The Common Ills: Violence continues and military whistle blower arrested?

Monday, June 07, 2010

Violence continues and military whistle blower arrested?

The violence of Sunday continues today in Iraq. Lu Hui (Xinhua) reports the violence claimed at least 10 lives and with an additional thirty-seven injured with an Anbar Province roadside bombing claiming the lives of 2 Iraqi military officers (two more soldiers wounded), Falluja home bombings (police officer homes) resulted in five people being wounded and a Falluja checkpoint attack left four Sahwa wounded. Reuters notes the Falluja home bombings resulted in 1 death and twenty injured, 2 Baghdad roadside bombings which injured ten people, a Baghdad car bombing which claimed 1 life and left six people injured, a Mosul roadside bombing which injured a father and son, 1 person shot dead in Mosul, 1 Iman shot dead in Abu Ghraib, his two sons were also killed and his wife and their two-year-old were left injured, and, dropping back to Sunday, a Jurf al-Sahkar attack in which 3 Sahwa were killed and another was injured.

Monday April 5th, WikiLeaks released US military video of an assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Mark Memmott (NPR) reports that an Army intelligence analyst has been arrested and quotes this Army statement:

"United States Division-Center is currently conducting a joint investigation of Spc. Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., who is deployed with 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information and is currently confined in Kuwait. The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our Soldiers, and our operations abroad. The results of the investigation will be released upon completion of the investigation."

Meanwhile US House Rep Charlie Rangel spoke with the New York Daily News criticizing Barack Obama for the continuation of the illegal war and Rangel stated, "I challenge anyone to tell me we aren't there [Iraq] because of the oil. The lack of an honest explanation [for the war] is consistent with Bush and Cheney." Today Erin Einhorn (New York Daily News) reports that at a rally yesterday, New York Governor David Paterson showed his support for Rangel and Rangel repeated his remarks about the Iraq War adding, "The fact that I can have an issue with even a great President, I really don't think warrants the headlines but . . . whatever makes you feel good, it's okay with me."

Little fluttering War Hawk Amitabh Pal writes for The Progressive and the only thing more ridiculous than his writing is catching him on the radio -- in 2006, ahead of the mid-terms, he was insisting on air to Andrea Lewis (KPFA Morning Show) that Iraq would have no impact on the way people voted. Of course, Iraq resulted in turning control of both houses of Congress over to the Democrats. More recently the War Hawk decided he knew something about the British elections when he didn't know a damn thing. Last month, the whore scribbled, "But it wasn't the Iraq War that did the Labour Party in, since the British people, like their American counterparts, are keen to forget that fiasco." I'm sick of little neoliberal whores pushing agendas from supposedly fully left organs and getting away with it. Pal's a damn liar and it's not incompetence, it's a desire to lie. Freak show wrote how much about the Iraq Inquiry? NOT A DAMN WORD. But freak show wants to pretend he knows a damn thing.

He would be embraced by The New Republic and with his own at that magazine. He sticks out like a sore thumb at The Progressive (or the so-called Progressive). The idiot didn't know what he was talking about. The Iraq War had a huge impact on the elections and was key in sweeping Labour out of power.

Rebecca, who, unlike Pal, went to London and actually did work for the Labour Party in the lead up to the elections, called the liar out here. He's had more than ample time to correct his lies and he refuses to do so. That Matthew Rothschild hasn't weighed in goes to a lack of integrity in the magazine, at the top.

As noted here, Nick Clegg became a media sensation during the debates and what topic made him that? The Iraq War. Today Clegg's returned to the topic. John Bingham (Telegraph of London) reports:

The Deputy Prime Minister warned that the legitimacy of the inquiry, led by Sir John Chilcot, would be in doubt unless there was “real, meaningful, thorough disclosure”.
He also launched an outspoken attack on Tony Blair's government, accusing it of being “hell-bent on going to war” and able to "bamboozle Parliament and the British people".
In opposition Mr Clegg accused Gordon Brown’s administration of attempting to “gag” the inquiry by keeping vital documents classified, something he said had “all the hallmarks of a cover-up”.

You know what? We don't need Pal's disinformation. He wasn't just wrong, he was grossly wrong, he was insanely wrong and The Progressive refused to correct the record; however, the only real correction a magazine worthy of the name "The Progressive" could make would be to fire Amitabh Pal who doesn't belong there. It's amazing that Rothschild allowed Nat Hentoff to leave the magazine but keeps Pal. (I know Nat. We clearly disagree on abortion rights. There's a difference between disagreeing on opinons and a refusal -- Pal's case -- to get the facts right -- a repeated refusal.)