Sunday, March 15, 2009

And the war drags on . . .

Thom Shanker's "Pentagon Rethinking Old Doctrine on 2 Wars" runs inside Sunday's New York Times and it tells you what the lasting legacy of the War Hawk Barack may be: The capability to fight more than two wars at a once. For War Hawks, the strain on military service members and equipment doesn't mean that two illegal wars need to be stopped, it means that the US needs to always be ready to fight more than two wars at a time. Barack Obama's presidency means the US military-industrial-complex increases. It's a real shame the USSR isn't still around. If they were, we could lobby them to take Leslie Cagan off the payroll, pointing to how she and other Communist Party members worked so hard to install Barack Obama into the White House. Carl Davidson could be shipped to Moscow where he could stand before a show trial and explain why he repeatedly lied that Barack was a "secret" Communist. (Barack is a Corporatist War Hawk. He is not a Communist, he is not a Socialist. The press has to ask those questions, however, because people like Carl have spent the last two years rounding up votes for Barack with that whisper campaign. In fairness to Carl, he knew Barack very well in the mid-90s when Barack ran for his first real office. That's how he got the backing from the Communist Party's Chicago chapter. He courted that backing and courted Carl. All this time later, Carl should have grasped reality about Barack but, in fairness, Barack did what he always does: Works overtime to be non-specific and make you believe he's just like you -- whatever you are. He is the changeling.)
Leslie, Carl, Alice Walker and all the other closted Communists should be forced to answer for what they've done. They should also be forced to explain why non-Democrats were influencing a Democratic Party primary. Republicans like Rush Limbaugh might have been vocally called out for trying to influence the Democratic Party primaries but the closeted types? Everyone looked the other way and let them continue their deception and manipulations. (For those late to the party, closets are for wardrobes. You can be whomever you want to be, but you can't lie about it. So when a Laura Flanders writes a 'Why I'm Supporting Barack' piece, the real response should be the press questioning why non-Democratic Party member Laura Flander is endorsing in a Democraty Party primary and why she is REFUSING to tell the public what political party she really belongs to. Otherwise, people like Laura Flanders get away with lying, deception and manipulation. You endorse someone? The American people have a right to know what your politics really are and what party you actually belong to.)

So that is what they accomplished. All the radical lefties who couldn't get honest about what they were (the uncloseted radical left really didn't feel the need to prop up Barack Obama) better read Shanker's article and absorb it. They better take accountability for their actions. The war machine's about to get a whole lot bigger under Barack. No surprise, he campaigned on increasing the military ranks by at least 90,000. But forget what he said, they knew what was in his heart! They knew who he really was! And they knew he was just saying what he needed to in order to be taken seriously and win! They weren't just wrong, they are patholigical liars. And we need to register something else because it is important. Carl and all of them, they thought they were installing a Communist or Socialist into the White House and that they could alter our form of government. In a democracy, the people decide such a thing. But the liars and the fools wanted to go over the people's head (as their constant smears of "Racist!" for anyone who didn't support Barack demonstrated, they have no respect for the American people, they don't even like the bulk of the American people in the abstract). What they were attempting was to overthrow democracy. That is not a minor point. They backed Barack because they believed he would bring about the revolution they wanted. It is not a minor point. And we can have a discussion on whether or not the US should change its form of government, the American people can have a dialogue about that. That's honest, that's an open process. But what the closeted Communists and Socialists wanted was the same thing that neocons wanted: To alter the government from the top, to impose a new form of government on the people. (No surprise, former Trotskyites make up a lot of today's neocons. And it's also true that Trotsky's own relative worked in the Bush administration. That was your first clue that some of the Chicago trash online was nothing but trash. _____ and the others regularly avoided telling you that factoid. Why? It was an interesting tidbit. A wonderful factoid. But because their loyalties were to something higher and in that process, mentioning a word about a grandchild of Trotsky serving in George W. Bush's administration wasn't allowed, not in the open.) A lot of lying went down and that's the reason the dying continues.

