OpEdNews thinks it's a news site and that it has to live by mainstream standards. As Billie e-mailed (I checked the e-mails tonight), "Their new policy would ban Tom Paine." Indeed. There's no time until Sunday at the earliest but C.I. is going to be pulling the site. There's no point in it. Rob Kall wants to be the very thing that the internet has railed against -- a professional. I see it as the end of the site. "Technorati won't let us claim our blog because we are a media site." Whine on. The reality is that OpEdNews publishes the stuff that's already all over the web. Look, there's Dave Lindorff, look there's David Swanson, look there's . . .
And that's fine and I honestly did check them out. I liked their look which was kind of messy. I assume they'll be changing that now as well. Going professional means not looking like an eye sore.
It's amazing how quickly someone will roll over on the world they helped carve out because 'acceptability' entered the picture. So now they won't allow handles or psuedonyms by their authors. What's the guy, Werther? His posts appear there and elsewhere. I always enjoy reading his pieces. Guess he'll be out at the 'New Coke' version of OpEdNews.
As they go professional they'll grasp that, no, they can't compete with news sites like the New York Times and the Washington Post. You can't play on that field and win. They have millions and millions of dollars. OpEdNews was quirky and off beat and those qualities will now be stripped out.
As someone who has always been her own boss because I could always count on my photography, I've known a lot of photographers who have attempted to go 'pro'. They end up destroying the very reason that anyone was interested in them, the sole reason that the biggies came sniffing around.
I've always been flattered when I've been offered a position at a publication or agency. It's a nice heady rush. You think, "Yeah, I am good." But I've always been smart enough to know that it's just a compliment and if you go that route you destroy everything that made you special.
There is a really good friend of mine who went to work for a newspaper over my objections (it is in the extended area but it wasn't the San Francisco Chronicle) and it's been a long nightmare. There are people who are naturally suited to that world. They're more meat grinders than artists and many are happy being that. (There are also very talented people in the mainstream -- a few.)
I've been around long enough to remember The Berkeley Barb and how it tried to 'mainstream'. It was far from alone. In fact when I was in junior high and high school, we had a ton of alternative papers in this area. As they tried to 'professionalize' the first thing was "It's not going to change us. We're just going to be more professional." But you can't be a little bit like the mainstream and, bit by bit, you become exactly what you hate.
Take Rolling Stone. The f-word used to be all over that magazine. They moved more and more to the mainstream and I can't imagine why anyone would be excited by the magazine today. All that gave it life and lift left long ago. And there are talented people there (I have two friends who work for the mag). But there are certain 'standards' now that prevent the life it could have. Hunter S. Thompson, starting out today, would not be a star at Rolling Stone.
Maybe OpEdNews will be different. Maybe they'll be the sole success story. But everything I've ever seen indicates otherwise. Good luck to them but I'll keep my fond memories of that qurky site that always had something that made me laugh or gasp.
I've seen it happen too many times. And, to be clear, I'm not saying Rob Kall is trying to destroy OpEdNews. I don't believe that. I believe he's trying to take it to another level because I've repeatedly heard that argument over the years before anyone ever went online.
But what happens is you get professional. Then you get a little more. Then you get a little bit more. Pretty soon some of the strongest stuff, the stuff that really got response from your readers, now stands out like a sore thumb. And you've lost your old readers and the new ones don't care about the old days they weren't around for.
So you end up cornering yourself in and it's happened over and over.
The answer for emerging media is not to try to do things the Big Boys way. It's too keep doing what you've always been doing but more often.
Kall's writing about, at some point, having Social Security numbers on file. He's speaking for writers and people who do diaries there.
I can't imagine why. I can't imagine that most people posting their stuff there and elsewhere gets rich off it. (If they even get payment.) It was quirky and wonderful. If you never checked it out, please do so this Labor Day weekend before everything starts to change. It's really a wonderful site.
