Saturday, December 22, 2007

UNICEF and so-called ''Awakening' councils

Mr. Hakim's views are becoming more pronounced among Shiite leaders, who worry that the Awakening movement has been infiltrated by insurgents, and could stir up Shiite militias.

The above is from Damien Cave's "Shiite Leader Urges Curbs On Sunni Allies of the U.S." in this morning's New York Times. It runs on A13, the only report filed from Iraq. You have to go further in the report to find any mention of UNICEF's report (paragraph 14 of an 18 paragraph story):

Those gains were put into context on Friday by a report from Unicef. The report, titled "little Respite for Iraq's Children in 2007," declared that around two million Iraqi children suffered this year from a variety of humanitarian ills, including poor nutrition, disease and interrupted education.
Roughly 60 percent of children nationwide lacked reliable access to safe drinking water, the report said. Hundreds of children were killed or injured by the country's sectarian violence while an average of 25,000 children per month were displaced.
In a press release [. . .]

That report was released rather late on Friday for any correspondent in Iraq attempting to file for a Saturday morning paper. It's also true that the there were many important points in the report.

In yesterday's snapshot, we noted the opening two sentences of the press release ("An estimated two million children in Iraq continue to face threats including poor nutrition, disease and interrupted education. Iraqi children were frequently caught in the crossfire of conflict throughout 2007. Insecurity and displacement continues to cause hardship for many in the most insecure parts of the country and further eroded access to quality essential services country-wide.") and then noted there were many points but we were going to emphasize two. The first ("Hundreds of children lost their lives or were injured by violence and many more had their main family wage-earner kidnapped or killed.") was grabbed because the rations are being cut by the central (puppet) government starting next month and, in a country with already huge children malnutrition levels, that is appalling (and we paired it with a move by women in the Iraqi parliament and women activists to increase subsidies for divorced women and widows). The cuts (which aren't coming out of the Interior Ministry's budget or for that matter the HUGE monies being given to the police force) will have a huge effect on the country. People are already suffering from malnutrition and, when it gets worse in 2008, you can wonder why this move (which is nothing but a White House policy designed to attack assistance to the needy) wasn't called out when it was announced in 2007.

The second point we emphasized from the report was this: "Approximately 1,350 children were detained by military and police authorities, many for alleged security violations." Imprisoned. The word is not 'detained.' You're detained if you're walking down a street and a police officer stops you for questioning. These children were imprisoned. Iraq's prisons are overlowing and the figure of 1,350 should be appalling even before you consider the realities for any Iraqi in those prisons. (US run or Iraq run, those prisons are a disgrace.)

There are many important factors in the report (and the report should have been released sooner on Friday or held until Wednesday for release -- many people will not be paying close attention to news on Monday or Tuesday) but those are the two we went with and why.

I have no idea why neither of those points stood out to Cave but will assume the fact that the press release and report were released so late has something to do with it. Whether it's OXFAM, the UN or what have you, the paper has been repeatedly ignoring reports (not just on Iraq) in the last year so at least the report was mentioned in Cave's article. And, again, the report was released so late it's also surprising Cave was able to include it.

On the first part of the Cave's article (the first paragraph excerpted at the top of this entry), Leila Fadel has a more in-depth look at the topic with "Shiite leaders oppose expansion of U.S.-backed citizens groups" (McClatchy Newspapers):


The leader of Iraq's most powerful Shiite Muslim political party warned Friday that the security organizations that American officials credit with helping to cut violence in Iraq must be brought under control.
Abdulaziz al Hakim, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, became the latest Iraqi leader to raise concerns that the U.S.-financed groups, which are predominantly Sunni Muslim and known as awakening councils or "concerned local citizens," could become a potent army capable of challenging the U.S.-backed Shiite-dominated central government.
"We emphasize that it's important that these awakening councils become an aid and an arm to the Iraqi government in its pursuit of criminals and terrorists and not become a substitute for it," Hakim said in a speech that marked the Eid al Adha festival of sacrifice commemorating the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
The groups have become a controversial aspect of the U.S. military's counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq. More than 75,000 people, 80 percent of them Sunni, have signed up for the groups under a U.S.-sponsored program that pays Iraqis $300 each to patrol their neighborhoods.
The groups began in Anbar province, a predominantly Sunni area, where they're credited with curbing al Qaida in Iraq, but it was the U.S. push to form similar groups in mixed Sunni-Shiite areas of Baghdad and Diyala province, as well as in mostly Shiite southern Iraq, that has sparked the anger of Shiite officials.

I'm pulling this from yesterday's snapshot:

"In the face of a scandalous health care system, failing schools, and a fraudulent endless war, we are as docile as tattered scarecrows in a field of rotten tomatoes. As for that war, you may have heard that a quarter of the heavily-armed 'shooters' working in the streets of Baghdad for the Administration's mercenary Blackwater foreign legion are alleged to be chemically influenced by steroids or other mind-altering substances," declares Bill Moyers on tonight's Bill Moyers Journal. That's from tonight's essay and you can catch it right now at YouTube. PBS is fundraising in some markets so if you're thinking of watching PBS programming this week, check your local listings to make sure that the program airs at its usual time. On WBAI Sunday, 11 a.m. to noon, The Next Hour will feature Paul Krassner and Sean Kelly joining Janet Coleman and David Dozier for a discussion about the season. Monday's Cat Radio Cafe (also on WBAI, from two p.m. to three p.m.) will continue the seasonal motif with Coleman and Dozer. And Wednesday (the 26th), CCCP returns to WBAI for their monthly broadcast. The Christmas Coup Comedy Players is original comedy programming created for public radio. It will air from two p.m. to three p.m. and feature Coleman, Dozer, John McDonagh, Marc Kehoe, Scooter, Moogy Klingman and (Wally's favorite) Will Durst. Remember WBAI broadcasts from NYC and for those not in the broadcast area, WBAI streams online. For those who may miss Bill Moyers Journal, remember it streams online and it provides transcripts as well. It is fully accessible for all news consumers. PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio also regularly airs tonight (again, check your local listings) and the half-hour program will be addressing the issue of being homeless as they probe a new program which provides apartments to homeless persons." This show is already posted online for streaming. NOW with David Branccacio has also selected their "Top 10 NOW reports of 2007" (currently on the front page of the website).
And lastly, Rory O'Connor examines what's being left out in the promotion of the selection for Time magazine's latest "Person of the Year" in "Time to Cover up?" (MediaChannel.org).

In terms of TV programs mentioned, if you missed them, they do stream online (and Moyers provides full transcripts so for those who have streaming problems with their computers or those who do not beneift from audio, you can read the transcripts). At least one member missed Moyers last week due to their local PBS station being in fundraising mode (which seems rather surprising considering the season, but some are in fundraising mode). In some cases, when regular programming is not on its usual time slot, it's bumped to another time and not just left unaired so you can check your local station's website to see if it's airing on another day or time.

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

Community sites that usually post on Monday intend to post this Monday. (Here, we'll be posting every day as usual.)

