Saturday, November 17, 2007

Scott Shane makes like Fats Domino

Cookie and Buzzy were brothers.

And Scott Shane fancies himself a balladeer.

He buries the only real news his article contains. Buzzy says Howard Cookie Krongard was told, by Buzzy, "a few weeks ago," that Buzzy "was joining the Blackwater advisory board". The article's entitled "2 Brothers, Bad Blood and Blackwater." Do yourself a huge favor and skip it. Shane's strumming and singing:

Well this story has no moral
And this story has got no end

It's also got no point. Along with burying the only real news, Shane (naturally) ignores the CIA issue which should be the focus of an article. (Naturally because Shane is overly friendly with the US spy community.) Dave Lindorff raises issues about Buzzy Krongard and, of course, the CIA ties to Blackwater are legendary.

Cara Buckley's "Sunni Group Says U.S. Killed Its Members" covers the response to the US attacks on Tuesday, the US collaborators Awakening Council maintains that "four dozen" of their members were killed in the "air and ground strikes". The US military maintains that's not what happened and says Sheik Jasim Zaidan Khalaf's assertion that there were 'al Qaeda of Mesopotamia' members there -- because they were holding them! -- only leads the US military to state that the Awakening Council is not a police boday "authorized to act independently of the law to 'round up'" others. Subtext apparently: You dance with the thugs who ask you.

Kayla notes The Seattle Times' "U.S., Iraqi troops launch campaign in remote area:"

More than 600 U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by helicopters descended Friday on a remote desert area southwest of Baghdad to root out insurgents and search for two U.S. soldiers missing after a deadly insurgent ambush six months ago.
The soldiers went house-to-house after a dramatic predawn air assault into Owesat and Betra, Sunni villages near the boundary with Anbar province.
U.S. officers said there was no sign of the missing soldiers but stressed it was only the first day of the operation dubbed Marne Courageous, which also aimed to establish a long-term presence west of the Euphrates River in a former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold.

Turning to the topic of US war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, Brenda notes Aaron Glantz' "Canada Shuts Doors to U.S. War Resisters" (IPS):

Two U.S. Army deserters who fled to Canada and sought refugee status on grounds of their opposition to the war in Iraq have lost their bids to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear their cases.
The court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey Thursday, who were rejected two years ago by Canada's immigration authorities. The board ruled they would not be at risk of their lives if they returned to the United States, nor were they at risk of "cruel and unusual treatment or punishment". Hinzman and Hughey deserted the U.S. Army in 2004 after learning their units were being deployed to Iraq to fight in a war they have called immoral and illegal. The men argue that serving in Iraq would force them to commit crimes against civilians, and that they would be persecuted if forced to return to the United States.
There are currently about 200 U.S. Army deserters in Canada. Among them is Ryan Johnson of Visalia, California. He fled to Canada in 2005, the day his unit deployed to Iraq.
"The Canadian government decided not to fight an illegal war," he told IPS. "Canada was going to go into the war in Iraq, but then decided that because the U.N. did not sanction it, Canada would not participate in the war in Iraq. That's a major reason that I came to Canada. Canada felt the same way I did about the war in Iraq."


The following community sites have updated since yesterday morning:

Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;
Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;
Kat's Kat's Korner;
Betty's Thomas Friedman is a Great Man;
Mike's Mikey Likes It!;
Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;
Wally's The Daily Jot;
Trina's Trina's Kitchen;
and Ruth's Ruth's Report

Iwana was the first to note Margaret Kimberley's latest Freedom Rider column. From her "Democrats Love Bush" (Black Agenda Report):

The Democratic party is a gigantic cesspool of treachery, treachery towards its rank and file, treachery to the constitution, and treachery to international law. The party's leadership goes out of its way to continue its back stabbing, claiming an inability to stop the Bush reign of terror. Every Bush nominee is confirmed, every funding request for the occupation of Iraq is granted. Conversely, every Democrat who attempts to stand up is smacked down, dismissed as crazy and thwarted at every turn.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich made good on his pledge to bring an impeachment resolution against Dick Cheney to the House floor. His efforts were necessary and noble, but the leadership made it clear they had no use for defending the Constitution. The House leadership worked with Republicans to send the resolution into a Judiciary committee black hole, and Kucinich made a personal plea to John Conyers, committee chairman. "I believe impeachment remains the only tool Congress has to prevent a war in Iran. This information relates directly to the Article III charges in the resolution. I urge your timely consideration." Kucinich will have better luck writing to Santa.

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