But it's about to change. And once the change really sets in and you corner yourself in, then comes the big drop in readers. Then comes the panic. And that's how you get those embarrassing Rolling Stone years under Ed Needham where they thought they were a Laddie Magazine.
I think this will be the death of OpEdNews. I could be wrong. But let me take a moment to thank Kall and everyone putting stuff up there because it really has been wonderful site. Nothing lasts forever. Or as Joni sings, "Nothing lasts for long, nothing last for long, nothing lasts for long . . . Down at the Chinese Cafe we were dreaming on our dimes . . ."
I'm also reminded of a line in Up The Sandbox. That's a film starring Barbra Streisand. At one point, she's addressing a man in the film (I think the Fidel Castro character) and she says that the answer for women is not to become more like men, the answer is to become more like ourselves. That's a motto independent media should adopt because the answer for new media is not to become more like big media.
Review? Yes, I'll be doing a CD review over the Labor Day weekend. Our plans changed at the end of this week and we probably won't be back in California for a bit. So I may not have the review done until Labor Day itself. But I will be writing one and it will be the one that everyone who weighed in said they wanted reviewed.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, August 31, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, disease outbreaks in northern Iraq, Bully Boy shows contempt for Congress (again), Texas gears up for a big protest Saturday and more.
Starting with war resistance. Tampa Bay's WMNF (88.5) interviewed Aidan Delgado.
Aidan Delgado: First of all I wouldn't encourage just anyone to become a Conscientious Objector because if you don't know it already CO status is the most difficult way to get out of the army. Mine took 18 months and it was a hard 18 months. So if someone's just looking to leave the military, CO status is not the way to do it and you should only do it if you feel absolute moral conviction that you can't participate. And the other thing I would stress is to go online and look up CO packets that have been successful. Go and read through a couple of entire packets that show what it takes to become a successful CO. And don't ever be intimidated by the army and don't let them tell you the regulations. You have to go and read the regulations on CO yourself. Look at some of the successful packets to get an impression of how wide the field is and how you can go about it.
Aidan Delgado also tells his story in The Sutras Of Abu Ghraib: Notes From A Conscientious Objector In Iraq which came out this month. The advice he offered on the radio is advice he followed. That includes the packets and that includes not allowing the military to tell you what you really believe as they attempted to with him.
Aidan Delgado: When I wrote The Sutras Of Abu Ghraib: Notes From A Conscientious Objector In Iraq in my mind I was reacting against a lot of the war literature that was out there -- books like Black Hawk Down and The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell and a lot of the older war novels -- in that I think too much of the war novels are really a kind of hero worship in disguise and they tell the stories of violent actions and real physical bravery and daring. And I think that's great and I think that story needs to be told; however, I think there's a huge gap and I don't think we should read only one kind of war story. And I'm proud to say my war story is not about violence although there is violence in it. And it's not about war exploits although those are in it too. It's kind of about the moral side of war and the moral journey and the development which I think is something that will resonate with a lot more readers. I'm not interested really in having a, you know, heroic soldier flag waving gently in the background. And I'm not really trying to entertain people or satisfy their ghoulish curiosity about war. I really want people to think about the other side, the personal side, that hasn't been reflected in all these gory, violent war memoirs . So my idea was to create a different kind of war novel that talks about the shades of grey not the uncompromising black and white, good and evil, to talk about all the moral quandries and decisions you have to make as a soldier.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Saturday Iraq Veterans Against the War will be in Texas. Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket.
The event is sponsored and Endorsed by Texans for Peace, Dallas Peace Center, IVAW, Veterans for Peace, Crawford Peace House, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, CODEPINK - Dallas Chapter, Peace Action Texas, Peace and Justice - Arlington, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and more.
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays. September will kick off many actions across the country calling for an end to the illegal war and this Saturday, Texas kicks off the action in Fort Worth.
