300 Alaskans troops who had gone home "must now go back" according to The KPFA Evening News tonight. They've been ordered back for eight more months. I see a report on Yahoo but Wally has explained to all of us that Yahoo drops their reports after a few weeks. So you end up with a link that doesn't work and says "Page not found." So I'm checking Reuters (official site) right now to see if I can get some more information about this story.
Here it is, from "US sending 300 newly returned troops back to Iraq:"
About 300 U.S. soldiers who just weeks ago returned home to Alaska after a year in Iraq are being ordered back to try to help bolster security in Baghdad, the U.S. Army said on Monday.
The soldiers are part of the 3,900-strong 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Wainwright in Alaska. Facing rising sectarian violence in Baghdad, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on July 27 ordered the unit to remain in Iraq for up to four months past its scheduled departure.
That order provoked anger and disappointment among some of the soldiers' families in Alaska. It also made clear that any significant reduction in the 135,000-strong U.S. force in Iraq was unlikely in the immediate future.
The KPFA Evening News also covered the questionable behaviors, "even criminal activity [recruiters have used] to attract troops to the battlefield." There's some government report outlining it and a man is quoted saying (no surprise) that "The recruiters will basically say anything." Such as telling them they'll go to jail if they don't go to basic training (or follow up on their interviews I bet). Health problems or a rap sheet? You'll be told to lie about it.
There was actually another report (I think two but I ran to the kitchen at one point) but I'm leaving that for C.I. to grab. The KPFA Evening News is doing a better job of beefing up their coverage. I listen to them and Flashpoints by choice. I'm trying to skip the others. Including Democracy Now! which Rebecca says means I missed nothing. (They apparently did one headline on Iraq, no segments.) Mike's "KPFA reported on the war resisters in Canada" covers a report from Sunday's broadcast of The KPFA Evening News, so check that out. One thing I wish had been included in tonight's The KPFA Evening News, was the exclusive report WBAI's Law & Disorder had today on the lies and plotting to stop the 2004 anti-war protests in NYC (it's in the snapshot below). I read the snapshot late (during Flashpoints) and if I'd read it earlier, I might have even called up that KPFA line and said, "Story suggestion, another Pacifica program had an exclusive today that's worth covering."
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" covering a number of things (check out Cedric's "Tell Rumsfeld 'Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go.'"):
Monday, August 14, 2006, chaos and violence continue in Iraq, we're three days away from the start of Ehren Watada's Article 32 hearing, the US military tries to dispute the Iraqi government and eye witnesses -- and the press plays he said/she said, and the US military is also involved in arguing with itself. (Report card reads: "Does not play well with self or others.")
Some basic facts/dates to start with. On Saturday (though few apparently noticed it), the AP announced their count put the death toll for American troops in Iraq at 2600. Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) noted that the so-called crackdown in Baghdad has been going on, with no success, since June 14th. Kenneth Janda (Northwestern University) noted in The Chicago Tribune that today makred the 1,245th day that Americans have been in Iraq and contrasts that to the United States' "war against Germany [which] lasted 1,245 days, from Dec. 11, 1941, (when both nations declared war) until May 8, 1945."
And the war drags on.
Sunday's violence in Baghdad was reported (yesterday) by CNN as: " Police said the attackers used a rocket, a car bomb, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle and two other devices to attack the neighborhood between 7:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. Saturday ET) and 8:30 a.m." Sudarsan Raghaven (Washington Post) reported it: "The attacks began when a volley of rockets bombarded a residential apartment building during a nighttime curfew, witnesses and police said. Then, a roadside bomb exploded, followed minutes later by another bomb strapped to a motorcycle." The Guardian of London: "The ministry said the rockets appeared to have been fired from Dora, one of the mostly Sunni Arab districts targeted by US troops in a recent security crackdown. Residents said the assault on Zafraniya lasted for more than an hour." The US is now disputing it was an attack and blaming it on a gas explosion. From AFP: "While the US military blamed an accident on a gas main for the disaster, Iraqi authorities insisted that insurgents had fired rockets into the largely Shiite district of Zafaraniyah and had detonated at least two bombs."
The violence on Sunday came a time when the so-called crackdown has produced no results, when the capital should be as 'secure' as the occupiers can make it and when Shi'ites are calling for neighborhoods to be turned over to militias and not the occupying armies. CBS and AP note: "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said in a statement that the attack started with a number of Katyusha rockets falling on a building followed by a car bomb, more rockets on a post office, a motorcycle bomb near a public library and mortar rounds near an Armenian church." They also report that "the al-Sahaba Soldiers" have claimed responsibility for the violence saying that they used "two booby trapped cars and fired mortal shells".
Gas explosion? Possibly, we'll learn that a gas explosion penetrated the Green Zone next?
Australia's ABC reports that the four Australian troops who were wounded in the Green Zone were "injured in an early morning rocket attack". (ABC also notes of the four: "Three have been released from hospital. The fourth, a female, remains in a hospital in a stable condition after suffering lacerations and bruisings.")
When not disputing Iraqi government officials, Iraqi police and eye witnesses, the US Iraq occupation force spent today disputing itself. AFP reports that "the chief spokesman for US-led coalition forces, Major General William Caldwell" insisits at press conferences that Iran is aiding resistance fighters in Iraq by "training and providing weapons . . . in order to carry out violent attacks in the war-torn country." Caldwell uses terms like "we do know" and "verified" (though proof comes far less quickly than words). Despite these statements, Caldwell, in the same press conference that, "There is nothing that we definitively have found to say that there are any Iranians operating within the country of Iraq" which the AP headlines: "No evidence Iran active in Iraq: US general." Does it all seem like the inferences used to (falsely) link 9-11 and Iraq?
While the US military attempts to get a consistent talking point, James Hider (Times of London) reports that British troops are being pulled from "the resitve Shia city of al-Amarah" to "instead patrol the Iranian border to prevent weapons-smuggling in one of the largest redeployments the Army has undertaken in Iraq" (Hider estimates this action will result in "freeing about 1,200 British troops").
And while British troops move to the Iraq-Iran border, Solomon Moore (Los Angeles Times) reports that "[h]undreds of newly recruited police officers in Fallujah failed to show up for work Sunday after insurgents disseminated pamphlets threating officers who stayed on the job." Moore notes the estimate of 100 police officers killed in Falluja in "the last three months."
Bombings?
Reuters reports the following: two dead near Khalis from a roadside bomb (three wounded); eight dead in Tal Afar from a mortar round; two dead and four wounded in from two car bombs "in eastern Baghad"; while in the "central Karrada district of Baghdad," one person died and three were wounded from a car bomb; and "on the main road between Baghdad and Baquba" a roadside bomb killed one police recruit and injured ten more. (That's 14 reported dead.)
Shootings?
CBS and AP report that, in Mosul, "three blacksmiths" were shot dead. Reuters reports that "a tribal leader" was killed in Mosul and his son was wounded; "a tribal leader" was also shot dead in Baiji; and in Falluja "a civilian" was shot dead. (That would be six shot dead for a total of 20 reported dead today -- in addition to the rising death toll from Sunday's events in Baghdad.)
In peace news, WBAI's Law & Disorder examined the efforts to surpress and prevent the 2004 peace rallies in NYC timed to coincide with the GOP convention held there.
Heidi Boghosian (host of the program along with Dalia Hashad, Michael Smith and Michael Ratner) noted the internal documents that are only now coming out,
"In one such e-mail, the Parks Department wrote, 'It's very important that we do not permit any big or political events between August 23rd and September 6th, 2004. It's really important for us to keep track of any large events -- over a thousand people -- and any rallies or events that seem sensitive or political in nature'." Those dates were "the period of the RNC" convention in NYC, as guest Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, of the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Committee, noted. Michael Bloomberg denied involvement but documents released demonstrate "that Mayor Bloomberg was having meetings with the Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe, specifically about denial of the permit to the National Council of Arab Americans and ANSWER coalition, that there were meetings taking place where they were talking about that their official position that there would be a ban on rallies at Central Park overall in advance of the RNC, that they were trying to get him in agreement with that position notably because the police department didn't share that position. The police department didn't have a problem with a rally on the Great Lawn of Central Park."
