Saturday, August 17, 2013

Barack teams up with teen idols

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

A SAGGY AND ELDERLY MADONNA TEAMED UP WITH BRITNEY AND CHRISTINA TO APPEAR RELEVANT, STEVIE WONDER TEAMED UP WITH DRAKE FOR THE SAME REASON.

ANOTHER FADED STAR IS FOLLOWING SUIT.

FADING STARLET BARRY O IS HOPING TO STEAL SOME OF ONE DIRECTION'S LUSTER.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, THE DALIBAMA TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "I'M GRAY AND MY BODY'S SO FLABBY.  MY APPROVAL RATING HAS FALLEN TO 40%.  I NEED THESE YOUNG BOYS TO MAKE ME POPULAR AGAIN!  IF THIS DOESN'T WORK I'M GOING TO SPREAD A RUMOR THAT I'M DATING DAKOTA FANNING!"



FROM THE TCI WIRE:




"Ten years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the better future that we seek is still a goal, not a given," Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari declared today.  He arrived in DC to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday.  Today, he delivered a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  It was not a good speech.  It was often not a factual speech.  It was a speech that showed Zebari at his worst.  

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is a Kurd as is Zebari.  Too often, both men are seen as refusing to stand up and lacking spine.  In small ways, Talabani has been able to deliver for the Kurds which is what has redeemed him with many in the Kurdistan Regional Government.  Last year,  Talabani suffered a stroke.  The incident took place late on December 17th (see the December 18th snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital.    Thursday, December 20th, he was moved to Germany.  He remains in Germany currently.

Zebari attempted a move for the presidency in early 2013, angering not just just the Talabani family but many officials of both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (Talabani's party) and of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (led by KRG President Massoud Barzani).  It was thought that Zebari was once again putting himself ahead of the Kurdish interests.  It was made clear to Zebari that should he attempt to grab the office, Hero Ibrahim Ahmed would announce she was filling the post and that she would have backing from leadership in the PUK as well as the blessing from the KDP.  Zebari's  work has too often been seen to benefit Nouri al-Maliki and not the Kurds.  His statements have too often seem to leave out Sunnis which especially became an issue when the Kurds began attempting to improve relations in 2011.  Most of all, an attempt to seize the post could remove the presidency from Kurdish control.  That is why the First Lady of Iraq reluctantly agreed with the leadership of the two major political parties in the KRG that if anyone should attempt to grab the post, she would announce she was assuming the role while her husband recovered.  Such a move would be popular with many Kurds but would also play well across Iraq due to the sympathies over Jalal's stroke.

Zebari's speech did nothing to redeem his image.


Minister Hoshyar Zebari: As Iraqis rebuild our own country, Iraq and the United States will benefit by building a longterm partnership. Together, we can and must develop what President Obama has described as "a normal relationship between sovereign nations, an equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect."  With our political progress, our economic progress, and our diplomatic progress, Iraq is taking its place as a partner for the United States, for our neighbors, and for the family of nations. On the political front, we are building a multi-ethnic, multi-party democracy, with respect for the rule of law. Our democratic process is moving forward at a strong and steady pace. Our local elections took place in April of this year. In Iraqi Kurdistan, there would be regional elections in September this year.  


First major screw up.  Anbar and Nineveh were not allowed to vote in April.  The two provinces were penalized by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for their ongoing protests.  He said it was due to violence.  A lie.  Baghdad Province had more violence at that time.  He provided other excuses (such as voter theft), none were believed.  The so-called Independent High Electoral Commission was against the delay and was the only individual or body who could legally authorize it.  Allowing Nouri to get away with postponing elections set a dangerous precedent.  Anbar and Nineveh were finally allowed to vote in July.  To no one's surprise, Nouri's State of Law faired poorly in the elections.

Zebari may have been attempting to smooth over differences but to Sunnis it will appear that 'their' Foreign Minister (Sunnis are Iraqis too) has yet again sleighted them -- and this time on the international stage. 

Hoshyar Zebari:  And our legislative elections, generral elections will take place next year  -- which will determine our national leadership -- a very, very important date to watch. We have a government of national unity. Now all the communities participate in the working of the government and of the Parliament.  


No.  By "the working of the government," he means the Cabinet.  Iraqiya walked out this summer.  Do not point to Saleh al-Mutlaq or any other person.  The leader of Iraqiya is Ayad Allawi.  In June, Sarah Montague (BBC Hardtalk) did one of her hard hitting interviews where she takes an adversarial position.  This interview was with Ayad Allawi, leader of Iraqiya.  He noted Iraqiya walked out of the Cabinet and that any who remained were not Iraqiya members.  Zebari betrays many by refusing to acknowledge The Erbil Agreement or Nouri's failure to honor it.

 

Hoshyar Zebari:  Yes, we have differences of opinion, as all democracies do, but we are working together and slowly but surely our efforts are achieving results.  We are promoting human rights.  There has been violations, which we admit, but there are constant efforts to improve on that. and to be responsive to all codes and also the freedom of expression and the advancements of women.  There has been demonstrations and sit-ins in Iraq in many provinces, in western part of Iraq and some Sunni provinces in Iraq for the last eight months and they have kept [can't make out the word], they have sit-ins, they have obstructions, but the government have not resorted to the same methods the Egyptians recently used or deployed to disperse the demonstrators.


First off, don't e-mail that Zebari didn't say it.  He did.  It's not in prepared remarks.  I know that.  I was e-mailed the prepared remarks (as were many, I see, by looking at the cc).  Zebari went off script and did so without stumbling which indicates to me he didn't want Nouri to know he was mentioning the protests.

Second, what?

Nouri's thugs have intimidated, harassed and followed protesters.  In single digits, his forces have been responsible for deaths at protests several times in the last eight months.  That's not even allowing for the refusal to allow journalists near to cover the protests or his arrests of journalists who try to cover the protests.  

Third, the April 23rd massacre of a sit-in in Hawija resulted from  Nouri's federal forces storming in.  Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk)  announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault.   AFP reported the death toll rose to 53 dead.  UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).


It is not a minor event.  The International Crisis Group noted this week

 After Hawija, Iraq is on the brink of a relapse into generalised conflict, confronted with a resurgence of Sunni militant operations, the strengthening of al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and waves of attacks fuelling sectarian tensions. The government has tightened security measures even further, exacerbating the divide between Sunni constituents and central authorities.