September is a month of actions and protests and it kicks off tomorrow in Fort Worth Texas.Jeff Gibbs will apparently not be in Fort Worth or DC. Gibbs (CounterPunch) explains, "I am tired of protests: they don't stop wars. Not protests that are mostly sign waving and hooking up with friends and strangers and feeling the solidarity and then going back to work or school on Monday. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result." Gibbs' feelings on this are quite common. If those are your feelings then figure out what actions do speak to you. If something's not speaking to you or working for you, find something that is. The movement doesn't need to grow stagnant. Gibbs is calling for work-stoppage and other actions (all solid actions). Iraq Moratorium is proposing new actions as well.
And in Iraq . . . Yesterday's snapshot noted:
While Iraq's Foreign Minister critiques the British decision to withdraw, David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, has his own (and presumably the British government's take). Thomas Harding (Telegraph of London) reports that Miliband has indicated what others think (including the US) really isn't the issue declaring "we will always take British decision in the British national interest. Our decision about Basra are about the situation on the ground in Basra not the situation on the ground in Baghdad" (with Harding noting that was "in reference to America's zone of control").
Today Miliband joins with the UK's Minister of Defence Des Browne to pen a column for the Washington Post where they explain the British decision to withdraw from Basra: "We pledged to help Iraqis develop a functioning state, with armed forces, police and other institutions capable of delivering security for the people. We also promised that, when we had done that, we would promptly hand over full responsibility for security to the legitimate, elected Iraq authorities." Damien McElroy (Telegraph of London) notes that Basra Palace is the last British base within Basra and that "[t]he American military is known to harbour concerns over the security of the oilfields that are Iraq's only source of oil exports and its supply lines along the north-south highway". The British began the occupation of Basra April 6, 2003. That was over four years ago. As Great Britain's Socialist Worker notes, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared that there is no planned withdrawal (5,500 British forces are in Iraq, the Basra withdrawal is expected to allow for no more than 500 troops to leave Iraq) and that British army head Richard Dannatt has termed Iraq "a region perched precariously above a large proportion of the world's remaining supply of oil."
Meanwhile Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports that 5,000 Iraqis in the northern part of the country have cholera. AFP reports that the the World Health Organization terms the outbreak a "major epidemic". Earlier this week, UNICEF announced they had "rushed emergency aid" in to "Suleimaniya and Kirkuk in northern Iraq" and that: "Serious problems with water quality and sewage treatment are being blamed for the outbreak. Local reports indicate that only 30 per cent of the population in Suleimaniya has an adequate water supply. Mains water is only available for two hours per day at the most in the main city quarters and suburbs. A water quality report from Suleimaniya from July showed the only 50 per cent of the water inside the city was chlorinated. Many people have been reduced to digging shallow wells outside their own homes." IRIN quotes Slaimaniyah General Hospital's Dr. Dirar Iyad stating, "We need urgent medical support as the disease is spreading. We didn't expect an outbreak in this area. There is a shortage of medicines to control the disease and the focal point [source of the disease] hasn't been identified yet . . . Five deaths have so far been reported here and in Kirkuk, and we believe more could occur over the next couple of days as victims are already in an advanced stage of the illness." Cockburn explains, "Most of Iraq outside Kurdistan is flat so water and sewage need to be pumped, but this has often become impossible due to a lack of electricity. The water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is highly polluted and undrinkable." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) notes that earlier (June) there was an outbreak in southern Iraq.