Click here to read the released internal documents. Important in terms of 2004, in terms of Bloomberg (whose denials in depositions are now called into question) and important with the upcoming events surrounding September 21st (International Day of Peace).
In Crawford Texas, Camp Casey III continues. KWTX reports that the Bully Boy went back to DC Sunday but that the camp continues and that Cindy Sheehan ("released from the hospital Sunday") and over 100 people are taking part in today's actions. Deborah Mathews (Lonestar Iconoclast) reports that Sheehan required "a transfusion of four units of blood" while hospitalized this weekend and that chants of "We love you, Cindy!" greeted her return Sunday. As she continues her recovery, Mathews reports, Sheehan will "be at the camp for only an hour or two each day." The Associated Press reports that Sheehan said Sunday, "Even though George Bush isn't here, it's important still to get together and not just how him but show the world that there are Americans who want the violence in the Middle East to stop." In a separate report, the Associated Press notes that Camp Casey actions are to continue in Crawford "through Sept. 3" (at which point, it moves to DC).
Prior to the hospital stay, Sheehan had been taking part in the Troops Home Fast action which is on it's 42nd day and currently has 4,549 participants. It's an ongoing action and people interested can fast for one day at any time, pick a day to fast each week or do a longer fast. (The action will last at least up to September 21st.)
In other peace news, it is three days until the Article 32 hearing begins (August 17th) for Ehren Watada -- the first known commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org are organizing and trying to get the word out for "a National Day of Education" on August 16th. Melissa Tanji (The Maui News) reports that Bob Watada said of his son's chances the "court of public opinion is going to weigh heavily in favor of Ehren . . . [which] could make a difference". Khurram Saeed (The Journal News) reported Sunday on some actions taking place in Rockland, New York to demonstrate support for Ehren Watada. In addition to that, Tanji reports that: "Ave Dias, of the Maui Peace Action group, said Watada supporters should send postcards, call or fax elected officials such as Rumsfeld to let them know the public's support for the soldier objecting to war in Iraq." Mailing address for Donald Rumsfeld: 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000 and the main number for the Defense Department is (703) 545-6700 -- say "Operator" (or press 3) to speak to an actual person.
For those wanting to demonstrate the need to for public action in support of Watada, organizations (such as ThankYouLt.org) are recommending showing films such as Sir! No Sir! (for more on the documentary, also see "DVD Must See: Sir! No! Sir!").
In Australia, the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad continues. The latest development revolves around Solider 21 (all soldiers testifying are identified by number, not name -- Soldier 21 is "the section commander") who, AAP reports, now denies the statement he gave to investigators that he heard a cry of "Allah Akbar" (God is great) immediately before he heard the gun shot that killed Jake Kovco. Sydney 2GB reports: "He told the inquiry it had become unclear whether he'd in fact heard the comment."
Monday, August 14, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
"One tear I thought that should stop a war"
Rebecca and I are grabbing a moment to blog. It's been a very busy day. And we're going to go pick up Betty and her kids at the airport. She gets in late, everyone else is already present and accounted for. We thought about doing a joint entry (like Cedric and Wally did) but decided, since we're not going to be blogging Saturday, we'd go ahead and do individual entries.
I had very positive feedback to the entries this week although there were some questions of where was Thursday's post? I don't post every day. I think I said everything I needed to in the last post. I've listened to music since. My plan these days is not to turn on KPFA until Dennis and Nora come on with Flashpoints, I hang around for The KPFA Evening News or parts of it.
I've been listening to a lot of great music. It's made me see a number of issues from new angles. I think music can do that. Thursday, I stayed home cleaning. I really wanted to go with C.I. and The Third Estate Sunday Review gang -- minus Ty who is a working man these days -- on all their meetings and organizing but I needed to clean. I only just got back from Ireland and the place was a mess. I needed to do the usual daily cleaning but I really needed to do a great deal more and that included an hour at the kitchen table with bills. C.I. was cracking me up checking to see if I'd opened my bills yet. (I place them in a large bowl by the front door. I take them out of the mail box, walk in the front door, place them in the bowl and avoid them as long as I can. That's if I've got the money to pay or need to juggle. I hate paying the bills. With the phone and the newspaper, I've got that set up on automatic payment.) So C.I. would check in and ask if I'd pulled the bills out of the bowl yet. I kept putting that off. But C.I. would also ask what music I was listening to and say something like, on Jefferson Airplane's Crown of Creation, "Really listen to track eleven."
Which I did and wow. Jim or Jess one started listening to that nonstop last week so we've all been hearing it. But what the album meant to me years ago it means to me now. I enjoyed it in the years between but there's a new power to it due to current sitatuations.
Sun is scrambled in their eyes
While the moon circles like a vulture
Someone stood at a window and cried
"One tear I thought that should stop a war
But someone is killing me"
And that's the last hour to think anymore
-- "House at Pooneil Corners," written by Paul Katner and Marty Balin
After awhile, and C.I. wrote about this with Ani DiFranco's "Both Hands," when we really love a song, we sing along out of enjoyment and may not really be absorbing it. We know we love it. It's a great song ("Both Hands" is a great song) and if we can find something new it, suddenly it's not just a song we love but a song that's conveying a difference to us and it has a new meaning.
What I'm not being provided in coverage, I'm finding in music. New and forgotten avenues. Marcia e-mailed wondering what I thought the best CD was so far this year? I'm thinking it has to be Ben Harper's Both Sides of the Gun; however, I'm really excited by Michael Franti & Spearhead's Yell Fire and by Ani DiFranco's Reprieve. I actually think there were a number of wonderful albums this year and would include Neil Young's Living With War and Etta James' All The Way. But I just read Marci's e-mail this afternoon and haven't had time to really think. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but expect those to be on my list of best of 2006.
Betty's got a list of albums we're going to listen to. Her brother who's really into music made the list and she says Sly Stone, John Lennon, the Mamas and the Papas and some others are on it. Of the names she told me about, it shouldn't be a problem (I have those albums) but if we encounter something I don't have, we'll put out a S.O.S. and be able to find someone with it.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Chaos and violence continue in Iraq today, Friday, August 11, 2006 with two police officers dead from a roadside bomb in Kirkuk, another police officer shot dead in Mosul and a man on his way to work in Baiji shot dead. In the United States Ricky Clousing says no to war; in a sotto voice US military flacks give statements about the two US soliders who died in Tuesday helicopter crash and while recruiters struggle to meet their lowered targets, some applicants remain unwelcome.
Starting with the last item, the AP reports on Haven Herrin who would like to serve in the military but she is a lesbian and wink-wink-nudge-nudge no gays or lesbians have ever served in the US military. Reading the report which begins and ends with the Clinton era "Don't Ask Don't Tell," news consumers are probably left unaware that an openly gay man has served in the US military.
While some can't get in, others refuse to serve in an illegal war based on lies.
Writing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mike Barber broke the news today that Ricky Clousing would turn himself in. Ricky Clousing, 24-years-old, checked himself out of the military after serving in Iraq. Speaking to the AP, Clousing stated, "My experience in Iraq really made me second-guess my ability to perform as a soldier and also forced me to question my beliefs in associating myself". Clousing's announcement comes on day two of the Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle (which concludes Sunday the 13th). Clousing questions the legality of the illegal war and "I came to the conlusion that I could not train or be trained under a false pretense of fighting for freedom." Barber notes that Clousing went AWOL from "Fort Bragg in 2005 after returning from Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division."
Barber broke the news, the AP is all over it. And gold stars for others? They'll have to demonstrate that they're going to cover it. Not, "Look how much I care, today I'll make time for this issue and then next week . . . Back to Israel non-stop!" (or whatever the topic is). Too much isn't being covered.
