Khalilzad Warns of Iraq Civil War
In comments the Los Angeles Times calls "among the frankest and bleakest public assessments of the Iraq situation by a high-level American official," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has warned of a full-blown civil war. Referring to the recent bombing of a Shiite shrine in Sammara, Khalilzad said: "If another incident [occurs], Iraq is really vulnerable to it at this time." Khalilzad went on to say: "We have opened the Pandora's box and the question is, what is the way forward?" His comments come just days after General Peter Pace, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said things were "going very, very well" in Iraq.
In comments the Los Angeles Times calls "among the frankest and bleakest public assessments of the Iraq situation by a high-level American official," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has warned of a full-blown civil war. Referring to the recent bombing of a Shiite shrine in Sammara, Khalilzad said: "If another incident [occurs], Iraq is really vulnerable to it at this time." Khalilzad went on to say: "We have opened the Pandora's box and the question is, what is the way forward?" His comments come just days after General Peter Pace, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said things were "going very, very well" in Iraq.
UK Admits Granting Suspected CIA Aircraft Use of Airfields
Here in Britain, the Guardian of London is reporting the government has admitted aircraft thought to be used for the CIA's transfer of detainees has landed at local military airfields. The practice, known as "extraordinary rendition", has raised public outcry across Europe over the use of its territory to transfer detainees who face torture. After months of silence on the issue, the British government disclosed the CIA landed 14 times at two bases between October 2003 and May 2004.
Here in Britain, the Guardian of London is reporting the government has admitted aircraft thought to be used for the CIA's transfer of detainees has landed at local military airfields. The practice, known as "extraordinary rendition", has raised public outcry across Europe over the use of its territory to transfer detainees who face torture. After months of silence on the issue, the British government disclosed the CIA landed 14 times at two bases between October 2003 and May 2004.
Sheehan, 3 Others Arrested at US-Iraqi Women's Anti-War March on UN
In New York, Cindy Sheehan and three other women were arrested at an anti-war protest Monday. Sheehan and the others were part of a march of US and Iraqi women at the headquarters of the United Nations. The group attempted to deliver a petition signed by close to 70,000 people calling on the withdrawal of all troops and foreign fighters from Iraq. They were arrested for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest.
In New York, Cindy Sheehan and three other women were arrested at an anti-war protest Monday. Sheehan and the others were part of a march of US and Iraqi women at the headquarters of the United Nations. The group attempted to deliver a petition signed by close to 70,000 people calling on the withdrawal of all troops and foreign fighters from Iraq. They were arrested for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest.
New Video Shows 3 of 4 CPT Hostages in Iraq
Al Jazeera has broadcast new video of three of the four abducted members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. The silent, 25-second footage carried a superimposed date of February 28th -- one week ago today. British citizen Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden were shown. US citizen Tom Fox, of Virginia, was not on the tape. According to Al Jazeera, the men asked their governments to work for their release. The hostages were last seen all together in a video released January 28th dated one week earlier. This weekend, the 100-day anniversary of their abduction was marked with vigils around the world. The Peacemakers' kidnappers initially threatened to kill them unless all prisoners in US and Iraqi detention centers were released.
Al Jazeera has broadcast new video of three of the four abducted members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. The silent, 25-second footage carried a superimposed date of February 28th -- one week ago today. British citizen Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden were shown. US citizen Tom Fox, of Virginia, was not on the tape. According to Al Jazeera, the men asked their governments to work for their release. The hostages were last seen all together in a video released January 28th dated one week earlier. This weekend, the 100-day anniversary of their abduction was marked with vigils around the world. The Peacemakers' kidnappers initially threatened to kill them unless all prisoners in US and Iraqi detention centers were released.
