Kat here giving the heads up to RadioNation with Laura Flanders (AAR over the airwaves and you can listen online as well, 7-10 pm EST).
So what have you got tonight? How about Congress person Jim McDermott who, if you've forgotten, Mara Liasson (NPR) slandered on Fox "News" and was supposedly 'talked to' about it but she continues to pull that nonsense (she's a reporter -- she's supposed to be reporting, not offering her op-ed of who is a 'traitor' and who isn't -- her ass should have been fired).
He's going to talk about Iraq. Maybe Mara Liar-son will listen and note it when she's chatting and chewing the fat on Fox tomorrow?
Bill Christison will also be on and he's doing some powerful reporting on Israel (you can read it in CounterPunch -- you can read it on the website but there's more in the print copies).
And the one and only David Lindorff will be on. I'm not sure what he's going to be discussing. I think he might bring up the forgeries (the "yellowcake" nonsense) since Craig Unger's reporting got slammed this past week by one who likes to slam. But he will probably talk about his book since that's in the e-mail that was sent out on this weekend's shows. The book was written with Center for Constitutional Rights' Barbara Olshansky (the person Mike was trying to think of Thursday) and it's entitled The Case for Impeachment. It has a subtitle. I won't use it because for six years I've avoided saying "president" and that name. Don't make me blow it now.
What's up on Sunday? Three words are all you need to know: Mark Crispin Miller. The topic is the media system and he'll be in a roundtable with Makaini Themba-Nixon and Paul Miller addressing consolidation and more. Laura has a guest on Sunday whose name I'm not familiar with but should be, Meizhu Lui, co-author of The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the US Racial Wealth Divide (going right on my to read list) and also the Executive Director of United for a Fair Economy.
So "It's all on RadioNation with Laura Flanders this weekend on Air America Radio." Make a point to listen. If you miss it, a shorter version of the program is archived (C.I.'s got a link for it on the left).
radio
laura flanders
radionation with laura flanders
david lindorff
mark crispin miller
bill christison
the common ills
kats korner
Saturday, June 17, 2006
NYT: 'Crackdown' exploding
Two American soldiers were missing and another was killed Friday after they came under attack at a traffic point southwest of Baghdad [. . .]
The military did not say whether the missing men had been captured, although a military spokeswoman acknowledged in an e-mail message that capture was possible.
It was a particularly violent day in Baghdad, where a suicide bomber who had hidden explosives in his shoes blew himself up in a crowd of Shiite worshipers in a mosque, killing 11 and wounding 25.
The above is from Sabrina Tavernise's "G.I. Dies and 2 Are Missing; Bombing Kills 11 in Mosque" in today's New York Times. On the two missing, divers were searching for them on Saturday. (With no luck reported as I type this.) Baghdad was nothing but bombings on Saturday. There were at least seven. That's not "near Baghdad" or "southwest of Baghdad." That's Baghdad. At least 25 died in Baghdad from the bombings.
That's counting from various wire reports. The AP is going with 23 for a total. They need to redo their math in this instance because I've checked mine three times now. We are in agreement on at least seven blasts. But if you go through the reports on the seven bombings noted, you see that the number is 25. AP has also been slow in noting the divers searching for the two missing American soldiers near Yusufiya. Watch for the 'award winning' Dexy to try to grab this, probably will, for the paper.) Over fifty were wounded. In addition at least two people were killed and at least 14 wounded in a mortar attack on a market in Baghdad.
There was violence outside of Baghdad (and most of it probably not even making the various wire services) but the point is, this is during the "crackdown." The House (and Senate) can play all they want. They did yesterday and only looked like idiots passing that foolish "stay the course! we shall win!" nonsense. Especially since it was taking place against the backdrop of the vice president of Iraq (with the blessing of the president of Iraq) asking the US to set a timetable for withdrawal.
In various ways a number of Congress members stated, "They need us!" on Thursday and Friday. They need the US to get out. But that's not the front page story on any day. That's often not even reported. So let's repeat: the vice president of Iraq has asked the US to set a timetable for withdrawal. In fact, let's note this from Friday's Democracy Now!:
Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
Meanwhile, a leading Iraqi official has asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The government says Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made the request during a meeting with President Bush Tuesday. In a statement, President Jalal Talabani said he supported Hashimi's demand. The Bush administration has firmly rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal.
Apparently that's not clear enough for the War Hawks of Congress. You're being asked to leave the party so you hole up to the side and take a vote to stay?
Credit to Jacques Steinberg for getting it correct that Dan Rather's reporting on the Bully Boy's lack of service aired on 60 Minutes II. It may seem a minor detail but it's not to 60 Minutes. At this late date, so many have gone with the revisions, however, that it's already seeped in that it aired on 60 Minutes. (NPR's The World disagrees, they think it is "service," just FYI, another reason not to rally behind the nonsense of "Save NPR!" -- excuse me, they think not only is it "service," that it's the equivalent of anyone who served on the ground in Vietnam. Hence their 2004 report of "both served!" on Kerry and Bully Boy and the laughable e-mails sent out in response to people objecting to that report.) No link -- the article's more than it seems, Rather hasn't accepted an outside deal because he's hoping to force CBS to renew, that's why he's noting 'offers' which Steinberg notes appears to be only one -- but we'll note that Steinberg got it right at a time when so many get it wrong.
Eric Schmitt's "Pentagon Study Describes Abuse By Units In Iraq" describes a disappointing study. Schmitt notes that the report covers the period after abuses at Abu Ghraib were made public. Somehow, however, the report (not the article) allows excuses for that. Read the report -- it will be posted online at the ACLU. (The report was released due to the ACLU's lawsuit -- made necessary because, despite Rumsfeld's promise that all reports would be made public, this twenty-month old report wasn't made public.)
The gist of the article is that a number of things happened. The What the report (not Schmitt's, "General Formica" is the author of report because "General Linoluem" was already covering, or covering up, something else) does is provide cover. Not just for the various examples of torture and abuse, but for future torture and abuse since Formica finds that, basically, stuff happens (was Rummy the uncredited co-author?) and you shouldn't have accountability because it wasn't "deliberate." There was a time when torture was torture and all human beings were expected to grasp that it was wrong. Now 'motive' is apparently needed. Formica's taking a page from the book of Gonzales who drafted so much of the nonsense that encouraged abuse and gave the 'intent' excuse as a viable option. "Did you intend to do something that caused long term damage? No? Okay, then you're covered."
It's disgusting.
[Schmitt's addressing a report that came out yesterday and making it into print, on the front page, this morning. If it seems like I'm biting my tongue on the reporting that is one of the main reasons.]
Otherwise? I'm not seeing anything worth noting except for two things we may note at The Third Estate Sunday Review.
Rebecca has "extra" posted this morning, so check that out. Elaine's got a lengthy post entitled "The American peopla are demanding answers" (Barbara Lee)." (Addressing a number of issues.) Mike's trying to post (he's had the worst problems this morning) and I'm holding off posting this while I wait to see if he's had any luck getting his post posted. (He lost one he had saved and has lost the current one three times this morning.) And he's posting now. Okay, it's "Saturday post."
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. RadioNation with Laura Flanders features, among others, David Lindorff today.
the new york times
sabrina tavernise
eric schmitt
democracy now
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
The military did not say whether the missing men had been captured, although a military spokeswoman acknowledged in an e-mail message that capture was possible.
It was a particularly violent day in Baghdad, where a suicide bomber who had hidden explosives in his shoes blew himself up in a crowd of Shiite worshipers in a mosque, killing 11 and wounding 25.
The above is from Sabrina Tavernise's "G.I. Dies and 2 Are Missing; Bombing Kills 11 in Mosque" in today's New York Times. On the two missing, divers were searching for them on Saturday. (With no luck reported as I type this.) Baghdad was nothing but bombings on Saturday. There were at least seven. That's not "near Baghdad" or "southwest of Baghdad." That's Baghdad. At least 25 died in Baghdad from the bombings.
That's counting from various wire reports. The AP is going with 23 for a total. They need to redo their math in this instance because I've checked mine three times now. We are in agreement on at least seven blasts. But if you go through the reports on the seven bombings noted, you see that the number is 25. AP has also been slow in noting the divers searching for the two missing American soldiers near Yusufiya. Watch for the 'award winning' Dexy to try to grab this, probably will, for the paper.) Over fifty were wounded. In addition at least two people were killed and at least 14 wounded in a mortar attack on a market in Baghdad.
There was violence outside of Baghdad (and most of it probably not even making the various wire services) but the point is, this is during the "crackdown." The House (and Senate) can play all they want. They did yesterday and only looked like idiots passing that foolish "stay the course! we shall win!" nonsense. Especially since it was taking place against the backdrop of the vice president of Iraq (with the blessing of the president of Iraq) asking the US to set a timetable for withdrawal.
In various ways a number of Congress members stated, "They need us!" on Thursday and Friday. They need the US to get out. But that's not the front page story on any day. That's often not even reported. So let's repeat: the vice president of Iraq has asked the US to set a timetable for withdrawal. In fact, let's note this from Friday's Democracy Now!:
Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
Meanwhile, a leading Iraqi official has asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The government says Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made the request during a meeting with President Bush Tuesday. In a statement, President Jalal Talabani said he supported Hashimi's demand. The Bush administration has firmly rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal.
Apparently that's not clear enough for the War Hawks of Congress. You're being asked to leave the party so you hole up to the side and take a vote to stay?
Credit to Jacques Steinberg for getting it correct that Dan Rather's reporting on the Bully Boy's lack of service aired on 60 Minutes II. It may seem a minor detail but it's not to 60 Minutes. At this late date, so many have gone with the revisions, however, that it's already seeped in that it aired on 60 Minutes. (NPR's The World disagrees, they think it is "service," just FYI, another reason not to rally behind the nonsense of "Save NPR!" -- excuse me, they think not only is it "service," that it's the equivalent of anyone who served on the ground in Vietnam. Hence their 2004 report of "both served!" on Kerry and Bully Boy and the laughable e-mails sent out in response to people objecting to that report.) No link -- the article's more than it seems, Rather hasn't accepted an outside deal because he's hoping to force CBS to renew, that's why he's noting 'offers' which Steinberg notes appears to be only one -- but we'll note that Steinberg got it right at a time when so many get it wrong.
Eric Schmitt's "Pentagon Study Describes Abuse By Units In Iraq" describes a disappointing study. Schmitt notes that the report covers the period after abuses at Abu Ghraib were made public. Somehow, however, the report (not the article) allows excuses for that. Read the report -- it will be posted online at the ACLU. (The report was released due to the ACLU's lawsuit -- made necessary because, despite Rumsfeld's promise that all reports would be made public, this twenty-month old report wasn't made public.)
The gist of the article is that a number of things happened. The What the report (not Schmitt's, "General Formica" is the author of report because "General Linoluem" was already covering, or covering up, something else) does is provide cover. Not just for the various examples of torture and abuse, but for future torture and abuse since Formica finds that, basically, stuff happens (was Rummy the uncredited co-author?) and you shouldn't have accountability because it wasn't "deliberate." There was a time when torture was torture and all human beings were expected to grasp that it was wrong. Now 'motive' is apparently needed. Formica's taking a page from the book of Gonzales who drafted so much of the nonsense that encouraged abuse and gave the 'intent' excuse as a viable option. "Did you intend to do something that caused long term damage? No? Okay, then you're covered."
It's disgusting.
[Schmitt's addressing a report that came out yesterday and making it into print, on the front page, this morning. If it seems like I'm biting my tongue on the reporting that is one of the main reasons.]
Otherwise? I'm not seeing anything worth noting except for two things we may note at The Third Estate Sunday Review.
Rebecca has "extra" posted this morning, so check that out. Elaine's got a lengthy post entitled "The American peopla are demanding answers" (Barbara Lee)." (Addressing a number of issues.) Mike's trying to post (he's had the worst problems this morning) and I'm holding off posting this while I wait to see if he's had any luck getting his post posted. (He lost one he had saved and has lost the current one three times this morning.) And he's posting now. Okay, it's "Saturday post."
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. RadioNation with Laura Flanders features, among others, David Lindorff today.
the new york times
sabrina tavernise
eric schmitt
democracy now
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
"Vicepresidente Iraqui le pide a Bush que fije fecha de retirada" (Democracy Now)
Miguel: Benos dias. Aqui estan diez noticias de "Democracy Now!". Buen fin de semana.
Vicepresidente Iraquí le pide a Bush que fije fecha de retirada
Mientras tanto, el gobierno iraquí anunció que uno de sus principales funcionarios le pidió a Estados Unidos que establezca una fecha para la retirada de los soldados extranjeros. El gobierno dice que el Vicepresidente Tariq al-Hashimi formuló el pedido el martes, durante una reunión con el Presidente Bush. En una declaración, el Presidente Jalal Talabani dijo que apoyaba la exigencia de Hashimi. El gobierno de Bush rechazó los pedidos de fijar una fecha para la retirada.
Congreso debate guerra de Irak mientras el número de estadounidenses muertos llega a 2.500
Mientras tanto, el Pentágono anunció el jueves que el número de estadounidenses que murieron en Irak ahora superó los 2.500. Esta cifra fue alcanzada el mismo día en que la guerra en Irak fue tema de intenso debate, tanto en la Cámara de Representantes como en el Congreso. En el Senado, los legisladores decidieron -por 93 votos contra seis- no aprobar una medida para retirar a los soldados estadounidenses de Irak antes de fin de año. La medida fue presentada por republicanos que aseguraron que actuaban en base a una propuesta del senador John Kerry. Cinco demócratas --Russ Feingold de Wisconsin, Barbara Boxer de California, Robert Byrd de Virginia Occidental, Tom Harkin de Iowa y Edward M. Kennedy de Massachussets- se unieron a Kerry para votar a favor de la retirada. Se espera que la Cámara de Representantes vote hoy su propia resolución acerca de Irak. El jueves, el Presidente de la Cámara -el republicano Dennis Hastert- exhortó a los legisladores a apoyar la medida.
Hastert dijo: "Ellos saben que sus sacrificios en las costas extranjeras mantienen a la lucha contra el terrorismo fuera de nuestras ciudades. Saben que utilizando la violencia, mantienen a salvo a los estadounidenses, y saben que están ayudando a personas dignas pero crueles a combatir la tiranía y recuperar su orgullo. Saben que son liberadores, no ocupantes. Nuestros hombres y mujeres militares saben todo esto y están orgullosos de ello. Es hora de que la Cámara de Representantes le diga al mundo que también lo sabemos, que sabemos que nuestra causa es correcta, y que estamos orgullosos de ella. Defiendan la libertad. Adopten esta resolución".
Los demócratas acusaron a los republicanos de restringir el debate al centrarse en la medida sobre la llamada guerra contra el terrorismo y no en la guerra de Irak. Las normas de la Cámara de Representantes también impiden que los demócratas propongan enmiendas o resoluciones alternativas. La líder de la minoría de la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, expresó las preocupaciones de los demócratas.
Pelosi dijo: "Todo el país está debatiendo la guerra en Irak, exceptuando a la Cámara de Representantes. Así que finalmente este debate iba a llegar a la Cámara, y entonces, un ratito, la semana pasada, será sobre esto y aquello y también otras cosas, porque saben que el caso en contra de esta guerra es tan comprometedor que realmente no deben querer que se debata en la Cámara, por lo tanto ahora expandieron los temas a tratar en el debate".
Encuesta muestra disminución en apoyo mundial a políticas estadounidenses y guerra en Irak
Una nueva encuesta realizada en catorce países muestra una disminución continua en el apoyo mundial a las políticas estadounidenses. Según el centro de investigaciones "Pew Research Center", la mayoría de las personas de diez de los catorce países creen que la guerra en Irak ha hecho al mundo más peligroso. Estos países incluyen a Gran Bretaña, donde el apoyo a la llamada guerra contra el terrorismo ha disminuido a menos del 50%. La mayoría de las personas en trece de los países encuestados creen que la guerra en Irak representa una mayor amenaza para la paz mundial que las ambiciones nucleares de Irán.
ACLU demanda al Pentágono por espiar a activistas por la paz
La Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles (ACLU, por sus siglas en inglés) presentó una demanda que exige al Pentágono que entregue la información que recabó sobre grupos en contra de la guerra. En diciembre, NBC News reveló la existencia de una base de datos secreta del Pentágono para rastrear información dentro de Estados Unidos, incluyendo información sobre protestas y manifestaciones en contra de la guerra. La base de datos incluía información sobre reuniones contra el reclutamiento militar llevadas a cabo en una sede de los Cuáqueros en Florida y protestas antinucleares llevadas a cabo en Nebraska. ACLU ya presentó demandas contra el FBI por espiar a grupos de paz.
Gasto militar mundial supera los 1.1 billones de dólares; gasto de Estados Unidos es 1.600 dólares por cabeza
El gasto militar mundial llegó a una cifra histórica de 1.1 billones de dólares, dentro del cual Estados Unidos representa casi la mitad. Según el informe del Instituto Internacional de Investigación para la Paz de Estocolmo (SIPRI, por sus siglas en inglés), Estados Unidos gastó 1.600 dólares en sus Fuerzas Armadas por cada habitante estadounidense. Mientras tanto, China gastó únicamente 31 dólares por persona, y la India a su vez gastó menos de 19 dólares por persona. El estudio también determinó que el gasto militar en realidad está disminuyendo en Europa, habiéndose registrado los mayores recortes en Inglaterra y España.
Maestros en huelga de Oaxaca protestan contra redada policial
En México, miles de maestros en huelga se congregaron el jueves en el centro de la ciudad de Oaxaca. Esta es la tercer semana que los maestros están en huelga para exigir salarios más altos y más fondos para el sistema educativo de México. La congregación tuvo lugar sólo un día después de una redada policial, que según los maestros causó la muerte de dos colegas y de un niño. En respuesta, los maestros dijeron que ahora pedirán la renuncia del gobernador del Estado, Ulises Ruiz.