Zebari lied and let's also remember the attack took place over the objection of the governor of Kirkuk.  Shalaw Mohammed (Niqash) interviewed Governor Najm al-Din Karim back in May:


NIQASH: Let’s talk about the controversial Tigris Operations Command. It’s caused several crises around here. What’s your opinion on this Iraqi military base?




Al-Din Karim: Neither I, as governor, nor the provincial council have changed our opinions on this issue. We don’t want the Tigris Operations Command here and we don’t accept their presence. Although we have agreed to form a committee in Baghdad to try and resolve this impasse.



NIQASH: The incidents in Hawija, where protestors were killed by the Iraqi military, also seems to have seen more Iraqi army forces enter Kirkuk.



Al-Din Karim: Actually those forces did not come through Kirkuk - they entered Hawija by helicopter. They tried to come through Kirkuk but we prevented them from doing so. I know the Prime Minister disapproved of this – he told me so last time we met.


Not exactly the rosy picture Zebari painted.


During the Q and A, Zebari got a little more honest, for a brief second.


Hoshyar Zebari: As I said before, really we have demonstrations, sit-ins, all over the country for the past eight months and the government never resorted to the kind of violence -- except in one or two incidences in Haiwja.  And I'm not here to justify this violations whatsoever.  But really the government has tolerated this so far to go on without any intimidations.


Back to his speech:


Hoshyar Zebari:  All the political parties have accepted election as a method of power-sharing and peaceful change. Iraqis want to decide our future with voting, not violence. On the economic front , we are growing and diversifying. We have one of the world’s ten fastest growing economies, expanding by 9.6 percent in 2011 and 10.5 percent in 2012. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, we will grow by 8.2 percent this year -- beating China for the third straight year. On the energy front, our oil production has increased by 50 percent since 2005. Iraq expects to increase oil production to 4.5 million barrels by the end of 2014 and nine million barrels a day by 2020. As the International Energy Agency has reported, Iraq is poised to double our output of oil by the decade of the 2030’s. We will emerge as the world’s second largest energy exporter. And we will ease a strained global oil market. In spite of this progress, we face serious economic problems. Ninety percent of our economy depends on oil. Our unemployment rate is 11 percent. Our poverty rate is 23 percent. Terrorism 3 contributes to the cycle of poverty, and young unemployed men can be ready recruits for terrorist groups. In order to diversify our economy beyond energy, Iraq is investing oil revenues in education and crucial development projects, incl uding restoring electrical power and rebuilding our transportation system. 


Most experts argue Iraq's unemployment rate is actually 21% or higher.  As for diversifying the economy, Nouri's been promising that since 2006.  Too bad for Nouri, the only high ranking official who worked on that was Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.  As Sami Moubayed (Gulf News) reminds:


Iraqi Sunnis, for sure, are furious. Al Maliki has blamed them for the deteriorating security. Further, he has systematically purged leading Sunnis from his government, like Vice-President Tareq Al Hashemi, who was sent into exile, and Finance Minister Rafia Al Issawi, who barely escaped an assassination attempt in 2012. The Baathists are still taboo in Iraqi politics. Al Maliki is the man who single-handedly wrote off the execution of every single senior Sunni of the former regime, including Saddam himself.


Lara Jakes (AP) reports Zebari noted today that Iraq needed US "advisers, intellgence analysis and surveillance assets -- including lethal drones."    Jakes (AP) reported this morning on Iraq and how it is being shoved aside in the news cycle by other events.  It wouldn't have opened the snapshot were it not for Zebari's speech.  We would have opened with the illegal spying.  The plan was to include a new report on Iraq and to explore Nouri's 'leadership' and a third term.  That's getting shoved back to next week, hopefully Monday.  We will also likely return to Zebari's speech to note more from the questions and answer section.


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Friday, August 16, 2013

Another of his screw ups

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

CELEBRTIY IN CHIEF BARRY O -- AKA THE DALIBAMA -- EMERGED YESTERDAY FROM HIS  CHARITY WORK MINISTERING TO THE POOR AND NEEDY IN THE GHETTO OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD AS HE ATTEMPTED TO FIX YET ANOTHER OF HIS F**K UPS.


HAVING FAILED TO FOLLOW THE LAW -- AGAIN -- WITH REGARDS TO THE U.S. BEING REQUIRED TO CUT OFF FOREIGN AID TO A COUNTRY FOLLOWING A MILITARY COUP, THE SLAUGHTER GOING ON EGYPT FORCED BARRY O TO ISSUE A WEAK CONDEMNATION AND ANNOUNCE THAT U.S. TROOPS WOULD NOT BE PARTICIPATING IN JOINT EXERCISES WITH THE EGYPTIAN MILITARY.


DALIBAMA TOLD THESE REPORTERS THAT WHAT WAS "WAY COOL" WAS HE GOT TO "ROCK MY RICK SPRINGFIELD AND DON JOHNSON LOOK, DID YOU CATCH IT?  JACKET, NO TIE! I'M SUCH AN UTTER 80S WHORE!"

INDEED.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:




Yesterday, Bradley Manning spoke for three minutes in the military proceedings against him.  Paul Courson (CNN) explains:

Convicted leaker Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acknowledged Wednesday that by leaking tens of thousands of pages of classified documents he "hurt people and hurt the United States."
"I understood what I was doing was wrong but I didn't appreciate the broader effects of my actions," he said during his sentencing hearing at Maryland's Fort Meade. "I only wanted to help people, not hurt people."

That's fairly straightforward but appears to confuse Alexa O'Brien and some in her circle.  Reflecting on their statements today, I was reminded of film director Angela Garcia Combs sharing at Women and Hollywood Monday an observation of the late Karen Black:


Karen once described to me a great lesson she learned from Lee Strasberg. She was a young actress in his class attempting to grow her craft, yet she didn't like him. What he said didn't sit right with her, somehow his personality rubbed her the wrong way, but she had trouble putting her finger on it. One day, however, Strasberg was as usual pontificating before his class, yet he was not wearing his trademark suspenders. As he lectured, he nervously fiddled with his now imaginary prop and it occurred to Karen that for all his undoubted wisdom, Strasberg was not living in the present. Her observation of Strasberg's simple conditioned response freed her. She realized that living in the present, recognizing something as simple as what is there, rather than imposing what we wish to be there -- this is was what it would take to inhabit the characters she was to play, and thus ended her relationship with the esteemed pedagogue. Karen was a great observer of human nature and she could see when someone was not in the present. Karen inhabited the present.