Cockburn also notes 4.2 million is the current number of Iraqi refugees "of whom two million have been displaced within Iraq." UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie vitied Iraq and Syria this week to meet with Iraqi refugees. The UN notes that Jolie visited a Damascus UNHCR center and visited the "small rented room shared by 13 people between the ages of eight months and 67 years" of one family who were registering with the center and also visited Iraq's Al Waleed camp "which houses 1,300 refugees . . . where there is no running water or electricty." ABC News (US) has photos of the visit. Pasadena Weekly notes the estimate is 1,200 for the number of Iraqi refugees she met with on Tuesday. Many external Iraqi refugees have gone to Syria or Jordan. Today, Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) noted, "The Syrian government has announced it will soon prevent Iraqi refugees from crossing its border unless they have work visas. The new rules take effect on Sept. 10. Over 1.5 million Iraqi refugees have fled to Syria since the U.S. invasion. More than 30,000 Iraqi refugees continue to arrive in Syria each month." Peace Mom and candidate for the US Congress in California's eighth district Cindy Sheehan recently visited Iraqi refugees in Jordan. Great Britain's Socialist Worker reports, "Asked whether the occupying powers had taken steps to alleviate the suffering of refugees, she compared the tiny amounts spent to the billions given to the military. Cindy Sheehan said, 'This is a war crime. It is a crime to create so many refugees and then wash our hands of them'." Josie Clark (Independent of London) also noted the London press conference last week and that Sheehan was asking "the UK to help with the emergency aid operation and to consider taking more refugees from the area."
Refugees, disease outbreaks, how lucky the Iraqi people are to have been 'given' 'peace.' David S. Cloud (New York Times) reports today that an independent committee established by Congress and headed by Gen. James L. Jones will report that the Iraqi police force needs "remaking" due to "corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings". There's the Bully Boy's 'progress'. Rosa Brooks (Los Angeles Times) offers some strong truths regarding the need for US forces to withdraw and also observes, "The honest (though not very satisfying answer is that no one really knows what will happen in Iraq after the United States leaves. Interestingly, a poll in March found that a majority of Iraqis thought the security situation would improve immediately after a U.S. withdrawal. But things could also get worse -- and anyone who claims to have a crystal ball is lying. We long ago squandered any capacity to guarantee a happy ending for the Iraqis."
Meanwhile the US White House has launched an attack (again) on the legislative branch of the United States. Jonathan Weisman (Washington Post) reports that the US military brass distributes 'rap sheets' on visiting Congress members to "Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank" and, by these sheets, those encountering representatives of the US Congress know where they're friend or foe and treat accordingly. This is an assault on the legislative branch and an embarrassment to Congress. Weisman notes:
At one point, the three were trying to discuss the state of Iraqi security forces with Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, but the large, flat-panel television set facing the official proved to be a distraction. Rubaie was watching children's cartoons.When Moran asked him to turn it off, Rubaie protested with a laugh and said, "But this is my favorite television show," Moran recalled.
The disrespect shown to Congress, forget the particular members, is shameful. That these actions have been tolerated goes a long way to demonstrating just how Congress continues to stand up for itself repeatedly. The White House should be called to the carpet on this.
Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) examines the long relationship between Iraq and the US, ponders the candidates for president and notes, "Poor al-Maliki. He is just the latest to discover that in certain circumstances, being a friend of the United States is a terrible position indeed. Uneasy lies the head of America's allies. Just ask Saddam Hussein." As Kimberly notes, Nouri al-Maliki knew the odds going in (or should have). Meanwhile Nermeen Al-Mufti (Al-Ahram Weekly) summarizes the many failures of al-Maliki's government (including "seems unable to keepts its own ministers in the cabinet) and concludes, "Al-Maliki is facing domestic and international criticism over the failure of his government to achieve national reconciliation and pass certain laws --- principally the US-favoured oil law. So far, Al-Maliki has reacted angrily to criticism, pledging to stay on in office." Robert H. Reid (AP) reports that al-Maliki is now attempting to blame Sunnis for this week's viiolence in Karbala -- the violence that was Shia-on-Shia violence. Sami Moubayed (Asia Times) reports on the latest paranoid induced ravings of al-Maliki regarding Krabala: "Maliki also accused the culprits of having wanted to blow up the shrine of Imam al-Hussein and then ordered the arrest of Hamid Kannush, a member of the city's municipality who is a ranking member of the Sadrist bloc. Kannush was accused of conspiracy in the Karbala violence. Maliki was effectively saying: the Sadrists did it, although his office's official press release blamed 'the Saddamis'. Maliki's office, however, did not actually explain what had happened in Karbala. National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rabei, however, said that militants wanted to occupy the two holy shrines of Imam al-Husseini and Imam al-Abbas, 'and topple the Maliki government'."