This is the introduction to Margaret Kimberley's "The Test" (Black Agenda Report):

Every December evokes memories of the past twelve months. Some events are memorable for good reasons while others inspire chagrin, anger, and desperate hope that the coming year will be better. In 2007, it wasn't clear which development was worst of all. Was it the death rattle of true journalism, the openly traitorous acts of Uncle Toms, the false promise of black faces in high places, the complicity with Bush criminality among the Democratic Quislings in Congress, or the openly fascist Republican agenda?
We do know that there will be one reason to hope in 2008. A year from now George W. Bush will be one month away from the dustbin of history, but not before inflicting horrendous damage on the nation and the world. His theft of the presidency in 2000 forever poisoned an already corrupt system. We are now left with a mere semblance of democracy, the dumbing down of every facet of society and a government that governs only on behalf of a few. These catastrophes cause the scoundrels and idiots who are prominent in our lives to loom ever larger. The imprints they leave on our collective consciousness can cause us to succumb to their madness.

Her column goes on to review the year via multiple choice and true-or-false questions (with answers provided at the end).


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
























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ETAN & Jason Wallace

This is a press release sent into the public account that we're noting in full. It's not Iraq related but we will continue to note ETAN's press releases when possible and do so on Saturdays:

Bush Administration Trains Members of Indonesian Terrorist Groups

Abandons Human Rights for Indonesia to Train Its Worst Military and Police

Contact: John M. Miller (ETAN), (917) 690-4391
Ed McWilliams (WPAT), (703) 899-5285

December 19, 2007 - Human rights advocates have learned that the U.S. is training members of Kopassus, the notorious Indonesian Special Forces unit with a long record of human rights violations. The similarly-brutal Brimob, the para-military mobile police brigade, is receiving training as well.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today strongly condemned U.S. training for the two units, saying that it undermines the little credibility the U.S. has left in promoting human rights and accountability in Indonesia. ETAN and WPAT urged Congress to intervene to prevent such training and called on the administration to publicly pledge not to provide further assistance to the two units.
"The Bush administration promised Congress that it would ‘carefully calibrate’ any
security assistance to promote reform and human rights," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Getting in bed again with Kopassus and Brimob promotes the opposite. Clearly, the administration's moral gauges are in need of a major realignment."
"The Bush administration may see Kopassus and Brimob – the worst of the worst among Indonesia’s security forces -- as allies against terrorism, but, to most, they act like terrorist groups, regularly targeting civilians for political ends," added Miller.
"Up until the present, Kopassus and Brimob have long histories of violating human rights throughout Indonesia, notably in West Papua, in East Timor and elsewhere," said Ed McWilliams of WPAT and former Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta from 1996 to1999. "There can be no doubt that Kopassus and Brimob will portray the
training as an exoneration by the U.S. Their many victims will shake their heads in disbelief at the U.S. government claim that it is using security assistance to promote human rights." In the past, Congress has cut off military assistance for the Indonesian military specifically because of the kind of brutality that Kopassus -- identifiable by their red berets -- is known for.
"Assertions that the trainees were vetted for past human rights violations before receiving International Military and Education Training (IMET) or other training are pointless. They will bring the experience gained by such training back to their units. This can
only make them more efficient at their villainous activities," added McWilliams. He also noted that a 2005 Congressional study revealed that vetting for IMET programs was ineffective. The State Department continues to describe its defective vetting program as a "work in progress."
Background
The poor human rights records of both Kopassus and Brimob are well-documented by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. This week in the Consolidated Appropriations bill, Congress again recognized the need to hold accountable those responsible for past human rights violations in Indonesia and East Timor, many of which involved Brimob and Kopassus. The bill also seeks to strengthen U.S. law to prevent training of units that have “committed gross violations of human rights.”
A covert Kopassus operations manual, found in the ashes of East Timor after Indonesia withdrew in 1999, states that Kopassus personnel were to be prepared in the "tactic and technique" of "terror" and "kidnapping."
Dr. Damien Kingsbury, an Australian expert on the Indonesian military, has written that "Kopassus has murdered and tortured political activists, trade unionists and human rights workers. It has also trained, equipped and led militias in East Timor, West Papua and
Aceh, and Kopassus members trained the notorious Laskar Jihad Islamic militia, which stepped up conflict in the Ambon region, leaving up to 10,000 dead. It was Kopassus that murdered Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay in 2001." Kopassus was also involved in the 1998 killing of students and the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists in Jakarta.
Major General Sunarko, the current commander of Kopassus, was stationed in East Timor in 1996 and 1997 and again in 1999, where he was Intelligence Assistant to the Kopassus Commander. Kopassus played a key role in organizing the militia in East Timor at that time.
Current Brimob Commander Police General Inspector Sylvanus Wenas was accused, along with others, of gross violations of human rights in an attack on a student hostel in Abepura, West Papua, in 2000. Several times this year, Brimob attacked the Kingmi Church in Jayapura, West Papua.
A report commissioned by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights states that Brimob officers committed most of the violations of human rights by police in East Timor in 1999. Brimob was involved in massacres in Liquiça in April and at the Suai cathedral in September and an attack on the UN compound in early September.
In all cases, senior Kopassus and Brimob personnel have not been brought to justice.
Support ETAN by shopping online for new and used books at Powell's . http://www.powells.com/ppbs/30520.html
John M. Miller etan@igc.org
National Coordinator, East Timor & Indonesia Action Network
Donate at http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm
Web site: http://www.etan.org/

In addition, when possible, we'll note press releases for the Green Party because they do not get enough attention (as a political party) from left outlets that are allegedly not associated with the Democratic Party. Jason Wallace is running for Congress from Illinois' 11th district:

11th Congressional District Candidate Opposes Proposed Peotone Airport

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, December 21, 2007
Contacts:
Jessica Junis, Press Secretary, 309-287-5144, jessica.junis@electwallace.us
Kara Bavery, Campaign Manager, 309-532-3446, kara.bavery@electwallace.us