Alexa O'Brien appears to be unable to live in the present as well.  Whether than report what happened yesterday, she's invented these alternative realities and is making so many ridiculous statements such as this in her dotty performance on Democracy Now! today:

Now, of course, it didn’t come in the package that people expected it to come in. It actually came in a very sort of—I would actually characterize it as an earnest and sincere package. People have to understand something: Bradley Manning is more of a moral character than he is a political one. Why are people so moved by Bradley Manning? Why do people say, "I am Bradley Manning?" Because his acts were fundamentally an act of conscience.

If you are a friend of Alexa's you might encourage her to stop imploding publicly.  She had a shot at a career in journalism.  But reporters don't dish in "a moral character."  /Even columnists -- those not named Gail Collins -- try to avoid that kind of nonsense.  And people said "I am Bradley Manning" to show solidarity with him.

Words have impact.

As I noted yesterday, I fault attorney David Coombs for Bradley's statements.  But whomever you blame or credit, the statements drive away support.  That's reality, start addressing it.

I would hope grown ups could.  I don't know about Alexa.

  1. Bradley Manning did not say he harmed the US. He said he hurt the US. I think there is a difference.

Am I the only not just thinking O'Brien's splitting hairs but also remembering the scene in Love & Death between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton?

Boris:  Sonya, are you scared of dying?

Sonya:  Scared is the wrong word.  I'm frightened of it

Boris:  (mocking) That's an interesting distinction


The statement Bradley made was stupid and ignorant -- regardless of who came up with it.  All along, the talk has been of a win on appeal.  That especially became the case as observers with any knowledge of the law watched David Coombs bungle repeatedly.  So if you have Bradley make a statement, you make it a rousing one that will rally the supporters.  It was stupid not to have done that.


Danny Schechter (News Dissector) observed this morning, "It was a humiliating day for Bradley Manning and his supporter who have been lobbying for him to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. He finally had a chance to have his say in court and he opted to seek mercy and perhaps a reduced sentence by apologizing."

David Swanson (War Is A Crime) offered his reaction:

I sat in the courtroom all day on Wednesday as Bradley Manning's trial wound its way to a tragic and demoralizing conclusion.  I wanted to hear Eugene Debs, and instead I was trapped there, watching Socrates reach for the hemlock and gulp it down.  Just a few minutes in and I wanted to scream or shout.
I don't blame Bradley Manning for apologizing for his actions and effectively begging for the court's mercy.  He's on trial in a system rigged against him.  The commander in chief declared him guilty long ago.  He's been convicted.  The judge has been offered a promotion.  The prosecution has been given a playing field slanted steeply in its favor.  Why should Manning not follow the only advice anyone's ever given him and seek to minimize his sentence?  Maybe he actually believes that what he did was wrong.  But -- wow -- does it make for some perverse palaver in the courtroom.




There is a wide range of reactions to Bradley's remarks.  Many were voiced last night in the roundtable for the special gina & krista round-robin published this morning.  Mike shared his reaction at his site:


I kind of thought what Bradley did was brave and the right thing to do.
Now that he's apologized will those celebs in the "I Am Bradley Manning" video join him in apologizing?
I don't know what to say.
I advocated on his behalf and I defended him.
Today he apologizes and tells the court he was wrong.
Whatever, huh?
He and his support network can have each other because I'm done with him.
As I explained in a roundtable we did tonight, other people should do what they want.
But I do have a law degree.  I did public defending pro bono.
And you don't do what Brad did today.  Not to lessen a sentence (or try to).  You don't disown actions you're proud of.
Bradley's lost his ethical high ground now.

Others can defend him.  I won't attack them for it (in the community or out).  But I'm done with him.
I've got a life and I'll be living it no longer worrying about him.  He disowned his actions?
I supported those actions.
I'm done supporting him.  And since he's admitted to damaging the country (yeah, he said that too), he'll get whatever sentence Col. Denise Lind gives him.  And if she now throws the book at him, oh well.  That's his problem.




(Added) Marcia shared her reaction to the 'defense':

But as a member of the LGBT community, I feel betrayed by the 'defense' David Coombs presented.
Brad is not, you understand, a brave person who came forward and did the right thing.
No, he's a dirty pervert with a sickness and, in the best tradition of burn the witch, Brad is forced to confess his sins and admit to damaging the country.
I'm real damn sorry that David Coombs is such a stupid ass and transphobe, but I'm even sorrier that Brad's name is now muddied.
I'm sorry that what he did is now on record as being a result of a 'perversion.'
Being transgendered is not "disorder."
Coombs had a right to defend his client.
He did not have a right to do so by spitting on the LGBT community.
To put on the stand witnesses testifying to a "disorder" was spitting on us.  In the early 90s, that "disorder" could have been same sex attraction.
I have nothing but support for Brad but David Coombs is a transphobe and a homophobe.  (Homophobe?  He repeatedly equated trans as "gay."  Women trapped in men's bodies are not "gay," they are transgendered.)



Of Bradley's statements, Alexa O'Brien declared on Democracy Now! today (with a straight face but while rocking herself back and forth), "So, it’s very much in line with, I think, what’s been a really actually successful defense strategy on Coombs’s part, is to lay it all out there and show how it all fits together."

Successful defense?  John Knefel (Rolling Stone) noted Colonel Denise Lind found Bradley "guilt of 20 other counts, which could get him up to 136 years in military prison." We should probably point out that Bradley won't get the death penalty but that's only because the military took it off the list of options before the court-martial began.  So how has Coombs mounted a successful defense?  In what crazy world does Alexa O'Brien live when you're found guilty of all but two counts against you and are now facing the possibility of over 100 years behind bars?


The Bradley Manning Support Network is attempting to mount a response for when Lind announces the government's sentence against Bradley.  Kat noted that last night and offered:

Are you kidding me?
In this heat?  You want me to demonstrate in this heat?
For someone who says they were wrong to do what they did?  For someone who says their actions damaged the country?
Forget that.  Since May 2010, I have wasted my time on Bradley Manning.  I've done so here, in pieces co-written with Third and over and over in various groups we've spoken to around the country.
I could have used that time on other issues, I could have used it for pleasure.

I used it on Brad because I believed in what he did.  Now that he apparently does not, I don't have time for him.  Sorry.
Don't give me that crap that he's facing life behind bars.
His statements today do not change that.
What they did is renounce a powerful stand.
I don't have time to fight for those who won't fight for themselves, sorry.
Some in the community (we did a round-table for a special gina & krista roundtable that will be in inboxes tomorrow morning) are of the opinion that Coombs is entirely responsible.  That's fine.  I respect them and their opinion.  But Bradley made his statements today and, I repeat, I don't have the time to fight for those who won't fight for themselves.