Hermenegildo Sánchez, uno de los maestros en huelga, dijo refiriéndose al gobierno: "Nosotros no confiamos pues, no confiamos en ellos. Ahorita con el apoyo de todo el pueblo y las organizaciones, este, estamos tomando nuevamente aquí el Zócalo y nos volvemos a reinstalar hasta que Ulises Ruiz de respuesta a nuestras demandas y se castigue a los culpables de, a los policías, a todos".
Dos mil inmigrantes arrestados en redada del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional
En Estados Unidos, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional anunció que más de dos mil inmigrantes indocumentados fueron arrestados en una ofensiva masiva que comenzó el mes pasado. Funcionarios del gobierno dijeron que prácticamente la mitad de las personas que fueron arrestadas tienen antecedentes penales. Más de 800 personas ya fueron deportadas.
Se prohíbe acceso de periodistas y abogados a Bahía de Guantánamo
Estados Unidos prohibió temporalmente el ingreso de periodistas y abogados a la prisión militar en Bahía de Guantánamo. El miércoles, un grupo de periodistas fue obligado a abandonar la isla por una directiva del Pentágono. Un portavoz del Pentágono dijo que se ordenó que los periodistas se retiraran tras quejas por parte de otros medios de comunicación de que se les negaba el mismo acceso. Pero surgen cuestionamientos acerca de si esta decisión estuvo motivada por el hecho de que los periodistas realizaron una cobertura el sábado tras el suicido de tres detenidos. Dicha cobertura incluía entrevistas con los abogados de los detenidos, quienes criticaron el modo en que sus clientes fueron tratados. Los periodistas trabajan para el "Los Angeles Times", el "Miami Herald" y el "Charlotte Observer". Un portavoz del Pentágono dijo que la orden de revocar los permisos no fue dada por los comandantes de Guantánamo, sino que surgió de la oficina del Secretario de Defensa Donald Rumsfeld. Mientras tanto, también se le prohibió a abogados que representan a detenidos de Guantánamo que visiten a sus clientes en la prisión. Una abogada que representa a un grupo de detenidos dijo que le informaron que la prohibición será levantada el lunes. En una declaración, el Centro para los Derechos Constitucionales -que ha representado a muchos detenidos- dijo: "En un momento en que el gobierno debe ser transparente con respecto a las muertes en Guantánamo, están construyendo un muro para mantenerlas en secreto y está evadiendo la responsabilidad pública. Esta ofensiva contra la libertad de prensa hace que todo el mundo se pregunte qué otras cosas están escondiendo allí... El gobierno de Bush le tiene miedo a los periodistas estadounidenses, a los abogados estadounidenses y a las leyes estadounidenses".
Corte Suprema dictamina que el gobierno puede utilizar evidencia obtenida ilegalmente
Esta noticia es de Estados Unidos. La Corte Suprema dictaminó que la constitución no exige descartar evidencia obtenida mediante allanamientos ilegales. La votación, de cinco votos a favor y cuatro en contra, fortalecerá las facultades de la policía para entrar a residencias sin anunciarse. La corte dictaminó que los costos sociales de descartar evidencia obtenida ilegalmente eran más importantes que los beneficios de proteger las garantías anteriores. En una opinión disidente, el juez Stephen Breyer escribió: "El argumento de los "grandes costos sociales" de la mayoría es un argumento contra el propio principio de exclusión de la Cuarta Enmienda. Y es un argumento que ésta Corte, hasta ahora, consecuentemente había rechazado".
Miguel: Good morning. Here are ten news headlines from this week's Democracy Now!
Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
Meanwhile, a leading Iraqi official has asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The government says Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made the request during a meeting with President Bush Tuesday. In a statement, President Jalal Talabani said he supported Hashimi's demand. The Bush administration has firmly rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal.
Congress Debates Iraq War As US Death Toll Reaches 2500
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced Thursday the US death toll in Iraq has now reached 2500. The milestone was reached on the same day the Iraq war was the subject of intense debate in both Houses of Congress. In the Senate, lawmakers voted ninety-three to six against a measure to withdraw US troops by the end of the year. The measure was introduced by Republicans who claimed to be acting upon a proposal by Senator John Kerry. Five Democrats -- Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Barbara Boxer of California, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts joined Kerry in voting for withdrawal. The House is expected to vote on its own Iraq resolution today. On Thursday, Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert urged lawmakers to support the measure.
House Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert: "They know their sacrifices on foreign shores are keeping the battle against terrorists out of our cities. They know by going in to harm's way, they are keeping Americans safe, and they know that they are helping a proud, but brutalised people to throw off tyranny and stand tall once again. They know that they are liberators, not occupiers. Our men and women in uniform know all this and they are proud of it. It's time for this House of Representatives to tell the world they we know it too -- that we know our cause is right, and that we are proud of it. Stand up for freedom. Adopt this resolution."
Democrats have accused Republicans of constraining debate by focusing the measure on the so-called war on terror rather than the Iraq war. House rules also prevent Democrats from proposing amendments or alternative resolutions. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi voiced the Democrats' concerns.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: "The entire country is debating the war in Iraq, except the House of Representatives. So finally this debate was going to come to the floor, and then - a little while, within the past week, well it's going to be about this and that and other things as well because they know the case against this war is so incriminating that they really shouldn't want to bring it to the floor, so they've now expanded what the debate will be about."
Poll Shows Decline in Global Support for US Policies
And a new poll of fourteen countries shows a continuing decline in support for US policies around the world. According to the Pew Research Center, a majority in ten of fourteen countries believe the Iraq war has made the world more dangerous. That number includes Britain, where support for the so-called war on terror has dropped to below fifty percent. A majority in 13 countries believe the Iraq war poses a bigger threat to world peace than Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Peace Activist Spying
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a lawsuit demanding the Pentagon turn over information it’s collected on anti-war groups. In December, NBC News revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence gathered inside the United States including information on anti-war protests and rallies. The database included information on counter-military recruiting meetings held at a Quaker House in Florida and anti-nuclear protests staged in Nebraska. The ACLU has already filed suit against the FBI for spying on peace groups.
Global Military Spending Tops $1.1 Trillion; U.S. Spends $1,600 Per Capita
Global military spending has reached a new record high of over $1.1 trillion dollars. The United States accounted for nearly half of the world's military spending. According to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States spent $1,600 on its military for every American. Meanwhile China spent just $31 per person. India spent less than $19 per person. The study also determined that military spending is actually decreasing in Europe with the biggest cuts recorded in England and Spain.
Striking Oaxaca Teachers Protest Police Raid
In Mexico, thousands of striking teachers converged in the center of the city of Oaxaca Thursday. The teachers are in the third week of a strike demanding higher wages and more funding for Mexico's education system. The gathering came just one day after a police raid that teachers say killed two of their members and a third child. In response, the teachers said they would now call for the resignation of state governor Ulises Ruiz.
Striking teacher Hermenegildo Sanchez: "We don't trust (the government) now. With all the people's support and the organizations, we're here taking over the Zocalo again and we'll stay here until [the governor] responds to our demands and punishes the guilty-- the police officers, all of them."
2,000 Immigrants Arrested in DHS Sweep
Here in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has announced more than 2,000 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in a massive crackdown that began last month. Government officials said close to half of those arrested have criminal records. Just over 800 people have already been deported.
Reporters, Attorneys Barred From Guantanamo Bay
The US has barred journalists and lawyers from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. A group of visiting reporters was forced off the island Wednesday under a directive from the Pentagon. A Pentagon spokesperson said the removal was ordered following complaints from other media outlets who had complained they were being denied equal access. But questions are being raised over whether the removals were motivated by the reporters' coverage of the aftermath of Saturday's three detainee suicides. Their articles included interviews with the detainees' attorneys who criticized their clients' treatment. The reporters work for the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer. A Pentagon spokesperson said the revoking of the permissions came not from Guantanamo commanders but from the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees have also been barred from visiting their clients at the prison. A lawyer representing a group of detainees said she was told the ban will be lifted on Monday. In a statement, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented scores of detainees, said: "At a time when the administration must be transparent about the deaths at Guantanamo, they are pulling down a wall of secrecy and avoiding public accountability. This crackdown on the free press makes everyone ask what else they are hiding down there… The Bush Administration is afraid of American reporters, afraid of American attorneys and afraid of American laws."
Police Raid Closes South Central Farm
Here in the United States, hundreds of police officers shut down the fourteen-acre South Central Farm in Los Angeles Tuesday. More than 40 protesters were arrested as they staged an encampment to resist removal from what is considered the largest urban farm in the United States. It took authorities nearly eight hours to forcibly clear the farm. Police bulldozed vegetable gardens and used bolt cutters to remove the protesters who had chained themselves to trees and picnic tables on the property. Since an eviction order last month, occupants have staged an encampment to resist removal from the land they’ve tended for over a decade.
Supreme Court: Government Can Use Illegally Obtained Evidence
Back in the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled the Constitution does not require prosecutors to forfeit evidence obtained through so-called “no knock” illegal searches. The five to four vote will strengthen police’s abilities to enter residences without announcing themselves first. The court ruled the social costs of throwing out illegally-obtained evidence outweighed the benefits of protecting previous safeguards. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote: "The majority's 'substantial social costs' argument is an argument against the Fourth Amendment's exclusionary principle itself. And it is an argument that this Court, until now, has consistently rejected."
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Vicepresidente Iraquí le pide a Bush que fije fecha de retirada
Mientras tanto, el gobierno iraquí anunció que uno de sus principales funcionarios le pidió a Estados Unidos que establezca una fecha para la retirada de los soldados extranjeros. El gobierno dice que el Vicepresidente Tariq al-Hashimi formuló el pedido el martes, durante una reunión con el Presidente Bush. En una declaración, el Presidente Jalal Talabani dijo que apoyaba la exigencia de Hashimi. El gobierno de Bush rechazó los pedidos de fijar una fecha para la retirada.
Congreso debate guerra de Irak mientras el número de estadounidenses muertos llega a 2.500
Mientras tanto, el Pentágono anunció el jueves que el número de estadounidenses que murieron en Irak ahora superó los 2.500. Esta cifra fue alcanzada el mismo día en que la guerra en Irak fue tema de intenso debate, tanto en la Cámara de Representantes como en el Congreso. En el Senado, los legisladores decidieron -por 93 votos contra seis- no aprobar una medida para retirar a los soldados estadounidenses de Irak antes de fin de año. La medida fue presentada por republicanos que aseguraron que actuaban en base a una propuesta del senador John Kerry. Cinco demócratas --Russ Feingold de Wisconsin, Barbara Boxer de California, Robert Byrd de Virginia Occidental, Tom Harkin de Iowa y Edward M. Kennedy de Massachussets- se unieron a Kerry para votar a favor de la retirada. Se espera que la Cámara de Representantes vote hoy su propia resolución acerca de Irak. El jueves, el Presidente de la Cámara -el republicano Dennis Hastert- exhortó a los legisladores a apoyar la medida.
Hastert dijo: "Ellos saben que sus sacrificios en las costas extranjeras mantienen a la lucha contra el terrorismo fuera de nuestras ciudades. Saben que utilizando la violencia, mantienen a salvo a los estadounidenses, y saben que están ayudando a personas dignas pero crueles a combatir la tiranía y recuperar su orgullo. Saben que son liberadores, no ocupantes. Nuestros hombres y mujeres militares saben todo esto y están orgullosos de ello. Es hora de que la Cámara de Representantes le diga al mundo que también lo sabemos, que sabemos que nuestra causa es correcta, y que estamos orgullosos de ella. Defiendan la libertad. Adopten esta resolución".
Los demócratas acusaron a los republicanos de restringir el debate al centrarse en la medida sobre la llamada guerra contra el terrorismo y no en la guerra de Irak. Las normas de la Cámara de Representantes también impiden que los demócratas propongan enmiendas o resoluciones alternativas. La líder de la minoría de la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, expresó las preocupaciones de los demócratas.
Pelosi dijo: "Todo el país está debatiendo la guerra en Irak, exceptuando a la Cámara de Representantes. Así que finalmente este debate iba a llegar a la Cámara, y entonces, un ratito, la semana pasada, será sobre esto y aquello y también otras cosas, porque saben que el caso en contra de esta guerra es tan comprometedor que realmente no deben querer que se debata en la Cámara, por lo tanto ahora expandieron los temas a tratar en el debate".
Encuesta muestra disminución en apoyo mundial a políticas estadounidenses y guerra en Irak
Una nueva encuesta realizada en catorce países muestra una disminución continua en el apoyo mundial a las políticas estadounidenses. Según el centro de investigaciones "Pew Research Center", la mayoría de las personas de diez de los catorce países creen que la guerra en Irak ha hecho al mundo más peligroso. Estos países incluyen a Gran Bretaña, donde el apoyo a la llamada guerra contra el terrorismo ha disminuido a menos del 50%. La mayoría de las personas en trece de los países encuestados creen que la guerra en Irak representa una mayor amenaza para la paz mundial que las ambiciones nucleares de Irán.
ACLU demanda al Pentágono por espiar a activistas por la paz
La Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles (ACLU, por sus siglas en inglés) presentó una demanda que exige al Pentágono que entregue la información que recabó sobre grupos en contra de la guerra. En diciembre, NBC News reveló la existencia de una base de datos secreta del Pentágono para rastrear información dentro de Estados Unidos, incluyendo información sobre protestas y manifestaciones en contra de la guerra. La base de datos incluía información sobre reuniones contra el reclutamiento militar llevadas a cabo en una sede de los Cuáqueros en Florida y protestas antinucleares llevadas a cabo en Nebraska. ACLU ya presentó demandas contra el FBI por espiar a grupos de paz.
Gasto militar mundial supera los 1.1 billones de dólares; gasto de Estados Unidos es 1.600 dólares por cabeza
El gasto militar mundial llegó a una cifra histórica de 1.1 billones de dólares, dentro del cual Estados Unidos representa casi la mitad. Según el informe del Instituto Internacional de Investigación para la Paz de Estocolmo (SIPRI, por sus siglas en inglés), Estados Unidos gastó 1.600 dólares en sus Fuerzas Armadas por cada habitante estadounidense. Mientras tanto, China gastó únicamente 31 dólares por persona, y la India a su vez gastó menos de 19 dólares por persona. El estudio también determinó que el gasto militar en realidad está disminuyendo en Europa, habiéndose registrado los mayores recortes en Inglaterra y España.
Maestros en huelga de Oaxaca protestan contra redada policial
En México, miles de maestros en huelga se congregaron el jueves en el centro de la ciudad de Oaxaca. Esta es la tercer semana que los maestros están en huelga para exigir salarios más altos y más fondos para el sistema educativo de México. La congregación tuvo lugar sólo un día después de una redada policial, que según los maestros causó la muerte de dos colegas y de un niño. En respuesta, los maestros dijeron que ahora pedirán la renuncia del gobernador del Estado, Ulises Ruiz.
Hermenegildo Sánchez, uno de los maestros en huelga, dijo refiriéndose al gobierno: "Nosotros no confiamos pues, no confiamos en ellos. Ahorita con el apoyo de todo el pueblo y las organizaciones, este, estamos tomando nuevamente aquí el Zócalo y nos volvemos a reinstalar hasta que Ulises Ruiz de respuesta a nuestras demandas y se castigue a los culpables de, a los policías, a todos".
Dos mil inmigrantes arrestados en redada del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional
En Estados Unidos, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional anunció que más de dos mil inmigrantes indocumentados fueron arrestados en una ofensiva masiva que comenzó el mes pasado. Funcionarios del gobierno dijeron que prácticamente la mitad de las personas que fueron arrestadas tienen antecedentes penales. Más de 800 personas ya fueron deportadas.
Se prohíbe acceso de periodistas y abogados a Bahía de Guantánamo
Estados Unidos prohibió temporalmente el ingreso de periodistas y abogados a la prisión militar en Bahía de Guantánamo. El miércoles, un grupo de periodistas fue obligado a abandonar la isla por una directiva del Pentágono. Un portavoz del Pentágono dijo que se ordenó que los periodistas se retiraran tras quejas por parte de otros medios de comunicación de que se les negaba el mismo acceso. Pero surgen cuestionamientos acerca de si esta decisión estuvo motivada por el hecho de que los periodistas realizaron una cobertura el sábado tras el suicido de tres detenidos. Dicha cobertura incluía entrevistas con los abogados de los detenidos, quienes criticaron el modo en que sus clientes fueron tratados. Los periodistas trabajan para el "Los Angeles Times", el "Miami Herald" y el "Charlotte Observer". Un portavoz del Pentágono dijo que la orden de revocar los permisos no fue dada por los comandantes de Guantánamo, sino que surgió de la oficina del Secretario de Defensa Donald Rumsfeld. Mientras tanto, también se le prohibió a abogados que representan a detenidos de Guantánamo que visiten a sus clientes en la prisión. Una abogada que representa a un grupo de detenidos dijo que le informaron que la prohibición será levantada el lunes. En una declaración, el Centro para los Derechos Constitucionales -que ha representado a muchos detenidos- dijo: "En un momento en que el gobierno debe ser transparente con respecto a las muertes en Guantánamo, están construyendo un muro para mantenerlas en secreto y está evadiendo la responsabilidad pública. Esta ofensiva contra la libertad de prensa hace que todo el mundo se pregunte qué otras cosas están escondiendo allí... El gobierno de Bush le tiene miedo a los periodistas estadounidenses, a los abogados estadounidenses y a las leyes estadounidenses".