Clousing is one of many war resisters. This week, Meredith May (San Francisco Chronicle) took a look at some who had decided to do a self-check out and go to Candada -- mentioned were Ryan Johnson, Patrick Hart, Christian Kjar, Brandon Hughey, Darryl Anderson. Brandon Hughey and Jeremy Hinzman will learn shortly whether they're appeal will allow them to remain in Canada or not. Other war resisters include Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Aidan Delgado, Kevin Benderman. Katherine Jashinski. Camilo Mejia is generally considered to the the "first Iraqi War Resister." Benderman is attempting to appeal the Court-Martial and has been designated a "Prisoner of Conscience" by Amnesty International. Benderman's case hasn't vanished, just any coverage of it. That's true of Hinzman and Hughey as well. Let's be really honest, that's true of the independent media attention on all things having to do with Iraq. (And remember it was Mike Barber who broke the story.)
Two names more recently in the news are Suzanne Swift and Ehren Watada. Their cases haven't vanished just because, for example, an announced and filmed interview with Swift's grandfather never aired as Iraq fell off the radar. Watada faces an article 32 hearing on August 17th which is next Thursday. Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org are organizing and trying to get the word out for "a National Day of Education" on August 16th. Writing of Watada, Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) noted Watada's refusal to deploy to Iraq was a "no" and that: "When we say 'no' the war ends.Ehren is saying 'no.' He can make a difference. He is making a difference but it will be a huge difference with quick impact if we show our support." Noting the work of his parents, Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org, Cedric wondered where the coverage was?
Attending the conference in Seattle was Cindy Sheehan who is offering Camp Casey III "as a refuge for U.S. troops who desert to resist the war in Iraq." As The State News notes on Bully Boy's low approval numbers, "Clearly, Sheehan is not alone in her position. But while a large population within the United States disapproves of Bush and the war in Iraq, it seems only a small population is doing something about it." Sheehan does her part and then some but it "seems" others aren't because of the lack of media attention. Watada and Swift are 'doing something.' Across the country, across the world, people are engaged in attempting to end this war, day in and day out. It's the media that can make it appear nothing is happening or report what's actually going on. Credit to Barber, AP, May and others in big media who've been covering these issues (especially the press in Hawaii) while others had other things to emphasize (non-stop). Or, as Molly Ivins points out: "The more surprising development is how completely one story drives out another. At other times, the collapse of Iraq would have been news." A collapse that has included, as Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) wrote, "There are no laws that say we have to wear a hijab (yet), but there are men in head-to-toe black and the turbans, the extremists and fanatics who were libearted by the occupation, and at some point, you tire of the defiance. You no longer want to be seen. I feel like the black or white scarf I fling haphazardly on my head as I walk out the door makes me invisible to a certain degree -- it's easier to blend in with the masses shrouded in black. If you're a femal, you don't want the attention -- you don't want it from Iraqi police, you don't want it from the black clad militia man, you don't want it from the American soldier. You don't want to be noticed or seen."
Reuters notes six corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("bound and blindfolded") Of the six, AP notes that they had all ben shot execution style. This was the week that, as the BBC noted, the body count at Baghdad's central morgue for July only had been 1,855. AP noted Dr. Sabah al-Husseini's declaration that "two-thirds of the deaths reported in Baghdad since January were due to violence."
This was the week of the Article 32 hearing to determine whether or not to file rape, murder and arson charges against US soldiers James Baker, Jesse V. Spielman, Bryan L. Howard and Paul Cortez. (Steven D. Green, who is also accused in the incident will stand trial in US federal court because he was discharged before the incident was uncovered. Anthony W. Yribe is accused of dereliction of duty for not reporting the incident.) The incident? Abeer Qasim Hamza. Presenting his closing argument in the hearing, Captain Alex Pickands stated, "They gathered over cards and booze to come up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl. She was young and attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable." The defense (and the New York Times) offered stress of combat and fatigue. Pickands response? "Murder, not war. Rape, not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments. Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl."
It was the story that should have gotten intense coverage. Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude) has argued Abeer's story is the story of the illegal occupation boiled down to one person. Instead, as Mike (Mikey Likes It!) has pointed out, you had the New York Times offering the defense's argument and Abeer? Silence. She wasn't even named.
This was also the week of yet another poll finding where respondents echoed earlier polls by standing strongly against the illegal war. CNN found that 60% of Americans responding in their poll were against the war -- the highest opposition since the war began in March 2003.
Those were among the Iraq related stories that should have received coverage, discussion and exploration.
Another, in Australia, would be the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad. Belinda Tasker (Herald Sun) reports on Solider 1's testimony which resulted in tears for Shelley Kovco (widow of Jake Kovco) and Judy Kovco (mother of Jake Kovco). While the family of Kovco has every reason to well up when their lost one is spoken, the press has no excuse to go soft and mushy but, apparently, despite repeated testimony to the contrary, the nonsense of the 'buddy system' is back. Soldier 1 tossed off a few words (via video-link) and then used Jake Kovco to argue that they'd reworked the "buddy system" since his death. The press runs with it, failing to note that there witnesses' testimony (as opposed to the statements the military wrote and submitted in their name) that there was no "buddy system" in place. Ian McPhedran (Courier-Mail) offers a less sentimental view as he weighs in on Jake Kovco's death and Australia's involvement with Iraq: "We're being kept in the dark."
I had very positive feedback to the entries this week although there were some questions of where was Thursday's post? I don't post every day. I think I said everything I needed to in the last post. I've listened to music since. My plan these days is not to turn on KPFA until Dennis and Nora come on with Flashpoints, I hang around for The KPFA Evening News or parts of it.
I've been listening to a lot of great music. It's made me see a number of issues from new angles. I think music can do that. Thursday, I stayed home cleaning. I really wanted to go with C.I. and The Third Estate Sunday Review gang -- minus Ty who is a working man these days -- on all their meetings and organizing but I needed to clean. I only just got back from Ireland and the place was a mess. I needed to do the usual daily cleaning but I really needed to do a great deal more and that included an hour at the kitchen table with bills. C.I. was cracking me up checking to see if I'd opened my bills yet. (I place them in a large bowl by the front door. I take them out of the mail box, walk in the front door, place them in the bowl and avoid them as long as I can. That's if I've got the money to pay or need to juggle. I hate paying the bills. With the phone and the newspaper, I've got that set up on automatic payment.) So C.I. would check in and ask if I'd pulled the bills out of the bowl yet. I kept putting that off. But C.I. would also ask what music I was listening to and say something like, on Jefferson Airplane's Crown of Creation, "Really listen to track eleven."
Which I did and wow. Jim or Jess one started listening to that nonstop last week so we've all been hearing it. But what the album meant to me years ago it means to me now. I enjoyed it in the years between but there's a new power to it due to current sitatuations.
Sun is scrambled in their eyes
While the moon circles like a vulture
Someone stood at a window and cried
"One tear I thought that should stop a war
But someone is killing me"
And that's the last hour to think anymore
-- "House at Pooneil Corners," written by Paul Katner and Marty Balin
After awhile, and C.I. wrote about this with Ani DiFranco's "Both Hands," when we really love a song, we sing along out of enjoyment and may not really be absorbing it. We know we love it. It's a great song ("Both Hands" is a great song) and if we can find something new it, suddenly it's not just a song we love but a song that's conveying a difference to us and it has a new meaning.
What I'm not being provided in coverage, I'm finding in music. New and forgotten avenues. Marcia e-mailed wondering what I thought the best CD was so far this year? I'm thinking it has to be Ben Harper's Both Sides of the Gun; however, I'm really excited by Michael Franti & Spearhead's Yell Fire and by Ani DiFranco's Reprieve. I actually think there were a number of wonderful albums this year and would include Neil Young's Living With War and Etta James' All The Way. But I just read Marci's e-mail this afternoon and haven't had time to really think. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but expect those to be on my list of best of 2006.