I pin the blame on Coombs and do so because he's the attorney who is supposed to advise the client.  If the statements were Bradley's idea (if!), Coombs should have explained the damage they do in terms of public support and in terms of an appeal.

I'm sorry, let's walk it through.  Bradley hires a functional attorney like Marjorie Cohn or Michael Ratner for an appeal.  That would be a great move.  But what would Cohn or Ratner have to work with. "Your honor, Bradley Manning is a whistle-blower and his actions helped many ---"  At what point does the prosecution jump in to point out that Bradley disowned the actions in his statement to the court and admitted he had "hurt" the United States?

I blame Coombs.  But whomever you fault or credit, you're allowed your reaction.  After three years plus of defending Bradley, you're allowed to feel negatively about his statement in court yesterday.  Kat and Mike are done with him.  That's not an unnatural response.  There are others who will feel the same way.  Living in denial or attempting to impose it on others (I'm not sure which O'Brien is doing) will not change the way people feel.


Before I go further, as Kat noted in her post last night, I say Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com) has the right to shout, "I was right!"  He was.  I had hoped he was wrong.  But from the start of Coombs' nonsense, Raimondo called it out.  (I wrongly thought that when the court-martial started we would see some grand plan for a defense where it all made sense. That never happened.)  Raimondo caught on to the nonsense of David Coombs, to how he distracted and wasted support early on.  I was wrong -- I often am -- and Justin Raimondo was right.  Good for him.

Back to the statement Bradley made.  It included, "How on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better over the decisions of those with the proper authority?"  That also bothers people because people do make a difference.   Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn't decide, "I'm a Christian minister.  How could I make a difference over the decisions of those with the proper authority."  But let's not just make this about the left.  I can't stand Phyllis Schlafly or the beliefs she extolls.  But she apparently believes in her stated beliefs and she never let anything stop her from pushing them.  This is a woman who ran for Congress in the fifties.  She lost, so what.  At a time when there were 96 US Senators and only one was a woman (Senator Margaret Chase) and when there were 435 House Reps but only 7 were women (Edna Flannery Kelly, Katharine St. George, Frances P. Bolton, Marguerite S. Church, Vera Buchanan, Reva Beck Bosone and Elizabeth Kee), Shlafly felt she -- one person -- could make a difference and she ran.

The belief that one person can make a difference is not rooted in left or right politics, it's a belief that belongs to all.  It's in religions, including missionary religions, it's in children's fables  and is the whole point of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes."

The Emperor's got no clothes on
No clothes? That can't be -- he's the Emperor
Take that child away
Don't let the people hear the words he has to say
One small voice
Speaking out in honesty
Silenced, but not for long
One small voice
Speaking with the values we were taught as children
[. . .]
You can change the world
But you better be strong.
-- "One Small Voice," written by Carole King, first appears on her Speeding Time

This is what we are taught as children, as Carole's song so aptly points out.  So for Bradley's statement to go against the grain on that as well is going to leave many feeling less than thrilled.   At World Can't Wait, Dennis Loo compiles a list of the many ways Bradley's actions did make a difference.  WikiLeaks released a statement which included:


But Mr. Manning's options have run out. The only currency this military court will take is Bradley Manning's humiliation. In light of this, Mr. Manning's forced decision to apologise to the US government in the hope of shaving a decade or more off his sentence must be regarded with compassion and understanding.
Mr. Manning's apology is a statement extorted from him under the overbearing weight of the United States military justice system. It took three years and millions of dollars to extract two minutes of tactical remorse from this brave soldier.
Bradley Manning's apology was extracted by force, but in a just court the US government would be apologizing to Bradley Manning. As over 100,000 signatories of his Nobel Peace Prize nomination attest, Bradley Manning has changed the world for the better. He remains a symbol of courage and humanitarian resistance.
Mr. Manning's apology shows that as far as his sentencing is concerned there are still decades to play for. Public pressure on Bradley Manning's military court must intensify in these final days before the sentencing decision against him is made.
WikiLeaks continues to support Bradley Manning, and will continue to campaign for his unconditional release.


There are a wide range of opinions and stands.  Pretending that Bradley didn't say what he said or that the defense has been a success?  That's not opinion that's slash fiction.  And don't pretend you covered the issues if you never explored counter-insurgency.  Pauline Jelinek and David Dishneau (AP) explore the many issues of the hearing including counter-insurgency:


COUNTERINSURGENCY CAMPAIGNS • Manning was disturbed by what he saw at war, including the civilian deaths and tactics that turned the local populations in Iraq and Afghanistan against U.S. and other foreign troops. Those are issues that frustrated other troops who served, up to the war’s highest commanders.


Manning said he hoped exposing how America fought in Iraq and Afghanistan might prompt debate and reform of its counterinsurgency strategy, which created the battlefield around any corner and any village and neighborhood — and, as Manning said, often produced resentment and lack of cooperation among the people of both nations.


Ritchie said the question of Manning’s motives is interesting on various levels.


Yes, Bradley did say he wanted to start a debate on counter-insurgency.  Too bad for Bradley, most people weren't up to it - -hadn't been for over a decade.  How did counter-insurgency become 'respectable'?  The Carr Center at Harvard and places where other academic whores gather.  Review Adam Curtis (BBC News) 2012 report and marvel over how counter-insurgency went from being so reviled during the Vietnam era that the US military disowned it, to staging a comeback in the 00's.  It took a lot of silence for that to happen and you can look to The Nation magazine which refused to call it out (I'm not forgetting Tom Hayden's piece -- I'm also not forgetting that it first appeared elsewhere and that in all the years that have followed no one at The Nation bothered to ever weigh in).  Look to The Progressive magazine which never called it out.

Excuse me, The Progressive wasn't just silent.  We often note Samantha Power blurbed the military's counter-insurgency manual.  I never would have known that were it not for the ad for the military's manual that ran in The Progressive.  So the magazine didn't just remain silent, it accepted money to promote war on a native population.