Marshall Helmberger (Timberjay Newspapers) reminds, "And don't forget that Gen. Petraeus himself said the most critical progress in Iraq had to come on the political front. On that score, there’s little debate over the fact that the Iraqi government is in utter chaos. A large portion of Prime Minister al-Maliki's cabinet has quit, as have significant blocs within the Parliament. None of the benchmark legislation the White House called 'must-pass' six months ago has been approved. The political situation is so bad that some in Congress, from both parties, are now calling for al-Maliki's replacement and rumors are again afoot about a U.S.-supported coup that would put former interim Iraqi prime minister and CIA informant Ayad Alawi in charge in Baghdad. So much for promoting democracy. While President Bush hasn't yet signed on to the idea, it's clear even the White House is no longer oblivious to Iraq's political implosion."
In some of the violence today . . .
Bombings?
Reuters reports a Samarra car bombing that claimed the lives of 4 police officers (seven wounded). Late last night, Mary Orndoff (The Birmingham News) reported that a plane "carrying Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, and two other sentors" was en route to Baghdad when it was fired upon by three rockets. No person or plane was hurt.
Shootings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Gunmen killed a barber man, Ghazwan Jawad, inside his shop in Al Nasr neighborhood. The deceased worked as a personal barber man to a colonel in Kirkuk police." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) explains Ghazwan Jawad's murder is "the ninth slaying of a barber in the city this year by Islamic militants who oppose Western haircuts and grooming styles."
Corpses?
It's Friday. Reports trickle out of the day's violence on Saturday.
Today, the US military announced: "A Marine and a Soldier assigned to Multi National Force-West died Aug. 29 in separate in attacks while conducting combat operations in AlAnbar Province." The announcement brings ICCC's total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq so far this month to 80 with the total since the start of the illegal war to 3738.
A new book entitled Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This is a practical, inspiring book on ways to resist. Watch for these events in the month of September [And clicking here will give you more info]:
Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA; Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH; Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI; Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI; Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI; Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN; Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN; Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN; Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City; and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
In US political news, Matthew Rothschild (The Progressive) reports that US House Rep John Conyers has declared that impeachment may be off Nancy Pelosi's table (more room for the centerpiece made of the spines that once were in Democratic leaders) but it's not off his table and Pelosi "cannot prvent me from introducing an impeachment resolution." Remember that for two reasons. First, Conyers have caved and backtracked on this issue before. Second, those enablers rushing to rescue Conyers a few weeks back kept insisting that Conyers had no real power. He's said otherwise. Rothschild wonders, "So what's his hesitation now? And when is a more appropriate time than now, after all the crimes Bush and Cheney have already committed?" Also wondering about the refusal to move foward on the part of Democrats is Jimmy Breslin (New York Daily News via Common Dreams):
There had been the sound of many feet on a Brooklyn street at the first funeral, of firefighter Joseph Graffa-gnino, and at the second funeral, of firefighter Robert Beddia, a fire engine sounded in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. In my office about an hour later, slips of paper came silently out of a machine, the slips coming from the Department of Defense and carrying the names and ages of the 14 soldiers who were killed in Iraq when their helicopter crashed. Four were under 21 and nine 25 or under. Of course the first thought was how the city at this time could handle such calamity if the 14 dead were New York firefighters or police officers. This gives a good view of the catastrophe that happens in Iraq, day after day. But as the soldiers die at a time of national Alzheimer's, there was virtually no reaction to the 14. When anybody you elect tries to end the war, Bush blocks all intentions with a veto or threats of a veto that prevent it. And his Supreme Court is ready to validate whatever he does, this court with its five Catholic justices, and a chief who falls on his face a couple of times that we know of. Our politicians despair that there can be no way to override Bush and save our young and everybody of any age in Iraq. Of course there is. By all the energy and dignified disgust of a nation that needs it to keep any semblance of greatness, there is an extraordinary need for an impeachment of this president and his vice president.You start an impeachment with an investigator who starts to develop a case. That's what got Nixon out. He had the most expensive, elaborate defense in the world, and when they were pressed his assistants folded and Nixon quit. I wonder whether Bush and his people can do any better when pressed.
