Inside this morning's New York Times (A7), Stephen Farrell's "Car Bomber Kills 8 at a Street Market in Baghdad" covers yesterday violence which apparently doesn't rate the front page (costs are up at Harvard! Beijing wants the Olympics!). It's a shame because Farrell provides the statements of a number Iraqis (something for everyone in the quotes). In addition, he addresses the latest on South Korea whom the central (puppet) government has informed the contracts do not count? The contracts? The ones they signed with the Kurdish regional government. Those contracts continue to present conflicts between the Kurdistan region and the central region.
Oh, poor South Korea. Haven't they already given in their half-assed way? Didn't they just vote (146 for 104 against) to keep some of the tiny number of their troops (600) in Iraq for 2008? And what is their thanks for it? Didn't their 'support' allow the White House to repeatedly claim "nations" were on board with the illegal war? Didn't they stay in when others pulled out? When do they get to share the spoils of illegal war? When!!
Farrell covers another angle (noting AP) as well. Use the link if you're interested. There are various accounts on that and it can wait to be noted when a little more is known.
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad, two police officers shot dead in Baghdad inside their squad car, a Jalwla bombing that claimed the life of 1 Kurdish security force member, a Mosul car bombing Friday night that left seven people wounded and, "The media officer of Mosul police Ahmed al Jobori survived from an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked his convoy in Al Qadisiyah neighborhood northeast Mosul city today afternoon. One of al Jobori guards was killed and another was injured while two gunmen were killed in the clashes."
Also the ICCC total is now 3901 -- the Defense Department named a service member whose death was not announced by M-NF, once again allowing the military to keep the death toll out of the news. They shouldn't work so hard -- if they missed it, no one cares in Little Media and Big Media's been either burying Iraq news or selling the illegal war all over again for months now. If it still hasn't sunk in, the Times just added William Kristol to their columnists. Junior got into the media because of Daddy. He gets into the Times to sell the illegal war and to demonstrate that there is no accountability for gas bags. Wrong on everything? Who cares!
It also underscores again how a Queen Bee is not a plus for women. Gail Collins was in charge for how many years? She could have picked a woman to replace Bill Keller or William Safire. Instead she replaced centrist Keller and right-winger Safire with two White right-wingers. She infamously had a snit fit in an e-mail when a reader dared to suggest that with Maureen Dowd (the paper's only female columnist at the time) on a lengthy vacation, she might not need to have a man filling in for Dowd. Queen Bee stung back that she wasn't interested in quotas and she doesn't judge people by gender. Laughable since her really bad historical yellow pages passed off as books focus on gender. But Queen Bee did nothing for women. And when she got fired as editor and reduced down to columnist, she was able to do even more damage covering everything in a breezy, I'm in the checkout lane and I haven't had time to read but I can see some tabloid headlines and I'll call it a column!
Gail Collins had two slots to fill. She went with White men both times. She also replaced the centrist Keller with a right-winger. Queen Bee ensured that Coretta Scott King's passing would not be an editorial and rejected submitted columns from non-regular columnists on the topic. She played the game and even that wasn't enough which is why her ass got canned and she's a lowly columnist dithering on (once a week?) and hoping the feminist press will help her sell her next bad book. Having stabbed women in the back when she was editor (she turned down some big names -- some big female names who submitted op-eds), Collins next bad book should publish with no attention from the feminist press.
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
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
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