "I said, 'Dad, I've been raped. I don't know what to do. I'm in this container, and I'm not able to leave."  As US Senator Hillary Clinton [PDF format warning] noted then:
 
As I hope you are all aware, recent news accounts indicate that Ms. Jones, a Halliburton/KBR employee in Baghdad, alleges she was gang-raped by her fellow employees and then held under guard against her will in a shipping container in order to prevent her from reporting the horrific crime. She states that she was denied food and water during her detention and told that she would be fired if she left Iraq to seek medical attention. More than two years later, news reports state that no U.S. government agency or department has undertaken a proper investigation of the incident. These claims must be taken seriously and the U.S. government must act immediately to investigate Ms. Jones' claims. These allegations implicate all three of your departments. If one of your departments has already launched a private investigation, I urge you to disclose your findings without delay. If no investigation has been started, I urge you to decide the proper course for an inquiry into these claims and to commence your investigation with the utmost urgency.
 
 
In Iraq, Sam Dagher (Christian Science Monitor) reports, "Since March 25, when clashes with the Mahdi Army started in Basra, Baghdad, and other parts of southern Iraq, at least 142 people have been killed and 800 wounded in Sadr City alone, according to Qassim al-Suwaidi, the hospital's director [Iman Ali Hospital].  Nearly one-third of the victims have been women and children, he says.  On Thursday, US air strikes continued to hit buildings in Sadr City and at least 15 people were killed in the district, the Mahdi Army's main Baghdad stronghold.  The US military says it is targeting 'criminals'." Targeting 'criminals'?  You heard the same excuse from the puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki during the assault on Basra. A McClatchy Newspapers Iraqi correspondent visits the area and writes (at Inside Iraq):
 
When I passed the small bridge towards the new bus station, I noticed that I couldn't hear the shouting of the drivers.  I kept walking for about five minutes and I reached the area I couldn't find the buses.  I asked a young man and he told me that they were ordered by the American and the Iraqi forces not to stop in the place and more.  I saw few American military vehicles.  The street was empty.  The Youngman told me "if you plan to walk, go through the bystreets because the American snipers may shoot you." 
 
[. . .]
 
I know there is an ongoing fight between the American and the Iraqi forces from one side and the gunmen from Sadr City on the other side but I also know very well that there are thousands of families sponsors need to leave Sadr City to work in other places.  Their life and their families needs depend on their daily wages they get.  No daily wages may mean no lunch or no dinner for these families.   People in Sadr City now suffer from the lack of food substances.  Everybody knows that empty stomachs are always angry and dangerous.  I believe that the military commanders who decided to impose the blockade on Sadr City know very well that women, old men, infants and children of Sadr City don't fight them.  What is going on now in Sadr City is seems like mass punishment.  It's not fair to punish the innocent and treat them as insurgents because they are not. 
 