Breslin was one of the few voices this time last year noting the silence on Iraq as media elected to travelogue over the summer and allowed Iraq to fall off the media radar. The late Molly Ivins also called out the nonsense. Sadly, others cannot be added to the list. As he did last summer, Breslin is refusing to allow his voice to be wasted.
iraq
democracy now
juan gonzalez
margaret kimberley
iraq veterans against the war
army of none
aimeee allison
david solnit
jimmy breslin
matthew rothschild
mcclatchy newspapers
the los angeles times
tina susman
rosa brooks
the washington post
karen deyoung
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Katha Pollitt proves there are no feminists at The Nation
Is there anything more pathetic than Katha Pollitt?
I'm grabbing this because I went into the members e-mail accounts and this is 1 of the 4 biggest topics. I'll grab it and C.I. won't have to.
Katha Pollitt is a tired, disgusting voice.
She's flaunted her racism when she, as a White woman, felt she could ridicule the NAACP for making an issue of representation -- an issue that White Pollitt doesn't think is important. Strange considering her dumb ass attack on CODEPINK last year for bird dogging War Hawk Hillary Clinton whose only reason for support would be her gender and for Pollitt that would be representation.
In an attempt to slap down Alexander Cockburn, Katha Pollitt flaunted so much xenophobia that she had Arab and Arab-American feminists in my city to the point of tears.
The only one that should be crying is Katha Pollitt as she watches her once semi-big name go down in flames.
More recently, she decided the thing to do was to trash Cindy Sheehan.
Cindy Sheehan was a public personality before the first Camp Casey but August 2005, she became known around the world.
How many times has Katha Pollitt written about Cindy Sheehan before 2007?
Answer: ZERO.
When did Katha Pollitt haul her tired ass (or is it her face?) out of bed to finally write about Cindy Sheehan?
When Sheehan decided to run for the eighth Congressional district.
Now fortunatley for my neighborhood, for my city, for my area, Katha Pollitt keeps her tired ass in NYC except when flying to Conn. to vote for her boy-crush Ned Lamont.
She has now written 3 times about Cindy Sheehan. All since Sheehan decided to run in a district that I -- unlike the TRASHY Katha Pollitt -- will be voting in.
Pollitt's panties are now in a wad over Sheehan responding after Pollitt has written about her twice. Here is Pollitt hauling her flabby ass onto the cross in her most recent post:
Her outraged and self-righteous response to my mild and polite posts make me wonder how she will withstand the rigors of political campaigning.
"Mild"? "Polite"? Cindy Sheehan declared she was running for public office. Katha Pollitt who does not vote in the eighth district and should keep her ass on LA radio and not pollute the Bay Area wrote that Sheehan's run was 'futile' and went on to share:
Maybe Sheehan got tired of being a symbol, a catalyst. I didn't really understand the somewhat murky blog post she wrote in May, announcing her resignation from the antiwar movement , but her frustration and impatience were clear enough.
Still, the place for symbolic protest is in protest movements. Elections are about something else and are played by different rules. There, symbolic figures are mostly wasting their time, and tend to emerge smaller than they went in.
That is all so offensive. "Murky"? Telling a woman she shouldn't run.
Pollitt needs to take her traitorous mouth and stuff with whatever she's been pigging out on as she ballooned and ballooned in the last few years.
Her brain must be in her fat ass and starving for oxygen.
Pollitt titled that first post, "Dear Cindy, Please Don't Run." No links, no links to trash.