Normal, IL -- Citizens of the 11th Congressional District have a candidate that is willing to stand with them in their fight against the proposed South Suburban Airport in Will County. Jason Wallace, Green Party Candidate for the District, is adamantly opposed to the airport proposal that is concerning many constituents in eastern Will County.
His opposition to the airport came from talking with concerned citizens at the Will County fair during the summer.
"I spent a fair amount of time talking with George Ochsenfeld, President of STAND. After hearing that the people who live in Peotone and the surrounding areas are opposed to the airport, I promised I would do whatever I could to support them," said Wallace.
Shut This Airport Nightmare Down or STAND is a non-profit, 5,000-member grassroots member organization opposed to the construction of, and land banking for, the proposed Peotone airport in eastern Will County.
"STAND members are grateful that Green Party candidate Jason Wallace is supporting the position of the vast majority of eastern Will County residents, as well as all others in the district who are concerned about sprawl, environmental degradation, and higher taxes, in opposing the proposed Peotone airport," said Ochsenfeld.
Instead of building an airport, Wallace has said as the district's next Congressman he will push for alternatives to better serve the transportation needs of people in Will County. One such alternative is fast and high-speed trains that connects Midwestern cities.
"A reliable, efficient and sustainable rail system would greatly reduce air-traffic and the impact we have on the environment. This airport is absolutely unnecessary and only serves the interest of Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. as well as the leadership of the Republican and Democratic parties," said Wallace in a prepared statement.
Last week, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. attached an amendment to the Defense spending bill, which essentially nullified 'Weller's Amendment' to guarantee local control of the proposed airport by the Will County Board.
"The push for this airport comes from a Congressman that doesn't even live in the district. His actions is another reflection the fact that the party leaders do not represent the best interest of the people," said Wallace.
Wallace has stated that government should be for and by the people as stated in the U.S. Constitution and this airport is very clearly not what the people want.
Several municipalities and organizations that would be affected by the airport have voted on or passed resolutions and referendums the South Suburban airport. For more information about this issue visit http://www.nothirdairport.org/, or about Jason Wallace please visit his campaign website at http://www.electwallace.us/.
Jason Wallace, Candidate U.S. House of Representatives
Illinois 11th Congressional District PO Box 708
Bloomington, IL 61702-0708
Office 309.532.3446
Cell 309.826.5290
Fax: 1.866.554.3176
E-mail: jason@electwallace.us

In terms of individual candidates, the only endorsement I make for any race is Cindy Sheehan for Califonria's eighth district US House of Representatives race. Community members can endorse anyone they want and do so here or in one of the newsletters. In terms of press releases on candidates the only 'vetting' done (only Greens get press releases) is three to five quick calls by me to friends who are in the Green Party asking, "Is there anything troubling you know about ___?" If not, it goes up. (If so, it doesn't.)

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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Friday, December 21, 2007

Iraq snapshot

Friday, December 21, 2007.  Chaos and violence continue, it's reported that Dems will round out their year of selling out with promises to sell out even more, media discussions on PTSD, the 3900 mark hovers, and more.
 
Starting with war resistance.  Travis Lupick (Canada's Straight) notes the season and, "It will be a lean Christmas for some Iraq-war resisters living in Vancouver.  These former U.S. army recruits are waiting on refugee claims and are fighting a return to the U.S. that could include imprisonment.  Brad McCall moved to Vancouver after abandoning his army company in September.  He told the Straight that this Christmas was going to be different from those of his childhood in Alabama.  There wold be no spending money on presents this year, said McCall, who is still without a work visa.  But it's not all bad. 'I've got plenty of dinner invitations,' he added.  'There will be no lack of food for me.'  McCall said that he would spend the holidays quietly, just hanging out with his Canadian girlfriend.  He maintains that he has no regrets, including joining the U.S army. 'Now that I'm in Canada and I'm in Vancouver, I realize how little I did really know about the world,' he said. 'I had pretty much been brainwashed my entire life, not to realize the struggles that are happening all over the world on a daily basis'."  The publication first told McCall's story in October when Charlie Smith reported on McCall's attempt to enter Canada September 19, 2007 only to be denied entry by Canadian authorities, "I don't know what kind of police officer he was.  He put me in handcuffs in front of all these people that were watching that were trying to get into Canada also. I told them, 'Why are you playing the part of the hound dog for the U.S. army?' They didn't know what to say.  They just started stuttering and mumbling." 
 
 
On November 15th, the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey.  The Canadian Parliament has the power to let war resisters stay in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
 
 



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.

 
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. 
 
 
"In the face of a scandalous health care system, failing schools, and a fraudulent endless war, we are as docile as tattered scarecrows in a field of rotten tomatoes.  As for that war, you may have heard that a quarter of the heavily-armed 'shooters' working in the streets of Baghdad for the Administration's mercenary Blackwater foreign legion are alleged to be chemically influenced by steroids or other mind-altering substances," declares Bill Moyers on tonight's Bill Moyers Journal.  That's from tonight's essay and you can catch it right now at YouTube.  PBS is fundraising in some markets so if you're thinking of watching PBS programming this week, check your local listings to make sure that the program airs at its usual time.  On WBAI Sunday, 11 a.m. to noon, The Next Hour will feature Paul Krassner and Sean Kelly joining Janet Coleman and David Dozier for a discussion about the season.  Monday's Cat Radio Cafe (also on WBAI, from two p.m. to three p.m.) will continue the seasonal motif with Coleman and Dozer.  And Wednesday (the 26th), CCCP returns to WBAI for their monthly broadcast.  The Christmas Coup Comedy Players is original comedy programming created for public radio.  It will air from two p.m. to three p.m. and feature Coleman, Dozer, John McDonagh, Marc Kehoe, Scooter, Moogy Klingman and (Wally's favorite) Will Durst.  Remember WBAI broadcasts from NYC and for those not in the broadcast area, WBAI streams online.  For those who may miss Bill Moyers Journal, remember it streams online and it provides transcripts as well.  It is fully accessible for all news consumers.  PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio also regularly airs tonight (again, check your local listings) and the half-hour program will be addressing the issue of being homeless as they probe a new program which provides apartments to homeless persons."  This show is already posted online for streaming. NOW with David Branccacio has also selected their "Top 10 NOW reports of 2007" (currently on the front page of the website).
And lastly, Rory O'Connor examines what's being left out in the promotion of  the selection for Time magazine's latest "Person of the Year"  in "Time to Cover up?" (MediaChannel.org).
 
From media notes to media gossip passed off as reporting.  Frank James (Baltimore Sun) notes an article that ran in an online publication we don't note (the 'objective' reporters that aren't).  Grasping fully that the grapple with the truth at PoorLice andTicksOh and the truth always loses, it's equally true the website is a megaphone for the Jane Harman types so when they 'report' something, fully grasp that they may be attempting to advance something that's not set.  They report that "Iraq fatigue" has set in among the Congressional Democrats not at the top of the House or Senate.  This "fatigue" -- the laughable 'news' source tells you -- is from a number of factors including the desire to "avoid showdowns with Bush over the war,  wherever possible".  There have been no showdowns with the White House.  PoorLiceandTicksOh then wants to talk about how "forcing" votes on withdrawal hasn't worked.  What withdrawal?  There's been no voting on withdrawal -- forced or otherwise.  PoLiceandTicksOh may be advancing for the "Blue Dogs" (no surprise) but if their report is correct, then prepare yourself for issues such as "troop readiness," diplomatic escalation and the alleged benchmarks  while the Dems new strategy will be "to push Bush to accelerate any withdrawals called for by Petraeus".  That's not a strategy.  That's cowardice and a betrayal of the Congress.  Petraeus can give any report he wants (and we now all grasp it doesn't even have to be factual) but the United States Congress is the third branch of the federal government, a branch co-equal with the executive and judicial.  The idea that a new 'strategy' will be to do whatever General Davey Petraeus says is an insult to the Constitution.  Citizens elected Congress members and they weren't elected to turn over the powers to a military general.  Could it happen?  Anything could but Nancy Pelosi already has her record lowest numbers in the eighth district currently and she is facing re-election.  If she wants to hand the seat over to Cindy Sheehan, she should go ahead and pursue this non-strategy.  Sheehan is a serious challenger.  It's not a vanity campaign and she actually stands for something.  Katha Pollitt and others didn't grasp it before the polling but Pelosi,  who looks so wonderful from outside the Bay Area, has been a middle-of-the-roader while representing one of the country's leftist districts.  She's going to have to campaign to win the election -- this from the woman who called off her regular townhalls in 2006 after she flat out lied to constitutents that there were no plans for permanent bases in Iraq and, when challenged on that lie, tried to back peddle with, "Well, nothing's permanent.  Nothing lasts forever."  No, nothing does.  Including Congressional terms.  Something Pelosi's beginning to grasp.
 