Anwar Ali (NYT's Baghdad Bureau) wrote Tuesday, "At the beginning we thought that maybe things would settle down within a few days, and we would again be busy following other usual problems like mortar shells, car boms, suicide bombers and I.E.D.s.  In fact most of the people in most of the Shiite neighborhoods like ours are Sadrist, if not Mahdi Army, and they are very many.  So we thought that the government would not do anything serious here because the Sadrists are the majority, and we can find them even within the army and the police. . . .  In fact I realized that we still want to believe that the security situation is imporving and that those clashes are an illusion, and that the concrete proof of this is that we are still alive no matter what is going on around us." Kim Sengupta (Independent of London) reports, "The Iraqi capital remains under curfew after another round of bloodshed in which mortar rounds landed in Sadr City, killing seven people, including two children, and injuring 24 others.  Further gunfights in the sprawling Shia slum led to six more dying and 15 others being wounded.  The area is a centre of support for the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and came after days of clashes between his militia, the Mehdi Army, and Iraqi government forces in which 55 people have been killed and more than 200 injured.  The Shia fighters vowed last night that retribution would be taken for the 'unprovoked attack' in Sadr City which they claimed was the responsibility of the US forces."  As Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) noted earlier this week, US Ambassador Ryan Crocker was telling the US Congress this week that the passage of a bill calling for provincial elections was progress (those elections may or may not take place) but "[m]any Sadr loyalists viewed the offensive" currently going on in Iraq "as an attempt by Maliki's Dawa party and the Shiite rivals of the Sadr movement to undercut the much more popular Shiite movement prior to elections in October."  Of planned elections, Mariam Karouny (Reuters) explains that, "Major players -- such as the movement of populist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Sunni Arab tribal groups -- will be competing for the first time and are expected to make gains at the expense of those now in power. . . . The results will provide early clues on how parties will far in parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009 -- polls that will determine if Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki retains power or another leader takes his place."  Citing "an Iraqi Interior Ministry official," UPI reveals that 6 civilians have died in "the past 24 hours from two U.S. air strikes in Sadr City area in Baghdad". Presna Latina reports, "The US warplanes continue targeting civilian areas, claiming that those opposed to the Iraqi government and the foreign occupation, as the Mahdi Army militants loyal to Shia Muslim clergyman Moqtada al Sadr, are hidden there."  Iran's Press TV speaks to Salman al-Fraiji who "noted that three million inhabitants of Sadr City are presently under siege.  They are prevented from leaving and from reaching food supplies" and quotes him stating, "We will obey the orders of Moqtada al-Sadr but if the violence against the Iraqis continues, if the blood of Iraqis continues to be spilled, the ceasefire will definitely be lifted."  AFP cites, "An AFP reporter who toured Sadr City in the afternoon said streets were shaken sporadically by the sound of automatic gunfire while loud explosions were heard from time to time.  The main streets were deserted.  Residents said the roadways are primed with bombs placed by Shiite militiamen fighting US forces.  US Apache helicopters were seen flying high overhead while the sound of warplanes could be heard."
 

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Sexists for Bambi explored

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE.
 
 
THESE REPORTERS EXPLORED BAMBI GROUPIES TODAY AND MET WITH DOUG THOMPSON WHO WAS WEARING AN OBAMA SWEAT SHIRT OVER AN OBAMA T-SHIRT AND, HE SWORE, OBAMA TIGHTY-WHITES.  NOT TOO WHITE, HE'D BEEN ON A CONFRENCE CALL WITH BAMBI "AND I GOT A LITTLE EXCITED."
 
HOW HAS HE USED HIS BLOG CAPITOL HILL BLUES TO MAKE THE COUNTRY BETTER?
 
 
 
"HUH?"
 
WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN ARE TREATED.
 
"OH WOMEN ARE ALL B**CHES AND S**TS AND I CALL NANCY PELOSI THAT AND HILLARY THAT AND LET MY READERS DO IT TOO."
 
BUT RACISM AND HOMOPHOBIA AREN'T ALLOWED?
 
"RIGHT, BUT YOU GOT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE SOME FUN! OMG! THEY'RE PUTTING OUT THE NEW FLAVOR.  SUPPOSEDLY, IT'S MADE WITH THE SWEAT FROM OUR LORD AND SAVIOR OBAMA'S BROW.  THEY'RE CALLING HEAD BAND FLAVOR.  GOTTA RUN!"
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  The Guardian of London notes Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale.  Key is an Iraq War veteran who returned to the US on leave, spoke with his wife Brandi and they decided to go underground rather than for Joshua to continue fighting an illegal war.  Eventually, they and their children moved to Canada. Key suffers PTSD and is haunted by his time in Iraq.  From his book (written with Lawrence Hill), pp. 98-99:
 