Betty's got a list of albums we're going to listen to. Her brother who's really into music made the list and she says Sly Stone, John Lennon, the Mamas and the Papas and some others are on it. Of the names she told me about, it shouldn't be a problem (I have those albums) but if we encounter something I don't have, we'll put out a S.O.S. and be able to find someone with it.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Chaos and violence continue in Iraq today, Friday, August 11, 2006 with two police officers dead from a roadside bomb in Kirkuk, another police officer shot dead in Mosul and a man on his way to work in Baiji shot dead. In the United States Ricky Clousing says no to war; in a sotto voice US military flacks give statements about the two US soliders who died in Tuesday helicopter crash and while recruiters struggle to meet their lowered targets, some applicants remain unwelcome.
Starting with the last item, the AP reports on Haven Herrin who would like to serve in the military but she is a lesbian and wink-wink-nudge-nudge no gays or lesbians have ever served in the US military. Reading the report which begins and ends with the Clinton era "Don't Ask Don't Tell," news consumers are probably left unaware that an openly gay man has served in the US military.
While some can't get in, others refuse to serve in an illegal war based on lies.
Writing for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mike Barber broke the news today that Ricky Clousing would turn himself in. Ricky Clousing, 24-years-old, checked himself out of the military after serving in Iraq. Speaking to the AP, Clousing stated, "My experience in Iraq really made me second-guess my ability to perform as a soldier and also forced me to question my beliefs in associating myself". Clousing's announcement comes on day two of the Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle (which concludes Sunday the 13th). Clousing questions the legality of the illegal war and "I came to the conlusion that I could not train or be trained under a false pretense of fighting for freedom." Barber notes that Clousing went AWOL from "Fort Bragg in 2005 after returning from Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division."
Barber broke the news, the AP is all over it. And gold stars for others? They'll have to demonstrate that they're going to cover it. Not, "Look how much I care, today I'll make time for this issue and then next week . . . Back to Israel non-stop!" (or whatever the topic is). Too much isn't being covered.
Clousing is one of many war resisters. This week, Meredith May (San Francisco Chronicle) took a look at some who had decided to do a self-check out and go to Candada -- mentioned were Ryan Johnson, Patrick Hart, Christian Kjar, Brandon Hughey, Darryl Anderson. Brandon Hughey and Jeremy Hinzman will learn shortly whether they're appeal will allow them to remain in Canada or not. Other war resisters include Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Aidan Delgado, Kevin Benderman. Katherine Jashinski. Camilo Mejia is generally considered to the the "first Iraqi War Resister." Benderman is attempting to appeal the Court-Martial and has been designated a "Prisoner of Conscience" by Amnesty International. Benderman's case hasn't vanished, just any coverage of it. That's true of Hinzman and Hughey as well. Let's be really honest, that's true of the independent media attention on all things having to do with Iraq. (And remember it was Mike Barber who broke the story.)
Two names more recently in the news are Suzanne Swift and Ehren Watada. Their cases haven't vanished just because, for example, an announced and filmed interview with Swift's grandfather never aired as Iraq fell off the radar. Watada faces an article 32 hearing on August 17th which is next Thursday. Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org are organizing and trying to get the word out for "a National Day of Education" on August 16th. Writing of Watada, Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) noted Watada's refusal to deploy to Iraq was a "no" and that: "When we say 'no' the war ends.Ehren is saying 'no.' He can make a difference. He is making a difference but it will be a huge difference with quick impact if we show our support." Noting the work of his parents, Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org, Cedric wondered where the coverage was?
Attending the conference in Seattle was Cindy Sheehan who is offering Camp Casey III "as a refuge for U.S. troops who desert to resist the war in Iraq." As The State News notes on Bully Boy's low approval numbers, "Clearly, Sheehan is not alone in her position. But while a large population within the United States disapproves of Bush and the war in Iraq, it seems only a small population is doing something about it." Sheehan does her part and then some but it "seems" others aren't because of the lack of media attention. Watada and Swift are 'doing something.' Across the country, across the world, people are engaged in attempting to end this war, day in and day out. It's the media that can make it appear nothing is happening or report what's actually going on. Credit to Barber, AP, May and others in big media who've been covering these issues (especially the press in Hawaii) while others had other things to emphasize (non-stop). Or, as Molly Ivins points out: "The more surprising development is how completely one story drives out another. At other times, the collapse of Iraq would have been news." A collapse that has included, as Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) wrote, "There are no laws that say we have to wear a hijab (yet), but there are men in head-to-toe black and the turbans, the extremists and fanatics who were libearted by the occupation, and at some point, you tire of the defiance. You no longer want to be seen. I feel like the black or white scarf I fling haphazardly on my head as I walk out the door makes me invisible to a certain degree -- it's easier to blend in with the masses shrouded in black. If you're a femal, you don't want the attention -- you don't want it from Iraqi police, you don't want it from the black clad militia man, you don't want it from the American soldier. You don't want to be noticed or seen."
Reuters notes six corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("bound and blindfolded") Of the six, AP notes that they had all ben shot execution style. This was the week that, as the BBC noted, the body count at Baghdad's central morgue for July only had been 1,855. AP noted Dr. Sabah al-Husseini's declaration that "two-thirds of the deaths reported in Baghdad since January were due to violence."
This was the week of the Article 32 hearing to determine whether or not to file rape, murder and arson charges against US soldiers James Baker, Jesse V. Spielman, Bryan L. Howard and Paul Cortez. (Steven D. Green, who is also accused in the incident will stand trial in US federal court because he was discharged before the incident was uncovered. Anthony W. Yribe is accused of dereliction of duty for not reporting the incident.) The incident? Abeer Qasim Hamza. Presenting his closing argument in the hearing, Captain Alex Pickands stated, "They gathered over cards and booze to come up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl. She was young and attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable." The defense (and the New York Times) offered stress of combat and fatigue. Pickands response? "Murder, not war. Rape, not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments. Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl."
It was the story that should have gotten intense coverage. Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude) has argued Abeer's story is the story of the illegal occupation boiled down to one person. Instead, as Mike (Mikey Likes It!) has pointed out, you had the New York Times offering the defense's argument and Abeer? Silence. She wasn't even named.
This was also the week of yet another poll finding where respondents echoed earlier polls by standing strongly against the illegal war. CNN found that 60% of Americans responding in their poll were against the war -- the highest opposition since the war began in March 2003.
Those were among the Iraq related stories that should have received coverage, discussion and exploration.
Another, in Australia, would be the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad. Belinda Tasker (Herald Sun) reports on Solider 1's testimony which resulted in tears for Shelley Kovco (widow of Jake Kovco) and Judy Kovco (mother of Jake Kovco). While the family of Kovco has every reason to well up when their lost one is spoken, the press has no excuse to go soft and mushy but, apparently, despite repeated testimony to the contrary, the nonsense of the 'buddy system' is back. Soldier 1 tossed off a few words (via video-link) and then used Jake Kovco to argue that they'd reworked the "buddy system" since his death. The press runs with it, failing to note that there witnesses' testimony (as opposed to the statements the military wrote and submitted in their name) that there was no "buddy system" in place. Ian McPhedran (Courier-Mail) offers a less sentimental view as he weighs in on Jake Kovco's death and Australia's involvement with Iraq: "We're being kept in the dark."
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
KPFA leaves me numb
This morning, KPFA's The Morning Show covered Iraq . . . if you can call bad phone calls and a discussion of WMDs discussing Iraq. If you think, for instance, that Abeer Qasim Hamza is a topic worth covering, it's not covering Iraq. There was no exploration, in this supposed talk on how the media is covering Iraq, about Abeer Qasim Hamza. There was no calling out, there was no truth to power about how the New York Times has provided the defense of the accused in print before the defense even could. There was no talk of how the New York Times refuses to use Abeer's name. There was no discussion of how the New York Times santizes every report on Abeer of how readers of the paper have still not been told that the military investigator got a confession from one of the accused that they had taken turns in holding Abeer down and taken turns in raping her.
We heard Judy Miller's name tossed around. Well thank God the Times got rid of her because obviously she is the only problem they ever had with Iraq coverage.