We're going to stay on the Congress for a bit more.  The following is the letter that Senator Hillary Clinton wrote last week (December 12th) to Secretary of State Condi Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Attorney General Michael Mukasey:
 
I write to express my deepest concern about recent news reports that the U.S. government has failed to properly respond in the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, a young American woman who claims that she was brutally raped and detained in Iraq by U.S. contractors.  I urge you to take swift action to investigate these allegations immediately. 
As I hope you are all aware, recent news accounts indicate that Ms. Jones, a Halliburton/KBR employee in Baghdad, alleges she was gang-raped by her fellow employees and then held under guard against her will in a shipping container in order to prevent her from reporting the horrific crime.  She states that she was denied food and water during her detention and told that she would be fired if she left Iraq to seek medical attention.  More than two years later, news reports state that no U.S. government agency or department has undertaken a proper investigation of the incident.  
These claims must be taken seriously and the U.S. government must act immediately to investigate Ms. Jones' claims.  These allegations implicate all three of your departments.  If one of your departments has already launched a private investigation, I urge you to disclose your findings without delay.  If no investigation has been started, I urge you to decide the proper course for an inquiry into these claims and to commence your investigation with the utmost urgency.  
 
Click here for the PDF formatted letter.  First, note that Clinton didn't just send the letter to Mukasey -- who, as AG, is over the Department of Justice -- it effects all three departments.  (And more.)  Second, Clinton led on this issue among women in the Congress and Clinton wasn't one of the women running for office in 1992 on the gender-quake and the rage of what was done to Anita Hill in 1991.  Hello, Di-Fi, where are you?  Patty Murray was among those women and she is circulating a letter similar to Clinton's (and also to all three department heads).  Republican Olympia Snowe (who ran for the Senate three years after) has signed on to Murray's letter.  But a lot of women were happy in 1992 to point to Anita Hill facing the all male Senate panel and say that's why we needed to elect them.  Many of them got elected and many are still in office.  Exactly what are they doing?  (There's no reason to let the men off the hook but I am noting, for those too young to remember or those who forgot, the mistreatment of Anita Hill in 1991 fueled the 1992 genderquake which a number of female politicians were eager to ride the wave of.  Of the male Senators, Florida's Senator Bill Nelson is among those being active on the issue.  And, of course, it was a House Rep, Republican Ted Poe, who immediately sprung into action.)
 
Marie Tessier (The Women's Media Center) observes, "The Jones case is the perfect storm of competing public values.  It is a dreadful reflection of a thriving American culture of violence against women.  It is one odious long-term consequence of an ill-conceived war in Iraq in an era of troop cutbacks.  It illustrates the fate of crime victims in the real world experience of criminal and employment law.  Still, Jones, now 23, is an emblem of a new generation of women who have come of age expecting justice for sexual assault, and willing to tell their families, the media and the world about their exploitation.  They intend to hold law enforcement officials and employers accountable for every violation of trust that has followed the crime.  As employment lawyers know, Jamie Leigh Jones is, in the end, one extreme example among thousands of victims of violence whose jobs and careers suffer as a result.  Experiences like hers at KBR are the reason that sexual assault is recognized as an occupational safety problem throughout the workforce by the Centers for Disease Control and the Pentagon, for example."  Stephanie Mencimer (Mother Jones) zooms in on the possibility that Jones may not be able to sue KBR:
 
When Jones went to work for KBR in Texas, and later for its subsidiary, Overseas Administrative Services, she signed contracts containing mandatory binding arbitration clauses, which required her to give up her right to sue the companies and any right to a jury trial. Instead, the contracts forced Jones to press her case through private arbitration, which she did in 2006. In that forum, the company that allegedly wronged her pays the arbitrator who is hearing the case. For that she can thank Dick Cheney.
At the time of the alleged attack on Jones, KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, the behemoth military-contracting and oil-technology firm. (KBR was sold off earlier this year.) So Jones is covered by the Halliburton dispute-resolution program, which was implemented when Cheney was Halliburton's CEO. The system bears the markings of Cheney's obsession with secrecy and executive power. On his watch, Halliburton, in late 1997, made it more difficult for its employees to sue the company for discrimination, sexual harassment, and other workplace-related issues. 
 
AP explains that along with Jones, Tracy Barker (sexually assaulted by a State Department employee STILL employed by the State Dept even after he admitted to the assault) and notes of  the third woman that Rep Poe spoke of, but did not identify, that she "was molested several times and raped by a KBR co-worker.  After the alleged rape, her attacker was allowed to work alongside her.  Military officers escorted him off the base when she complained, and she was fired."
 
On Iraq, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorializes regarding the military bombings by Turkey, "Turkey's air and land attacks on Kurdish civilian targets in an attempt to disable the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, have been roundly condemned by both Iraqi and Kurdish governments.  Not only was the Iraqi government not notified -- so that's how we treat soverign nations -- our own military commanders there were left in the dark, and Gen. David Patraeus is angry about how it was handleed.  So now U.S. and Turkish officials are reviewing how the attacks went, hoping to 'streamline' the process furhter.  Gosh, not informing two of the four concerned parties seems pretty streamlined to us."  China's Xinhua reports that Condi Rice spoke with Ali Babacan, Turkey's Foreign Minister, Wednesday night via phone and that "during the phone conversation, Babacan told Rice that Turkey was pleased with intelligence sharing from the United States."  In other news from the Kurdish north of Iraq, Damien McElroy (Telegraph of London) reports that the region's prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, has stated that things "must be changed" or the Kurdish MPs will leave the 'coalition' (puppet) government which would destroy al-Maliki's leadership role (emphasis on "role").  Things?  The oil law and the referendrum on oil-rich Kirkuk [whether it remains a part of the central (puppet) government or is folded into the Kurdistan region].  Also at the Telegraph of London, Con Coughlin provides (apparently unknowingly) the laugh for the day: the United Kingdom's new Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, states "the big difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is that Iraq has the wealth and resources to finance its own reconstruction, whereas Afghanistan has to reply on hand-outs."  For those not in on the joke, that lie's been repeated many, many times before.  Click here for the Institute for Policy Studies' "Wolfowitz Chronology" to be reminded of War Hawk Paul Wolfowitz telling Congress pre-Iraq War and after it started that reconstruction would be paid for with Iraqi oil.
 