Not long into our second tour of duty in Ramadi, I was working at a traffic control point, pulling over vehicles.  The standard practice was to order everybody out of the car and to have the driver open the hood and the trunk.  A black, four-door Mercedes-Benz pulled up carrying a driver and three male adult passengers.  Glancing inside the car, I spotted four grenades tucked between the two front seats.          
The driver was a young man, and he didn't say or do anything to provoke me.  However, the mere presence of those grenades set me off.  I hauled him from the car and began kicking and punching him.  An older man in the car began screaming at me in Arabic.  I could not understand a word he said, and he would not shut up, so I beat him badly too.  By the time I finished with them, both men were bleeding profusely.  With the help of my squad mates, I zipcuffed the men, threw one of them in the trunk, and stuffed the other three in the backseat.    
Sergeant Fadinetz got into the passenger seat, I jumped into the front, and we drove ten minutes through Ramadi to the police station, where we turned over the men for arrest.  I have no idea what became of them, but I do know what happened to their car: I stole it for the use of my squad.  We had no keys, so I hot-wired it and attached a switch to make it easy for my squad mates to start.  We kept the Mercedes and used it on our house raids, preferring to arrive in an unmarked vehicle to disguise our approach.   
When I beat up the two me, I justified it to myself on the grounds that they had grenades in the car.  But the truth was that, strange as it may seem to someone just outside the war, grenades were everyday items in Iraq, just like the rifles we routinely left behind on our house raids.  Although we always confiscated grenades, I had no good reason to attack the men.  My own moral judgement was disintegrating under the pressure of being a soldier, feeling vulnerable, and having no clear enemy to kill in Iraq.  We were encouraged to beat up on the enemy; given the absence of any clearly understood enemy, we picked our fights with civilians who were powerless to resist.  We knew that we would not have to account for our actions.  Because we were fearful, sleep-deprived, and jacked up on caffeine, adrenaline, and testosterone, and because our officers constantly reminded us that all Iraqis were our enemies, civilians included, it was tempting to steal, no big deal to punch, and easy to kill.  We were Americans in Iraq and we could do anything we wanted to do.
 
War resisters in Canada are attempting to be granted safe harbor.  The Canadian Parliament will debate a measure this month on that issue.  You can make your voice heard. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).  
 
Today The Petraeus & Crocker Variety Hour continued its Congressional tour.  Performances were held for the US House Armed Services Committee in the morning and the US House Committee On Foreign Affairs.  Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker stuck to the same scripts; however, Crocker tried to spice up today's matinee performances by introducing a character tic (no doubt borrowed from US Senator Barack Obama's performance yesterday) by repeated usage of the words of "Uh" and "Uhm."  In additition to allowing him to add a layer of stumbling buffoon to his performance, it also proved a time eater (think of it as Word Helper from Betty Crocker).  Since the five minute rule was enforced in both hearings, it allowed Crocker to avoid answering many things.
 
Ike Skelton chairs the House Armed Services Committee and he opened the hearings this morning noting, among other things, "We should not begin this hearing without recalling how we got here.  Iraq was invaded on incorrect information.  The turbulent aftermath following the initial military victory was not considered, despite warnings of the aftermath, including two such warnings from me.  Now we are in our sixth year of attempting to quell this horrendous aftermath.  Preparing for this hearing, I went back and read my opening statement from our last hearing with you in September.  I think I could have delivered the same statement today as I did then, which means either I repeat myself, or things haven't changed that much in Iraq."
 
After Petraeus and Crocker made the same prepared opening statements.  To comments that the US could 'stand down' when Iraq 'stood up,' Skelton would point out "we've been at this for years" (Iraq War) so "how do you do that?  How do you take the training wheels off?"  Gen David Petraeus didn't get a laugh from this yesterday but seems sure there's a laugh in somewhere, so he repeated that al-Maliki's puppet government 'stood up' in Basra ("That's exactly what Prime Minister Maliki" did "as commander in chief in Iraq!").  He stuck to the script of the puppet of the occupation deciding to assault Basra all by himself, "That was not something that we pushed him to do, candidly. ... That's something they wanted to do" and insisting that this was not a case of "us twisting their hand."  Basra, for al-Maliki, was a failure.  Petraeus might try mugging in a Norman Fell manner the next time he delivers this line.
 
US House Rep Solomon Ortiz noted the human costs and that the alleged "security gains are arguable" as well as the crisis in readiness for the military.  House Rep Silvestre Reyes would probe the issue of withdrawal and the buzz words of this tour "conditions-based" (which really needs a big production number).  By the testimony being offered by Petraeus, Reyes felt that if violence flared up in one area, Petraeus would be arguing to "reinstate the sruge" and Petraeus felt that wasn't likely and stated anything like that was something that the puppet government could take care of.
 
US House Rep Ellen Tauscher noted the opposition to the Iraq War, that more people are saying (in polls) that the Iraq war was "not worth it) and how "my constituents repeatedly tell me that we can't sustain" the costs (human and monetary).  Tauscher noted that a new president would be elected in November and sworn in at the start of 2009.  "If you report to a commander-in-chief . . . that wants a plan" for withdrawal "what would you advise?"  Petraeus stated, "My response would be dialogue again on what the risk would be."  He then tried to take the curtness off his response by noting the US military is under civilian control: "we are not self-employed, we take orders and we obey."  Tauscher moved on, "Mr. Crocker, considering that we will have a new president on January 20 . . . what would you advise the president on what would be available and how we could" withdraw?  Crocker's response was hilarious.
 