Corte Suprema dictamina que el gobierno puede utilizar evidencia obtenida ilegalmente
Esta noticia es de Estados Unidos. La Corte Suprema dictaminó que la constitución no exige descartar evidencia obtenida mediante allanamientos ilegales. La votación, de cinco votos a favor y cuatro en contra, fortalecerá las facultades de la policía para entrar a residencias sin anunciarse. La corte dictaminó que los costos sociales de descartar evidencia obtenida ilegalmente eran más importantes que los beneficios de proteger las garantías anteriores. En una opinión disidente, el juez Stephen Breyer escribió: "El argumento de los "grandes costos sociales" de la mayoría es un argumento contra el propio principio de exclusión de la Cuarta Enmienda. Y es un argumento que ésta Corte, hasta ahora, consecuentemente había rechazado".
Miguel: Good morning. Here are ten news headlines from this week's Democracy Now!
Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
Meanwhile, a leading Iraqi official has asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The government says Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made the request during a meeting with President Bush Tuesday. In a statement, President Jalal Talabani said he supported Hashimi's demand. The Bush administration has firmly rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal.
Congress Debates Iraq War As US Death Toll Reaches 2500
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced Thursday the US death toll in Iraq has now reached 2500. The milestone was reached on the same day the Iraq war was the subject of intense debate in both Houses of Congress. In the Senate, lawmakers voted ninety-three to six against a measure to withdraw US troops by the end of the year. The measure was introduced by Republicans who claimed to be acting upon a proposal by Senator John Kerry. Five Democrats -- Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Barbara Boxer of California, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts joined Kerry in voting for withdrawal. The House is expected to vote on its own Iraq resolution today. On Thursday, Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert urged lawmakers to support the measure.
House Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert: "They know their sacrifices on foreign shores are keeping the battle against terrorists out of our cities. They know by going in to harm's way, they are keeping Americans safe, and they know that they are helping a proud, but brutalised people to throw off tyranny and stand tall once again. They know that they are liberators, not occupiers. Our men and women in uniform know all this and they are proud of it. It's time for this House of Representatives to tell the world they we know it too -- that we know our cause is right, and that we are proud of it. Stand up for freedom. Adopt this resolution."
Democrats have accused Republicans of constraining debate by focusing the measure on the so-called war on terror rather than the Iraq war. House rules also prevent Democrats from proposing amendments or alternative resolutions. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi voiced the Democrats' concerns.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: "The entire country is debating the war in Iraq, except the House of Representatives. So finally this debate was going to come to the floor, and then - a little while, within the past week, well it's going to be about this and that and other things as well because they know the case against this war is so incriminating that they really shouldn't want to bring it to the floor, so they've now expanded what the debate will be about."
Poll Shows Decline in Global Support for US Policies
And a new poll of fourteen countries shows a continuing decline in support for US policies around the world. According to the Pew Research Center, a majority in ten of fourteen countries believe the Iraq war has made the world more dangerous. That number includes Britain, where support for the so-called war on terror has dropped to below fifty percent. A majority in 13 countries believe the Iraq war poses a bigger threat to world peace than Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Peace Activist Spying
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a lawsuit demanding the Pentagon turn over information it’s collected on anti-war groups. In December, NBC News revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence gathered inside the United States including information on anti-war protests and rallies. The database included information on counter-military recruiting meetings held at a Quaker House in Florida and anti-nuclear protests staged in Nebraska. The ACLU has already filed suit against the FBI for spying on peace groups.
Global Military Spending Tops $1.1 Trillion; U.S. Spends $1,600 Per Capita
Global military spending has reached a new record high of over $1.1 trillion dollars. The United States accounted for nearly half of the world's military spending. According to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States spent $1,600 on its military for every American. Meanwhile China spent just $31 per person. India spent less than $19 per person. The study also determined that military spending is actually decreasing in Europe with the biggest cuts recorded in England and Spain.
Striking Oaxaca Teachers Protest Police Raid
In Mexico, thousands of striking teachers converged in the center of the city of Oaxaca Thursday. The teachers are in the third week of a strike demanding higher wages and more funding for Mexico's education system. The gathering came just one day after a police raid that teachers say killed two of their members and a third child. In response, the teachers said they would now call for the resignation of state governor Ulises Ruiz.
Striking teacher Hermenegildo Sanchez: "We don't trust (the government) now. With all the people's support and the organizations, we're here taking over the Zocalo again and we'll stay here until [the governor] responds to our demands and punishes the guilty-- the police officers, all of them."
2,000 Immigrants Arrested in DHS Sweep
Here in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has announced more than 2,000 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in a massive crackdown that began last month. Government officials said close to half of those arrested have criminal records. Just over 800 people have already been deported.
Reporters, Attorneys Barred From Guantanamo Bay
The US has barred journalists and lawyers from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. A group of visiting reporters was forced off the island Wednesday under a directive from the Pentagon. A Pentagon spokesperson said the removal was ordered following complaints from other media outlets who had complained they were being denied equal access. But questions are being raised over whether the removals were motivated by the reporters' coverage of the aftermath of Saturday's three detainee suicides. Their articles included interviews with the detainees' attorneys who criticized their clients' treatment. The reporters work for the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer. A Pentagon spokesperson said the revoking of the permissions came not from Guantanamo commanders but from the office of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees have also been barred from visiting their clients at the prison. A lawyer representing a group of detainees said she was told the ban will be lifted on Monday. In a statement, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented scores of detainees, said: "At a time when the administration must be transparent about the deaths at Guantanamo, they are pulling down a wall of secrecy and avoiding public accountability. This crackdown on the free press makes everyone ask what else they are hiding down there… The Bush Administration is afraid of American reporters, afraid of American attorneys and afraid of American laws."
Police Raid Closes South Central Farm
Here in the United States, hundreds of police officers shut down the fourteen-acre South Central Farm in Los Angeles Tuesday. More than 40 protesters were arrested as they staged an encampment to resist removal from what is considered the largest urban farm in the United States. It took authorities nearly eight hours to forcibly clear the farm. Police bulldozed vegetable gardens and used bolt cutters to remove the protesters who had chained themselves to trees and picnic tables on the property. Since an eviction order last month, occupants have staged an encampment to resist removal from the land they’ve tended for over a decade.
Supreme Court: Government Can Use Illegally Obtained Evidence
Back in the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled the Constitution does not require prosecutors to forfeit evidence obtained through so-called “no knock” illegal searches. The five to four vote will strengthen police’s abilities to enter residences without announcing themselves first. The court ruled the social costs of throwing out illegally-obtained evidence outweighed the benefits of protecting previous safeguards. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote: "The majority's 'substantial social costs' argument is an argument against the Fourth Amendment's exclusionary principle itself. And it is an argument that this Court, until now, has consistently rejected."
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Community note.
There's some sort of Blogger/Blogspot problem. Elaine and Mike have called and they can't post. We'll have an entry here on the Times shortly but I'm trying to figure out what's going on with their sites right now. (It doesn't appear to be effecting this site. Should it do so later, I'll carry the entries over to the mirror site so check that if nothing goes up here other than this note.)
Miguel's doing the rundown of his choice of headlines from a week's worth of Democracy Now! and that will be up today. Ruth will be up today with her latest report but she'll be posting this evening. (Today's a birthday in her family so she'll be posting later than usual.) Kat will be covering RadioNation with Laura Flanders (which is on the links for anyone who missed that -- yes, she's near the top, yes, that means leap frogging over others but there's not enough attention given, my opinion, and being a strong feminist voice means she's always been a strong voice for peace so when she was added on Thursday, I put her near the top). In the past, we've made the show the top link on Saturdays (and kept it that way until Saturday's show was in the last hour or done airing) and that's changing because if that hadn't been the policy, the show would have been noted last Saturday (it didn't get noted until Sunday). To avoid that happening again, it will go up on Saturday (the highlight) whenever it's ready.
A member wrote in about Juice and trouble with podcasting re: downloading. I've replied but let me put it up here in case anyone else has the problem (or has had or will have). If you have a slow connection, it will take a bit of time to download. If you're doing other things online (searching, whatever), that will slow the process down further. If you're having a problem with download speed that's due to the speed of your internet connection, you can speed it up by just downloading. Say you work out in the morning -- before working out, start the downloading. When you're done, it will be done. Or do it while you're eating dinner and not at the computer (though, I'm sure, many eat at the computer). If that's happening to you (downloading speed preventing you from catching whatever you're attempting to catch), figure out what time works for you. I've passed this on the UK Computer Gurus and they'll address it in their next newsletter. Much better than I have because I don't catch podcasts myself. (I hear Law and Disorder, usually Monday evenings, via podcast -- a friend downloads that program and makes a point to carry it around so people can hear it.) It's wonderful (podcasting, Law and Disorder as well, but I'm speaking of podcasting) but I just don't have the time.
I e-mailed Mindy about RadioNation with Laura Flanders and she's replied that when she listened she didn't podcast, she just went to the site and listened (it's linked on the left side with the permalinks). That's also true of Pacifica radio shows and of Democracy Now!, you can listen via the sites without having to download (or take the time required that it might take). Mindy does catch podcasts and stated that if you have a lot of shows you're trying to catch that way, it's better not to wait one day each week to attempt to download them all. If the above is of no use to you (and I wouldn't be surprised), use the e-mail address for the UK Computer Gurus printed in the gina & krista round-robin and Polly's Brew because they said they'll answer any questions on this and that questions would also help them realize where the community was at with this so they'd be able to judge how to write their piece on it in the next newsletter. "No question is to basic, no question is to advanced," I was asked to advised.
Shawn and his wife do have a new baby. I don't read the round-robin ahead of time (that's Gina and Krista's baby, they run it). He wrote that he would forward a photo here so it could be posted. It's not being posted. It will be in Polly's Brew tomorrow. I'd avoided addressing this but when Kayla was kind enough to share the photo of her baby in November, some idiot online used the photo to make fun. If people have a problem with me, they can say whatever they want about me (I won't read it, I've always made it a point not to read things about me in my offline life and that's the been pretty much my policy online as well). But it really did piss me off. Had that not happened, Shawn's photo would go up. I'd love to put it up. But I'm not going to post something that someone's going to use to write rude crap about just so they can work through whatever problem they have with me. I checked with Kayla to make sure it was okay to explain this here and she said she and her husband are at the point where they just roll their eyes over it. I'm glad they're able to put the nonsense into perspective but knowing that it has happened and could again (and knowing that some people are so sick that they would write a lengthy attack about a newborn child who's never done anything to harm anyone), I'd prefer to keep all photos in the round-robin or Polly's Brew. I was pissed about what was written about Kayla's child then and I'm still pissed about it now. (Again, what kind of a sicko does that?)
With Shawn's permission, I will forward the photo he sent to any member who e-mails requesting it today. It's a boy and he's six and three-quarter pounds. It's a really nice picture (so was the photo of Kayla's baby but that didn't prevent someone from grabbing it and writing a vicious attak on a BABY -- ON A BABY!). To make sure you get a reply, please note in your e-mail heading that you're wanting the photo e-mailed to you. My apologies to Shawn, but I don't want a repeat of November. If you haven't signed up for Polly's Brew, she's still got an open registration process. She'll be closing it at the end of the month and then, like Gina and Krista do, only considering adding to the list once a year. If you haven't signed up for Polly's Brew and would like to, note that in the heading and I'll forward it to her. (Or, if you're signed up for the round-robin or the UK Computer Gurus newsletter, you can pull her e-mail address from that and e-mail her yourself.) Remember too that the second half of the roundtable on abortion runs tomorrow in Polly's Brew. (First half ran Friday in the gina & krista round-robin.) I'll note that when we did the second part (yesterday), Pru had a great deal to say and you won't want to miss the second part. (Beth wasn't able to participate in the first part Thursday but she was able to participate in the second part, so heads up to that.)
No links, use the permalinks. I told Mike and Elaine I'd need ten minutes to do a quick note here and then I'd grab the thinking cap and it's already been twelve minutes.
E-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Miguel's doing the rundown of his choice of headlines from a week's worth of Democracy Now! and that will be up today. Ruth will be up today with her latest report but she'll be posting this evening. (Today's a birthday in her family so she'll be posting later than usual.) Kat will be covering RadioNation with Laura Flanders (which is on the links for anyone who missed that -- yes, she's near the top, yes, that means leap frogging over others but there's not enough attention given, my opinion, and being a strong feminist voice means she's always been a strong voice for peace so when she was added on Thursday, I put her near the top). In the past, we've made the show the top link on Saturdays (and kept it that way until Saturday's show was in the last hour or done airing) and that's changing because if that hadn't been the policy, the show would have been noted last Saturday (it didn't get noted until Sunday). To avoid that happening again, it will go up on Saturday (the highlight) whenever it's ready.
A member wrote in about Juice and trouble with podcasting re: downloading. I've replied but let me put it up here in case anyone else has the problem (or has had or will have). If you have a slow connection, it will take a bit of time to download. If you're doing other things online (searching, whatever), that will slow the process down further. If you're having a problem with download speed that's due to the speed of your internet connection, you can speed it up by just downloading. Say you work out in the morning -- before working out, start the downloading. When you're done, it will be done. Or do it while you're eating dinner and not at the computer (though, I'm sure, many eat at the computer). If that's happening to you (downloading speed preventing you from catching whatever you're attempting to catch), figure out what time works for you. I've passed this on the UK Computer Gurus and they'll address it in their next newsletter. Much better than I have because I don't catch podcasts myself. (I hear Law and Disorder, usually Monday evenings, via podcast -- a friend downloads that program and makes a point to carry it around so people can hear it.) It's wonderful (podcasting, Law and Disorder as well, but I'm speaking of podcasting) but I just don't have the time.
I e-mailed Mindy about RadioNation with Laura Flanders and she's replied that when she listened she didn't podcast, she just went to the site and listened (it's linked on the left side with the permalinks). That's also true of Pacifica radio shows and of Democracy Now!, you can listen via the sites without having to download (or take the time required that it might take). Mindy does catch podcasts and stated that if you have a lot of shows you're trying to catch that way, it's better not to wait one day each week to attempt to download them all. If the above is of no use to you (and I wouldn't be surprised), use the e-mail address for the UK Computer Gurus printed in the gina & krista round-robin and Polly's Brew because they said they'll answer any questions on this and that questions would also help them realize where the community was at with this so they'd be able to judge how to write their piece on it in the next newsletter. "No question is to basic, no question is to advanced," I was asked to advised.
Shawn and his wife do have a new baby. I don't read the round-robin ahead of time (that's Gina and Krista's baby, they run it). He wrote that he would forward a photo here so it could be posted. It's not being posted. It will be in Polly's Brew tomorrow. I'd avoided addressing this but when Kayla was kind enough to share the photo of her baby in November, some idiot online used the photo to make fun. If people have a problem with me, they can say whatever they want about me (I won't read it, I've always made it a point not to read things about me in my offline life and that's the been pretty much my policy online as well). But it really did piss me off. Had that not happened, Shawn's photo would go up. I'd love to put it up. But I'm not going to post something that someone's going to use to write rude crap about just so they can work through whatever problem they have with me. I checked with Kayla to make sure it was okay to explain this here and she said she and her husband are at the point where they just roll their eyes over it. I'm glad they're able to put the nonsense into perspective but knowing that it has happened and could again (and knowing that some people are so sick that they would write a lengthy attack about a newborn child who's never done anything to harm anyone), I'd prefer to keep all photos in the round-robin or Polly's Brew. I was pissed about what was written about Kayla's child then and I'm still pissed about it now. (Again, what kind of a sicko does that?)
With Shawn's permission, I will forward the photo he sent to any member who e-mails requesting it today. It's a boy and he's six and three-quarter pounds. It's a really nice picture (so was the photo of Kayla's baby but that didn't prevent someone from grabbing it and writing a vicious attak on a BABY -- ON A BABY!). To make sure you get a reply, please note in your e-mail heading that you're wanting the photo e-mailed to you. My apologies to Shawn, but I don't want a repeat of November. If you haven't signed up for Polly's Brew, she's still got an open registration process. She'll be closing it at the end of the month and then, like Gina and Krista do, only considering adding to the list once a year. If you haven't signed up for Polly's Brew and would like to, note that in the heading and I'll forward it to her. (Or, if you're signed up for the round-robin or the UK Computer Gurus newsletter, you can pull her e-mail address from that and e-mail her yourself.) Remember too that the second half of the roundtable on abortion runs tomorrow in Polly's Brew. (First half ran Friday in the gina & krista round-robin.) I'll note that when we did the second part (yesterday), Pru had a great deal to say and you won't want to miss the second part. (Beth wasn't able to participate in the first part Thursday but she was able to participate in the second part, so heads up to that.)
No links, use the permalinks. I told Mike and Elaine I'd need ten minutes to do a quick note here and then I'd grab the thinking cap and it's already been twelve minutes.
E-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Democracy Now: Rachel Meeropol and a debate on medical ethics re: Guantanamo
Congress Debates Iraq War As US Death Toll Reaches 2500
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced Thursday the US death toll in Iraq has now reached 2500. The milestone was reached on the same day the Iraq war was the subject of intense debate in both Houses of Congress. In the Senate, lawmakers voted ninety-three to six against a measure to withdraw US troops by the end of the year. The measure was introduced by Republicans who claimed to be acting upon a proposal by Senator John Kerry. Five Democrats -- Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Barbara Boxer of California, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts joined Kerry in voting for withdrawal. The House is expected to vote on its own Iraq resolution today. On Thursday, Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert urged lawmakers to support the measure.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced Thursday the US death toll in Iraq has now reached 2500. The milestone was reached on the same day the Iraq war was the subject of intense debate in both Houses of Congress. In the Senate, lawmakers voted ninety-three to six against a measure to withdraw US troops by the end of the year. The measure was introduced by Republicans who claimed to be acting upon a proposal by Senator John Kerry. Five Democrats -- Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Barbara Boxer of California, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts joined Kerry in voting for withdrawal. The House is expected to vote on its own Iraq resolution today. On Thursday, Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert urged lawmakers to support the measure.