Counter-insurgency was mentioned by Bradley in his court-martial.  It was mentioned by witnesses (including one this week) but where was the coverage?  AP reported on it.  Kelley Beaucar Vlahos (Antiwar.com) has written of it many times including this week in a column on Iraq:

 Currently, I am reading (Ret) Col. Gian Gentile’s new book, Wrong Turn: America’s Deadly Embrace of Counterinsurgency. Gentile is a friend of Antiwar.com, having sat for an interview back in 2009. His consistent criticism of counterinsurgency (COIN) amid the unprecedented drumbeat for it by the civilian and military power establishment was both vilified (by COINdinistas) and welcome to those of us opposed to U.S war policy overseas. In his book, he has the last say, gazing on the ruins of American power in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everything he predicted then is playing out each night on the (very) brief news reports about Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) attacks against Maliki’s government and the civilian populace. But we doubt Gentile, who fought in Iraq during its deadliest moments in 2005, is taking any satisfaction.


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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Clapper as Court Appointed Critic or Jester?

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

AFTER THE CAREER LOW OF THE CRITICAL REACTION TO HIS RECENT PERFORMANCE ART (SEE "Barry O hides out after blistering reviews" AND "THIS JUST IN! BARRY O, ARTIST IN HIDING!"), FADING STARLET BARRY O HAS SEIZED ON A WAY TO ENSURE HIS NEXT REVIEW IS A WINNER -- HE'S ASSIGNED LACKEY AND PROFESSIONAL LIAR JAMES CLAPPER -- CLAP OFF, CLAP ON, THE CLAPPER -- TO REVIEW THE ILLEGAL SPYING.

"AMERICA TRUSTS JAMES," BARRY O TOLD THESE REPORTERS THIS MORNING AS HE DID COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR YESTERDAY'S LOBSTER POACHING.  "THEY TRUST HIM TO DO RIGHT BY ME, TO SING MY PRAISES, TO REMIND THEM HOW FAIR I AM."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Law and Disorder Radio  is a weekly, hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights).  It addresses civil liberties issues, government abuses and more.  Heidi is the Executive Director of The National Lawyers Guild (the link with her name goes to that site) and the author of a new book.  She's also Queen of the Zeitgeist.  Doubt it?  Dropping back to the September 24, 2010 snapshot:

Meanwhile Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) reports, "The FBI is confirming that this morning they began a number of 'raids' against the homes of antiwar activists, claiming that they are 'seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism'."  Karmically, the news breaks on the same day that the National Lawyers Guild issues a new report, Heidi Boghosian's [PDF format warning] "The Policing of Political Speech: Constraints on Mass Dissent in the US." .In her intro, Boghosian notes, "To know that the United States is undergoing a highly orchestrated curtailment of personal and political liberties, one need not look further than police treatment of protesters in the streets. Those who speak out against government policies increasingly face many of the same types of weaponry used by the U.S. governmen tin its military operations."


In 2010, she was right there with a report on spying just as the news of government spying broke.  And in the midst of revelations about Barack's illegal spying on Americans, Heidi's book   Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power and Public Resistance was released last week.   (And discussed on yesterday's Law and Disorder Radio  with plans for a longer discussion of the book to take place in three or so weeks -- yesterday's discussion is excerpted in yesterday's snapshot.)  From Heidi's new book:




The FBI's counterintelligence programs (COINTELPRO) brought shame to the reputation of the bureau, and for good reason.  The covert and manipulative programs sought to destroy influential and effective leaders of civil rights and other political movements, as well as other politically active individuals, through a series of insidious immoral, and frequently illegal actions. Operations aimed at "neutralizing" critics of government policies included defamation, libel, assault, poisoning, entrapment, and even assassination.  COINTELPRO illustrates the ease with which domestic intelligence initiatives can escalate to warlike counterintelligence maneuvers, employed unlawfully and with total impunity, accountable to no branch of  government.  
An FBI wiretap of the Black Panther Party headquarters in 1970 revealed that actress Jean Seberg was pregnant, and not by French writer Romain Gary, her estranged husband.  An FBI memo noted, "Jean Seberg has been a financial supporter of the BPP and should be neutralized.  Her current pregnancy by [name deleted] while still married affords an opportunity for such efforts."  In addition to giving money to the Panthers, Seberg had spoken out against U.S. war policies and racism.  The bureau's leaks that she was carrying the child of a Panther resulted in news headlines such as A BLACK PANTHER'S THE PAPPY OF A CERTAIN FILM QUEEN'S EXPECTED BABY.  On August 7, Seberg tried to kill herself by taking an overdose of sleeping pills; on August 20 her baby was born prematurely and died.  For the next several years, Seberg grew depressed, attempted suicide each year on the anniversary of her baby's death, and finally succeeded on August 20, 1979.


As I've noted before I knew Jean Seberg.  When I hear people today say, "I have nothing to hide," my honest thought is, "Oh, you poor, little idiot, you don't have a clue."

The government doesn't need to know your personal business at all.  But when it has known, it has generally abused that knowledge.  They learned of Jean's pregnancy via a phone call Jean made.  And they went after her.  And the reality of that is still not honestly told today.

That's not a slam at Heidi.  When I heard the book would mention Jean, I got an advanced copy because I wanted to see if Heidi bought into the revisionary lies -- lies only possible because Romain is dead.  No, Heidi doesn't.  She stays on the factual path and good for her.

But the reality no one wants to talk about -- the reason Joyce Haber, a gossip columnist, is trashed and falsely made into the bad guy -- is because Jean's pregnancy resulted in the full weight of the US government being brought down on her, an American citizen.

The FBI passed a tip to Haber's editor who passed it to Haber without telling her where it came from but while vouching for the source.  (The editor, Bill Thomas, may not like that reality being know but the tip is in Joyce's files and it includes his handwritten note vouching for the source.)  Haber ran a blind item.  In May of 1970.  Not a big thing, Haber ran blind items all the time.  The only one really 'harmed' by the item was possibly Jane Fonda since the item could have described her in the minds of most Americans who knew she had lived in France and married a French man.  Jean Seberg was in many big films and a celebrity but her personal life was not as widely known (and followed) to the degree that Jane's was.  Even now, the events of Jane's day to day life are more widely known than that of most other actresses.  Jane's personal life has always resulted in the public's interest and the press' coverage.  Those who followed coverage of actresses in 1970 might also have concluded the item was about Barbara Hershey, Mia Farrow or some other actress identified with social causes.  But, again, for most Americans who read the blind item, the obvious choice would have been Jane Fonda because she was the biggest name and the most widely covered (and publicly active in the Native American Movement as well as in the Black Panther Movement).