 
War Hawk Down?  Many hoped when John Howard was outed in elections and Kevin Rudd became the country's new prime minister.  AFP notes that Rudd "was elected on a promise that he would pull out the 550 troops deployed in Iraq along with the British forces in the south of the country."  In addition, Australia has approximately 1,000 troops stationed 'outside' of Iraq.  AFP reports Rudd commented on a surprise trip to Baghdad today, "Australia will continue to support our friends in Iraq through navy deployment in the Gulf to assist in long-term security of Iraqi exports."  Doesn't sound like Australia is "out" of the illegal war or that the new prime minister is planning for that.
 
While Democratic leadership may or may not be planning a coma for 2008 (you really can't call it caving after it keeps happening), it's worth noting that the number of service members announded dead since the start of the illegal war currently stands at 3896.  That's four away from the 3,900 marker.  With over a week left in the year, it might end with the marker being reached.  
 
Perspective on the Democratic 'leadership' in Congress:  The 3000 mark was reached December 31, 2006. And, in one year's time, nearly a thousand have died. The Congress held their first session on January 4, 2007. At that point the number dead was 3006. There was a huge shake-up in the Congress, for any who've forgotten. Democrats promised a lot with regards to Iraq and they delivered nothing. In the November 2006 elections, they had a sweep. They had hoped to win control of one house. They won control of both houses of Congress. Since their first session, 890 US service members have been announced dead in Iraq. Since they were handed control, Byron W. Fouty and Alex R. Jimenez went missing. They were part of a group that was slaughtered. (By Iraqis waived through checkpoints, for those who've forgotten.) Hopefully, they are still alive. But they went missing May 12th. (They are two of four missing since the start of the illegal war. Keith M. Maupin went missing April 16, 2004 and Ahmeda Qusai al-Taei went missing right before the November elections, October 23, 2006. Ahmeda Qusai al-Taei is the US soldier who married an Iraqi and was captured while visiting her in Baghdad, outside the Green Zone.) The count doesn't include the deaths from physical wounds following the departure from Iraq. Five service members are known to have died. The number is probably higher. This year three died, from physical wounds received in Iraq, after leaving Iraq: Jack D. Richards (July 29, 2007), Gerald J. Cassidy (September 25, 2007) and Anthony Raymond Wasielewsk (October 8, 2007). In addition there are the many who have come back with mental traumas and have taken their own lives. They aren't included in the count either.
 
That is what Democrats have to show for their non-action after the American people went to the polls in November 2006 to give them control of both houses of Congress with a mandate to end the illegal war.  They have not ended the illegal war (they really haven't even tried to end it) and 890 US service members have been announced dead in Iraq since Congress' first session of this year.
 
In some of today's reported violence . . .
 
Bombings?
 
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed the lives of 4 police officers and 1 civilian (seven police officers and one more civilian were also wounded) and the driver of the car was also killed, and an Al Salam mortar attack that claimed the life of 1 child (two more wounded). 
 
Shootings?
 
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 people shot dead in Diyala province.
 
Kidnappings?
 
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 person was kidnapped in Al Touz.
 
Corpses?
 
 
Mohammed Al Dulaimy also reports, "The U.S. military and Iraqi police said one Iraqi police officer was killed and one marine was injured in an altercation at a joint outpost in the Jazeera area of Ramadi on Wednesday. The police officer died of stab wounds and the marine was treated for minor injuries from lacerations at a military hospital. The U.S. military said the incident is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Colleagues of the police officer said the man's throat was slit."  On Thursday, Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reported on an event that left someone, assumed to be 18-year-old Waleed Khalid Khudhaier, an Iraqi police officer, dead --  Farrell noted that the event was under investigation (an Iraqi police officer and a US marine are thought to have been involved in a knife battle on a base and the police officer was killed) and that:
 
The incident is an embarrassment for the United States military, which has paised Anbar as a model for Sunni tribes and American soldiers cooperating to fight fundamentalist groups like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown militant group that United States intelligence officials say is led by foreigners. The death has provoked local anger and demands for legal action.
 
 
Today UNICEF announced, "An estimated two million children in Iraq continue to face threats including poor nutrition, disease and interrupted education.  Iraqi children were frequently caught in the crossfire of conflict throughout 2007.  Insecurity and displacement continues to cause hardship for many in the most insecure parts of the country and further eroded access to quality essential services country-wide."  Among the many distrubing facts UNCIEF reports, we'll grab two.  "Hundreds of children lost their lives or were injured by violence and many more had their main family wage-earner kidnapped or killed."  Earlier this week, IRIN reported that "Iraqi women parliamentarians and activists are pressing for a new law to help the increasing number of widows and divorced women in their war-torn country" and quoted parliamentarian Nadira Habib stating that violence had created ("over the past three decades") over 1 million widows in Iraq but the country plans to cut subsidies  in next year's budget, despite the fact that "country's social protection programme" already only provides the US equiavalent of fifty-dollars a month to those in need.  Cara Buckley (New York Times) reported on some of the problems facing Iraq's internally displaced refugees and noted that you have to jump through a hoop to get new benefits in another area -- you must return to the area that turned you and your family into a refugee to ask them to take you off the role (one of the women interviewed by Buckley explained it was just too dangerous for her to return there) and then apply in your new neighborhood.
 
UNICEF also notes: "Approximately 1,3500 children were detained by military and police authorities, many for alleged security violations."  Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) examines the realities of the US prison releases in Iraq and doesn't find 'happy' and 'pretty.'  She tells the story of a woman (Leila Nasser) who sees her husband hauled away while she's six-months pregnant because he committed the 'crime' of sleeping on the roof.  At least 15 months later, she waits outside the prsion for Mohammed Amin's release, waits with their one-year-old son Moubin that the father has never seen due to the 'crime' of sleeping on his home's roof.  Fadel notes, "More than 25,000 Iraqis are now in US dentention facilities.  The Jihad reconciliation committee of Sunni and Shiite Muslims had requested that 562 men be released.  Last month, 48 people were released, but more were detained." 
 
In other non-progress news, Reuters reports, "Iraq's powerful Shiite Muslim leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, has called for curbs on US-backed neighourhood patrol units, which are mainly Sunni, saying weapons should only be in the hands of the government.  Mr Hakin, head of the biggest party in the Shiite-led government, praised the role of the patrols, known to Iraqis as 'Awakening councils', in contributing to a sharp drop in violence but said they should only play an auxillary role."
 
