Saturday, August 09, 2008

9 US service members dead in Iraq so far this month

9 US service members have died in Iraq so far this month.

Late Friday an announcement was made by M-NF: "Two Multi-National Force – West Marines died as the result of a non-combat related incident near Karmah Aug 7. The Marines names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense."

Considering all the headlines and gas bagging the 13 deaths for July received, all the hog wash about a turned corner, you'd think the press would bother to note that in less than two weeks, over half as many US service members have died as died in the month of July. But that doesn't help continue to sell the illegal war, now does it? A splash of cold water in the face doesn't help out Operation Happy Talk. So watch all play dumb.


Ralph Nader to speak on Monday August 11, on the trading floor of old Toronto Stock Exchange building.
Please circulate and post widely.
Event also features partial screening of the biographical documentary, An Unreasonable Man.
Now at over 5 percent in national polls, Nader is on his third run for President of the United States.
Find out why he runs and what's at stake for Canada this election.
Ralph Nader is the only major candidate for President of the United States standing up to implement Canadian-style universal healthcare, a Dion-style Carbon Tax, and ending the war in Iraq with a full 6-month withdrawal. Over ten million Americans say they will vote for him, and another 20 million say they would if they thought he had a chance of winning. He's on track to be on the ballot in 45 states, and has a shot at getting in the Google Presidential Debates to be held in New Orleans this September. Come see him this Monday August 11 at the Design Exchange in Downtown Toronto.
Event Program:
Screening of a portion of An Unreasonable Man, the acclaimed documentary on Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader Remarks on the US Presidential Election: What's at stake for Canada?
Q and A with Ralph Nader
Where: Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5K 1B2.
Time: 7:00 to 9:30 pm
Ticket Price: Free, donations appreciated, RSVP to ensure seating.
To RSVP, email toronto@votenader.org or call Rashi Khilnani at 647 286 0396 for more details.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader will be in Canada on Monday. Turning to Iraq, this is the opening of Leila Fadel's "Looking for suicide bombers in Iraq is no easy task" (McClatchy Newspapers):

The Iraqi National Police came in the middle of the night and roused the three women from their sleep.
For 14 days, they were held, suspected of preparing to carry out deadly suicide attacks and recruit other women to do the same. On Thursday, they were sent home.
Were they future bombers? Maybe. Maybe not.
The three were among 22 women who were detained during an ongoing security operation in Diyala province for alleged links to the al Qaida in Iraq group, which dominated this mostly Sunni Muslim area for years.
In Diyala, women are feared now. In the last eight months, 12 have blown themselves up in suicide attacks. Police are working to ferret out such bombers.

Three innocent women detained/imprisoned, wow, who could have seen that happen? Drop back to July 5th, "New abuses for Iraqi women" when the 'strategy' was first discussed publicly.

As the article continues, she pushes the notion of profiling women and laments that they can't be "detained" (imprisoned) only from a profile. But if she can't imprison them, she can create "homes" and "shelters" to "put them in". Consider them pretty prisons. And by not calling them prisons, Qaduir may be able to circumvent the remnants of a legal system in Iraq. "It's for your own good," they could tell these 'sick' women -- when the only sickness is the occupation itself.Qaduir is a quack who wants to use her psuedo 'understanding' to crack down on women. If there's anything worse than your husband being imprisoned in the illegal maze or being killed, it has to be dealing with that while you're farmed out to a detention center posing as 'care'.
The reality is that the response of Iraqis to resist the occupation is a normal response and all the more so when someone they have loved is killed. Want to end 'sucide bombings'? End the illegal war. A condition that's developed from the sickness of the Iraq War will be 'treated,' if Qaduir gets her way, by divorcing it from the very cause and treating the women's response as abnormal when what happened to their husbands was the abnormal thing. Instead, Qaduir's accepting as 'normal' the illegal war, the occupation that goes along with it and all the violence involved. The only 'abnormal' thing to her is that some women might respond in violence. Imagine what she would have recommended for American woman participating in the Revolutionary War.
Qaduir is not the 'fixer,' she is part of the problem. (And apparently the Jane Harman of the Iraqi Parliament.) With all the women and children in Iraq who are homeless, the fact that she wants to create detention centers (posing as 'shelters') to imprison women who fit her profile while ignoring those very much in need of an actual shelter says a great deal.
And she can try to cut off debate with all her claims of 'different' societies until she's blue in the face but she's targeting a group for imprisonment out of her own fear. That's not all that 'different' than the round ups Bully Boy launched of Arab-Americans after 9-11.
The problem is not women whose lives are destroyed resisting the ongoing occupation, the problem is the Iraq War. If "Dr." Qaduri wants to 'treat' something, she might try addressing that instead of attempting to round up widows due to Qaduri's own fear and derangement. Her profile not only reflects the 'US military analysis,' it appears to have been handed her to her by the US military.