Jean tries to take her life in August.  That's a result of Edward Behr and Newsweek.  Behr is the one who writes a 'report' for Newsweek in August that states Jean Seberg is pregnant by a Black Panther.  It's not a blind item: "She and French author Romain Gary, 56, are reportedly about to remarry even though the baby Jean expects in October is by another man -- a black activist she met in California."

And unlike Joyce Haber's blind item, Newsweek is all over the country and in public and school libraries including Jean's home state of Iowa where her parents live and where she's now branded an "adulteress."  And the Des Moines Register reports on the Newsweek item (they didn't on the Haber item).   Jean was not embarrassed that the world would think she was having a child by an African-American male -- a point that is often missed.  (And the man was actually Latino -- and not a Black Panther or an American -- or in America.)  She was not even thinking, "This will destroy my career!"  She was appalled that her personal life was being exposed to the world and specifically to members of her hometown and to her parents.  Adulteress.  I've been called far worse but I don't give a s**t and never have.  Jean didn't splash her personal life in the papers.  And being called (the judgmental) term of "adulteress" in 1970 could bring shame to someone's family.

There was no reason for Edward Behr to print that.  First off, it wasn't true.  (The father was an activist in Mexico.) Second, true or not, Romain was publicly the child's father and Newsweek and Behr had no business stepping into that issue -- there is such a thing as right to privacy and there was no 'right to know' or 'need to know' with regards to who the father of her baby was.

And Romain Gary sued Newsweek and wrote "The Big Knife" for France-Soir blaming Newsweek for the death of the child.

How does this get missed?

Because Jean wasn't just targeted by the FBI.  That's the little secret that leads to the lies of "It's Joyce Harber!"  Behr and Newsweek were doing the bidding of the CIA.  Newsweek frequently did the bidding of the CIA -- a reason so many of us don't give a damn if that piece of trash publication goes down the toilet.  Behr was in France.  The CIA ran the smear operation against Jean overseas, not the FBI.

Jean was an American citizen.  Her life was in France.  She returned to the US only for a film role or to visit her family.  She was not Jane who was on college campuses, in GI coffee houses and all over the country.  Jane was targeted and she did not deserve to be, no American does for exercising their First Amendment rights.  But my point here is that Jean was very minor in the US -- both in terms of her actions and in terms of her films.  (Even now, she's most famous for the French new wave classic Breathless.)

Yet the US government used information on her, misinformation, to try to destroy her.  The FBI and the CIA, under Tricky Dick, went after her and tried to publicly humiliate her while she was in the advance stages of her pregnancy, fully aware that their actions might result in a miscarriage.

So when someone today insists, "I don't have anything to hide," they're being foolish.

Under both Barack and Bully Boy Bush, there have been attempts to spy on foreign diplomats.  Under Bully Boy Bush, it was an attempt at the United Nations.


From Friday's snapshot:

 
KPFA broadcast the (brief) press conference live during Living Room and guest host Kevin Pina and guests Shahid Buttar (Bill of Rights Defense Committee) and Marcia Mitchell (author of The Spy Who Tried To Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion).  Buttar weighed in first on the press conference.

[. . .]
 Kevin Pina:  Now of course Katharine -- just to remind people, Marcia, Katharine was -- tell us who Katharine Gun was.

Marcia Mitchell:  Katharine Gun was a British secret service officer working for GCH2 which, as we know, is NSA's prime partner in the surveillance business.  And she was at her computer on the morning of January 31, 2003 during the debate about the legitimacy of invading Iraq.

Kevin Pina:  Now this is in the United Nations Security Council debate.

Marcia Mitchell:  Yes.  And she then saw on her computer from our NSA, from Frank Kosa, from the NSA inviting GCH2 to join in an illegal spy operation against members -- specific members of the UN Security Council -- those who had the swing vote as to whether or not we would have a new resolution to invade Iraq.  And those who were supporting the resolution, specifically Bush and Blair, were very passionate about getting this because they were concerned about Resolution 1441 which allowed inspections was not sufficient to allow invasion.

Kevin Pina:  So Katharine Gun basically blew the whistle on an NSA--

Marcia Mitchell:  Absolutely.

Kevin Pina (Con't): -- surveillance program on members of the United Nations Security Council who had the swing votes to approve  a US-sponsored resolution to invade Iraq.

Marcia Mitchell:  Right.  And the reason given in the message that Katharine read was to influence these voters to the US way of thinking.  And that message indicated that they would not only be doing not only the business offices of these UN security members but really their personal lives as well.  So what we were looking at really is high stakes blackmail.  This was a way to get information on these six men to get them to vote on behalf of the US-UK position.



In 2003, the US government was prepared to spy on and blackmail members of the UN Security Council to get them to vote for war on Iraq.  If they wanted to start a war on that scale again, and now having all this stored data on Americans phone calls and e-mails, what makes you think they wouldn't use it against American activists opposed to war in order to try to shut them up?

That's not possible?  The US government would only attempt to spy and blackmail foreign diplomats?  If you really believe that then Heidi Boghosian's Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power and Public Resistance is not only an excellent book, it's also a must read.

 And to those who say they have nothing to hide, uh, excuse me, who ever said the US government was an honest broker when it came to smear campaigns.  J. Edgar Hoover authorized the FBI to smear Jean.  He appears to have believed she was pregnant by a Black Panther.  But the CIA spied on Jean in Mexico.  They knew of that affair.  They also most likely knew the man was the father.  That didn't stop them from spreading what they hoped was the more damning rumor: Jean pregnant by a Black Panther!  (As opposed to Jean pregnant by a Mexican activist -- which wouldn't alarm as many Americans in 1970.  The Black Panthers was a domestic movement, so an activist working in another country would appear 'exotic' and Lucy and Ricky and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez had long ago made most Americans comfortable with White and Latino coupling.)

Yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints, guest host Kevin Pina spoke with the ACLU's Kade Crockford about the ongoing spying.


Kade Crockford:   The notion that the government may in fact already be collecting all of this data about every single one of us and holding onto it just in case it wants to dip into someday.  And I would simply say to anybody who trusts Barack Obama to do the right thing, and thinks that this isn't such a big deal because they voted for the guy and they think he's pretty cool, what do you think about President Rick Santorum having access to information about when you got an abortion or about when you got, you know, you're getting gay married or any host of other, completely harmless activities which some future president might find a good reason to harass you or to send some G-men to your house spy on you or in fact, even worse.



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"Barry O hides out after blistering reviews"
"THIS JUST IN! BARRY O, ARTIST IN HIDING!"