Finally, two things on the issue of the PTSD.  The Army Times'  Kelly Kennedy spoke with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) today about her recent reporting:
 
JUAN GONZALEZ: Your series presents a really fascinating picture of how the medical folks who dealt with some of these soldiers, the psychologists who dealt with them, reacted to their situation, and also how the commander dealt with being faced with an actual mutiny by his troops. Could you enlighten us about that some more?
KELLY KENNEDY: Yeah, I think there's--that's one of the key differences of this war. I'm a veteran myself, and I served in Mogadishu, and I served in Desert Storm. We didn't know what PTSD was--post-traumatic stress disorder. We didn't have mental health people we could go to while we were out in the field or while we were out in battle. We didn't talk about ethics. We didn't talk about how we were feeling or how we would react professionally to certain situations. And these guys are. They're going to mental health, and they're saying, "Hey, I'm upset about this." And the mental health people are talking with the unit commanders and saying, "Hey, maybe you need to pull your guys out Adhamiya," or "Hey, maybe your guys need some more rest." And they're certainly saying, "Listen, if you think you're going to act unprofessionally, you need to do something else. You need to take care of that." And I think that's huge. I don't think a lot of people understand that that's a big difference in this war, between the last war and this war.
And the reason they do that is because early on in this war we did have situations where troops did not behave properly. In Vietnam, we certainly saw it. For these guys to stand up and say, "Listen, we're not sure we can handle it right now," could be considered very courageous, in my mind. The commander, I think, also realized that, and he said as much, that he sees the two sides of the situation.
After Bravo Company's IED went off, Charlie Company was supposed to go back out and patrol the same area. When some of the members who had been patrolling with Charlie Company before the scout platoon went as the quick reaction force to the IED attack for Bravo Company, they were struck by how much it looked like the first IED attack that--the roadside bomb attack, and they reacted as if it were their own men, and they went right to mental health and they got sleeping medications, and they basically couldn't sleep and reacted poorly.
And then, they were supposed to go out on patrol again that day. And they, as a platoon, the whole platoon--it was about forty people--said, "We're not going to do it. We can't. We're not mentally there right now." And for whatever reason, that information didn't make it up to the company commander. All he heard was, "2nd Platoon refuses to go." So he insisted that they come. They still refused. So volunteers went out to talk with them, and then he got the whole situation. In the meantime, it was called a mutiny, which is probably a bigger word than should be used for it, but that's what the battalion called it.
And eventually, what they did was they separated the platoon. They said, you know, "You guys aren't acting well together anymore, so we're going to split you up, and we're going to have you work with other platoon sergeants, other squad leaders, and see if we can turn things around this way." But they also punished them, in a sense, by flagging them and saying that they couldn't get promotions and they couldn't get their awards for two months. So there was a feeling that there had to be punishment for these soldiers refusing to go on a mission, but there was also understanding that the guys may have acted properly in this case.
AMY GOODMAN: Kelly Kennedy, I think what is so profound about this story is the refusal of the men to go out. Were there women, by the way, in this unit?
KELLY KENNEDY: No, it was all infantry.
AMY GOODMAN: The refusal of these men to go out, because they were afraid they would commit a massacre. Explain that.
KELLY KENNEDY: Yeah. They're--I need to say this: they are good guys. I mean, I saw them take care of each other. I saw them take care of Iraqis.
When the IED, the roadside bomb, went off, it was so close to one of the Iraqi police stations that they should have been able to see somebody burying that. It was right in front of somebody's house, and nobody said anything. Nobody said to these guys, "Listen, there's a bomb here. We're worried about you," even though they had been going out and patrolling and doing what they were supposed to be doing, in their minds. So when that IED went off and killed their five friends, they're in--you have to understand, they've been living together for a year like brothers in the basement of this old palace. And it's--they're right on top of each other and going out and taking care of each other on the battlefield, daily firefights. And so, they're closer probably than anyone could be. And when they lost their five men, they--I think they gave up on the Iraqi people.
If the Iraqi people weren't willing to fight for them, then what was the point? And they were so angry. They just wanted to go out and take out the whole city. They didn't understand why they couldn't finish up what they call the war, and the whole idea of counterinsurgency is that you're supposed to be building relationships, but they're trying to build relationships with people who obviously aren't that concerned about them. So this idea of a massacre was just--they were just so angry, they could barely contain it anymore.
 
And yesterday on All Things Considered (NPR), Daniel Zwerdling explored the topic of PTSD and noted the number of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and being discharged without all their health benefits which means receiving treatment for PTSD is very dificult which is why there is a "call on the nation's leaders to declare an amnesty" and "restore full benefits to all troops who were discharged for misconduct or other behaivor after they returned from combat if they were also diagnosed with mental health problems such as PTSD."  Ruth noted Zwerdling yesterday.  And the December 17th snapshot contains links to the Army Times series.
 

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Other Items

It will be a lean Christmas for some Iraq-war resisters living in Vancouver. These former U.S. army recruits are waiting on refugee claims and are fighting a return to the U.S. that could include imprisonment.
Brad McCall moved to Vancouver after abandoning his army company in September. He told the Straight that this Christmas was going to be different from those of his childhood in Alabama. There would be no spending money on presents this year, said McCall, who is still without a work visa.
But it's not all bad. "I've got plenty of dinner invitations," he added. "There will be no lack of food for me."
McCall said that he would spend the holidays quietly, just hanging out with his Canadian girlfriend. He maintains that he has no regrets, including joining the U.S. army.
"Now that I'm in Canada and I'm in Vancouver, I realize how little I did really know about the world," he said. "I had pretty much been brainwashed my entire life, not to realize the struggles that are happening all over the world on a daily basis."


The above is from Travis Lupick's "Iraq-war resisters spend Christmas in Vancouver" (Canada's Straight Talk). Brad McCall is the US war resister who became known to many after Robin Long was arrested this fall. McCall had already sat for some interviews which began being published the week of Long's arrest and revealed that the Canadian police had implemented a policy that most Canadians were unaware of (kind of like when they decided to take two US military members to Winnie Ng's home and try to pass them off as Canadian police in their efforts to track down war resister Joshua Key). Whether you celebrate a holiday this time of year or not, you are aware that it is a gathering month and it can be very difficult for anyone (anywhere) that is removed from the friends and family they'd usually gather with. On the plus side, there are friends and families who go to Canada this time of year to celebrate the holidays with war resisters.


It's equally true that people in Iraq -- including Iraqis -- face difficulties in celebrating a holiday. The bombings, the shootings, the attacks. The people killed. The people carted off. Leila Fadel's "Bitterness apparent as U.S. releases Iraqi prisoners" (McClatchy Newspapers) provides a strong tonic to the talk of "Okay, we've finally got the problem figured out! Finally!" that never results in anything except for breeding hostitlities and tensions:


When Leila Nasser was six months pregnant, U.S. soldiers burst into her house and wrestled away her husband, Mohammed Amin, who was asleep on the roof, trying to escape the summer heat.
This week, Nasser waited outside what's now called the "reconciliation hall" in Baghdad's Jihad neighborhood for Amin to appear. In her arms she cradled her year-old son, whom she'd named Moubin, the Iraqi word for apparent.
"I called him Moubin hoping that his father would appear for his eyes," she said. Moubin had never met his father.
Now Amin was one of 15 detainees who'd be released as part of a reconciliation program that the U.S. military's 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment put together in hopes of easing tensions in this divided neighborhood. But the release showed how far reconciliation has to go.
More than 25,000 Iraqis are now in U.S. detention facilities. The Jihad reconciliation committee of Sunni and Shiite Muslims had requested that 562 men be released. Last month, 48 people were released, but 40 more were detained.