- House Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert: "They know their sacrifices on foreign shores are keeping the battle against terrorists out of our cities. They know by going in to harm's way, they are keeping Americans safe, and they know that they are helping a proud, but brutalised people to throw off tyranny and stand tall once again. They know that they are liberators, not occupiers. Our men and women in uniform know all this and they are proud of it. It's time for this House of Representatives to tell the world they we know it too - that we know our cause is right, and that we are proud of it. Stand up for freedom. Adopt this resolution."
Democrats have accused Republicans of constraining debate by focusing the measure on the so-called war on terror rather than the Iraq war. House rules also prevent Democrats from proposing amendments or alternative resolutions. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi voiced the Democrats’ concerns.
- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: "The entire country is debating the war in Iraq, except the House of Representatives. So finally this debate was going to come to the floor, and then - a little while, within the past week, well it's going to be about this and that and other things as well because they know the case against this war is so incriminating that they really shouldn't want to bring it to the floor, so they've now expanded what the debate will be about."
Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
Meanwhile, a leading Iraqi official has asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The government says Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made the request during a meeting with President Bush Tuesday. In a statement, President Jalal Talabani said he supported Hashimi’s demand. The Bush administration has firmly rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal.
Meanwhile, a leading Iraqi official has asked the US for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The government says Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made the request during a meeting with President Bush Tuesday. In a statement, President Jalal Talabani said he supported Hashimi’s demand. The Bush administration has firmly rejected calls for a timetable for withdrawal.
ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Peace Activist Spying
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a lawsuit demanding the Pentagon turn over information it’s collected on anti-war groups. In December, NBC News revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence gathered inside the United States including information on anti-war protests and rallies. The database included information on counter-military recruiting meetings held at a Quaker House in Florida and anti-nuclear protests staged in Nebraska. The ACLU has already filed suit against the FBI for spying on peace groups.
The American Civil Liberties Union has launched a lawsuit demanding the Pentagon turn over information it’s collected on anti-war groups. In December, NBC News revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence gathered inside the United States including information on anti-war protests and rallies. The database included information on counter-military recruiting meetings held at a Quaker House in Florida and anti-nuclear protests staged in Nebraska. The ACLU has already filed suit against the FBI for spying on peace groups.
Striking Oaxaca Teachers Protest Police Raid
In Mexico, thousands of striking teachers converged in the center of the city of Oaxaca Thursday. The teachers are in the third week of a strike demanding higher wages and more funding for Mexico's education system. The gathering came just one day after a police raid that teachers say killed two of their members and a third child. In response, the teachers said they would now call for the resignation of state governor Ulises Ruiz.
In Mexico, thousands of striking teachers converged in the center of the city of Oaxaca Thursday. The teachers are in the third week of a strike demanding higher wages and more funding for Mexico's education system. The gathering came just one day after a police raid that teachers say killed two of their members and a third child. In response, the teachers said they would now call for the resignation of state governor Ulises Ruiz.
- Striking teacher Hermenegildo Sanchez: “We don't trust (the government) now. With all the people's support and the organizations, we're here taking over the Zocalo again and we'll stay here until [the governor] responds to our demands and punishes the guilty-- the police officers, all of them."
South Africa Marks 30-Year Anniversary of Soweto Uprising
And today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Soweto Uprising. On June Sixteenth, 1976, hundreds of black South African schoolchildren rose up to protest the compulsory teaching of the Afrikaans language. State security forces killed at least 23 people, the first of hundreds to die in an uprising that spread across the country in what became a pivotal event for the anti-apartheid struggle. The anniversary was marked earlier today with a march through central Soweto led by President Thabo Mbeki. Thousands of marchers followed the same route taken by demonstrators thirty years ago. They passed a memorial honoring the slain activist Hector Peterson. He was 13 years old when he was killed by South African police, making him the first and youngest student to die in the Soweto Uprising. A picture showing a comrade carrying away Peterson’s dead body went on to become a world-wide symbol of the anti-aprtheid struggle. Earlier this week, Nelson Mandela reflected on Peterson’s death.
And today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Soweto Uprising. On June Sixteenth, 1976, hundreds of black South African schoolchildren rose up to protest the compulsory teaching of the Afrikaans language. State security forces killed at least 23 people, the first of hundreds to die in an uprising that spread across the country in what became a pivotal event for the anti-apartheid struggle. The anniversary was marked earlier today with a march through central Soweto led by President Thabo Mbeki. Thousands of marchers followed the same route taken by demonstrators thirty years ago. They passed a memorial honoring the slain activist Hector Peterson. He was 13 years old when he was killed by South African police, making him the first and youngest student to die in the Soweto Uprising. A picture showing a comrade carrying away Peterson’s dead body went on to become a world-wide symbol of the anti-aprtheid struggle. Earlier this week, Nelson Mandela reflected on Peterson’s death.
- Nelson Mandela: "Many of you will remember this picture, because it was one of the cruelties of the apartheid government, and in this way, it has now been immortalised and we are very happy for that."
The above five items are from today's Democracy Now! Headlines and were selected by Braeden, Karen, Lewis, Sabina and Eli. Democracy Now! ("always informing you," as Marcia says):
Headlines for June 16, 2006
- Suicide Bomber Kills 10 At Baghdad Shiite Mosque
- Congress Debates Iraq War As US Death Toll Reaches 2500
- Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
- UN Relief Coordinator Warns of Somalia Crisis
- Striking Oaxaca Teachers Protest Police Raid
- Hamas Renews Call For Ceasfire With Israel
- Amnesty Says EU Countries Complicit in Torture
- Supreme Court: Government Can Use Illegally Obtained Evidence
- ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Peace Activist Spying
- New Orleans To Demolish Most Public Housing Units
- South Africa Marks 30-Year Anniversary of Soweto Uprising
- Suicide Bomber Kills 10 At Baghdad Shiite Mosque
- Congress Debates Iraq War As US Death Toll Reaches 2500
- Iraq VP Asks Bush For Withdrawal Timetable
- UN Relief Coordinator Warns of Somalia Crisis
- Striking Oaxaca Teachers Protest Police Raid
- Hamas Renews Call For Ceasfire With Israel
- Amnesty Says EU Countries Complicit in Torture
- Supreme Court: Government Can Use Illegally Obtained Evidence
- ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Peace Activist Spying
- New Orleans To Demolish Most Public Housing Units
- South Africa Marks 30-Year Anniversary of Soweto Uprising
A federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled the government can legally detain non-citizens on the sole basis of their religion, race or national origin and then detain them indefinitely. We speak with an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights that filed a lawsuit in the case.
Excerpt:
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain exactly what the federal judge in Brooklyn ruled?
RACHEL MEEROPOL: Sure. There's some good news and bad news. I’ll start with the bad, unfortunately. The first thing that the judge ruled is that once a non-citizen is picked up for a valid immigration purpose, that non-citizen can be held after they receive a final deportation or removal order, as long as they are going to be deported at some point in the foreseeable future. That means that the United States has complete discretion to detain an individual for whatever purpose it wants after a final deportation order until they cease to have any use for that individual in this country. It also means that because there's so much discretion built into the immigration law, the United States can use criteria that we would normally consider impermissible when dealing with citizens. For example, the United States can decide that it would like to hold non-citizens it picks up who are Muslims, who are Arab and South Asians, rather than other non-citizens, for a particularly long period of time.
What the judge actually ruled was that because we knew so little about the hijackers immediately after 9/11, that it was actually reasonable for the executive to decide to scrutinize all people who share certain characteristics. That they're Muslims, that they’re here in violation of their visa. We think that this is really giving a green light to racial profiling in this country and we're very disappointed by it. There's a little good news as well. The good news is the judge has allowed our case to go forward, to challenge the conditions of confinement and the abuse that my client suffered at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Now, he's allowed the case to continue against not just the correctional officials and wardens who were at the facility, but also the high-level government officials who we believe were the architects of sweeping up my clients and hundreds of other Arab and South Asian men, and holding them in extremely restrictive and punishing conditions.
Calls Grow Within American Psychological Association for Ban on Participation in Military Interrogations: A Debate
Should doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists participate in military interrogations? Both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have adopted policies discouraging their members from being involved. But their counterpart, the American Psychological Association has not. We host a debate with APA president Dr. Gerald Koocher, Dr. Stephen Reisner, an APA member who is calling on the group to take a stand against the practice and Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist who is a retired Brigadier General in the Army Medical Corps.
Should doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists participate in military interrogations? Both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have adopted policies discouraging their members from being involved. But their counterpart, the American Psychological Association has not. We host a debate with APA president Dr. Gerald Koocher, Dr. Stephen Reisner, an APA member who is calling on the group to take a stand against the practice and Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist who is a retired Brigadier General in the Army Medical Corps.
Iraq snapshot.
Though it garners no mention on the front page of the New York Times today (headline or text), the Pentagon announced yesterday that the American troop fatality count in Iraq had reached 2500. That wasn't judged to be "news." 'Officials say . . .,' however, was. Congress can take a moment to observe the milestone but the paper of record?
Bombings, kidnappings, corpses discovered -- chaos and violence continues in Iraq.
Kidnappings? Al Jazeera reports that Hasan Eskinutlu, a Turkish technical expert, and a translator have been kidnapped by the Imam Ali Brigade "demanding the withdrawal of Ankara's ambassador from Iraq." Reuters notes that the kidnappers are also demanding "the release of Iraqi prisoners in U.S. and Iraqi jails." That kidnapping took place Thursday and was announced today. The AFP reports that today nine people were kidnapped in villages south of Baghdad by "Gunmen."
Corpses? Pakistan's Pak Tribune notes that three corpses were discovered ("signs of torture with bullets in the head and chest").
Bombings? In Baghdad, at least eleven are dead according to the AFP as a result of a bombing in "inside a massive Shiite mosque" which also resulted in at least 25 people wounded. Also in Baghdad, home of the 'crackdown,' "Mortar rounds," Reuters reports, claimed three lives. Xinhua notes that at least sixteen were wounded.
In Basra, Reuters details the death of Yusif al-Hassan, a Sunni cleric and member of the Muslim Scholars Association at the hands of "[u]nknown gunmen".
Meanwhile the AFP is reporting on rumors in the Japanese press that an annoucement is due out shortly that Japan will be withdrawing their troops from Iraq. The BBC reports assertions that the area of Muthanna will be turned over to Iraqi forces which ""British, Australian and Japanese troops [currently] control". This as China's People's Daily reports that Rodolfo Biazon, Fillipino senator, has stated that Blackwater will be able to "recruite and train people in the city [Subic] to work as mercenaries in war-torn Iraq" based on a new agreement.
The BBC reports that another investigation into an incident involving the death of three Iraqis in US military custody has been launched "triggered by soldiers who raised suspiscions about the deaths" which took place in May.
Finally, as noted by Sandra Lupien on KPFA's The Morning Show, the Republicans postured a great deal in the House this morning as they passed their resolution that troops will not be withdrawn early and that the so-called war on terror would be "won" -- John Murtha noted that those saying "Stay" weren't the ones at any risk. The Associated Press quotes Nancy Pelosi saying, "Stay the course, I don't think so Mr. President. It's time to face the facts. The war in Iraq has been a mistake. I say, a grotesque mistake." We'll close with something noted on KPFA's The Morning Show this morning and on KFPA's Evening News yesterday, Barabra Lee's statement which more than sums it all up:
The president and the Republican majority really refuse to level with the American people about when our troops are coming home, also really if they're coming home. And while we're debating this very bogus resolution, the most substantive decison on Iraq policy in very recent days was taken out by the Republican majority behind closed doors. They stripped from the war suplemental an amendment we offered to prevent the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq. The American people don't want an open-ended war and occupation. Quietly removing a measure that was approved by both the House and the Senate is a gross abuse of the democratic process and is further evidence that the Republicans are afraid to level with the American people about their real plans for Iraq. Let me tell you, there will be a day of reckoning. The American people are demanding answers they deserve a truthful accounting of how we got into this unnecessary war, how the billions of dollars have been misspent, and when our troops are coming home. And also they really deserve to know if our troops are coming home given recent reports that the administration is considering leaving a permanent force of 50,000 troops in Iraq and indications that establishing permanent miliary bases are not off the table.
The president and the Republican majority really refuse to level with the American people about when our troops are coming home, also really if they're coming home. And while we're debating this very bogus resolution, the most substantive decison on Iraq policy in very recent days was taken out by the Republican majority behind closed doors. They stripped from the war suplemental an amendment we offered to prevent the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq. The American people don't want an open-ended war and occupation. Quietly removing a measure that was approved by both the House and the Senate is a gross abuse of the democratic process and is further evidence that the Republicans are afraid to level with the American people about their real plans for Iraq. Let me tell you, there will be a day of reckoning. The American people are demanding answers they deserve a truthful accounting of how we got into this unnecessary war, how the billions of dollars have been misspent, and when our troops are coming home. And also they really deserve to know if our troops are coming home given recent reports that the administration is considering leaving a permanent force of 50,000 troops in Iraq and indications that establishing permanent miliary bases are not off the table.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
Other Items (Rachel Meeropol and a debate on interrogations on DN! today)
In the lawsuit, the federal government invokes the state-secrets privilege, in which the government asserts that any discussion of a given lawsuit's claims would threaten national security.
"Compliance with the subpoenas issued by those officers would first place the carriers in a position of having to confirm or deny the existence of information that cannot be confirmed or denied without causing exceptionally grave harm to national security," Assistant United States Attorney Irene Dowdy claimed in the government's complaint. "And if particular carriers are indeed supplying foreign intelligence information to the federal government, compliance with the subpoenas would require disclosure of the details of that activity."
But in an interview on Thursday, Ms. Farber said that it was incumbent upon her to insure that the phone companies were not violating state law if they had turned in any phone records to the N.S.A. The New York Times first reported in December that President Bush had authorized the security agency to conduct eavesdropping without warrants. Last month, USA Today reported that the N.S.A. had created a large database of phone calls made by customers of several phone companies.
A few days after the USA Today article was published, Ms. Farber issued subpoenas to phone companies that operate in New Jersey. Yet few people outside of state government and the phone companies knew about them.
The above is from David W. Chen and Matt Richtel's "New Jersey Demands Data on Phone Call Surveillance and Is Sued by U.S." in this morning's New York Times. Brandon noted it and noted: "It's really sad that they're still reaching back to December to prove they've had anything to offer in months." It is sad . . . and that's the New York Times.
Let's note Margaret Kimberley's latest, "Randall Kennedy Defends Racist Violence" (Freedom Rider, The Black Commentator):
The people who were once considered black leaders have reached their collective nadir. Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State, has written election rules so draconian that anyone who helps another register to vote risks the possibility of jail time. Chicago Alderwoman Emma Mitts has sided with Wal-Mart in opposing living wages for her constituents. Andrew Young supports ID requirements that will deny black voters in Georgia their right to the ballot. He is also Wal-Mart's highest paid shill. Now black attorneys testify on behalf of white people who commit hate crimes.
Randall Kennedy is a black law professor at Harvard University. He is best known for his book N***er: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. (See BC August 22, 2002) The need for such a book always eluded me, but Kennedy managed to make a name for himself, quite a lot of money, and a secure place on the speaking circuit.
His former colleague at Harvard, Derrick Bell, wrote presciently about Kennedy in 1998. Bell taught a course called, Race, Racism and American Law and gave Kennedy his blessing to continue teaching it when he returned from a visiting professorship.
It was a decision I came to regret. Kennedy retained the course name, but dropped its advocacy orientation. Disgruntled students complained that Kennedy spent more time challenging and even denigrating civil rights positions than he did analyzing the continuing practices and policies of discrimination that made those policies, whatever their shortcomings, necessary.
Bell could not have imagined how low Kennedy would sink.
A number of members noted it and Keesha asked if we could not put the N-word up here. It's the title of the book but I do understand (and respect) her feelings so we've noted it the way we did above. (I also know that week after week, some visitor e-mails me to say "How dare you write" on Kimberley's latest so a lot of people are easily confused. Better to excerpt it that way at this site.) If you haven't already checked out the article, please do. Kimberley's a strong voice who speaks to the community because she always speaks from strength.
Carl (who also noted Kimberley's column) asked if we could highlight Bruce Dixon's "Black Caucus Caves to Corporate Power" (The Black Commentator) as well? Can and will:
The independence of black American leadership is under assault by a tsunami of cash. Unprecedented levels of corporate underwriting are subverting black civic organizations. Tens of millions in faith-based federal grants have been deployed to suborn black clergy. Rivers of charitable and campaign contributions have been invested in subduing or silencing the voices of African America elected officials. Predictably, the onslaught is taking its toll.
Last week the House of Representatives passed the COPE Act, which will turn the free and open Information Superhighway into a corporate toll road, and lift regulations that force cable and telephone companies to serve poor and minority areas. Only 46% of Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against it. But in a stunning repudiation of its own historic claims to be the "conscience of the congress" and the authentic voice of African America in national affairs, a mere 13 out of 40 voting CBC members in the House summoned the courage to buck the tide of corporate cash and stand up for their constituents. (The two delegates from Washington, DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands cannot vote on the House floor.) Two-thirds of the Caucus capitulated to corporate power, a more shameful showing than Democratic members as a whole. As "conscience of the congress," the Congressional Black Caucus is pretty much over.