They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)

Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4256 and tonight? 4258. Approximately 1.6 million Iraqis have died since the start of the illegal war. The dying continued today.

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Mosul roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and a Kirkuk roadside bombing which left two people injured. Reuters reports a sticky bombing killed "petroleum expert" Abdul-Latif Salih, another Baghdad sticky bombing killed the brother of an "Awakening" Council member and, dropping back to Saturday for the next two items, a Baghdad roadside bombing left three people injured and a second Baghdad roadside bombing left two Iraqi service members injured.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 person shot dead in Baghdad (three more wounded by a grenaded he held) and police officer Dhafir Kashmoula was shot dead in Mosul. Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports 6 people who had been set free from Camp Bucca prison were shot dead.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered outside of Kirkuk.

The New York Times offers two stories filed from Iraq in the Sunday paper. Alissa J. Rubin's "Not Wishing to Run Again, Iraqi President Sets Off Talk on Role of Iraqi Kurds" which nots "his party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is in disarray, and it is deeply divided about who should be his successor." That's Jalal Talabani, by the way. Sam Dagher offers "In Hard-Bitten Baghdad Tough Tactics on Strays." The article reveals stray dogs in Baghdad have been declared a "menace" and are being hunted down and slaughtered. He quotes Hussein Ali yelling at municipal workers attempting to hunt dogs, "Give us clean water instead of killing dogs! The dogs are not harming us, it is the water." Last year, Karbala began paying the US equivalent of $5.30 for each dog handed over (the dog is then killed and buried in a mass grave with other dogs -- or dumped in a mass grave, to be more accurate). The stray dogs, Jalal Talabani and another topic are covered in the Dallas Morning News' "Update: Iraq" which Eddie e-mailed to note.

Terry McCarthy (ABC News) offers:

We first met Father Mofeed Toma in 2004, when he was abbot of the Christian monastery in the town of Al Qosh in the mountains of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border. That part of Iraq is controlled by the Kurdish authorities and has never really been touched by the war. We spent several days with Father Mofeed, and in those early days he was hopeful that Iraq's 2 million Christians would not be drawn into the power struggle to the south between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
But in the years that followed, insurgents began attacking Christian businesses, particularly liquor stores, which were legal but unpopular with some Muslim extremists. And Christian businessmen were kidnapped for ransom in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, starting an exodus of Christians from those cities. Some emigrated to Europe and the United States, while others went north to find refuge in Kurdistan.

Please note that ABC World News Tonight is scheduled to report from Iraq all week. Meanwhile the treaty masquerading as a Status Of Forces Agreement is seen as binding by some (who haven't paid attention). Those who see it as binding might want to explain the interview Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, gave to the Associated Press this weekend where he declared that despite the fact that SOFA states US forces will withdraw to bases in months, that's not happening. From AP's article:

Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview with The Associated Press that he had told President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials that any withdrawals "must be done with our approval" and in coordination with the Iraqi government.
"I do not want any withdrawals except in areas considered 100 percent secure and under control," al-Maliki said during his flight from Australia to Baghdad at the end of a five-day visit.

Those who have refused to face reality might want to consider the above foreshadowing. Friday's snapshot opened quoting IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal author Anthony Arnove from his "Moved on from the struggle" (Socialist Worker). It's probably a good time to emphasize one section of that article:

WE KNOW that Iraq will remain under occupation until at least the end of 2011, but there is very good reason to believe that between now and then, the Iraqi government, which owes its survival to Washington, will cut a deal to allow U.S. forces to remain longer. Such an agreement would also likely give the U.S. long-term access to military bases and access to Iraqi air space.