The above four items are from today's Democracy Now! Headlines and were selected by Gina, Olive, Kansas and Vic. Democracy Now! ("always informing you," as Marcia says):
Headlines for March 7, 2006
- New Video Shows 3 of 4 CPT Hostages in Iraq
- Britain Announces Intent To Withdraw Troops from Iraq
- Khalilzad Warns of Iraq Civil War
- UK Admits Granting CIA Aircraft Use of Airfields
- Army Announces New Review of Tillman Death
- Mofaz: "No One Immune" From Targeted Killings
- South Dakota Gov. Signs Near-Total Abortion Ban
- South Central Farm Wins Temporary Eviction Delay
- New Video Shows 3 of 4 CPT Hostages in Iraq
- Britain Announces Intent To Withdraw Troops from Iraq
- Khalilzad Warns of Iraq Civil War
- UK Admits Granting CIA Aircraft Use of Airfields
- Army Announces New Review of Tillman Death
- Mofaz: "No One Immune" From Targeted Killings
- South Dakota Gov. Signs Near-Total Abortion Ban
- South Central Farm Wins Temporary Eviction Delay
Lawless World: Bush Considered Flying US Spy Planes Painted With UN Colors Over Iraq In 2003 to Provoke War
British international law professor Philippe Sands, author of "Lawless World," reveals President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair secretly agreed in January 2003 to invade Iraq in mid-March 2003 regardless of the outcome of diplomatic efforts.
British international law professor Philippe Sands, author of "Lawless World," reveals President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair secretly agreed in January 2003 to invade Iraq in mid-March 2003 regardless of the outcome of diplomatic efforts.
Former UK Soldier Urges Others to Refuse To Fight in Iraq
Here in the U.S, at least 8,000 men and women have now deserted the military since the United States invaded Iraq three years ago. Meanwhile in Britain, soldiers are also refusing to fight in the war. Lance Corporal George Solomou speaks from London on why he resigned last year from the London regiment of the Territorial Army.
Here in the U.S, at least 8,000 men and women have now deserted the military since the United States invaded Iraq three years ago. Meanwhile in Britain, soldiers are also refusing to fight in the war. Lance Corporal George Solomou speaks from London on why he resigned last year from the London regiment of the Territorial Army.
New Video Broadcast Showing Three of the Four Christian Peacemaker Teams Members Abducted in Iraq
Al Jazeera has broadcast new video of three of the four abducted members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. The silent, 25-second footage carried a superimposed date of February 28th -- one week ago today. We speak with a Christian Peacemaker Teams member in London. [includes rush transcript]
Al Jazeera has broadcast new video of three of the four abducted members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. The silent, 25-second footage carried a superimposed date of February 28th -- one week ago today. We speak with a Christian Peacemaker Teams member in London. [includes rush transcript]
So what are the big topics in today's e-mails? Believe it or not Oscars. Seriously. Well, two are humorous and we need some laughs today. We also need some hope and on that, let's note Eddie's highlight, Matthew Rothschild's "Grounds for Impeachment" (This Just In, The Progressive):
George W. Bush and his Administration have been so brazen in violating the law and asserting monarchical powers that we, as American citizens, must use the tool that the Constitution provides to reassert our rights, to reset the system of checks and balances, and to reestablish our democracy. That tool is impeachment.
Article II, Section 4, states: "The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
Notice that the Vice President is specifically mentioned. So while we're advocating the impeachment of George W. Bush, let's not stop there. Impeach Dick Cheney, too. For Cheney has been in on every illegal act that Bush has committed.
And notice the phrase "other high crimes and misdemeanors." At the Constitutional Convention, the drafters had originally restricted impeachment to "treason" and "bribery." But George Mason, one of the influential delegates, found those terms insufficient, according to Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush, a new and highly informative book by the Center for Constitutional Rights. Those terms "will not reach many great and dangerous offenses," Mason said, including "attempts to subvert the Constitution." After some wrangling over wording, the founders agreed to James Madison’s phrase "high crimes and misdemeanors."
And that is exactly what George W. Bush has been committing: He's been subverting our Constitution, and he has repeatedly violated his oath of office to "faithfully execute" his duties and to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
He has done so in four key areas: in the Iraq War, in detentions here at home and abroad, in the torture scandal, and in the NSA warrantless spying program.
First, Iraq. Bush's invasion was a war of aggression, prohibited by the U.N. Charter. Article 2 of that Charter says, "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." Article 51 provides an exception for "self-defense" but only "if an armed attack" has already occurred against that state.
Saddam Hussein had not attacked the United States.
International law also provides an exception for imminence: if you're just about to be attacked.
Saddam Hussein was not about to attack the United States.
By waging this aggressive war, Bush was violating the U.N. Charter, as Kofi Annan himself has acknowledged.
And by violating the U.N. Charter, Bush was violating Article VI of the Constitution, which says that treaties are "the supreme law of the land."