To comprehend the depths of this betrayal we must understand that there are absolutely no economic development cases which can be made with a straight face for turning the free Internet into a corporate toll road, or for allowing cable and phone companies to deny premium broadband service to all but the wealthiest customers.
As the "crackdown" goes on Baghdad, the violence continues. Martha notes the Associated Press' "Baghdad Mosque Bombing Kills 7, Wounds 18" (Washington Post):
A suicide bomber struck a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers in Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding 18, police said, as violence persisted despite a driving ban and increased security measures aimed at restoring order in the capital.
For more reality on Iraq, Tevin highlights Aaron Glantz and Alaa Hassan 's "Basra Begins to Fall Apart" (IPS):
Basra in the south of Iraq is beginning to splinter under increasing violence and sectarian divisions.
Smuggling of oil on a large scale coupled with increasing violence and the lack of basic services like water and electricity has caused increasing tensions in the city, 570km south of Baghdad. More than 100 civilians have been killed in Basra so far this month.
Residents are pointing the finger at the governor and the British military, which occupies the city.
Before the recent spate of killings, Basra had a reputation as one of the most peaceful cities in occupied Iraq. The British military -- whose 8,000 soldiers in Iraq control Basra -- were considered by many to be more humane than their American counterparts.
But when thousands of residents took to the streets earlier this month to protest high unemployment and corruption in the governor's office, the British attacked the demonstrators with helicopters. Fighters responded.
"They shot down a helicopter," As'aad Kareem, president of the Iraqi oil workers union in Basra told IPS. "It was real resistance. They shot it down because the British were supporting the governor and shooting at the people in the demonstration. And the governor didn't stop the British from bombing the demonstration, and so that's his responsibility also."
"I visited Basra last year and I've seen the piles -- or mountains -- of garbage in the city," said Amjad Ali al-Jawahary, North American representative of the Iraqi trade union movement. He said frustration had been building in Basra before the violence broke out.
We'll also note Jim Lobe's "Iraq Exodus Ends Four-Year Decline in Refugees" (IPS) which was published June 14th and does a better job of outlining the refugee issue than a Times article did:
An exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis escaping growing violence in their homeland last year increased the total number of refugees around the world to some 12 million, according to the World Refugee Survey 2006 released here Wednesday by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). That total marked a reversal of a four-year trend of declining numbers of refugees. From 2001 to the end of 2004, the total number of people who crossed international borders in search of a safe haven from persecution or war fell from nearly 15 million to 11.5 million, according to the report. "The increase is largely due to 650,000 more Iraqi refugees who have fled to Jordan and Syria," said USCRI's president, Lavinia Limon. "Although some Iraqis may be fleeing generalised violence, individuals and groups are targeted on the basis of political affiliation, professions, ethnic, or religious differences -- the definition of a refugee." Moreover, she said that protections for fleeing Iraqis appear to be deteriorating, as Syria has begun to require residency permits, forcing many refugees to live underground, while Jordan has failed to so far to grant refugee status to Iraqis and is turning many back at the border. The erosion of such protections, according to the report, is typical of what is happening in many countries around the world, as governments increasingly erect barriers to prevent people fleeing persecution and conflict from entering their territory and force those who have arrived to return home.
Amy Goodman event today **CORRECTION, NEXT FRIDAY AS THE DATE BELOW INDICATES**:
* Amy Goodman in New York, NY:
Fri, June 23
*TIME:
7:30 PM
Amy Goodman Speaks With Italian Journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who was kidnapped in Iraq in February of 2005
Columbia University, Lerner Hall
For more information: http://www.socialismconference.org/index.shtml
Today on Democracy Now!, Rachel Meeropol with the Center for Constitutional Rights is a guest and there's a debate on whether psychiatrists and psychologists should participate in interrogations (they shouldn't, my opinion). So be sure to listen, watch or read Democracy Now! today.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the new york times
david w. chen
matt richtel
margaret kimberley
bruce dixon
aaron glantz
alaa hassan
jim lobe
amy goodman
democracy now
rachel meeropol
bisquits
biscuits
the center for constitutional rights
[C.I. note: As noted many times, I don't know the date unless I'm looking at the front of the paper. The Amy Goodman event, as the date indicates, is next Friday. ]
"Compliance with the subpoenas issued by those officers would first place the carriers in a position of having to confirm or deny the existence of information that cannot be confirmed or denied without causing exceptionally grave harm to national security," Assistant United States Attorney Irene Dowdy claimed in the government's complaint. "And if particular carriers are indeed supplying foreign intelligence information to the federal government, compliance with the subpoenas would require disclosure of the details of that activity."
But in an interview on Thursday, Ms. Farber said that it was incumbent upon her to insure that the phone companies were not violating state law if they had turned in any phone records to the N.S.A. The New York Times first reported in December that President Bush had authorized the security agency to conduct eavesdropping without warrants. Last month, USA Today reported that the N.S.A. had created a large database of phone calls made by customers of several phone companies.
A few days after the USA Today article was published, Ms. Farber issued subpoenas to phone companies that operate in New Jersey. Yet few people outside of state government and the phone companies knew about them.
The above is from David W. Chen and Matt Richtel's "New Jersey Demands Data on Phone Call Surveillance and Is Sued by U.S." in this morning's New York Times. Brandon noted it and noted: "It's really sad that they're still reaching back to December to prove they've had anything to offer in months." It is sad . . . and that's the New York Times.
Let's note Margaret Kimberley's latest, "Randall Kennedy Defends Racist Violence" (Freedom Rider, The Black Commentator):
The people who were once considered black leaders have reached their collective nadir. Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State, has written election rules so draconian that anyone who helps another register to vote risks the possibility of jail time. Chicago Alderwoman Emma Mitts has sided with Wal-Mart in opposing living wages for her constituents. Andrew Young supports ID requirements that will deny black voters in Georgia their right to the ballot. He is also Wal-Mart's highest paid shill. Now black attorneys testify on behalf of white people who commit hate crimes.
Randall Kennedy is a black law professor at Harvard University. He is best known for his book N***er: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. (See BC August 22, 2002) The need for such a book always eluded me, but Kennedy managed to make a name for himself, quite a lot of money, and a secure place on the speaking circuit.
His former colleague at Harvard, Derrick Bell, wrote presciently about Kennedy in 1998. Bell taught a course called, Race, Racism and American Law and gave Kennedy his blessing to continue teaching it when he returned from a visiting professorship.
It was a decision I came to regret. Kennedy retained the course name, but dropped its advocacy orientation. Disgruntled students complained that Kennedy spent more time challenging and even denigrating civil rights positions than he did analyzing the continuing practices and policies of discrimination that made those policies, whatever their shortcomings, necessary.
Bell could not have imagined how low Kennedy would sink.
A number of members noted it and Keesha asked if we could not put the N-word up here. It's the title of the book but I do understand (and respect) her feelings so we've noted it the way we did above. (I also know that week after week, some visitor e-mails me to say "How dare you write" on Kimberley's latest so a lot of people are easily confused. Better to excerpt it that way at this site.) If you haven't already checked out the article, please do. Kimberley's a strong voice who speaks to the community because she always speaks from strength.
Carl (who also noted Kimberley's column) asked if we could highlight Bruce Dixon's "Black Caucus Caves to Corporate Power" (The Black Commentator) as well? Can and will:
The independence of black American leadership is under assault by a tsunami of cash. Unprecedented levels of corporate underwriting are subverting black civic organizations. Tens of millions in faith-based federal grants have been deployed to suborn black clergy. Rivers of charitable and campaign contributions have been invested in subduing or silencing the voices of African America elected officials. Predictably, the onslaught is taking its toll.
Last week the House of Representatives passed the COPE Act, which will turn the free and open Information Superhighway into a corporate toll road, and lift regulations that force cable and telephone companies to serve poor and minority areas. Only 46% of Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against it. But in a stunning repudiation of its own historic claims to be the "conscience of the congress" and the authentic voice of African America in national affairs, a mere 13 out of 40 voting CBC members in the House summoned the courage to buck the tide of corporate cash and stand up for their constituents. (The two delegates from Washington, DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands cannot vote on the House floor.) Two-thirds of the Caucus capitulated to corporate power, a more shameful showing than Democratic members as a whole. As "conscience of the congress," the Congressional Black Caucus is pretty much over.
To comprehend the depths of this betrayal we must understand that there are absolutely no economic development cases which can be made with a straight face for turning the free Internet into a corporate toll road, or for allowing cable and phone companies to deny premium broadband service to all but the wealthiest customers.
As the "crackdown" goes on Baghdad, the violence continues. Martha notes the Associated Press' "Baghdad Mosque Bombing Kills 7, Wounds 18" (Washington Post):
A suicide bomber struck a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers in Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding 18, police said, as violence persisted despite a driving ban and increased security measures aimed at restoring order in the capital.
For more reality on Iraq, Tevin highlights Aaron Glantz and Alaa Hassan 's "Basra Begins to Fall Apart" (IPS):
Basra in the south of Iraq is beginning to splinter under increasing violence and sectarian divisions.
Smuggling of oil on a large scale coupled with increasing violence and the lack of basic services like water and electricity has caused increasing tensions in the city, 570km south of Baghdad. More than 100 civilians have been killed in Basra so far this month.
Residents are pointing the finger at the governor and the British military, which occupies the city.
Before the recent spate of killings, Basra had a reputation as one of the most peaceful cities in occupied Iraq. The British military -- whose 8,000 soldiers in Iraq control Basra -- were considered by many to be more humane than their American counterparts.
But when thousands of residents took to the streets earlier this month to protest high unemployment and corruption in the governor's office, the British attacked the demonstrators with helicopters. Fighters responded.
"They shot down a helicopter," As'aad Kareem, president of the Iraqi oil workers union in Basra told IPS. "It was real resistance. They shot it down because the British were supporting the governor and shooting at the people in the demonstration. And the governor didn't stop the British from bombing the demonstration, and so that's his responsibility also."
"I visited Basra last year and I've seen the piles -- or mountains -- of garbage in the city," said Amjad Ali al-Jawahary, North American representative of the Iraqi trade union movement. He said frustration had been building in Basra before the violence broke out.
We'll also note Jim Lobe's "Iraq Exodus Ends Four-Year Decline in Refugees" (IPS) which was published June 14th and does a better job of outlining the refugee issue than a Times article did:
An exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis escaping growing violence in their homeland last year increased the total number of refugees around the world to some 12 million, according to the World Refugee Survey 2006 released here Wednesday by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). That total marked a reversal of a four-year trend of declining numbers of refugees. From 2001 to the end of 2004, the total number of people who crossed international borders in search of a safe haven from persecution or war fell from nearly 15 million to 11.5 million, according to the report. "The increase is largely due to 650,000 more Iraqi refugees who have fled to Jordan and Syria," said USCRI's president, Lavinia Limon. "Although some Iraqis may be fleeing generalised violence, individuals and groups are targeted on the basis of political affiliation, professions, ethnic, or religious differences -- the definition of a refugee." Moreover, she said that protections for fleeing Iraqis appear to be deteriorating, as Syria has begun to require residency permits, forcing many refugees to live underground, while Jordan has failed to so far to grant refugee status to Iraqis and is turning many back at the border. The erosion of such protections, according to the report, is typical of what is happening in many countries around the world, as governments increasingly erect barriers to prevent people fleeing persecution and conflict from entering their territory and force those who have arrived to return home.
Amy Goodman event today **CORRECTION, NEXT FRIDAY AS THE DATE BELOW INDICATES**:
* Amy Goodman in New York, NY:
Fri, June 23
*TIME:
7:30 PM
Amy Goodman Speaks With Italian Journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who was kidnapped in Iraq in February of 2005
Columbia University, Lerner Hall
For more information: http://www.socialismconference.org/index.shtml
Today on Democracy Now!, Rachel Meeropol with the Center for Constitutional Rights is a guest and there's a debate on whether psychiatrists and psychologists should participate in interrogations (they shouldn't, my opinion). So be sure to listen, watch or read Democracy Now! today.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
the new york times
david w. chen
matt richtel
margaret kimberley
bruce dixon
aaron glantz
alaa hassan
jim lobe
amy goodman
democracy now
rachel meeropol
bisquits
biscuits
the center for constitutional rights
[C.I. note: As noted many times, I don't know the date unless I'm looking at the front of the paper. The Amy Goodman event, as the date indicates, is next Friday. ]
NYT: Dexy puts on the redlight (yet again)
If President Bush had stood on the steps of the White House with a megaphone when he set out to sell the Iraq War, he might have convinced a few people about the imminent threat posed by Saddam Hussein. But he had something far more powerful that convinced far more people: He had a compliant press corps ready to amplify his lies. This was the same press corps that investigated and reported for years on President Clinton's lying about an extramarital affair. The difference here was that President Bush's lies take lives.
In order to be able to get that all-important leak from a named or, better yet, unnamed "senior official," reporters trade truth for access. This is the "access of evil," when reporters forgo the tough questions out of fear of being passed over.
And then there is the embedding process. Journalists embedded with US troops in Iraq bring us only one perspective. How about balancing the troops' perspective with reporters embedded in Iraqi hospitals, or in the peace movement around the world? Former Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke proclaimed the embedding process a spectacular success. For the Pentagon, it was. More powerful than any bomb or missile, the Pentagon deployed the media.
The above is from Amy Goodman's "Access of Evil" (The Nation). We're opening with it because we need a strong sense of reality before wading through the latest by Dexter Filkins. The media that sold you the war continues to sell you it. This as some on the 'left' waste everyone's time rallying around war hawks like Hillary Clinton. Let's be clear that the stay-the-course crowd (in DC), except for the very stupid, aren't screaming that because of their feelings regarding the state of the Iraqi people. This was never about the Iraqi people (you should have grasped that when there was no attempt to seriously address the issue of potable water or the electricity or to account for billions of dollars that disappeared from the so-called coalition or . . . .) . What it was about was outlined some time ago, planned disaster, in Naomi Klein's "Baghdad Year Zero" (Harper's magazine). Heath just finished Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse (a great book) and e-mailed to say he went back and read Klein after and now gets it.
All the posturing doesn't change reality. Or change the fact that a whole lot of ugly pigs have had their fingers in the pie. (Mad Maddie, we mean you!) Which is among the reasons that, at this site, we don't stay silent when CODEPINK's trashed and stabbed in the back and why we don't rush in to defend war hawk Hillary Clinton who knows far more than she's ever told. Or link to a bit of nonsense about flags written by Bob Kerry who was selling the invasion (alongside John McCain and others) before the war started.
Sadly, it was Jewel, and not some on the left, who sang "I won't be made useless." Some on the left feel bound and determined to demonstrate just how useless they can be. (And at that, they succeed.) It's not about democracy in Iraq, it never was. The puppet government will not bring democracy and has not brought democracy.
For people to buy into that myth, it takes a lot of useless people from all over the spectrum. Yes, now we're ready to talk Dexy.
Apparently it was play Al Qaeda Idol or sing "It Might As Well Rain Until September" for Dexy and he decided to do what he'd always done best, push whatever nonsense he was told. Having already demonstrated he could be the chief propagandist for the military with Zarqawi (see Thomas E. Ricks' "Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi" in the Washington Post -- and not much else because far too many shy from addressing the issue of Dexter Filkins publicly), today he goes to bat for the latest contestant with "U.S. Portrayal Helps Flesh Out Zarqawi's Heir" in this morning's New York Times.
American military officers on Thursday . . .
. . . they say succeeded . . .
Mr. Masri, he said, . . . [note that "he" is of course an American general]
General Caldwell said Mr. Masri . . .
. . . American officials predicted . . .
Still, on Thursday, American officials said . . .
. . . the Americans claim . . .
The Americans said . . .
General Caldwell said . . .
But, the general said, . . .
That's how it goes for the entire article. We could continue this game (and we've played it before) (and played the game before it was a much linked article, lest we be accused of ripping off anyone -- the excercise was actually done by Norman Solomon back in the 90s and I'm sure by someone else before that) but I think every member gets the idea.
Dexy has nothing to say, nothing to offer, but what he's told. It's not reporting. It never has been.
So Dexy was on the NewsHour and I, being averse to PBS (we won't try to save it here) and really most TV in general, missed it. But Phyllis Bennis and Philip Maldari mentioned it yesterday on KPFA's The Morning Show so I looked at the transcript. Bennis and Maldari panned for gold and found the only thing of value in the nonsense interview that Filkins gave.
But Baghdad is, neighborhood by neighborhood, very, very close to total anarchy. The amount of violence is absolutely extraordinary, and it's not just insurgent violence. It's violence by the militias; it's kidnapping; it's murder.
It's really, really dangerous here, as the ambassador said. And so I think that nobody really expects that the killing of one man, even a man as murderous as Zarqawi, could make that much of a difference.
And would he have offered even that much if "the ambassador" hadn't already "said" it? Magic 8 Ball says: "Selling the illegal war is in his blood and in his cheerleading tights." But he offered "anarchy" on TV and it's far more reality than anything he's offered in print. (That appearance was June 13th for those trying to figure what day he didn't write that in the paper.)
Not one to pan for gold, here's what stands out to me:
DEXTER FILKINS: Well, first of all, the president took a helicopter from the airport to the Green Zone. He didn't drive the road. The airport road, as a lot of people know, is a notorious place where there are suicide bombings there everyday.
But even as he took the helicopter, he got to see quite a bit. He flew over the Green Zone. He could see the power plants in Dora, which is one of the most insurgent-ridden neighborhoods in the whole city. He flew over the buildings where Saddam Hussein and his former henchmen are now being tried.
So he got a good look at the city. And Baghdad is a really -- it's a really extraordinary sight from the sky.