Cut a deal in 2011? We're already seeing al-Maliki cut a deal to toss aside the SOFA. It was not the contract so many falsely presented it as. Meanwhile one of the lies that attempts to push the false notion that the US cannot withdraw immediately is the issue of the equpiment. "We have to bring back the equpiment!" Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) reveals:

Instead, some will remain with the Iraqi security forces and some will be shipped to Afghanistan. But as important, millions of tons of armor and weaponry will be used to restock huge U.S.-run warehouses across the Middle East -- in case it is needed in the future.
The plans follow a pattern set by the military for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and again for the troop buildup in 2007, when the Defense Department drew on equipment stored around the Persian Gulf region, including in massive facilities in Kuwait and Qatar.Equipment removed from Iraq will be sent to those warehouses, officials said, to ensure that the military is able to respond to a variety of contingencies, including possible Iranian aggression or renewed violence in Iraq.

All US troops could leave Iraq in less than 100 days. It is possible and you only need to note how quickly Georgia troops left during their national emergency. Meanwhile Tony Perry (Los Angeles Times) reports Canadian MPs Olivia Chow and Borys Wrezesnewsky were at San Diego's Miramar Marine Corps Air Station to visit with US war resister Robin Long who was extradicted from Canada to the US and was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. Perry notes:


Long is set to be released in July, but as a convicted felon, he will not be able to return to Canada where his girlfriend and their 3-year-old son still live. Brig rules prohibit Long from talking to reporters but recent visitors report he is holding up well in confinement.
"He's a sweetheart," said Dawn O'Brien, leader of the San Diego chapter of Military Families Speak Out. "He's doing very well and he was very pleased for the visit."
Chow is scheduled to speak Monday night at a rally of anti-war activists, 7 p.m. at the Joyce Beers Community Center, 4065 Vermont Street, San Diego.

The illegal war hits the six year mark this Thursday and World Can't Wait offers a list of other cities holding demonstrations. Saturday, those wanting to call out the illegal war can join with groups such as The National Assembly to End the Wars, the ANSWER coalition, World Can't Wait and Iraq Veterans Against the War -- all are taking part in a real action. Iraq Veterans Against the War explains:

IVAW's Afghanistan Resolution and National Mobilization March 21st
As an organization of service men and women who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, stateside, and around the world, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War have seen the impact that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had on the people of these occupied countries and our fellow service members and veterans, as well as the cost of the wars at home and abroad. In recognition that our struggle to withdraw troops from Iraq and demand reparations for the Iraqi people is only part of the struggle to right the wrongs being committed in our name, Iraq Veterans Against the War has voted to adopt an official resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and reparations for the Afghan people. (To read the full resolution, click here.)
To that end, Iraq Veterans Against the War will be joining a national coalition which is being mobilized to march on the Pentagon, March 21st, to demand the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and further our mission and goals in solidarity with the national anti-war movement. This demonstration will be the first opportunity to show President Obama and the new administration that our struggle was not only against the Bush administration - and that we will not sit around and hope that troops are removed under his rule, but that we will demand they be removed immediately.
For more information on the March 21st March on the Pentagon, and additional events being organized in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Orlando, to include transportation, meetings, and how you can get involved, please visit: www.pentagonmarch.org or www.answercoalition.org.

New content at Third:

Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the week II
A note to our readers
Editorial: Do you care enough to show up?
TV: The cavers and the fighters
Talking Iraq
Barry 'No, we don't!', Arne 'Yes, we do!'
Barry BailOuts
Ty's Corner Mailbag
The Bronze Boobs go to . . .
Afghanistan
The No Agenda?
Those shoulders
Friday roundtable
Highlights

Kat's lastest review and Isaiah's latest comic go up after this. Pru asked that no highlight be made of Great Britain's Socialist Worker. Why? Thursday, government e-mails were released showing the lies that led the UK into the Iraq War. The sixth anniversary of the start of the illegal war is this Thursday. And Socialist Worker hasn't written one word about it. Tina Susman has an article at the Los Angeles Times worth reading and we'll most likely work it into a snapshot this week.

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