Which is some reality that was missing in Gordon Lubold's "Do U.S. Prisoners in Iraq breed insurgents?" (noted last night). Note that his 'crime' was sleeping on the roof. What is that, fifteen months minimum? He's carted away. She's six months pregnant. The baby's now one-year-old. Now he's out. And that's supposed to be 'lucky.' That's supposed to pass for lucky because of how much this illegal war has degraded everyone and our concepts of justice, equality, fairness, . . . Now some of the men and women (and women are being held in those prisons) won't be greeted by loved ones at the gate. Some of them will emerge to find that their families were the victims of shootings or bombings.

There is no 'win' in Iraq, there never was. The US needs to pull out immediately. Let the Iraqi people be in charge of their country. This is from"friendly argument" by an Iraqi correspondent (Inside Iraq, McClatchy Newspapers) explaining a recent taxi ride conversation with a cab driver:

At that point, I can say the political struggle started. We argued for about 30 minutes. After a long fight, we agreed on one point. We agreed that so many promises were made by the American administration and by the Iraqi government -- so many promises that were never fulfilled. He started laughing and said "I feel so sorry because I participated in the election. I though that Saddam's days were over but now I feel sorry because we have many small Saddams who were brought by the USA. The old Saddam had been kicked out by the Americans but who will help us to end the days of the new Saddams if the USA keeps supporting them". I didn't answer him because I couldn't find an answer.

Reality that you may or may not come across in most news resources.

Lynda and Billie both had a highlight they e-mailed in and they note the same things in their e-mails about the highlight. But Billie just e-mailed another one and it's not going to fit in here but we're forcing it in. The topic is Jamie Leigh Jones and the violence women experience and it really should have been in the last entry, but we'll force it in here. From Marie Tessier's "Sexual Violence as Occupational Hazard -- In Iraq and at Home in the U.S.A." (TWMC):

Nearly half of all sexual assault victims are fired or lose their jobs in the year following the assault, according to figures from the feminist law group Legal Momentum. Some states have passed laws to ensure that crime victims have a right to leave work for criminal proceedings or medical care. The far-reaching impact of sexual assault, however, often renders such legal protections meaningless, and few cover civil court proceedings such as seeking protection from abuse.
"Sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking all naturally affect the ability of anyone to concentrate or focus on work," says Legal Momentum senior staff attorney Maya Raghu. "If a sexual assault happens at work or the perpetrator was a co-worker, it can make the workplace itself a traumatic experience."
Moreover, about one in five acts of nonfatal violence happen in the workplace, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. While Jones' story from the Green Zone is stark and its details dramatic, its facts and its outcome are not unique. She speaks for thousands of sexual assault victims confounded by the failures of justice and facing the Hobson's choice of keeping a job or trying to heal.
In terms of criminal law, much of the media coverage of military contractors and their culpability for alleged crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan describes them as enjoying a "loophole" where no laws apply. In fact, while a tangle of laws create a long list of legal defenses for contractors accused of crimes in a war zone, prominent scholars and attorneys point out that legal contracts do not authorize crimes. "The underlying law is in place in many of these contractor cases," University of Connecticut law professor Laura Dickinson told Women's Media Center. Dickinson is an authority on private contractors, foreign affairs and human rights. "We haven't had any prosecution because there's no enforcement mechanism in place, and no U.S. attorney’s office that's equipped to bring the cases."


Lastly, Billie and Lynda both noted a highlight yesterday. They both noted it was important for everyone to remember that there are holidays plural and that, even with all those holidays, not everyone is celebrating. They both enjoyed the way Robin Morgan celebrates this time of year. From the opening of Morgan's "The Four Solstice Miracles" (The Women's Media Center):

The last year I sent Christmas cards was 1968: a plain, black-bordered card, mourning the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinations and the ongoing Vietnam War, urging friends to donate to movement groups instead of buying gifts. I never sent Christmas cards again, not even UNICEF cards, nor, when options became available, a veritable glut of commercialism masquerading as diversity: Hanukkah cards, Kwanzaa cards, Devali, Ramadan, and Winter Solstice cards (this last sensible, at least, since all year-end holidays are clones of solstice festivals). A secularist, I'm happy not participating in a ritual that devours forests for paper, earns millions for Hallmark and its corporate brothers, and feeds the seasonal-obligations frenzy. But.
I do send four special . . . well, messages during this season, so I can hardly pretend they’re not holiday greetings. But these particular recipients deserve far more than my humble communications, written on personal notepaper, manger- and menorah-free, unsequined by santas, kente cloth, dreydls, or overworked non-unionized elves. This is not because these four people--all highly unusual Christians--send me annual messages, or because their stories are the sort not reported in world media. It's because the imperative of their extraordinary lives inspires a loving, respectful response. Their names are partially changed here, to protect their privacy. But all four are real.

For those who are going to be away from your computers in the next few days -- enjoy it. There will be the "Iraq snapshot" today and there will be entries over the next few days. Krista (of gina & krista's round-robin) was one of the people (members now) asking if we could post over the holidays back in 2004. She'd graduated college, gotten a job in Florida and she didn't have the money to go home for the holidays and her parents didn't so she lied and told them that she had to work so they wouldn't try to pull together money they didn't have. (That's noted per Krista and she said to use the word "lied.") She will be with her family this year but she and Gina will be doing a special December 25th gina & krista round-robin. So if you are by your computers, you can check your inboxes for that. (Hilda's Mix, as noted elsewhere, will go out on Monday next week.) Maria, Francisco and Miguel's newsletter will go out Sunday as will Polly's Brew. Community sites will post as they normally do through Sunday. After that, everyone's still figuring out what they're doing but we will have new stuff here.

Tonight in most PBS markets (check local listings) PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio will air:

In this holiday season, is there a solution to chronic homelessness? What do homeless people most need to reenter the fabric of society? Some say the answer is right there in the question: homes. On December 21 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW investigates a program that secures apartments for the long-term homeless, even if they haven't kicked their bad habits.
If you think that sounds crazy, think again. Advocates say this approach reduces costs, encourages self-help and counseling participation, and restores self-esteem. NOW follows a man nicknamed 'Footie' who invited us to see this idea in action.
As a holiday gift, see the show for free RIGHT NOW at the NOW website:http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/305/index.html
Also, watch a web-exclusive video report about how some homeless earn a living on the street, and assumption-busting truths about America's homeless population.
Check out as well the Top 10 NOW reports of 2007! www.pbs.org/now

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.