I bet it is a wonderful sight from the sky, far removed from the reality those on the ground, outside the Green Zone, have to face daily. The helicopter, like Dexy's writing, is far removed from reality. He saw "power plants in Dora," "flew over the buildings where Saddam Hussein and his former henchmen are now being tried" . . . Dexy really is useless and he's made himself that.
"Very close to total anarchy"? Well he never wrote about the truth on the ground in real time (guess no official could be quoted -- maybe, like with Paul Bremer, he'll slam them for it when they later write a book?). He's one of the reasons we stay. He lies a little every day and every day that he lies about the reality of life in Iraq (forget the reason we're over there, just the reality) allows the illegal occupation to continue as some Americans convince themselves that things really aren't that bad.
If Judith Miller had a hand in getting us over there (and she did with the help of Michael R. Gordon and others at the paper), then Dexy Filkins (to repeat) has had a hand in keeping us there. Today, instead of giving readers any reality, he yet agains files another lengthy press release from the Green Zone and passes it off as a report. The puppet occupation has a puppet 'reporter' and Dexy long ago cast himself in that role. Of those in the supposed press who sold us into war, Dahr Jamail rightly asked: "Would this war have even happened if these people had not done what they did?" (Mark Gabrish Conlan's "Independent Journalists Visit, Report on Iraq").
No. And it's equally true that illegal occupation would not continue, day after day, for over three years and with over 2500 Americans troops dead (which doesn't rate a story of its own in today's paper of no record) if 'reporters' didn't continue to sell it. Dexy sells it again today. It's old, it's tired, but he pinches his cheeks, steps into his fishnets, and trolls under the street lamp for another night. The only thing worse than being an old joke is being a dirty, old joke.
Remember to listen, watch or read Democracy Now! today.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
amy goodman
the new york times
dexter filkins
the washington post
thomas e. ricks
dahr jamail
mark gabrish conlan
kpfa
the morning show
phyllis bennis
philip maldari
the newshour
[C.I. note: "trolls" added instead of "stepped under" being used twice. Also this post's time was messed up. I was attempting to get "And the war drags on . . ." at the top -- posted during a roundtable you can read in the gina & krista roundrobin -- and got all messed up on time.]
In order to be able to get that all-important leak from a named or, better yet, unnamed "senior official," reporters trade truth for access. This is the "access of evil," when reporters forgo the tough questions out of fear of being passed over.
And then there is the embedding process. Journalists embedded with US troops in Iraq bring us only one perspective. How about balancing the troops' perspective with reporters embedded in Iraqi hospitals, or in the peace movement around the world? Former Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke proclaimed the embedding process a spectacular success. For the Pentagon, it was. More powerful than any bomb or missile, the Pentagon deployed the media.
The above is from Amy Goodman's "Access of Evil" (The Nation). We're opening with it because we need a strong sense of reality before wading through the latest by Dexter Filkins. The media that sold you the war continues to sell you it. This as some on the 'left' waste everyone's time rallying around war hawks like Hillary Clinton. Let's be clear that the stay-the-course crowd (in DC), except for the very stupid, aren't screaming that because of their feelings regarding the state of the Iraqi people. This was never about the Iraqi people (you should have grasped that when there was no attempt to seriously address the issue of potable water or the electricity or to account for billions of dollars that disappeared from the so-called coalition or . . . .) . What it was about was outlined some time ago, planned disaster, in Naomi Klein's "Baghdad Year Zero" (Harper's magazine). Heath just finished Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse (a great book) and e-mailed to say he went back and read Klein after and now gets it.
All the posturing doesn't change reality. Or change the fact that a whole lot of ugly pigs have had their fingers in the pie. (Mad Maddie, we mean you!) Which is among the reasons that, at this site, we don't stay silent when CODEPINK's trashed and stabbed in the back and why we don't rush in to defend war hawk Hillary Clinton who knows far more than she's ever told. Or link to a bit of nonsense about flags written by Bob Kerry who was selling the invasion (alongside John McCain and others) before the war started.
Sadly, it was Jewel, and not some on the left, who sang "I won't be made useless." Some on the left feel bound and determined to demonstrate just how useless they can be. (And at that, they succeed.) It's not about democracy in Iraq, it never was. The puppet government will not bring democracy and has not brought democracy.
For people to buy into that myth, it takes a lot of useless people from all over the spectrum. Yes, now we're ready to talk Dexy.
Apparently it was play Al Qaeda Idol or sing "It Might As Well Rain Until September" for Dexy and he decided to do what he'd always done best, push whatever nonsense he was told. Having already demonstrated he could be the chief propagandist for the military with Zarqawi (see Thomas E. Ricks' "Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi" in the Washington Post -- and not much else because far too many shy from addressing the issue of Dexter Filkins publicly), today he goes to bat for the latest contestant with "U.S. Portrayal Helps Flesh Out Zarqawi's Heir" in this morning's New York Times.
American military officers on Thursday . . .
. . . they say succeeded . . .
Mr. Masri, he said, . . . [note that "he" is of course an American general]
General Caldwell said Mr. Masri . . .
. . . American officials predicted . . .
Still, on Thursday, American officials said . . .
. . . the Americans claim . . .
The Americans said . . .
General Caldwell said . . .
But, the general said, . . .
That's how it goes for the entire article. We could continue this game (and we've played it before) (and played the game before it was a much linked article, lest we be accused of ripping off anyone -- the excercise was actually done by Norman Solomon back in the 90s and I'm sure by someone else before that) but I think every member gets the idea.
Dexy has nothing to say, nothing to offer, but what he's told. It's not reporting. It never has been.
So Dexy was on the NewsHour and I, being averse to PBS (we won't try to save it here) and really most TV in general, missed it. But Phyllis Bennis and Philip Maldari mentioned it yesterday on KPFA's The Morning Show so I looked at the transcript. Bennis and Maldari panned for gold and found the only thing of value in the nonsense interview that Filkins gave.
But Baghdad is, neighborhood by neighborhood, very, very close to total anarchy. The amount of violence is absolutely extraordinary, and it's not just insurgent violence. It's violence by the militias; it's kidnapping; it's murder.
It's really, really dangerous here, as the ambassador said. And so I think that nobody really expects that the killing of one man, even a man as murderous as Zarqawi, could make that much of a difference.
And would he have offered even that much if "the ambassador" hadn't already "said" it? Magic 8 Ball says: "Selling the illegal war is in his blood and in his cheerleading tights." But he offered "anarchy" on TV and it's far more reality than anything he's offered in print. (That appearance was June 13th for those trying to figure what day he didn't write that in the paper.)
Not one to pan for gold, here's what stands out to me:
DEXTER FILKINS: Well, first of all, the president took a helicopter from the airport to the Green Zone. He didn't drive the road. The airport road, as a lot of people know, is a notorious place where there are suicide bombings there everyday.
But even as he took the helicopter, he got to see quite a bit. He flew over the Green Zone. He could see the power plants in Dora, which is one of the most insurgent-ridden neighborhoods in the whole city. He flew over the buildings where Saddam Hussein and his former henchmen are now being tried.
So he got a good look at the city. And Baghdad is a really -- it's a really extraordinary sight from the sky.
I bet it is a wonderful sight from the sky, far removed from the reality those on the ground, outside the Green Zone, have to face daily. The helicopter, like Dexy's writing, is far removed from reality. He saw "power plants in Dora," "flew over the buildings where Saddam Hussein and his former henchmen are now being tried" . . . Dexy really is useless and he's made himself that.
"Very close to total anarchy"? Well he never wrote about the truth on the ground in real time (guess no official could be quoted -- maybe, like with Paul Bremer, he'll slam them for it when they later write a book?). He's one of the reasons we stay. He lies a little every day and every day that he lies about the reality of life in Iraq (forget the reason we're over there, just the reality) allows the illegal occupation to continue as some Americans convince themselves that things really aren't that bad.
If Judith Miller had a hand in getting us over there (and she did with the help of Michael R. Gordon and others at the paper), then Dexy Filkins (to repeat) has had a hand in keeping us there. Today, instead of giving readers any reality, he yet agains files another lengthy press release from the Green Zone and passes it off as a report. The puppet occupation has a puppet 'reporter' and Dexy long ago cast himself in that role. Of those in the supposed press who sold us into war, Dahr Jamail rightly asked: "Would this war have even happened if these people had not done what they did?" (Mark Gabrish Conlan's "Independent Journalists Visit, Report on Iraq").
No. And it's equally true that illegal occupation would not continue, day after day, for over three years and with over 2500 Americans troops dead (which doesn't rate a story of its own in today's paper of no record) if 'reporters' didn't continue to sell it. Dexy sells it again today. It's old, it's tired, but he pinches his cheeks, steps into his fishnets, and trolls under the street lamp for another night. The only thing worse than being an old joke is being a dirty, old joke.
Remember to listen, watch or read Democracy Now! today.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
amy goodman
the new york times
dexter filkins
the washington post
thomas e. ricks
dahr jamail
mark gabrish conlan
kpfa
the morning show
phyllis bennis
philip maldari
the newshour
[C.I. note: "trolls" added instead of "stepped under" being used twice. Also this post's time was messed up. I was attempting to get "And the war drags on . . ." at the top -- posted during a roundtable you can read in the gina & krista roundrobin -- and got all messed up on time.]
Thursday, June 15, 2006
And the war drags on . . . (Indymedia Roundup)
The peace majority is real.
A CBS poll finds that 80 percent of Democrats believe the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, and more than 60 percent want US troops home as soon as possible. A Washington Post/ABC poll finds that 70 percent of Independents feel the war was not worth it, and 33 percent of Republicans agree. Even 72 percent of our troops believe US forces should leave Iraq in the next year.
So what are so many Democratic politicians so afraid of? And how do we translate this majority into a politics of change for the 2006 elections and beyond? How do we send a message from the grassroots -- the people outside of the beltway -- that ending this war matters, and that the time to show moxie and conviction is right now?
VotersForPeace has initiated the Peace Voter Pledge along with 18 other antiwar organizations -- including United for Peace and Justice, itself a coalition of 1,400 local groups.
The pledge is focused on the Iraq war as well as potential armed conflicts such as that with Iran, and -- using language crafted by The Nation in its cover editorial last November -- it reads: "I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."
The above, noted by Wendy, is from Katrina vanden Heuvel's "The Peace Race" (Editor's Cut, The Nation). Wendy notes that the magazine's website has a "huge" amount of coverage on Iraq currently and asks that we note that. We will. Good for The Nation for stepping up and leading. Wendy notes a number of items (including one we've already noted this week, Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith's "Lieutenant Watada's War Against the War") and we'll note one other one. We will not, however, now or ever, note some nonsense about Hillary Clinton speech at the so-called Take Back America conference that refuses to address the way CODEPINK was stabbed in the back, let alone to identify them. Nor will we note nonsense about how people shouldn't heckle. "I think it's worth listening to people you disagree with." That was crap when it was offered as Reagan made an appearance at an event (and someone tried to cover for him saying everyone should show respect, one of the silliest remarks ever made by ___ ). Free speech is free speech. Hillary Clinton was there to woo a crowd. She didn't woo them all. People have a right to make themselves heard. That was true when it happened to John McCain, that was true when it happened to Hillary Clinton. Schilling isn't appreciated. And that sort of nonsese ('Come on guys, we don't need to heckle, let's just sit there and not cheer so loudly at the end') is now two for two on nonsense. It's becoming our weekly nonsense.
The nonsense that she can't be heckled is NONSENSE. (It's worse than that but I try to keep it work-safe at this site.) Who is she, the Bully Boy? No, and she needs to face the reality of the effect her remarks have on people. And shame on anyone who won't stick up for CODEPINK. CODEPINK members were among the hecklers so not only were they not stood up for, they were basically told, "Ladies, shut up and know your place." This from someone with a Florence Henderson hairdo. (Guys, really, the flip in the back, it was never attractive. Not even on Henderson. Julia Roberts tried to revive it in the 90s and couldn't -- and she's actually very attractive -- so what makes you think you can?)
Hillary got what she deserved, an honest reaction from people she was speaking to. Quit playing taste police (which wasn't a concern last week . . .) and quit stabbing CODEPINK in the back.
What we will note is Barbara Lee (Congress member from California and someone who has repeatedly stood up to illegal war) whose comments, broadcast by KFPA's Evening News today, sum up what happened on the floor of the House and what we need to be addressing:
The president and the Republican majority really refuse to level with the American people about when our troops are coming home, also really if they're coming home. And while we're debating this very bogus resolution, the most substantive decison on Iraq policy in very recent days was taken out by the Republican majority behind closed doors. They stripped from the war suplemental an amendment we offered to prevent the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq. The American people don't want an open-ended war and occupation. Quietly removing a measure that was approved by both the House and the Senate is a gross abuse of the democratic process and is further evidence that the Republicans are afraid to level with the American people about their real plans for Iraq. Let me tell you, there will be a day of reckoning. The American people are demanding answers they deserve a truthful accounting of how we got into this unnecessary war, how the billions of dollars have been misspent, and when our troops are coming home. And also they really deserve to know if our troops are coming home given recent reports that the administration is considering leaving a permanent force of 50,000 troops in Iraq and indications that establishing permanent miliary bases are not off the table.
With more on the House, Wendy and End Zone both noted John Nichols' "Another Blank Check for Perpetual War" (The Online Beat, The Nation):
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives maintained its track record of providing absolutely no checks and balances on the Bush administration's warmaking this week, when it voted 351-67 to authorize another $66 billion in "emergency" spending for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
While the House will hold a symbolic "debate" on the Iraq imbroglio Thursday, that endeavor has been so constrained by the House Republican leadership that it will be of no more consequence than the discourse in a mock legislative exercise for high school students -- although, in fairness to the students, a mock Congress would undoubtedly take the Constitutional imperative of shared responsibility for warmaking more seriously than does the actual Congress.
What was truly frustrating about the House vote on the emergency funding was the general failure of the Democrats -- who have again delayed announcement of their agenda for this year's election campaign -- to mount a coherent opposition to a war that an overwhelming majority of Americans characterize as a mistake.
Some might say, "John Nichols, that sounds like a 'boo'!" ("Say" or "scold"?) I wouldn't. He's writing what he saw and how he felt -- not telling the 'little ladies' of CODEPINK to "shut it." I can't imagine any group dominated by males being treated this way. But just as the New York Times only felt the need to take NOW to task for a candidate endorsement (even though almost everyone endorsing 'wasted' their endorsement since John Kerry wasn't the first choice among many groups), The Nation now wants to lecture the women of CODEPINK? That doesn't play. CODEPINK didn't do a damn thing different than what they usually do and the magazine's been happy to note it when they were at the FCC or in Congress or anywhere else. But someone's precious Hillary (whom he found . . . something) got a few boos and suddenly it's time to turn on CODEPINK. For "No one owns The Nation," that's rather surprising. Considering the editorial KvH rightly notes from November, it's rather sad that someone thinks a war hawk should be shielded from the public's reaction.
That's the sort of No Action that allows the war to . . . Sing along:
They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)
Last Thursday, the American troop fatality count stood at 2489. Tonight? 2500. The number we would never get to -- because it was a "cakewalk," because it would be over in a matter of weeks, because the mission was "accomplished." 2500 Americans lost their lives in an illegal war of choice. We don't have an accurate count on how many Iraqis. Forgive me if Hillary being booed for preaching her War Hawk nonsense doesn't strike me as a pressing issue or an attack on freedom. The various people playing Miss Manners of the World apparently see it as an attack on civility. The real attack on civility is illegal wars.
But by all means, be Hillary's personal cheerleader and cheerlead a conference that stabbed in the back some of the best activists this nation has. That'll end the war! (That was sarcasm.)
So many make themselves useless. I'm not sure if it's a desire for access or just stupidity. But we don't have time to play and the statements that people shouldn't heckle are offensive coming from anyone at The Nation. When they're aimed at CODEPINK, they're offensive and disgusting. We don't have time to play. We don't have time to defend War Hawks from a deserved response.
Republicans and lots of Democrats played in the Senate today. Only six stood brave and tall against the war: John Kerry, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, Robert Byrd, Tom Harkin and Edward Kennedy (and for more on that, listen to KPFA's Evening News for Thursday).
Guess who else doesn't have the luxury of playing? People standing up. Mia notes
Gerry Condon's "Californians Call for Sanctuary for U.S. War Resisters in Canada" (Indybay Indymedia):
On May 15, International Conscientious Objectors Day, a delegation of concerned Californians visited the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco to appeal for sanctuary for U.S. war resisters in Canada. The visit was coordinated by Courage To Resist, Project Safe Haven and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO). The delegation included military veterans, a Catholic priest, an expert on international law, and resisters of U.S. wars, present and past. Four delegation members lived in Canada during the Vietnam War. They delivered a letter addressed to Peter MacKay, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The letter was received by Tristan Landry, Consul, Political/Economic Relations and Public Relations, who listened respectfully as each of his visitors stated their support for sanctuary for U.S. war resisters in Canada.
Gerry Condon of Project Safe Haven gave a brief overview of the plight of U.S. war resisters in Canada, telling the Canadian Consul that several hundred AWOL GI's were estimated to be in Canada, and that 25 of them have applied for political refugee status. The first two, Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, have had their claims for refugee status denied, but they are appealing in Canada's Federal Court system.
"I know these young people personally," said Condon. "I know how sincere they are. Several of these young men already served one tour in Iraq. They were witness to U.S. war crimes and, obeying international law, they refused to return for more of the same. If Canada's refugee system cannot accommodate U.S. war resisters, then we appeal to the Canadian government to fashion a sanctuary policy, as called for by many Canadians, including Members of Parliament." "The war in Iraq must be opposed not only as a matter of law, but as a matter of principle." Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, forcefully argued that the U.S. war in Iraq is illegal.