It's really amazing how little criticism the 'strategy' Alissa J. Rubin documented in "Despair Drives Suicide Attacks by Iraqi Women" (New York Times) received until you grasp how little attention is ever paid to Iraqi women (well why should the women in Iraq be any different from the women in the rest of the world!). You can see it in the refusal to call out the US government for paying female "Awakening" Council members 20% less than their male cohorts. We don't approve of the "Awakening" Councils in this community but if you're going to pay people for a job, you pay them equal. Equal pay for equal work. In fact, with the focus now being on female bombers, you could, in fact, argue that female "Awakening" Council members need to be paid more because they are currently more needed.

Iraqi women suffer every day. There's no concern. There's no outcry. And when someone does raise the issue, they get no credit for it. Take Hillary Clinton who has raised the issue repeatedly as far back as 2003. But you saw LIARS like Betsy Reed and Laura Flanders (both of the worthless Nation magazine) LIE that Hillary hadn't done anything on women's issues since giving a speech in the 90s. Both of those liars, those useless pathetic girls, should be ashamed of themselves because they didn't just LIE, they lied knowing they could get away with it because the larger society pays so damn little attention to women.


Zach notes this from Team Nader:

Ralph's Weekend Audio Message
Posted by Ralph Nader on Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 11:16:00 AM
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Click here for Ralph's Saturday audio message.
This is Ralph Nader.
I'm very proud of the millions of Americans who are standing with me and my running mate Matt Gonzalez in this momentous election year.
To the scores of signature gatherers around the country who have beared bad weather -- thank you.
To those of you who have written letters to your local newspapers and defended our candidacy to friends and neighbors -- thank you too.
To the thousands of you who have fueled the Nader/Gonzalez campaign with your generous donations -- our gratitude.
We have polled over five percent in a number of national polls -- most recently six percent in the CNN poll last week.
Nader/Gonzalez is projected to be on the ballot in 45 states come election day.
I was at a breakfast meeting with reporters this week in Washington, D.C.
And a reporter asked me if I thought Nader/Gonzalez had a chance to win.
Well, I said, if we get into the debates, before tens of millions of voters, it would be a three way race.
But before we get into the debates, we have to get on the ballots.
And as you know, we're in the stretch run of our ballot drive.
We're very close to hitting our target of $100,000 by tomorrow night.
We're closing in.
So, help push us over the top.
After this weekend, we move from the primary to the general election period.
That means that this is the last weekend where your online contributions will be matched by the federal government.
More specifically, every dollar you give online this weekend, up to $250, will be matched or doubled by the government.
After this weekend, no match for online contributions.
Help push us over the top on our current ballot access fundraising drive.
Go to votenader.org and hit the contribute button.
You can give to your heart's content---up to $4,600 that is---that's the legal limit.
You will be fueling a campaign that will shift the power in specific ways from the giant corporations back into the hands of the American people---whether as voters, consumers or taxpayers.
Thank you again for your support and your considered dedication.
Onward to November.
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Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;
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Wally's The Daily Jot;
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Ruth's Ruth's Report;
and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ

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iraq
leila fadel
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alissa j. rubin



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