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Barry O hides out after blistering reviews

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

FRIDAY, FADING STARLET BARRY O HELD ONE OF HIS RARE PRESS CONFERENCES.  THE REVIEWS ARE IN ON THAT PRODUCTION AND THEY AREN'T RAVES.


"And before we go further, let's make one thing real damn clear: No one gave Barack the right to rule on who is or who is not a patriot.  With his education in Indonesia, I doubt he can name and explain many patriots in American history to begin with but he abuses his office when he starts issuing decrees on which living citizen is or is not a patriot and he needs to be told to shut his mouth.  Should Ed return to the US (of his own accord or due to rendition), he would then go on trial.  Barack's remarks are prejudicial and need to stop immediately.  He needs to shut his mouth." -- C.I., THE COMMON ILLS.


"By observing Obama's condescension, I don't mean to suggest tone was the most objectionable part of the speech. The disinformation should bother the American people most. The weasel words. The impossible-to-believe protestations. The factually inaccurate assertions." -- CONOR FRIEDERSDORFT, THE ATLANTIC.

 "He sort of announced a four-point plan to have a four-point plan. The details are kind of to come." -- RUTH MARCUS, THE WASHINGTON POST.

"A petulant Barack Obama finally held a press conference Friday.  It was brief and it was a joke and, most of all, it existed in a world where honest questioning was apparently forbidden." -- AVA AND C.I., THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW.

"From the moment he emerged at the White House press conference today, President Obama had a visible chip on his shoulder, apparently annoyed that facing growing public outrage over the NSA surveillance schemes he had to make public promises of reforms." -- JASON DITZ, ANTIWAR.COM.

"The modest reforms Obama proposed do not begin to address the fundamental question of whether we want the National Security Agency to log all of our phone calls and read at least some of our emails, relying on secret judicial orders from a secret court for permission. The president indicated he is willing to discuss how all this is done -- but not whether." -- EUGENE ROBINSON, THE WASHINGTON POST.

"Obama's claim that the debate would have happened absent Snowden's revelations is . . . laughable." -- GLENN GREENWALD, THE GUARDIAN.


"President Obama, who seems to think the American people simply need some reassurances that their privacy rights are intact, proposed a series of measures on Friday that only tinker around the edges of the nation's abusive surveillance programs." -- NEW YORK TIMES' EDITORIAL BOARD.

"President Obama putting Clapper in charge of the #NSA commission *that reports back to Clapper* is a giant F**k You to America." -- WIL WHEATON.

"Barack Obama held a press conference on Friday afternoon, supposedly to announce reforms of the NSA's far-flung surveillance programs. In reality, the White House briefing was the start of a marketing campaign for the spy programs that have turned so controversial in recent months. And the president's message really boiled down to this: It's more important to persuade people surveillance is useful and legal than to make structural changes to the programs." -- SHANE HARRIS, FOREIGN POLICY.


"He's talking about the need for an orderly process and debate, this is the fifth year of his presidency and there has been no effort not only to undertake an orderly process and review until now but also there's been no oversight by Congress.  And when Congress has tried to do oversight, the Executive Branch has actively stonewalled that effort.  The administration has not been forthcoming about responses to tough Congressional questions and when members of Congress have asked the Director of National Intelligence direct questions, he has lied to Congress on the record and we have the smoking gun evidence.  How is it that Edward Snowden is appropriately prosecuted when senior executive officials are lying to the American people.  Those are the criminals, not the whistle-blowers  conscientiously trying to reveal to the American public the abuses being committed to us en mass  in our name using our tax dollars. I think the president has it absolutely wrong here -- both about Edward Snowden and I think it's striking that he's not mentioning that some of his senior officials are apparently criminals and should face appropriate prosecution."  --  SHADID BUTTAR (BILL OF RIGHTS DEFENSE COMMITTEE) (NOTED HERE).

IT'S NO SURPRISE, THERFORE, THAT BARRY O HAS RETREATED TO MARTHA'S VINEYARD WHERE HE REMAINS HIDDEN FROM MOST OF THE PRESS IN WHAT IS HIS LEAST PRESS COVERED TRIP TO THE ISLAND.

THESE REPORTERS CAUGHT UP WITH BARRY O AS HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO POACH LOBSTERS BY STEALING THEM FROM TRAPS.  "LILLIAN HELMAN WOULD BE DOING THE SAME THING IF SHE WERE STILL ALIVE," INSISTED BARRY O.  "I'M AN ARTIST!"

AS HE BEGAN TO WEEP, BARRY O EXPLAINED THE PRESS CONFERENCE WAS "A PERFORMANCE ART PIECE THAT REVEALED MY INNER MOST BEING.  IT WAS MY VAGINA MONOLOGUES BUT WHEN I SAID THAT TO MICHELLE, SHE SHOT BACK, 'TRY ASSHOLE MONOLUGE.'  SHE CAN BE SO CRUEL.  IT'S WHY I NEEDED OUTSIDE VALIDATION BUT THEN TO BE PUMMELED IN REVIEWS -- DON'T PEOPLE KNOW HOW SENSITIVE I AM, HOW I SUFFER, HOW FRAGILE I AM, HOW --"

BARRY O STEPPED ASIDE AS THE SECRET SERVICE HANDED HIM A PHONE.  RETURNING, HE EXPLAINED THAT HE'D JUST KILLED "A DOZEN OR SO" INNOCENT CIVILIANS IN A DRONE STRIKE AND ASKED, "WHERE WAS I?  OH, RIGHT, I AM FRAGILE AND SENSITIVE.  THERE WAS A TIME WHEN SO MANY AMERICANS PUT MY NEEDS FIRST, AS THEY SHOULD.  WHERE DID THEY GO?

SIGHING, BARRY O CONCLUDED, "THAT'S REALLY WANT TO ASK: AMERICA, YOU USED TO PUT MY NEEDS FIRST, ABOVE ALL ELSE.  WHY DID YOU STOP?  DON'T YOU STILL LOVE ME?"

BARRY O TOSSED TWENTY LOBSTERS TO THE SECRET SERVICE TO CARRY AND THEN HE AND HIS ENTOURAGE DISAPPEARED.




FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Starting with Bradley Manning who's facing possible life in prison and wondering what do you say to Michael Wolff's nonsense for USA TodayLast night, Wolff wrote a column declaring Brad "a woman caught inside a man's body" and whining:

The media, too, seems flustered, faced with a story clearly beyond its psychological range.
Manning's hardly hidden gender evolution is a riveting fact and a dramatic character conflict; yet, at a moment in media time when it often seems that no personal detail is too personal, it remains an elephant in the room.