"It must be opposed not only as a matter of law, but as a matter of principle," she said. "If the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war is allowed to stand, the next states in line may be Iran and North Korea, as we have seen."
Ms. Cabasso later said she was encouraged when the Canadian representative reminded her that Canada had refused to participate in the war in Iraq.
"So, welcoming conscientious Iraq War resisters from the United States would certainly be consistent," she asserted.
Several Vietnam War resisters spoke passionately about Canada's traditional role, in the words of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, as a "refuge from militarism." Keith Mather, Evangeline Lantana Mix, and Steve Grossman each thanked Canada for providing them with a viable alternative to going to war or to prison during the Vietnam War.
"When a U.S. judge promised me five years in prison for refusing to be drafted into an unjust war, I decided to go to Canada instead," said Steve Grossman, a theater arts teacher. "I am very grateful to the Canadian people and government for five years of creative, useful life instead of five years in prison. And I want to thank those Canadians who are now welcoming another generation of young Americans of conscience."
Father Louis Vitale, who recently finished a six-month prison sentence for peacefully protesting the "School of the Assassins" at Fort Benning, Georgia, was nonetheless passionate about supporting the troops.
"Our military people are really in danger," said Father Vitale. "They're really at high risk. Some of them are threatening suicide, or are on the border of suicide. Some of them are tortured in prison. Some of them give in and do go to Iraq and do get killed. They really need the humanity that exists in Canada to accept them and give them sanctuary."
[. . .]
There are Canadian government offices in twenty U.S. cities. Those wishing to appeal to the Canadian government on behalf of U.S. war resisters are encouraged to contact Project Safe Haven at projectsafehaven [at] hotmail.com or the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto at resisters [at] sympatico.ca or 416-598-1222. For more information on military resisters and how to support them, please visit http://www.couragetoresist.org/
And with the latest refusing to serve, no surprise that Democracy Now! was there first to cover this nationally, "Sexually Harassed Soldier is Arrested After Refusing to Redeploy to Iraq:"
AMY GOODMAN: Sarah, why did Suzanne join the military?
SARAH RICH: Well, she got a real good deal, Amy. They -- the recruiters really wooed her. She was in a -- She had graduated from high school. She was in a dead end -- well, she working at Safeway, and she was miserable. She hated going to work every day. She didn't know what to do. You know, we looked at college, and she just said she wasn't ready for college, and the recruiters were calling our home. They have our home number, and they were offering her travel and college money and training and if she signed up for the special deal of being a military police officer for five years instead of four, she would not be deployed to Iraq, because at that time they weren't deploying military police to Iraq, she was told.
AMY GOODMAN: And yet, she was deployed.
SARAH RICH: Immediately.
AMY GOODMAN: What are your thoughts right now, Sarah, as Suzanne's mother, what do you want to happen right now? And will you be suing the military?
SARAH RICH: Well Suzanne is -- you know, this has gotten bigger than Suzanne. Right now I want Suzanne to have an honorable discharge because she has post-traumatic stress from being treated so horribly in a war zone by the people that were supposed to be caring for her and in charge of her very life were molesting and harassing her so I want Suzanne's rights to be honored, and I want her to be discharged from the Army with full benefits because her emotional and psychological well-being is so compromised.
But what's really surprising me, Amy, is the amount of women veterans that have been calling and emailing, saying, "That's exactly what happened to me, and nobody listened." It breaks my heart, and Suzanne is just shocked at how many people are supporting her and saying, "You're not alone and you're not crazy. That's what happened to me, and it wasn't your fault." And that's the big thing for Suzanne because she has really thought that this was all her fault.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you sorry she joined the military, Sarah Rich?
SARAH RICH: Oh, so sorry, so sorry that she joined the military, and that's one of the things I do, I'm a counter-military recruiter now, and Suzanne has said, "Mom, I want to join you as soon as I'm clear. I want to join you and tell kids what the recruiters are really doing. It's really like selling your soul to the devil to go be human fodder for an illegal war."
Looking for reasons not to serve? Check out Nora's highlight, David Swanson's "Eleven Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military" (New Zealand's Scoop):
I just read an excellent book from http://www.endthewartour.org/ called "10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military." Personally I was never attracted to the military because I could never stand having anyone tell me what to do -- well, and because I had parents who helped me find other options in life.
The military glorifies the giving and obeying of orders as somehow something good for its own sake, something called "discipline" or "character." I can't judge whether I have either of those things, but I do know the last place I would ever have thought to turn for a career was an institution in which I would have had to do what a bunch of mean bastards said to do simply because they said to do it. That wouldn’t have worked. I'd have ended up a conscientious objector even in peace time.
But, of course, order-taking is common in many young people's households and potential workplaces. My whole life, whenever I've had a boss who's annoyed me I've quit my job. I've had the good fortune to always find another and to have strong support from family. Not everyone has that luxury. Clearly taking orders from a military officer could sound more liberating than taking orders from a Wal-Mart manager, particularly to someone who currently works at Wal-Mart.
But even such a person, facing a highly unpleasant and unrewarding work life, and facing a taxpayer-funded multibillion-dollar advertising campaign for military recruitment, would not for an instant consider joining the military if they had read "10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military." The 10 reasons are:
1. You May Be Killed
This chapter was written by Cindy Sheehan. It alone should dissuade any potential recruit who does not hate his or her mother.
2. You May Kill Others
This chapter is timely, given the U.S. media's recent and long-in-coming awakening to the killing of civilians in Iraq by U.S. soldiers. Here Paul Rockwell recounts the stories of Iraq War veterans, including Jimmy Massey, Darrell Anderson, and Aidan Delgado. Massey says he was involved in a number of routine checkpoint killings. Anderson said, "At traffic stops, we kill innocent people all the time. If you are fired on from the street, you are supposed to fire on everybody that is there. If I am in a market, I shoot people who are buying groceries."
Last weekend on RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Flanders spoke with Ehren Watada about his refusal to continue to participate in Bully Boy's illegal war. Mindy noted that the broadcast of Saturday & Sunday shows combined is up and you can listen to it here. Mindy noted this section which stood out to her:
Laura Flanders: You've said in interviews that you felt you were betrayed, can you explain that?
Erhen Watada: In some of my researching, in things that have come out . . . have led me to the belief, it has convinced me, that this government waged a war of deception on the American people, on the world, and also on members of Congress. And I belive that the authorization of force that the Congress granted the president would never have been made if the arguments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its ties to al Qaeda and 911 were not guaranteed by members of the administration, many many times and in front of the United Nations. . . It was intentionally manipulating intelligence, to fit a policy made long before 911, long before any plans were drawn up for the 2003 invasion.
You can click here to sign an online petition supporting Watada.
Seth notes a highlight on another conscientious-objector, Kevin Benderman. From Rick Anderson's "That Other Defiant Soldier" (Seattle Weekly):
The similar case of Sgt. Kevin Benderman may be a good indicator of Watada's future. Though it's not widely known, Benderman, of the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, is already in the Fort Lewis stockade for refusing to deploy to Iraq. A 10-year Army veteran, Benderman actually did a tour there, from the time of the March invasion through September in 2003.
After shipping home, he changed his views, remembering such incidents as, he claimed, a commander ordering his unit to shoot Iraqi children if they tossed pebbles again at U.S. soldiers. Facing redeployment to Iraq in 2004, he filed for conscientious-objector status. Unlike Watada, who is taking a legal stand, Benderman sought exception on moral grounds. But Army command refused even to accept his filing, Benderman contends.
He was convicted last year of "missing movement"--refusing deployment--and was given 15 months in prison, loss of pay, reduction in rank, and, when he's released perhaps late this year, a dishonorable discharge. He is appealing.
Benderman, 41, frequently writes letters from the stockade that are published on the Web (http://www.bendermantimeline.com/). He originally referred to himself as a conscientious objector and later added "prisoner of conscience."
In one of his first messages, he wrote, "I have laid down my weapons of war to pick them up never again. It is my sincere hope that more people will do the same so that our children and grandchildren will never have to experience what so many of us already have—the single most barbaric of human endeavors, otherwise known as war."
More recently, he expanded on his moral views: "We cannot expect government to do what is necessary to eliminate war because it generates large amounts of revenue for government. Governments and businesses are able to make record profits from war while the average citizen fighting in any given war cannot get proper treatment for their wounds or the mental and emotional anguish suffered as a result of their participation in war. How is this honorable?"
Last highlight (we'll go out with the song pick), but before we get there . . . Dahr Jamail and Jeremey Scahill have been doing some joint speaking engagements. If you can see them, it's worth it. (And I'm sure they'd gladly answer a question as to whether booing a war hawk was uncalled for.) Dahr has two events coming up shortly and Rachel noted them:
June 23, 2006
Vancouver, Canada
Event: Dahr Jamail speaking at the World Peace Forum 2006
Date: June 23-28, 2006
Information: Visit http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/index
The World Peace Forum 2006 is an international gathering of individuals, groups and civic governments from cities and communities to envision a living culture of peace and sustainability in our lifetimes.
The success of this event depends on all of us. We can work together in the journey to peace!
July 07, 2006
San Francisco, CA
Event: THE ROAD TO FALLUJA: Our Responsibilities For the Iraq War and a Path to Peace
Time and Date:
Friday, July 7, 2006, at 7:00 p.m.
Location:
Brava Theater Center
2781 24th Street,
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sponsors:
CA Peace Action, ConceptionMedia, Global Voices for Justice
Tickets: $10 at the door
If you cannot attend, you can donate on line at www.conceptionmedia.net
Download the Flyer
More information about this event
Last highlight is on speaking appearance Mark Manning and Dahr Jamail made. Zach notes
Mark Gabrish Conlan's "Independent Journalists Visit, Report on Iraq" (Zenger's Newsmagazine via San Diego Indymedia):
Mark Manning, a commercial deep-sea diver and underwater filmmaker for 22 years, does not at first seem like the most likely person to be the only videographer to capture images of the Iraqi city of Falloujah after the November 2004 U.S. attack. But he was, and he and fellow independent journalist Dahr Jamail came to the Thomas Jefferson School of Law June 2 to talk about it and show Manning’s film, Caught in the Crossfire, detailing the intensity of the attack on Falloujah and what it did to the people who lived there. The event, which also included long talks by Manning and Jamail, was sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild, the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, Global Voices for Justice and Aware.
[...]
Like Mark Manning, Dahr Jamail stumbled almost by accident into his career as a gadfly journalist and blogger in Iraq. "I was a mountain guide in Alaska," he recalled. What got him interested in going to Iraq and covering the story himself was "the great disparity between what the U.S. mainstream media reported and what was in the European press or on Al-Jazeera." Jamail said he held the U.S. media largely responsible for the war because in the run-up to it in 2002 and 2003 most mainstream media outlets uncritically reported the Bush administration's propaganda about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, posing an immediate threat to the U.S. and having been involved in the 9/11 attacks -- all of which, of course, turned out to be false.
"You cannot wage a war without rumors, without media, without propaganda," Jamail said. "Media complicity is a situation I feel strongly about. In the Nuremberg tribunals, it was established that Hitler was able to do what he did largely because of his propaganda campaign, and at Nuremberg they said the primary function of the media during the war is not to incite people to violence. Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, [New York Times columnist] Thomas Friedman and [New York Times reporter] Judith Miller, and media outlets like CNN and Fox, are without a doubt guilty of inciting the public to violence. Would this war have even happened if these people had not done what they did?"
Manning specifically compared what actually happened in Falloujah during the two U.S. sieges against the city -- the aborted one in April 2004 and the armed takeover and destruction of the town seven months later -- with what Americans were told was going on by their media.
"At first we were told that 250,000 civilians had been evacuated [before the November attack] and they're O.K.," Manning said. "Then there were no reports about civilians at all. Our crew went to a one-room farmhouse with 60 people and children everywhere. The civilians forced out of their homes were living in cars, chicken coops or holes in the ground."
According to Manning, President Bush promised the citizens of Falloujah that "the rebuilding teams would be in right after the Marines," but in fact there was no rebuilding effort at all, nor was there any effort to take care of the displaced civilian population. (One audience member rather grimly compared the situation Manning described in Falloujah to that in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.)
"I never saw one aid station," he said. "There was no aid coming into Falloujah. There was no attempt to do anything for the civilians. I was there in January 2005, two months after the attack, and the thing that shocked me the most was that my own country had done this." Manning said that when the first refugees returned to Falloujah following the attack, it was hard for them to adjust "because the whole place was destroyed. You'd see people wandering around just looking for their relatives. Mothers would show up; a lot of people left family members behind, and once it started they couldn't leave. It was flat-out chaos and a disturbing, heartbreaking realization because it's coming from your own government. … I had people coming up to me and saying, 'Why did you do this? Why?' I had to wrestle with this."
The song pick?
I can make peace on earth
With my own two hands
I can clean up the earth
With my own two hands
I can reach out to you
With my own two hands
-- "With My Own Two Hands" written and performed by Ben Harper (most recently avaialbe on the soundtrack to the film Curious George).
iraq
donovan
and the war drags on
democracy now
amy goodman
suzanne swift
sara rich
sarah rich
ehren watada
katrina vanden heuvel
barbara lee
kpfa evening news
kpfa
john nichols
codepink
dahr jamail
kevin benderman
rick anderson
gerry condon
david swanson
mark gabrish conlan
mark manning
laura flanders
radionation with laura flanders
ben harper
with my own two hands
A CBS poll finds that 80 percent of Democrats believe the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, and more than 60 percent want US troops home as soon as possible. A Washington Post/ABC poll finds that 70 percent of Independents feel the war was not worth it, and 33 percent of Republicans agree. Even 72 percent of our troops believe US forces should leave Iraq in the next year.
So what are so many Democratic politicians so afraid of? And how do we translate this majority into a politics of change for the 2006 elections and beyond? How do we send a message from the grassroots -- the people outside of the beltway -- that ending this war matters, and that the time to show moxie and conviction is right now?
VotersForPeace has initiated the Peace Voter Pledge along with 18 other antiwar organizations -- including United for Peace and Justice, itself a coalition of 1,400 local groups.
The pledge is focused on the Iraq war as well as potential armed conflicts such as that with Iran, and -- using language crafted by The Nation in its cover editorial last November -- it reads: "I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."
The above, noted by Wendy, is from Katrina vanden Heuvel's "The Peace Race" (Editor's Cut, The Nation). Wendy notes that the magazine's website has a "huge" amount of coverage on Iraq currently and asks that we note that. We will. Good for The Nation for stepping up and leading. Wendy notes a number of items (including one we've already noted this week, Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith's "Lieutenant Watada's War Against the War") and we'll note one other one. We will not, however, now or ever, note some nonsense about Hillary Clinton speech at the so-called Take Back America conference that refuses to address the way CODEPINK was stabbed in the back, let alone to identify them. Nor will we note nonsense about how people shouldn't heckle. "I think it's worth listening to people you disagree with." That was crap when it was offered as Reagan made an appearance at an event (and someone tried to cover for him saying everyone should show respect, one of the silliest remarks ever made by ___ ). Free speech is free speech. Hillary Clinton was there to woo a crowd. She didn't woo them all. People have a right to make themselves heard. That was true when it happened to John McCain, that was true when it happened to Hillary Clinton. Schilling isn't appreciated. And that sort of nonsese ('Come on guys, we don't need to heckle, let's just sit there and not cheer so loudly at the end') is now two for two on nonsense. It's becoming our weekly nonsense.
The nonsense that she can't be heckled is NONSENSE. (It's worse than that but I try to keep it work-safe at this site.) Who is she, the Bully Boy? No, and she needs to face the reality of the effect her remarks have on people. And shame on anyone who won't stick up for CODEPINK. CODEPINK members were among the hecklers so not only were they not stood up for, they were basically told, "Ladies, shut up and know your place." This from someone with a Florence Henderson hairdo. (Guys, really, the flip in the back, it was never attractive. Not even on Henderson. Julia Roberts tried to revive it in the 90s and couldn't -- and she's actually very attractive -- so what makes you think you can?)
Hillary got what she deserved, an honest reaction from people she was speaking to. Quit playing taste police (which wasn't a concern last week . . .) and quit stabbing CODEPINK in the back.
What we will note is Barbara Lee (Congress member from California and someone who has repeatedly stood up to illegal war) whose comments, broadcast by KFPA's Evening News today, sum up what happened on the floor of the House and what we need to be addressing:
The president and the Republican majority really refuse to level with the American people about when our troops are coming home, also really if they're coming home. And while we're debating this very bogus resolution, the most substantive decison on Iraq policy in very recent days was taken out by the Republican majority behind closed doors. They stripped from the war suplemental an amendment we offered to prevent the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq. The American people don't want an open-ended war and occupation. Quietly removing a measure that was approved by both the House and the Senate is a gross abuse of the democratic process and is further evidence that the Republicans are afraid to level with the American people about their real plans for Iraq. Let me tell you, there will be a day of reckoning. The American people are demanding answers they deserve a truthful accounting of how we got into this unnecessary war, how the billions of dollars have been misspent, and when our troops are coming home. And also they really deserve to know if our troops are coming home given recent reports that the administration is considering leaving a permanent force of 50,000 troops in Iraq and indications that establishing permanent miliary bases are not off the table.