Another problem, one noted by Mother Jones and CounterSpin (problem in the pre-war coverage) didn't come up but then Judith Miller didn't write that article. So no need to mention it.
We heard a discussion about WMD and it is required, that topic, because the coverage of Iraq has been so poor from KPFA. And when KPFA and others drop the coverage, maybe Andrea Lewis shouldn't wonder about 50% of poll respondents (not 50% of Americans as she kept saying) who believe that Iraq had WMDs. The number's gone up. I don't think that's surprising.
As the coverage of Iraq has been so poor and non-existant, I don't think that's suprising at all.
Tomorrow, I'll listen to Dennis and Nora cover Israel's actions because that's their beat, I enjoy their show. I'm not interested in all the others chasing down the same story day in and day out.
Not when they don't show the same concern, the same coverage for Iraq.
We supposedly got a discussion about media coverage of Iraq (a woman called in who should have shut up about 1 minute after she stumbled through her point instead of being treated as a guest as she babbled on about "mass hypnosis" -- way to treat Iraq seriously) but all we got was what we got in 2003 and 2004. Apparently nothing's happened in Iraq since. Or apparently Judith Miller was the only press problem.
Apparently, they couldn't go over the Harris poll and note that 72% of Americans believe Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam. Why would they believe that?
Maybe that belief arises from the fact that Iraq doesn't get coverage?
Are they better off? If you follow superficial discussions like what was offered today, maybe you think they are.
If you search out your own coverage (or even follow the mainstream) you know that's not the case. It's too damn bad that KPFA can't cover Iraq seriously. Tomorrow, it's been announced, a show will look at the anti-war movement.
I'd recommend it but I'm afraid we're going to get another program that can't even mention Abeer's name, can't discuss her and will as all the show do now make peace all about what Israel does or does not do. Should Americans be concerned with what Israel is doing? Absolutely. Those are war crimes.
But war crimes are happening in Iraq. We don't get coverage of that. We don't hear the details about Abeer. We don't hear about how US soldiers thought a 14-year-old girl made a good sexual pin up to leer at. We don't hear about how they got drunk and played golf while plotting her rape. We don't hear that they grilled chicken after taking turns holding her down and raping her.
We certainly didn't hear about that on The Morning Show today. We did hear about Judith Miller. I guess that passes for brave these days. I guess that's truth to power? Calling out a reporter who has a reputation so bad that she no longer works for the Times? Calling out a reporter who stopped writing about Iraq in 2003?
I guess it's too much to hope that we could discuss Abeer or note that the paper of record has presented the defense's argument both as it was made in the Article 32 hearing and, in fact, before it was made when Robert Worth and Carolyn Marshall had a lengthy, front page article that, wonder of wonders, presented the same argument that the defense would make in supposed "reporting."
To listen to the superficial discussion this morning, you'd assume that Judy Miller was the problem and that the problem is now over. John Stauber even suggested that the Times do something like run a full page, front page about "No WMD Found." Does he really believe that their coverage is any better today?
Is he unaware of how they've covered Abeer? Is he unaware that the Washington Post this year exposed not Judith Miller but Dexter Filkins as mouth piece for their propaganda efforts? Thomas E. Ricks wrote that article. I know that because I saw that article mentioned over and over at The Common Ills. That wasn't addressed. It was all about Judith Miller.
It was really sad to listen to because I had such high expectations. I thought KPFA was going to get serious about Iraq. (It wasn't announced as even being a topic for tomorrow's show. Well they gave us one segment, they're only a 2 hour daily, commercial free show, and if they gave us more than that every other week they wouldn't be able to cover Lebanon day after day, would they?)
I'm against the war in Iraq. I don't believe that Judith Miller is the only thing keeping us in Iraq. I didn't believe it while she was working for the New York Times. As C.I. pointed out, to buy that nonsense you'd have to believe that Judith Miller controlled all the papers, all the broadcast news and "newsie" programs, all the cable news and "newsie" programs, talk radio and much more. What a powerful woman she must have been. If you believe that lie. I also agree with a point C.I.'s made for almost two years now (made before Thomas E. Ricks exposed the propaganda of Dexter Filkins) which is that if (C.I. always says "if") Judy Miller got us over there, it's reporters like Dexter Filkins that keep us there.
I think you have to be lazy or uninformed to spend a segment where the only name you name is Judith Miller this late in the game. I don't know, maybe you're lazy and uninformed.
That's how the segment played out. John Stauber's a smart person, Andrea Lewis is a smart person so why did I hear a dumb segment?
And why was Abeer never mentioned. She wasn't named, she wasn't discussed.
The problem's not Americans (or even those surveyed by Harris), the problem is the media and, lately, independent media is part of the problem.
Let's talk The KPFA Evening News. It started out giving us about six minutes on Lamont/Lieberman, then a story on Hillary Clinton and her stance on Iraq re: her election. At 8 minutes after the hour, Cynthia McKinney's race (which she lost). Another Congressional race. Nine minutes after the hour, Israel. How long does it last? Blah, blah, blah (as Rebecca would say) goes on for six minutes. Want me to care about a story you can't shut up about? Cover the home bases first. A war the US started needs coverage. That seems basic to me. Shortly after the 15 minute mark, there's a "still to come announcement." At about 15 and 1/2 minutes, we get Iraq. Finally. About 16 1/2 minutes after we get an Aaron Glantz report. "It's a hell basically in Iraq" says a woman. It's a hell? I don't disagree. I'm just wondering why the hell that the U.S. created isn't worth opening the show with?
At 20 minutes after, we're now covering Gaza. For about a minute and a half. We're done with Iraq. The Glantz report? It lasted less than 4 minutes. We were told Iraq was "hell" but it's not enough of a hell for anyone to care about because there's no special on Iraq tonight. Or any other night. There will be, as usual, special coverage of Israel's actions.
At 38 minutes, I wake up when "Iraq" is mentioned in one sentence (a protest at Bechtel) but it's mentioned once and only once. After a minute, I fall back to sleep.
I've listened to KPFA as long as I can remember. (I donate to KPFA. I'll probably donate again this year, it's a habit for me, good times or bad times.) I can remember bad times before. I can't say I'm outraged because I'm really just numb. I'm numb to the point of shocked by the fact that Iraq doesn't get covered. When Abeer's not the topic of a report or a discussion, Iraq's not being covered. The Article 32 hearing is over. It came and went and did so without any coverage. I'm really just numb and don't know how that happened.
The US illegally went to war with Iraq over three years ago and it's not important enough for serious coverage. The prosecution in the Article 32 hearing convinced me that US troops raped Abeer and then murdered her and three members of her family (including her five-year-old sister). I think, I know a lot of KPFA listeners, that it would have made that point with others. But for that to happen, it would have had to have been covered. It wasn't. Reducing it to a headline isn't covering it. With all the time KPFA has to offer discussions, they weren't interested in Abeer.
As a woman, I'm surprised by that. A child was raped. She was murdered. Rape used to be considered a "feminist" issue only. I'm a feminist but I thought we'd moved beyond that. I thought we had a reached a point where we saw that violence against women (and girls) was violence against society. I guess it's a "girl" or "girly" issue to KPFA?
KPFA has a Women's Magazine. They covered it (twenty seconds) It's too bad that the host wasn't interested in the topic enough to say, "There's an Article 32 hearing and in Sunday's reports we learned that the soldiers took turns holding her down and raping her. What's the reaction to those revelations?" Even Nouri al-Maliki has had to make some noise because it is an issue in Iraq. (The puppet demanded an independent investigation.)
What I keep coming back to (a common thought about independent media expressed in the gina & krista round-robin) do I need bad coverage? Does it inform me? Does it inspire me?
I think I'll just stick to my CDs. I think I'll stick to Michael Franti and Ani DiFranco.