 Richard Cohen (Washington Post) has been under attack fo addressing, in light of media coverage of a politician's marriage and the chest thumping why-does-she-stay question, the fact that he had always assumed he would walk if cheated on but things worked out differently.  Richard's been trashed for that column because (a) as a society, we tend to trash those who don't walk out (the anger over wives standing by their politician husband confessing to having an affair or being gay or whatever goes to that) and (b) as a society, we're appalled anyone would admit to being cheated on without being forced to (especially a man who has stayed in the marriage).

But Richard wrote about his own experience.  You can disagree or not with his intent to stay in his marriage but to pretend the column makes no sense (in terms of why he wrote it) is beyond stupid.  Columnists use their personal lives all the time to attempt to navigate and explore current media obsessions. 

Had Michael Wolff's column been his confessing to his own gender confusion, it might have made some sense.  But that's not what the column's about.

Unlike Richard Cohen, Michael Wolff's the one who should be trashed.  How does a column so stupid get waived into print?


And reading it, I'm questioning more than Wolfe's pruriency.  There's a tone in the column tied to Wolff's beliefs about Brad -- a tone that really comes through when he Tweets about the article:



Strange?  Unnatural, you mean?

If Brad or anyone feels they were born into the wrong gender and are actually the other gender, that's not "strange" or anything to mock and if you're too immature to deal with it then that reflects only on you.


Wolff's entire pose is stupid and insulting.  It's a mystery to self-presenting media expert and critic that the press isn't running with the story?

What story?

Doug is confused about gender or was confused about gender or knows he is a woman born in the wrong body -- those are three different stories.  In addition, another story might be Doug's enjoys role playing a woman.  There are many scenarios here.

The press would cover it when?

While Doug is alive, they'd really need to speak to Doug or else be at risk of a lawsuit.  If, for example, Doug had been confused about gender and -- either on his own or in therapy -- worked through his issues and the press said he was a woman trapped inside a man's body, he'd have the grounds for a winning lawsuit because not only had the press mischaracterized him (while never speaking to him about this issue) but a judge would rightly feel that the press had also trampled onto an area that should have been off limits to press speculation unless Doug had raised the issue (which he hadn't).

Brad has not spoken to the court or the press about this issue.  Taking the word of his parents - of any parents -- on such an issue would still be an iffy reason to lead with this as a story but in Brad's case, his mother has made one statement to the press (supporting her son) which didn't touch on any of Wolff's 'concerns' and his father hasn't commented.

Where is the basis to run with this in coverage?  There is none.  In the pre-court-martial proceedings, Brad's attorney David E. Coombs made a brief, fumbled remark.  In closing arguments, Coombs raised it again.  The remarks provided no clarity as to where Brad was then or if he continues to remain there now.

Brad was 22-years-old when the US government tossed him behind bars.  He had already had a difficult life.  A father who (at least then) did not want a son to be gay was only one issue he was dealing with.  In addition to not having Brad address this subject to the court or to the press, what Wolfe wants emphasized lacks clarity in terms of were whatever thoughts that took place fleeting, were they firm convictions, were they a response to stress or to issues around being gay (when at least one parent has a very negative view of same-sex attraction)?


It's amazing what Wolff will talk about when you consider all that he and the press are avoiding.  Let's deal with the facts:


Monday April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks released  military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Monday June 7, 2010, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Leila Fadel (Washington Post) reported in August 2010 that Manning had been charged -- "two charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first encompasses four counts of violating Army regulations by transferring classified information to his personal computer between November and May and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system. The second comprises eight counts of violating federal laws governing the handling of classified information." In March, 2011, David S. Cloud (Los Angeles Times) reported that the military has added 22 additional counts to the charges including one that could be seen as "aiding the enemy" which could result in the death penalty if convicted. The Article 32 hearing took place in December. At the start of this year, there was an Article 32 hearing and, February 3rd, it was announced that the government would be moving forward with a court-martial. Bradley has yet to enter a plea. The court-martial was supposed to begin before the November 2012 election but it was postponed until after the election so that Barack wouldn't have to run on a record of his actual actions.  Independent.ie adds, "A court martial is set to be held in June at Ford Meade in Maryland, with supporters treating him as a hero, but opponents describing him as a traitor."  February 28th, Bradley admitted he leaked to WikiLeaks.  And why.


Bradley Manning:   In attempting to conduct counter-terrorism or CT and counter-insurgency COIN operations we became obsessed with capturing and killing human targets on lists and not being suspicious of and avoiding cooperation with our Host Nation partners, and ignoring the second and third order effects of accomplishing short-term goals and missions. I believe that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information contained within the CIDNE-I and CIDNE-A tables this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as [missed word] as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan.
I also believed the detailed analysis of the data over a long period of time by different sectors of society might cause society to reevaluate the need or even the desire to even to engage in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations that ignore the complex dynamics of the people living in the effected environment everyday.

July 30th, Brad was pronounced guilty by Colonel Denise Lind of multiple charges and the trial is now in the sentencing phase.

Michael Wolff doesn't want to talk about counter-insurgency.   The press doesn't want to explore that.  Wolff would rather write a lurid column -- treating fairly natural possibilities as 'shocking' -- than to explore the US government's methods of tricking and harming residents of a country they're supposedly liberating.

The basic message of counter-insurgency is: We value the rights and liberties of those of you who will bow to our will but those of you who think you can have a say in your country are going to be targeted.  That's my interpretation of counter-insurgency and it was the left interpretation for decades.  It's only in the '00s that the left bends over backwards to act as if counter-insurgency isn't taking place.  By that time, it's leading proponents include Harvard's Carr Center and Samantha Power and questioning counter-insurgency requires more fortitude than some can apparently manage.  Which is too bad because counter-insurgency is why Brad went public (his revulsion of it) and, guess what, it's also why he was sent to Iraq to begin with.

David Dishneau (AP) reports on today's sentencing phase proceedings:

Manning's brigade commander, Col. David Miller, testified the 2nd Brigade's 10th Mountain Division deployed in late 2009 with 10 to 15 percent fewer intelligence analysts than the authorized number. But Miller denied feeling any pressure to take soldiers who should not have deployed.
"In a counterinsurgency fight, you can always use more," he said.



 But no one wants to talk counter-insurgency.  At least not the press in this country.  Last year, Adam Curtis (BBC News) filed a very thorough report on counter-insurgency:




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