With more on the House, Wendy and End Zone both noted John Nichols' "Another Blank Check for Perpetual War" (The Online Beat, The Nation):
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives maintained its track record of providing absolutely no checks and balances on the Bush administration's warmaking this week, when it voted 351-67 to authorize another $66 billion in "emergency" spending for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
While the House will hold a symbolic "debate" on the Iraq imbroglio Thursday, that endeavor has been so constrained by the House Republican leadership that it will be of no more consequence than the discourse in a mock legislative exercise for high school students -- although, in fairness to the students, a mock Congress would undoubtedly take the Constitutional imperative of shared responsibility for warmaking more seriously than does the actual Congress.
What was truly frustrating about the House vote on the emergency funding was the general failure of the Democrats -- who have again delayed announcement of their agenda for this year's election campaign -- to mount a coherent opposition to a war that an overwhelming majority of Americans characterize as a mistake.
Some might say, "John Nichols, that sounds like a 'boo'!" ("Say" or "scold"?) I wouldn't. He's writing what he saw and how he felt -- not telling the 'little ladies' of CODEPINK to "shut it." I can't imagine any group dominated by males being treated this way. But just as the New York Times only felt the need to take NOW to task for a candidate endorsement (even though almost everyone endorsing 'wasted' their endorsement since John Kerry wasn't the first choice among many groups), The Nation now wants to lecture the women of CODEPINK? That doesn't play. CODEPINK didn't do a damn thing different than what they usually do and the magazine's been happy to note it when they were at the FCC or in Congress or anywhere else. But someone's precious Hillary (whom he found . . . something) got a few boos and suddenly it's time to turn on CODEPINK. For "No one owns The Nation," that's rather surprising. Considering the editorial KvH rightly notes from November, it's rather sad that someone thinks a war hawk should be shielded from the public's reaction.
That's the sort of No Action that allows the war to . . . Sing along:
They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)
Last Thursday, the American troop fatality count stood at 2489. Tonight? 2500. The number we would never get to -- because it was a "cakewalk," because it would be over in a matter of weeks, because the mission was "accomplished." 2500 Americans lost their lives in an illegal war of choice. We don't have an accurate count on how many Iraqis. Forgive me if Hillary being booed for preaching her War Hawk nonsense doesn't strike me as a pressing issue or an attack on freedom. The various people playing Miss Manners of the World apparently see it as an attack on civility. The real attack on civility is illegal wars.
But by all means, be Hillary's personal cheerleader and cheerlead a conference that stabbed in the back some of the best activists this nation has. That'll end the war! (That was sarcasm.)
So many make themselves useless. I'm not sure if it's a desire for access or just stupidity. But we don't have time to play and the statements that people shouldn't heckle are offensive coming from anyone at The Nation. When they're aimed at CODEPINK, they're offensive and disgusting. We don't have time to play. We don't have time to defend War Hawks from a deserved response.
Republicans and lots of Democrats played in the Senate today. Only six stood brave and tall against the war: John Kerry, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, Robert Byrd, Tom Harkin and Edward Kennedy (and for more on that, listen to KPFA's Evening News for Thursday).
Guess who else doesn't have the luxury of playing? People standing up. Mia notes
Gerry Condon's "Californians Call for Sanctuary for U.S. War Resisters in Canada" (Indybay Indymedia):
On May 15, International Conscientious Objectors Day, a delegation of concerned Californians visited the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco to appeal for sanctuary for U.S. war resisters in Canada. The visit was coordinated by Courage To Resist, Project Safe Haven and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO). The delegation included military veterans, a Catholic priest, an expert on international law, and resisters of U.S. wars, present and past. Four delegation members lived in Canada during the Vietnam War. They delivered a letter addressed to Peter MacKay, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The letter was received by Tristan Landry, Consul, Political/Economic Relations and Public Relations, who listened respectfully as each of his visitors stated their support for sanctuary for U.S. war resisters in Canada.
Gerry Condon of Project Safe Haven gave a brief overview of the plight of U.S. war resisters in Canada, telling the Canadian Consul that several hundred AWOL GI's were estimated to be in Canada, and that 25 of them have applied for political refugee status. The first two, Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, have had their claims for refugee status denied, but they are appealing in Canada's Federal Court system.
"I know these young people personally," said Condon. "I know how sincere they are. Several of these young men already served one tour in Iraq. They were witness to U.S. war crimes and, obeying international law, they refused to return for more of the same. If Canada's refugee system cannot accommodate U.S. war resisters, then we appeal to the Canadian government to fashion a sanctuary policy, as called for by many Canadians, including Members of Parliament." "The war in Iraq must be opposed not only as a matter of law, but as a matter of principle." Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, forcefully argued that the U.S. war in Iraq is illegal.
"It must be opposed not only as a matter of law, but as a matter of principle," she said. "If the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war is allowed to stand, the next states in line may be Iran and North Korea, as we have seen."
Ms. Cabasso later said she was encouraged when the Canadian representative reminded her that Canada had refused to participate in the war in Iraq.
"So, welcoming conscientious Iraq War resisters from the United States would certainly be consistent," she asserted.
Several Vietnam War resisters spoke passionately about Canada's traditional role, in the words of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, as a "refuge from militarism." Keith Mather, Evangeline Lantana Mix, and Steve Grossman each thanked Canada for providing them with a viable alternative to going to war or to prison during the Vietnam War.
"When a U.S. judge promised me five years in prison for refusing to be drafted into an unjust war, I decided to go to Canada instead," said Steve Grossman, a theater arts teacher. "I am very grateful to the Canadian people and government for five years of creative, useful life instead of five years in prison. And I want to thank those Canadians who are now welcoming another generation of young Americans of conscience."
Father Louis Vitale, who recently finished a six-month prison sentence for peacefully protesting the "School of the Assassins" at Fort Benning, Georgia, was nonetheless passionate about supporting the troops.
"Our military people are really in danger," said Father Vitale. "They're really at high risk. Some of them are threatening suicide, or are on the border of suicide. Some of them are tortured in prison. Some of them give in and do go to Iraq and do get killed. They really need the humanity that exists in Canada to accept them and give them sanctuary."
[. . .]
There are Canadian government offices in twenty U.S. cities. Those wishing to appeal to the Canadian government on behalf of U.S. war resisters are encouraged to contact Project Safe Haven at projectsafehaven [at] hotmail.com or the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto at resisters [at] sympatico.ca or 416-598-1222. For more information on military resisters and how to support them, please visit http://www.couragetoresist.org/
And with the latest refusing to serve, no surprise that Democracy Now! was there first to cover this nationally, "Sexually Harassed Soldier is Arrested After Refusing to Redeploy to Iraq:"
AMY GOODMAN: Sarah, why did Suzanne join the military?
SARAH RICH: Well, she got a real good deal, Amy. They -- the recruiters really wooed her. She was in a -- She had graduated from high school. She was in a dead end -- well, she working at Safeway, and she was miserable. She hated going to work every day. She didn't know what to do. You know, we looked at college, and she just said she wasn't ready for college, and the recruiters were calling our home. They have our home number, and they were offering her travel and college money and training and if she signed up for the special deal of being a military police officer for five years instead of four, she would not be deployed to Iraq, because at that time they weren't deploying military police to Iraq, she was told.
AMY GOODMAN: And yet, she was deployed.
SARAH RICH: Immediately.
AMY GOODMAN: What are your thoughts right now, Sarah, as Suzanne's mother, what do you want to happen right now? And will you be suing the military?
SARAH RICH: Well Suzanne is -- you know, this has gotten bigger than Suzanne. Right now I want Suzanne to have an honorable discharge because she has post-traumatic stress from being treated so horribly in a war zone by the people that were supposed to be caring for her and in charge of her very life were molesting and harassing her so I want Suzanne's rights to be honored, and I want her to be discharged from the Army with full benefits because her emotional and psychological well-being is so compromised.
But what's really surprising me, Amy, is the amount of women veterans that have been calling and emailing, saying, "That's exactly what happened to me, and nobody listened." It breaks my heart, and Suzanne is just shocked at how many people are supporting her and saying, "You're not alone and you're not crazy. That's what happened to me, and it wasn't your fault." And that's the big thing for Suzanne because she has really thought that this was all her fault.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you sorry she joined the military, Sarah Rich?
SARAH RICH: Oh, so sorry, so sorry that she joined the military, and that's one of the things I do, I'm a counter-military recruiter now, and Suzanne has said, "Mom, I want to join you as soon as I'm clear. I want to join you and tell kids what the recruiters are really doing. It's really like selling your soul to the devil to go be human fodder for an illegal war."
Looking for reasons not to serve? Check out Nora's highlight, David Swanson's "Eleven Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military" (New Zealand's Scoop):
I just read an excellent book from http://www.endthewartour.org/ called "10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military." Personally I was never attracted to the military because I could never stand having anyone tell me what to do -- well, and because I had parents who helped me find other options in life.
The military glorifies the giving and obeying of orders as somehow something good for its own sake, something called "discipline" or "character." I can't judge whether I have either of those things, but I do know the last place I would ever have thought to turn for a career was an institution in which I would have had to do what a bunch of mean bastards said to do simply because they said to do it. That wouldn’t have worked. I'd have ended up a conscientious objector even in peace time.
But, of course, order-taking is common in many young people's households and potential workplaces. My whole life, whenever I've had a boss who's annoyed me I've quit my job. I've had the good fortune to always find another and to have strong support from family. Not everyone has that luxury. Clearly taking orders from a military officer could sound more liberating than taking orders from a Wal-Mart manager, particularly to someone who currently works at Wal-Mart.
But even such a person, facing a highly unpleasant and unrewarding work life, and facing a taxpayer-funded multibillion-dollar advertising campaign for military recruitment, would not for an instant consider joining the military if they had read "10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military." The 10 reasons are:
1. You May Be Killed
This chapter was written by Cindy Sheehan. It alone should dissuade any potential recruit who does not hate his or her mother.
2. You May Kill Others
This chapter is timely, given the U.S. media's recent and long-in-coming awakening to the killing of civilians in Iraq by U.S. soldiers. Here Paul Rockwell recounts the stories of Iraq War veterans, including Jimmy Massey, Darrell Anderson, and Aidan Delgado. Massey says he was involved in a number of routine checkpoint killings. Anderson said, "At traffic stops, we kill innocent people all the time. If you are fired on from the street, you are supposed to fire on everybody that is there. If I am in a market, I shoot people who are buying groceries."
Last weekend on RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Flanders spoke with Ehren Watada about his refusal to continue to participate in Bully Boy's illegal war. Mindy noted that the broadcast of Saturday & Sunday shows combined is up and you can listen to it here. Mindy noted this section which stood out to her:
Laura Flanders: You've said in interviews that you felt you were betrayed, can you explain that?
Erhen Watada: In some of my researching, in things that have come out . . . have led me to the belief, it has convinced me, that this government waged a war of deception on the American people, on the world, and also on members of Congress. And I belive that the authorization of force that the Congress granted the president would never have been made if the arguments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its ties to al Qaeda and 911 were not guaranteed by members of the administration, many many times and in front of the United Nations. . . It was intentionally manipulating intelligence, to fit a policy made long before 911, long before any plans were drawn up for the 2003 invasion.
You can click here to sign an online petition supporting Watada.
Seth notes a highlight on another conscientious-objector, Kevin Benderman. From Rick Anderson's "That Other Defiant Soldier" (Seattle Weekly):
The similar case of Sgt. Kevin Benderman may be a good indicator of Watada's future. Though it's not widely known, Benderman, of the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, is already in the Fort Lewis stockade for refusing to deploy to Iraq. A 10-year Army veteran, Benderman actually did a tour there, from the time of the March invasion through September in 2003.
After shipping home, he changed his views, remembering such incidents as, he claimed, a commander ordering his unit to shoot Iraqi children if they tossed pebbles again at U.S. soldiers. Facing redeployment to Iraq in 2004, he filed for conscientious-objector status. Unlike Watada, who is taking a legal stand, Benderman sought exception on moral grounds. But Army command refused even to accept his filing, Benderman contends.
He was convicted last year of "missing movement"--refusing deployment--and was given 15 months in prison, loss of pay, reduction in rank, and, when he's released perhaps late this year, a dishonorable discharge. He is appealing.
Benderman, 41, frequently writes letters from the stockade that are published on the Web (http://www.bendermantimeline.com/). He originally referred to himself as a conscientious objector and later added "prisoner of conscience."
In one of his first messages, he wrote, "I have laid down my weapons of war to pick them up never again. It is my sincere hope that more people will do the same so that our children and grandchildren will never have to experience what so many of us already have—the single most barbaric of human endeavors, otherwise known as war."
More recently, he expanded on his moral views: "We cannot expect government to do what is necessary to eliminate war because it generates large amounts of revenue for government. Governments and businesses are able to make record profits from war while the average citizen fighting in any given war cannot get proper treatment for their wounds or the mental and emotional anguish suffered as a result of their participation in war. How is this honorable?"
Last highlight (we'll go out with the song pick), but before we get there . . . Dahr Jamail and Jeremey Scahill have been doing some joint speaking engagements. If you can see them, it's worth it. (And I'm sure they'd gladly answer a question as to whether booing a war hawk was uncalled for.) Dahr has two events coming up shortly and Rachel noted them:
June 23, 2006
Vancouver, Canada
Event: Dahr Jamail speaking at the World Peace Forum 2006
Date: June 23-28, 2006
Information: Visit http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/index
The World Peace Forum 2006 is an international gathering of individuals, groups and civic governments from cities and communities to envision a living culture of peace and sustainability in our lifetimes.
The success of this event depends on all of us. We can work together in the journey to peace!
July 07, 2006
San Francisco, CA
Event: THE ROAD TO FALLUJA: Our Responsibilities For the Iraq War and a Path to Peace
Time and Date:
Friday, July 7, 2006, at 7:00 p.m.
Location:
Brava Theater Center
2781 24th Street,
San Francisco, CA 94110
Sponsors:
CA Peace Action, ConceptionMedia, Global Voices for Justice
Tickets: $10 at the door
If you cannot attend, you can donate on line at www.conceptionmedia.net
Download the Flyer
More information about this event
Last highlight is on speaking appearance Mark Manning and Dahr Jamail made. Zach notes
Mark Gabrish Conlan's "Independent Journalists Visit, Report on Iraq" (Zenger's Newsmagazine via San Diego Indymedia):
Mark Manning, a commercial deep-sea diver and underwater filmmaker for 22 years, does not at first seem like the most likely person to be the only videographer to capture images of the Iraqi city of Falloujah after the November 2004 U.S. attack. But he was, and he and fellow independent journalist Dahr Jamail came to the Thomas Jefferson School of Law June 2 to talk about it and show Manning’s film, Caught in the Crossfire, detailing the intensity of the attack on Falloujah and what it did to the people who lived there. The event, which also included long talks by Manning and Jamail, was sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild, the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, Global Voices for Justice and Aware.
[...]
Like Mark Manning, Dahr Jamail stumbled almost by accident into his career as a gadfly journalist and blogger in Iraq. "I was a mountain guide in Alaska," he recalled. What got him interested in going to Iraq and covering the story himself was "the great disparity between what the U.S. mainstream media reported and what was in the European press or on Al-Jazeera." Jamail said he held the U.S. media largely responsible for the war because in the run-up to it in 2002 and 2003 most mainstream media outlets uncritically reported the Bush administration's propaganda about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, posing an immediate threat to the U.S. and having been involved in the 9/11 attacks -- all of which, of course, turned out to be false.
"You cannot wage a war without rumors, without media, without propaganda," Jamail said. "Media complicity is a situation I feel strongly about. In the Nuremberg tribunals, it was established that Hitler was able to do what he did largely because of his propaganda campaign, and at Nuremberg they said the primary function of the media during the war is not to incite people to violence. Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, [New York Times columnist] Thomas Friedman and [New York Times reporter] Judith Miller, and media outlets like CNN and Fox, are without a doubt guilty of inciting the public to violence. Would this war have even happened if these people had not done what they did?"
Manning specifically compared what actually happened in Falloujah during the two U.S. sieges against the city -- the aborted one in April 2004 and the armed takeover and destruction of the town seven months later -- with what Americans were told was going on by their media.
"At first we were told that 250,000 civilians had been evacuated [before the November attack] and they're O.K.," Manning said. "Then there were no reports about civilians at all. Our crew went to a one-room farmhouse with 60 people and children everywhere. The civilians forced out of their homes were living in cars, chicken coops or holes in the ground."
According to Manning, President Bush promised the citizens of Falloujah that "the rebuilding teams would be in right after the Marines," but in fact there was no rebuilding effort at all, nor was there any effort to take care of the displaced civilian population. (One audience member rather grimly compared the situation Manning described in Falloujah to that in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.)
"I never saw one aid station," he said. "There was no aid coming into Falloujah. There was no attempt to do anything for the civilians. I was there in January 2005, two months after the attack, and the thing that shocked me the most was that my own country had done this." Manning said that when the first refugees returned to Falloujah following the attack, it was hard for them to adjust "because the whole place was destroyed. You'd see people wandering around just looking for their relatives. Mothers would show up; a lot of people left family members behind, and once it started they couldn't leave. It was flat-out chaos and a disturbing, heartbreaking realization because it's coming from your own government. … I had people coming up to me and saying, 'Why did you do this? Why?' I had to wrestle with this."
The song pick?
I can make peace on earth
With my own two hands
I can clean up the earth
With my own two hands
I can reach out to you
With my own two hands
-- "With My Own Two Hands" written and performed by Ben Harper (most recently avaialbe on the soundtrack to the film Curious George).
iraq
donovan
and the war drags on
democracy now
amy goodman
suzanne swift
sara rich
sarah rich
ehren watada
katrina vanden heuvel
barbara lee
kpfa evening news
kpfa
john nichols
codepink
dahr jamail
kevin benderman
rick anderson
gerry condon
david swanson
mark gabrish conlan
mark manning
laura flanders
radionation with laura flanders
ben harper
with my own two hands