I'll listen to Dennis and Nora to hear about the issue of Israel's war crimes. That's what they cover. I never get upset with the focus of Flashpoints. I know that's their scope. They cover other things from time to time but, though you wouldn't know it from the breathless coverage, Israel's war crimes didn't just begin. The occupied territories have not had peace. Dennis and Nora didn't drop that story. They've covered it all along. I respect them for that.
I've grown to count on them for that kind of coverage. If Iraq was being covered on other shows, I'd be overjoyed that I'm getting special programming each night. But by the time it rolls around, I've heard about all I can take on the topic for one day. By the time it rolls around, I've listened thinking Iraq might be discussed, that Abeer will not be forgotten, not rendered invisible. But day after day she isn't treated as a topic.
She doesn't matter. As a feminist, I don't support a rape victim being ignored. When it's one who is dead and can't defend herself, I think it's all the more important that the media attempt to tell her story. I'll turn it on and off at my own place, KPFA. But I'm really numbed to it now.
The best part of my day was always learning something new from KPFA. Until recently, I rarely felt a day went by when I wasn't more informed. I'm not being informed now.
I'll listen to music. It'll inform me and inspire me.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Today, Wednesday, August 9, 2006, violence and chaos continue in Iraq with Allister Bull (Reuters) noting that the central morgue in Baghdad received nearly 2,000 bodies in July while Centcom's announced that a US helicopter crashed Tuesday in the Anbar province ("60 Blackhawk helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircrwaft Wing") which had six crew members of which two are still missing.
Elsa McLaren (Times of London) reports: "A desperate hunt is under way in Iraq today for two American servicemen whose helicopter crashed inside the 'triangle of death' west of Baghdad." As the search goes on, an Article 32 hearing concludes into the murders of Abeer Qasim Hamza and three of her family members with military prosecutor Captain Alex Pickands arguing of the four US troops accused of rape, murder and arson, "They gathered over cards and booze to come up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl. She was young and attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable."
Speaking with Andrea Lewis today on KPFA's The Morning Show, John Stauber discussed the results of a recent Harris Poll which found 50% of all respondents wrongly believed that Iraq had WMD which is "an increase from 36 prercent in February 2005." Stauber noted the pre-war coverage (unquestioning) and pre-war propaganda (which never panned out.) "If voices of authority repeat a huge lie [. . .] that gets people supporting a war [ . . .] then that lie sticks. And this war was sold to the American public on two huge lies: that Saddam Hussein had WMDs and that he was behing 9-11."
"What is going on here?" wondered Andrea Lewis. Which is a good question. Stauber pointed to Rick Santorum falsely claiming that WMDs were found and Fox "News" and the right-wing echo chamber running with the lie. Because, not stated, the right-wing will continue to sell this war and peddle lies. While the coverage of Iraq vanishes from the media (in all its forms) it doesn't vanish from the right-wing echo chamber.
Note this finding from the poll: "Seventy-two percent believe that the Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein (slightly down from February 2004 when 76 percent said this was true)." Why would poll respondents think that when the UN estimates 100 Iraqis die each day from violent attacks? Don't they know the reality and status of the 'reconstruction' projects? No. They generally don't and when the media decides they need to ALL pick up and go after another story, when the coverage of Iraq is a one-story-a-day thing (New York Times) or one topic a week (radio, magazines, etc -- once a week when we're lucky -- we're supposed to be grateful for the once a week treatment of an illegal war launched by the US administration) then the problem really isn't the people -- the problem's the media. One quite proud to pat themselves on the back in every venue and forum but not too interested in focusing on Iraq.
People care about this topic (now more than ever as a CNN poll demonstrates most recently), it's the media that either is bored or just doesn't give a damn. Elaine (Like Maria Said Paz) reported yesterday on the surprise of a returning Iraqi vet who spoke to a group of young adults -- his surprise that they were interested in the topic and interested in his injuries and all the injuries that the press doesn't have time to cover.
Bombings?
Al Jazeera reports on a mortar attack in Baghdad which "collapsed a three-storey building" and left some worried that "some people were still trapped in the rubble." Five people are known to have died. Reuters reports three Iraqi police officers dead in Habaniya from a roadside bomb; the death of a civilian in Kirkuk from a roadside bomb; the death of a civilian by a roadside bomb in Baghdad; three civilians wounded by a roadside bomb in Ramadi; and, in Kirkuk, a roadside bomb wounded three Iraqi soldiers. Also CBS and AP note that, in Samarra, a police officer died on Tuesday while attempting "to defuse a roadside bomb" and another police officer was injured in the blast. Associated Press reports that a US solider was wounded by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad
Shootings?
Pay attention here because you know the New York Times doesn't bother to include shooting fatalities in their 'rounded' daily undercount these days. Reuters reports the death of "Army Colonel Qasim Abdul Qadir" in Basra ("on his way to work"). CBS and AP report that Abedl-Qadir was attacked by "gunmen on two motorcycles". Reuters notes that, in western Baghdad, five civilians were shot dead.
Corpses?
Reuters reports that, in Baghdad, nine corpses were discovered ("killed by gunshots"), two corpses ("shot in the head and chest") were found in Dour. and, in al-Zab, a behaded corpse was discovered.
In the case of Abeer Qasim Hamza? From CNN: "Iraqi authorities have identified the girl who was raped and shot to death as Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. Her father, mother and 5-year-old sister were also killed, and the 14-year-old's body was set on fire after she was killed." The Article 32 hearing has concluded. CNN reports Alex Pickands (military prosecutor) making his closing argument with the following: "Murder, not war. Rape, not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments. Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl." As the BBC notes, the Article 32 hearing was to determine whether or not should be charged with rape, murder and arson. CNN notes that the deterimination will be made by "investigating officer, Col. Dwight Warren" and that' "Warren's report will likely be at least a few days in coming".
Ehren Watada is the first known commissioned officer serving in the US military to have refused to deploy to Iraq. Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports: "The army has rejected 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's offer to resign instead of facing a possible court-martial for refusing to deploy to Iraq." The HawaiiChannel.com concludes: "[i]t's looking more likely that Honolulu Army Lt. Ehren Watada will be court martialed for refusing to serve in Iraq." Hoyt Zia (publisher of Hawaii Business Magazine) addresses the case of Ehren Watada with "Having the Courage of Your Convictions."
Kakesako notes: "Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada is scheduled to face an Article 32 pretrial hearing at Fort Lewis, Wash., on Aug. 17. That hearing is equivalent to a preliminary hearing in a civilian criminal court, and is expected to last a few days."
The 17th is when the hearing is scheduled to begin. Remember Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org are calling for a "National Day of Education" on August 16th, the day before Ehren Watada would be due to "face a pre-trial hearing for refusing to deploy to Iraq." ThankYouLt.Org notes: "On August 16, the day prior to the hearing, The Friends and Family of Lt. Ehren Watada are calling for a 'National Day of Education' to pose the question, 'Is the war illegal?' This day can also serve to anchor a 'week of outreach' leading up to the pre-trial hearing."
Cindy Sheehan is in Crawford, TX with Camp Casey. Why? As Missy Comley Beattie (OpEdNews) writes: "Thousands of Iraqis are dying each month. Coalition troops are perceived not as liberators of grateful Iraqis free at last from the grip of a tyrant. Instead, we are occupiers and our incursion has unleashed sectarian violence that shows no sign of abating. Life is so bad in Iraq that its citizens long for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power." For those reasons and many more, Camp Casey III matters. Alison Sterling Nichols tells Chris Durant (The Times-Standard) that, "There are more people here than there were in the first few days last year."
Today is day 37 of the Troops Home Fast action which will continue until September 21st. Today, 4, 549 people are taking part from across the world. Remember you can do a one-day fast, a one-day-a-week fast or longer. More information is available at Troops Home Fast.
With CNN reporting the results of their latest poll -- "Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq, the highest number since polling on the subject began with the commencement of the war in March 2003" -- the sea of change on the Iraq war is obvious to all but the Bully Boys and Joe Liebermans.