"That's looking fairly far into the future uh and I've uh learned to keep my timelines short when it uh comes to do with things in Iraq."
 
He can't see that 'far' into the future?  Eight months from now?  It's like bad Woody Allen parody.  Manhattan, Diane Keaton plays Mary, Allen's Isaac.  Mary's decided to leave Isaac for Yale who is married.
 
Isaac: I give the whole thing . . . four weeks.  
 
Mary: I can't plan that far in advance.  
 
Isaac: You can't plan four weeks in advance?
 
Mary: No.
 
Isaac: What kind of foresight is that?
 
The US Ambassador to Iraq can not ponder how he would advise the next president (elections are less than seven months away) on how to go about withdrawal if that was his or her determination.  He can't think that far ahead.
 
US House Rep Robert Andrews attempted to pin Petraeus and Crocker on the lack of political/diplomatic process in Iraq.  Crocker used a lot of words (and "uh"s and "uhm"s) to  say nothing.  At one point, he declared, "The most important power they [Iraqis] have is access to resources" which led Andrews to point out, "At this point and time the most important resource in Iraq is oil" and there's been no sharing agreement passed.  ("No, it hasn't," Crocker admitted.)  Crocker had tried to pitch the de-de-Baathification law but Andrews pointed out that this non-implemented legislation bans "former members of the Baath Party" from the military and defense occupations.  He noted that it's now five years with no progress and "why should the American people wait five more minutes for that to happen?"
 
US House Rep J. Randy Forbes expressed his worries about "housewives" and "premature withdrawal."  He appeared to be confused at what hearing he was attending and what topics were being discussed.
 
US House Rep Susan Davis noted Senator Hillary Clinton's questions to Petraeus and Crocker yesterday in the Senate Armed Services Committee about the treaty the White House wants which they call a Status of Force Agreement.  Yesterday Clinton had noted that "it seems odd to Americans" that "the Iraqi Parliament may have a chance to consider this agreement" while "the United States Congress does not."  Davis referenced that and noted, "That strikes people in our districts as strange.  I wonder if you could talk on that" and how such an agreement might or might not "be used as leverage?"
 
Crocker attempted to eat up time via "Some uh uh 80 other agreements with different countries uh uh each other country has different aspects us uh . . . uh uh this one will have uh uh . . . "  Davis wanted to know if the Status of Force Agreement was "a vehicle for leverage that would actually bring about a result that would not occur without the agreement?"  Crocker responded with, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"  Again, he was eating up time.  Davis restated again (this was really the third time she'd done so), "I'm interested in knowing how we use the State of Force Agreements for leverage?"
 
Crocker went back to his same nonsense, "I think that like other agreements, this is a geustion of mutal agreements uh uh we both have interests in uh uh . . . it's not a question of uh uh having something to give to them uh uh . . ."  Davis noted, "The public believes that there is some role that we [Congress] should be playing to be a larger part of that aggreement" but "going back to the Awakening Councils . . . I think others are concerned that the 80,000 or so of indivduals that are not going to be included in the army or police that that, perhaps, marriage of convenience is going to shift back" to violence and "is that a concern to you?"  Crocker replied, "Actually Congresswoman, we've had that discussion with the Prime Minister" who "is commited to ensuring that the remainder receive employment in the civilian sector," that they receive "job training and employment opportunites."  These are the 91,000 thugs that are costing the US $16 million a month (as Wolf Blitzer noted on CNN -- and he was referenced in the hearing for noting that the bought loyalties could easily turn).  Petreaus and Crocker repeated their points from yesterday about how, by paying them, US vehicles aren't damaged.  Again, it's the strategy of fork over your lunch money to avoid getting beat on the playground -- a strategy that must make everyone proud.
 
Howard Berman chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee and he noted at the start of the afternoon hearing, "Our witnesses are in the home stretch of a congressional testimony marathon; to some, this hearing may even seem like the fourth time around an endless loop.  That's why we are asking both Ambarassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus more or less to summarize the main points of their testimony, at their discretion, a report to Congress that has been heard once in the House and twice in the Senate already.  This way, we'll move along more quickly to the questions posed by members of the committee."  He also noted that "the surge was intended to quell the violence primarily in order to create political space for Iraqis to move on toward national reconcilliation" but that hasn't happened. 
 