But even beyond this, the way that Bush bamboozled the country into war is itself an impeachable offense. There can hardly be a more grave act imaginable than to dupe a democracy into going to war, but that is what Bush has done, as the Downing Street Memo clearly indicates.
Gareth e-mailed to remind everyone that Democracy Now! is in London this week.
Be sure to get the word out on that. Now, for the Oscars. First up, and this is a serious one, Mia notes Tom Hayden's "Can 'Crash' Crash LA's Denial" (The Huffington Post):
The Oscar for Crash is another reality check for Los Angeles, a city which seems inherently unable to recognize its racial and economic fissures. In the classic tradition of denial, the Los Angeles Times review claimed the film exaggerated the city's conflicts. The Times' news coverage highlighted critical comments about Crash by Joe Hicks, a local African-American who has become something of a David Horowitz in blackface, a former black communist who has degenerated into a virtual neo-conservative propagandist.
Hollywood, despite a deserved reputation as fantasy capital of the globe, apparently chose Crash for the realities it dramatized. These realities include:
- Ninety-three thousand LA young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are both out of school and out of work.
- Dropout rates in inner city public schools average about fifty percent.
By the way, BuzzFlash is offering Crash on DVD as one of their premiums. And Billie notes an 'Oscar' as well -- still serious, Buzzflash's editorial entitled "And the Winner for Best Actor is . . . George W. Bush:"
He was returning from a stage setting a world away when America's annual awards for best acting were being presented, but George W. Bush wasn't on hand for the Oscars.
Surely, if there were acting awards for President, Bush deserved one for the last five years. No, George didn't have the Gipper's background in Hollywood, but Karl Rove groomed him into acting the role of Commander-in-Chief with enough confidence to pull it off, with the help of a servile media -- and a supporting cast of walk on con artists and ideological zealots.
Shortly after 9/11, BuzzFlash ran an editorial that national security was an issue that concerned all our lives -- and that to leave all the decision making to Bush would be to abandon our safety.
But Rove masterminded the politics of fear and "Hollywoodzation" of the Presidency. All the world has been a stage for Bush. It is ironic that the party that demagogues the movie industry has pulled the wool over the nation's eyes with the tricks of the cinematic trade.
BuzzFlash has been forever cautious in predicting the demise of Bush.
We have a one-party virtual dictatorship -- and they have enormous means at their disposal to cover up the truth and lie their way out of failure. They also have a largely fawning corporate press who readily provides excuses for disastrous behavior, deceptions and actions. Not to mention a Democratic Congressional leadership that has been unimaginative and timid in standing up for the Constitution and for true national security, not the disastrous politically-motivated Potemkin Village version offered by Bush.
But, there are some creeping signs that the mainstream media may finally feel the need to cut Bush loose.
On a humorous note, Kara notes Wally's "THIS JUST IN! CHENEY'S OSCAR NIGHT RAMPAGE!" (The Daily Jot):
THIS JUST IN!
FOLLOWING LAST NIGHT'S INDUSTRY SNUB AND SHUT OUT AT THE OSCARS, FAILED WRITE IN CANDIDATE FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR DICK CHENEY SHOUTED OUT "THIS IS THE BIGGEST [BLEEP]ING FRAME UP SINCE WHISTLER'S MOTHER!" AS GEORGE CLOONEY CLAIMED THE AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR.
VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY THEN STOOD AND ORDERED HIS POSSE, SCOOTS 'THE LEAK' LIBBY AND ARI 'THE WEASEL' FLEISCHER, TO WALK OUT WITH HIM.
OUTSIDE THE KODAK THEATER, VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY WAS STOPPED BY PATTY O'BRIEN WHO ASKED "WHO ARE YOU WEARING?"
"MY [BLEEP]ING BLING-BLING IS BY DI MODOLO, 18K WHITE GOLD, MY HAIR HAS BEEN STYLED WITH TIGI BED HEAD BY JOHN BLAINE FOR MS MANAGEMENT, MY FACE WAS MOISTURIZED WITH INTENSE REBUILDING MOISTURIZER AND A DAB OF GOOD OL' CHEVRON PETROL, I'M WEARING A GUCCI JACKET AND DIESEL JEANS. TAKE A GOOD LOOK BECAUSE IT'S THE LAST [BLEEP]ING TIME YOU'LL SEE ME IN HOLLY [BLEEP]ING WOOD. THEY KILLED THE DUKE, I'LL BE [BLEEP] [BLEEP]ED IF THEY DO ME IN TOO!" VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY SNARLED.