We heard Judy Miller's name tossed around. Well thank God the Times got rid of her because obviously she is the only problem they ever had with Iraq coverage.
Another problem, one noted by Mother Jones and CounterSpin (problem in the pre-war coverage) didn't come up but then Judith Miller didn't write that article. So no need to mention it.
We heard a discussion about WMD and it is required, that topic, because the coverage of Iraq has been so poor from KPFA. And when KPFA and others drop the coverage, maybe Andrea Lewis shouldn't wonder about 50% of poll respondents (not 50% of Americans as she kept saying) who believe that Iraq had WMDs. The number's gone up. I don't think that's surprising.
As the coverage of Iraq has been so poor and non-existant, I don't think that's suprising at all.
Tomorrow, I'll listen to Dennis and Nora cover Israel's actions because that's their beat, I enjoy their show. I'm not interested in all the others chasing down the same story day in and day out.
Not when they don't show the same concern, the same coverage for Iraq.
We supposedly got a discussion about media coverage of Iraq (a woman called in who should have shut up about 1 minute after she stumbled through her point instead of being treated as a guest as she babbled on about "mass hypnosis" -- way to treat Iraq seriously) but all we got was what we got in 2003 and 2004. Apparently nothing's happened in Iraq since. Or apparently Judith Miller was the only press problem.
Apparently, they couldn't go over the Harris poll and note that 72% of Americans believe Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam. Why would they believe that?
Maybe that belief arises from the fact that Iraq doesn't get coverage?
Are they better off? If you follow superficial discussions like what was offered today, maybe you think they are.
If you search out your own coverage (or even follow the mainstream) you know that's not the case. It's too damn bad that KPFA can't cover Iraq seriously. Tomorrow, it's been announced, a show will look at the anti-war movement.
I'd recommend it but I'm afraid we're going to get another program that can't even mention Abeer's name, can't discuss her and will as all the show do now make peace all about what Israel does or does not do. Should Americans be concerned with what Israel is doing? Absolutely. Those are war crimes.
But war crimes are happening in Iraq. We don't get coverage of that. We don't hear the details about Abeer. We don't hear about how US soldiers thought a 14-year-old girl made a good sexual pin up to leer at. We don't hear about how they got drunk and played golf while plotting her rape. We don't hear that they grilled chicken after taking turns holding her down and raping her.
We certainly didn't hear about that on The Morning Show today. We did hear about Judith Miller. I guess that passes for brave these days. I guess that's truth to power? Calling out a reporter who has a reputation so bad that she no longer works for the Times? Calling out a reporter who stopped writing about Iraq in 2003?
I guess it's too much to hope that we could discuss Abeer or note that the paper of record has presented the defense's argument both as it was made in the Article 32 hearing and, in fact, before it was made when Robert Worth and Carolyn Marshall had a lengthy, front page article that, wonder of wonders, presented the same argument that the defense would make in supposed "reporting."
To listen to the superficial discussion this morning, you'd assume that Judy Miller was the problem and that the problem is now over. John Stauber even suggested that the Times do something like run a full page, front page about "No WMD Found." Does he really believe that their coverage is any better today?
Is he unaware of how they've covered Abeer? Is he unaware that the Washington Post this year exposed not Judith Miller but Dexter Filkins as mouth piece for their propaganda efforts? Thomas E. Ricks wrote that article. I know that because I saw that article mentioned over and over at The Common Ills. That wasn't addressed. It was all about Judith Miller.
It was really sad to listen to because I had such high expectations. I thought KPFA was going to get serious about Iraq. (It wasn't announced as even being a topic for tomorrow's show. Well they gave us one segment, they're only a 2 hour daily, commercial free show, and if they gave us more than that every other week they wouldn't be able to cover Lebanon day after day, would they?)
I'm against the war in Iraq. I don't believe that Judith Miller is the only thing keeping us in Iraq. I didn't believe it while she was working for the New York Times. As C.I. pointed out, to buy that nonsense you'd have to believe that Judith Miller controlled all the papers, all the broadcast news and "newsie" programs, all the cable news and "newsie" programs, talk radio and much more. What a powerful woman she must have been. If you believe that lie. I also agree with a point C.I.'s made for almost two years now (made before Thomas E. Ricks exposed the propaganda of Dexter Filkins) which is that if (C.I. always says "if") Judy Miller got us over there, it's reporters like Dexter Filkins that keep us there.
I think you have to be lazy or uninformed to spend a segment where the only name you name is Judith Miller this late in the game. I don't know, maybe you're lazy and uninformed.
That's how the segment played out. John Stauber's a smart person, Andrea Lewis is a smart person so why did I hear a dumb segment?
And why was Abeer never mentioned. She wasn't named, she wasn't discussed.
The problem's not Americans (or even those surveyed by Harris), the problem is the media and, lately, independent media is part of the problem.
Let's talk The KPFA Evening News. It started out giving us about six minutes on Lamont/Lieberman, then a story on Hillary Clinton and her stance on Iraq re: her election. At 8 minutes after the hour, Cynthia McKinney's race (which she lost). Another Congressional race. Nine minutes after the hour, Israel. How long does it last? Blah, blah, blah (as Rebecca would say) goes on for six minutes. Want me to care about a story you can't shut up about? Cover the home bases first. A war the US started needs coverage. That seems basic to me. Shortly after the 15 minute mark, there's a "still to come announcement." At about 15 and 1/2 minutes, we get Iraq. Finally. About 16 1/2 minutes after we get an Aaron Glantz report. "It's a hell basically in Iraq" says a woman. It's a hell? I don't disagree. I'm just wondering why the hell that the U.S. created isn't worth opening the show with?
At 20 minutes after, we're now covering Gaza. For about a minute and a half. We're done with Iraq. The Glantz report? It lasted less than 4 minutes. We were told Iraq was "hell" but it's not enough of a hell for anyone to care about because there's no special on Iraq tonight. Or any other night. There will be, as usual, special coverage of Israel's actions.
At 38 minutes, I wake up when "Iraq" is mentioned in one sentence (a protest at Bechtel) but it's mentioned once and only once. After a minute, I fall back to sleep.
I've listened to KPFA as long as I can remember. (I donate to KPFA. I'll probably donate again this year, it's a habit for me, good times or bad times.) I can remember bad times before. I can't say I'm outraged because I'm really just numb. I'm numb to the point of shocked by the fact that Iraq doesn't get covered. When Abeer's not the topic of a report or a discussion, Iraq's not being covered. The Article 32 hearing is over. It came and went and did so without any coverage. I'm really just numb and don't know how that happened.
The US illegally went to war with Iraq over three years ago and it's not important enough for serious coverage. The prosecution in the Article 32 hearing convinced me that US troops raped Abeer and then murdered her and three members of her family (including her five-year-old sister). I think, I know a lot of KPFA listeners, that it would have made that point with others. But for that to happen, it would have had to have been covered. It wasn't. Reducing it to a headline isn't covering it. With all the time KPFA has to offer discussions, they weren't interested in Abeer.
As a woman, I'm surprised by that. A child was raped. She was murdered. Rape used to be considered a "feminist" issue only. I'm a feminist but I thought we'd moved beyond that. I thought we had a reached a point where we saw that violence against women (and girls) was violence against society. I guess it's a "girl" or "girly" issue to KPFA?
KPFA has a Women's Magazine. They covered it (twenty seconds) It's too bad that the host wasn't interested in the topic enough to say, "There's an Article 32 hearing and in Sunday's reports we learned that the soldiers took turns holding her down and raping her. What's the reaction to those revelations?" Even Nouri al-Maliki has had to make some noise because it is an issue in Iraq. (The puppet demanded an independent investigation.)
What I keep coming back to (a common thought about independent media expressed in the gina & krista round-robin) do I need bad coverage? Does it inform me? Does it inspire me?
I think I'll just stick to my CDs. I think I'll stick to Michael Franti and Ani DiFranco.