US House Rep Gary Ackerman observed that "we seem to have gotten ourselves into a fix and we don't really know how to get ourselves out of it or unfix it."  He noted the many "reasons we've gotten into this mess" including non-existant WMDs, 'democracy,' "getting rid of Saddam."  After all of those various reasons, "it seems that we've achieved all of our golas and every time we do, a new goal comes up."  Ethnic violence appears to be the new excuse.  While Crocker and Petraeus have their jobs, Congress does as well and "our job is just the opposite, our job is to question.  Our job is to raise those points".  He compared the circular nonsense going on today with a WWII military song: "We're heare because we're here."  "Why are the troops there? Because we went there.  So we're there because we're there and we're there because we're there."  Which raises the question of "How do you fix it?"  Ackerman compared it to Sisyphus struggle in Greek mythology (every day he attempts to roll a rock up a mountain and has to start from the beginning each day).  So "when you can stop pushing it? . . . When does this end?  When do you stop pushing that big stone up the hill?  And the answer is you really can't see beyond that big stone . . . You can't see around it."  He noted that while the escalation/surge provides a "re-do," those who have died do not get a re-do.  What is winning?  Ackerman pointed out, "How do you know we've won because at the end of this thing, unless we decide it's an end, nobody's going to hand you a revolver, nobody's going to hand you a sword.  Nobody seems to know the answer to that question."
 
Certainly Crocker and Petraeus didn't know the answer to that question.
 
US House Rep Brad Sherman provided a summary of points raised such as, "As the chair pointed out, in our war with Saddam, it's possible the winner has been Iran."  He declared ("as Mr. Ackerman pointed out") that, "We're there because we're there." And moved to the Status of Force of Agreement wanting to know, "Will there be anything in this agreement that ties the new president's hand?"
 
Ryan Crocker: Congressman, uh uh, in a word, uh, no.
 
He asked Petraeus, "Will you begin on November 5th . . . to prepare plans to execute the policies of the incoming president or alternatively, will the incoming president . . . find a dilemma where if they order immediate withdrawal it will be an unplanned withdrawal" which would lead to more of the same currently going on (stuck in a quagmire).
 
Petraeus: Congressman, I can only serve one boss at a time.
 
"As a transition approaches," he continued, "obviously there is going to be back and forth to facilitate and not me, this will be the Secretary of Defense, the chair of the Joint Chiefs and, at some point, there will be contingency plans directed." 
 
Brad Sherman asked, "So you would expect to get contingency plans?"  And David Petraeus replied, "I'm very uncomfortable candidly describing" this.  He spooks so easy. 
He wanted Crocker to explain, considering the price of oil per barrel, "Why are we paying everything that we're paying" in Iraq?  But he was out of time.  US House Rep Dana Orbacher followed up on Sherman's questions and cautioned that "any Status of Force Agreement with Iraq" should "include a provision that the Iraqi government pay for any security that we're providing them with."  Crocker replied, "Uh, Congressman, in the last few days, uh, uhm, had that message emphasized loud and clear. . . . That's uh something" to be discussed.  Orbarcher responded that the correct answer was "yes" and "If not there's going to be trouble on the Republican side as well as the Democratic side" when the next war funding bill comes through.
 
"General, we often hear President Bush and [Senator John] McCain say we must win in Iraq," US House Rep Robert Wexler noted. "What is the definition of 'winning'?" 
 
Wexler explained that he had sought out input from his constituents as to what question they would be asking if they were on the committee.  Stuart Wolfer, 36-years-old, died in Iraq on Sunday.  He was a major on his second tour of Iraq and "his family was relieved that he was in the Green Zone because they hoped he would be safe there."  He was killed in an attack on the Green Zone.  He leaves behind a wife Lee Anne Wolfer and three daughters.  His parents, Esther and Len Wolfer, live in Boca Raton.  Len Wolfer wanted Wexler to ask, "For what?"  Wexler explained, "For what had he lost his son?  What has all this been for and please, respectfully, don't tell us as you told Senator [John] Warner [yesterday] to remove a brutal dictator.  What did Stuart Wolfer and the . . . others die for?"
 
David Petreaus: National interests.
 
 

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