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The Cheney effect (Stephanie Mencimer)

On Wednesday, Jamie Leigh Jones told a House Judiciary Committee her now-famous story about having been allegedly drugged and gang-raped two years ago by several coworkers shortly after arriving in Iraq as a contractor for KBR, an engineering and construction firm contracted with the military to provide logistical support to the troops. Jones' story has prompted widespread outrage, partly because the Justice Department and the military failed to prosecute her attackers, but also because it appears that Jones can't sue KBR for placing her in harm's way.
When Jones went to work for KBR in Texas, and later for its subsidiary, Overseas Administrative Services, she signed contracts containing mandatory binding arbitration clauses, which required her to give up her right to sue the companies and any right to a jury trial. Instead, the contracts forced Jones to press her case through private arbitration, which she did in 2006. In that forum, the company that allegedly wronged her pays the arbitrator who is hearing the case. For that she can thank Dick Cheney.
At the time of the alleged attack on Jones, KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, the behemoth military-contracting and oil-technology firm. (KBR was sold off earlier this year.) So Jones is covered by the Halliburton dispute-resolution program, which was implemented when Cheney was Halliburton's CEO. The system bears the markings of Cheney's obsession with secrecy and executive power. On his watch, Halliburton, in late 1997, made it more difficult for its employees to sue the company for discrimination, sexual harassment, and other workplace-related issues.
One day, Halliburton sent all its employees a brochure explaining that the company was implementing a new dispute resolution system. The company sold the new program as an employee perk that would create an "open door" policy for bringing grievances to management and as a forum for resolving disputes without expensive and lengthy litigation. In practice, it meant that anyone who had a legitimate civil-rights or personal-injury claim signed away his or her constitutional right to a jury trial. Anyone who showed up for work after getting the brochure was considered to have agreed to give up his or her rights, regardless of whether the employees had actually read it. In 2001, the conservative and pro-business Texas Supreme Court overturned two lower courts to declare that this move was legal.


The above is from Stephanie Mencimer's "Cheney: No Justice for Jaime Jones" (Mother Jones) and, for those wondering, the New York Times this morning? Nothing on Jamie Leigh Jones. Rather surprising when you consider the nature of the case which brings up issues of rape, corruption, contractors, lack of governmental supervision and a host of other issues. Or maybe just surprising when you consider how Anita Hill's story helped women. I'm referring to the issue of awareness and truth telling but it's equally true that coverage of it helped some careers and certainly the paper's managing editor knows that. It also needs to be noted that ABC's 20/20 was reporting on this last week -- real reporting, not the "Here, New York Times, we're releasing this report in 18 hours. But we'll pass it over to you and you can call it a 'scoop' even though you've done no reporting and just offering a summary of a report that will be public a few hours after most people read your paper tomorrow morning."

The Times doesn't have to advocate for Jones. They do have to cover the story because it is news and a gang-rape of a contractor is a bit more important than most of the junk in the paper such as today's 'story' about the impact of ___ who got pregnant at 16. They try to churn out a parent & child on the street piece but the reality is it's not front page news. Unless you're a tabloid. Mencimer is offering another aspect of the story and it is news.


Changing topics, for many this is the holiday seasons and that includes for many in Iraq. This is from Tina Susman's "Deadly attacks shatter holiday in Iraq" (Los Angeles Times):


A suicide bomber edged his way into a crowd of Iraqi officials and U.S. forces gathered for a meeting north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing as many as 12 people, including an American soldier.
It was one of three attacks nationwide that shattered what had been the peaceful start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which began Wednesday for Sunni Muslims. Shiites begin celebrating the four-day holiday today. The violence included a bombing in central Baghdad that targeted a row of liquor stores and, police said, killed three Iraqis.

There will be some other notes regarding the season in the next entry. For now, we'll stay with the violence from yesterday. On the first attack that Tina Susman notes above,
Paul von Zielbauer's "Bomber Hits a Gathering of Civilians and G.I.'s" (New York Times) provides the following:


The Iraqi police said that 14 people, including one of the Americans, were killed as the soldiers were giving holiday gifts to residents in Kinaan, in the continually violent Diyala Province. But an American military spokesman said only five people had been killed, and he denied that soldiers were handing out gifts for the Id al-Adha holiday.
The attack also wounded 18 civilians and about 10 American soldiers, Iraqi police and American military officials said.

So that's some of yesterday's reported violence. If you missed the big budget for next year -- the central (puppet) government claims they can't afford to continue the minimum rations offered now for the Iraqi people and yet there are millions going to payrolls -- which should automatically kick in an audit -- while the police and security (or at least those over them) get
funds, the realities are different for others. An Iraqi correspondent writes of the "Teachers' Strike" (Inside Iraq, McClatchy Newspapers):


The teachers' union called for a strike two weeks ago to be for one simple day put Sunday 16th of this recent month as a start demanding all teachers of the fifteen Iraqi provinces ( without the other three provinces in Kurdistan region in the north of Iraq) to take part in it. As this step is for the benefit of them , teachers of Basra, Anbar , Mosul , Baghdad and the other provinces in the south , west , east and centre of Iraq carried it out hoping to get its result so soon.
The aim of this strike is to make those teachers of the south and centre of Iraq in a balance with those teachers in Kurdistan region by having the same salaries and privilege. Teachers in Kurdistan get double and they reach triple the salaries of those in all over the country. The question is why we have this double standard in dealing with teachers.
Are the teachers in Kurdistan better than those in other parts of Iraq? Are they suffer or face more difficulties to be compensated? Does the education system differ in a way which forces the teachers to give more efforts? Do teachers have to travel so far of their homes to get extra money for transportation? The answer is so simple: NO. I can tell after having thirteen years of experience in teaching that teachers in the south had suffered a lot during Saddam regime.
Kurd teachers didn't suffer as much as those teachers in the marshes or the desert or even in the cites. We know that they suffered during Saddam's regime or of the previous regimes. But teachers in other parts and especially in the south suffered more than that. In the past, I had to teach in two different schools in one salary of about three dollars a month. Nowadays my colleagues get about 125 $ per month spending at least 50 $ on transportation.

The 'brain drain' has been commented on by the mainstream media repeatedly. The trend of attacking educators less so. Individual deaths get noted but there's little attempt on the part of the mainstream to report the realities of this trend and how it is an attack by religious zealots who do not want education and see education as a threat. From Ali al-Fadhily's "'Bad' Women Raped and Killed" (IPS):

Graffiti in red on walls across Basra warns women against wearing make-up and stepping out without covering their bodies from head to toe, Alwan said.
"The situation in Baghdad is not very different," Mazin Abdul Jabbar, social researcher at Baghdad University told IPS. "All universities are controlled by Islamic militiamen who harass female students all the time with religious restrictions."
Jabbar said this is one reason that "many families have stopped sending their daughters to high schools and colleges."
Earlier this year Iraq's Ministry of Education found that more than 70 percent of girls and young women no longer attend school or college.


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