I'll listen to Dennis and Nora to hear about the issue of Israel's war crimes. That's what they cover. I never get upset with the focus of Flashpoints. I know that's their scope. They cover other things from time to time but, though you wouldn't know it from the breathless coverage, Israel's war crimes didn't just begin. The occupied territories have not had peace. Dennis and Nora didn't drop that story. They've covered it all along. I respect them for that.
I've grown to count on them for that kind of coverage. If Iraq was being covered on other shows, I'd be overjoyed that I'm getting special programming each night. But by the time it rolls around, I've heard about all I can take on the topic for one day. By the time it rolls around, I've listened thinking Iraq might be discussed, that Abeer will not be forgotten, not rendered invisible. But day after day she isn't treated as a topic.
She doesn't matter. As a feminist, I don't support a rape victim being ignored. When it's one who is dead and can't defend herself, I think it's all the more important that the media attempt to tell her story. I'll turn it on and off at my own place, KPFA. But I'm really numbed to it now.
The best part of my day was always learning something new from KPFA. Until recently, I rarely felt a day went by when I wasn't more informed. I'm not being informed now.
I'll listen to music. It'll inform me and inspire me.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Today, Wednesday, August 9, 2006, violence and chaos continue in Iraq with Allister Bull (Reuters) noting that the central morgue in Baghdad received nearly 2,000 bodies in July while Centcom's announced that a US helicopter crashed Tuesday in the Anbar province ("60 Blackhawk helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircrwaft Wing") which had six crew members of which two are still missing.
Elsa McLaren (Times of London) reports: "A desperate hunt is under way in Iraq today for two American servicemen whose helicopter crashed inside the 'triangle of death' west of Baghdad." As the search goes on, an Article 32 hearing concludes into the murders of Abeer Qasim Hamza and three of her family members with military prosecutor Captain Alex Pickands arguing of the four US troops accused of rape, murder and arson, "They gathered over cards and booze to come up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl. She was young and attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable."
Speaking with Andrea Lewis today on KPFA's The Morning Show, John Stauber discussed the results of a recent Harris Poll which found 50% of all respondents wrongly believed that Iraq had WMD which is "an increase from 36 prercent in February 2005." Stauber noted the pre-war coverage (unquestioning) and pre-war propaganda (which never panned out.) "If voices of authority repeat a huge lie [. . .] that gets people supporting a war [ . . .] then that lie sticks. And this war was sold to the American public on two huge lies: that Saddam Hussein had WMDs and that he was behing 9-11."
"What is going on here?" wondered Andrea Lewis. Which is a good question. Stauber pointed to Rick Santorum falsely claiming that WMDs were found and Fox "News" and the right-wing echo chamber running with the lie. Because, not stated, the right-wing will continue to sell this war and peddle lies. While the coverage of Iraq vanishes from the media (in all its forms) it doesn't vanish from the right-wing echo chamber.
Note this finding from the poll: "Seventy-two percent believe that the Iraqis are better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein (slightly down from February 2004 when 76 percent said this was true)." Why would poll respondents think that when the UN estimates 100 Iraqis die each day from violent attacks? Don't they know the reality and status of the 'reconstruction' projects? No. They generally don't and when the media decides they need to ALL pick up and go after another story, when the coverage of Iraq is a one-story-a-day thing (New York Times) or one topic a week (radio, magazines, etc -- once a week when we're lucky -- we're supposed to be grateful for the once a week treatment of an illegal war launched by the US administration) then the problem really isn't the people -- the problem's the media. One quite proud to pat themselves on the back in every venue and forum but not too interested in focusing on Iraq.
People care about this topic (now more than ever as a CNN poll demonstrates most recently), it's the media that either is bored or just doesn't give a damn. Elaine (Like Maria Said Paz) reported yesterday on the surprise of a returning Iraqi vet who spoke to a group of young adults -- his surprise that they were interested in the topic and interested in his injuries and all the injuries that the press doesn't have time to cover.
Bombings?
Al Jazeera reports on a mortar attack in Baghdad which "collapsed a three-storey building" and left some worried that "some people were still trapped in the rubble." Five people are known to have died. Reuters reports three Iraqi police officers dead in Habaniya from a roadside bomb; the death of a civilian in Kirkuk from a roadside bomb; the death of a civilian by a roadside bomb in Baghdad; three civilians wounded by a roadside bomb in Ramadi; and, in Kirkuk, a roadside bomb wounded three Iraqi soldiers. Also CBS and AP note that, in Samarra, a police officer died on Tuesday while attempting "to defuse a roadside bomb" and another police officer was injured in the blast. Associated Press reports that a US solider was wounded by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad
Shootings?
Pay attention here because you know the New York Times doesn't bother to include shooting fatalities in their 'rounded' daily undercount these days. Reuters reports the death of "Army Colonel Qasim Abdul Qadir" in Basra ("on his way to work"). CBS and AP report that Abedl-Qadir was attacked by "gunmen on two motorcycles". Reuters notes that, in western Baghdad, five civilians were shot dead.
Corpses?
Reuters reports that, in Baghdad, nine corpses were discovered ("killed by gunshots"), two corpses ("shot in the head and chest") were found in Dour. and, in al-Zab, a behaded corpse was discovered.
In the case of Abeer Qasim Hamza? From CNN: "Iraqi authorities have identified the girl who was raped and shot to death as Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. Her father, mother and 5-year-old sister were also killed, and the 14-year-old's body was set on fire after she was killed." The Article 32 hearing has concluded. CNN reports Alex Pickands (military prosecutor) making his closing argument with the following: "Murder, not war. Rape, not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments. Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl." As the BBC notes, the Article 32 hearing was to determine whether or not should be charged with rape, murder and arson. CNN notes that the deterimination will be made by "investigating officer, Col. Dwight Warren" and that' "Warren's report will likely be at least a few days in coming".
Ehren Watada is the first known commissioned officer serving in the US military to have refused to deploy to Iraq. Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports: "The army has rejected 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's offer to resign instead of facing a possible court-martial for refusing to deploy to Iraq." The HawaiiChannel.com concludes: "[i]t's looking more likely that Honolulu Army Lt. Ehren Watada will be court martialed for refusing to serve in Iraq." Hoyt Zia (publisher of Hawaii Business Magazine) addresses the case of Ehren Watada with "Having the Courage of Your Convictions."
Kakesako notes: "Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada is scheduled to face an Article 32 pretrial hearing at Fort Lewis, Wash., on Aug. 17. That hearing is equivalent to a preliminary hearing in a civilian criminal court, and is expected to last a few days."
The 17th is when the hearing is scheduled to begin. Remember Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org are calling for a "National Day of Education" on August 16th, the day before Ehren Watada would be due to "face a pre-trial hearing for refusing to deploy to Iraq." ThankYouLt.Org notes: "On August 16, the day prior to the hearing, The Friends and Family of Lt. Ehren Watada are calling for a 'National Day of Education' to pose the question, 'Is the war illegal?' This day can also serve to anchor a 'week of outreach' leading up to the pre-trial hearing."
Cindy Sheehan is in Crawford, TX with Camp Casey. Why? As Missy Comley Beattie (OpEdNews) writes: "Thousands of Iraqis are dying each month. Coalition troops are perceived not as liberators of grateful Iraqis free at last from the grip of a tyrant. Instead, we are occupiers and our incursion has unleashed sectarian violence that shows no sign of abating. Life is so bad in Iraq that its citizens long for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power." For those reasons and many more, Camp Casey III matters. Alison Sterling Nichols tells Chris Durant (The Times-Standard) that, "There are more people here than there were in the first few days last year."
Today is day 37 of the Troops Home Fast action which will continue until September 21st. Today, 4, 549 people are taking part from across the world. Remember you can do a one-day fast, a one-day-a-week fast or longer. More information is available at Troops Home Fast.
With CNN reporting the results of their latest poll -- "Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq, the highest number since polling on the subject began with the commencement of the war in March 2003" -- the sea of change on the Iraq war is obvious to all but the Bully Boys and Joe Liebermans.
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