And Lynda notes that Rebecca has "oscar blahs" (Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude):
sherry wondered what i thought of the oscars? 1st off, this weekend cedric wrote and entry that everyone should check out 'The Oscars'. reading it made me handle the oscars better.
why? i wanted jake to win. i love george clooney but i really wanted to see jake win. no 1 won that i was rooting for.
reese witherspoon? well, didn't doris day win an oscar once too?
i mean, we're not talking a real actress here. in that film with matthew broadrick years ago, her quirks seemed fresh and you thought they were part of the character. election was the name of that film. since then, it's been the same old, same old. i'm not real fond of perky.
why? i wanted jake to win. i love george clooney but i really wanted to see jake win. no 1 won that i was rooting for.
reese witherspoon? well, didn't doris day win an oscar once too?
i mean, we're not talking a real actress here. in that film with matthew broadrick years ago, her quirks seemed fresh and you thought they were part of the character. election was the name of that film. since then, it's been the same old, same old. i'm not real fond of perky.
Not fond of perky? Rebecca? Who could have guessed? (Rebecca will laugh when she reads that.) Zach also noted two things, Rebecca's entry (covered via Lynda) and Helen Thomas' "Rumsfeld's Mistakes Mean He Should Go" (The BostonChannel.com):
It's time for President George W. Bush to shake up his Cabinet, starting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and some of his cohorts at the Pentagon who have made so many costly mistakes.
Let us count the ways, starting with Rumsfeld's braggadocio "shock-and-awe" approach to the disastrous war in Iraq.
Rumsfeld was a foremost adviser urging President George W. Bush to attack Iraq, using the 9/11 catastrophe as a catalyst even though there was no involvement of Baghdad in the terrorist attacks.
After that, all systems were go.
Rumsfeld is a co-founder of the Project for the New American Century, which years ago put Iraq at the top of the neo-conservative agenda for future military action in the Middle East.
In the run up to the war, Rumsfeld catapulted to celebrity status as he strutted at televised news conferences and reassured the public that U.S. troops would be most welcome in Iraq.
Some top generals and former diplomats who knew the Middle East a lot better tried unsuccessfully to dissuade him.
Among them was Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, who told a congressional hearing that it would take "several hundred thousand" U.S. troops to conduct the war in Iraq and carry out the postwar plans.
Rumsfeld was furious with Shinseki's testimony, saying it was "off the mark." A short time later, Rumsfeld made Shinseki a lame duck by announcing his successor.
And our final highlight, selected by Liang, is Molly Ivins' "The Towering Solons of Abortion" (Truthdig):
South Dakota is so rarely found on the leading edge of the far out, the wiggy, the California-esque. But it has now staked its claim. First to Outlaw Abortion This Century. The state legislature of South Dakota, in all its wisdom and majesty, a legislature comprised of sons and daughters of the soil from Aberdeen to Zell, have usurped the right of the women of that state to decide whether or not to bear the child of an unwanted pregnancy. They will decide. Women will do what they decide.
These towering solons, representing citizens from the great cosmopolitan centers of Rapid City and Sioux Falls to the bosky dells near Yankton, are noted for their sagacity and understanding. When you think “enlightenment,” the first thing that comes to your mind is “the South Dakota Legislature,” right?
As well it might. The purpose of the law is to force a decision from the United States Supreme Court, where the appointments of John Roberts and Sam Alito have now shored up the anti-choice forces.
The South Dakota Legislature has made it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion under any circumstances except to save the life of the mother. There are no exceptions for rape, incest or to preserve the health of the mother.
I know from the e-mails that people are taking the Court's decision and South Dakota pretty hard. As Sally wrote, "What more can they pile on?" Whatever it is, tide's turning on the Bully Boy. Remember that. This is the third year anniversary of the illegal invasion/occupation and people are waking up and have woken up. It's not as easy for him to fool the public as he once did. And by getting active this month, by noting the third year mark, you can make it that much harder for him to trick us again. So, and I am bothered by the decision and South Dakota as well, let's focus on channeling what we're feeling into speaking out this month. Every voice that calls him out makes it that much harder for him to get away with it again.
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