On August 20th, after her feelings were hurt, Katha Pollitt wrote another post. This time she was saying readers had some good comments. (Like correcting her stupid errors.)
She also proved how sad she was. We should, she said, go after Blue Dogs. While also saying that she really wasn't about electoral politics.
She's not about electoral politics but she pushes a 'get rid of Blue Dogs' strategy?
She really doesn't know what she's about from one day to the next as the song says.
She's written several posts tonight so who knows which will stay up? Maybe like her idiot boss Katrina vanden Heuvel, she'll 'disappear' one or all?
Remember that? Remember when Congress was voting on the Iraq supplemental and the perfect thing for Katrina vanden Heuvel -- alleged adult and editor & publisher of an alleged left weekly -- to write about was American Idol? She disappeared that post. But it didn't go away.
Here's Pollitt screeching (that's all she has to offer) tonight about Sheehan:
Her outraged and self-righteous response to my mild and polite posts make me wonder how she will withstand the rigors of political campaigning. Because I express doubt that she will make much impression on the ballot box, and think that likelihood and its implications are worth discussing frankly, Sheehan accuses me of "stridently" (nice --does anyone EVER use that word for a man?) defending the Democratic Party's "complicity" in the war and of not caring about the sufferings of Iraqis the way she does.
Here's what outraged Katha Pollitt:
Maybe Katha Pollitt et al. should go to the Middle East and view the carnage that this Administration has caused with the complicity of the Democratic Party, which she so stridently defends.
Katha Pollitt does stridently defend the Democratic Party. She attacked CODEPINK for bird dogging War Hawk Hillary Clinton in 2006. She tells Cindy Sheehan not to run and thinks tossing in "please" softens the blow.
Cindy Sheehan has been to the Middle East. Katha Pollitt is a dumb ass whose writing grows worse with each year. She's a dottering old fool who's scared of her own shadow.
Maybe the thing for Katha Pollitt to do would have been to stayed out of it to begin with? She certainly made a point to stay out of the discussion on Iraq. She certainly made a point to avoid writing about the gang-rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer. When, after repeated criticism, she finally wrote about Abeer in the spring of 2007 (Abeer was news in the spring of 2006, the Article 32 hearing into the War Crimes took place in August of 2006), she had enough 'love' to write about Abeer for one sentence but, as C.I. pointed out, she could yammer on and on like a fool about a stoning she knew nothing about.
Katha Pollitt's contributions to Iraq in the last two years have been two columns: one calling out CODEPINK for bird dogging a War Hawk, the other caught up in a Romeo & Juliet myth that never had any grounding in fact.
She feels she's been called a traitor. I have no idea whether or not her friends think she's a traitor. I know that a feminist never tells a woman not to run for public office. I'd say that's pretty traitorous. But other than that? I don't think she's a traitor. She's never GIVEN A DAMN ABOUT IRAQ.
She writes that same BULLSH*T column every year for the holidays and includes her idea of worthy charities to support. There's been nothing on Iraq in there. No calls to donate to MADRE. She doesn't care about Iraq.
If she did, she would have written about Abeer. If she GAVE A DAMN about the illegal war, she would have written about Abeer. She didn't. She's uselees. She's an idiot. And she embarrasses herself with each column she writes.
She was once considered 'promising.' Now she's just someone to avoid. She's become the female AlterPunk.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, August 30, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Wikipedia 'cleans up' al-Maliki's history, Texas gears up for a major rally against the illegal war on Saturday and more.
Starting with war resistance. The Seacoast reports some of the statements from last Saturday's rally for peace in Kennebunkport, Maine and quotes Eli Israel declaring, "We are not fighting insurgents, we're fighting Iraqis in their own neighborhoods. We were there -- we saw the truth." The rally was there since Bully Boy -- haunted by the memory of Camp Casey -- has preferred to spend his summer vacation instead of at the ranchette in Crawford, Texas. Among the over 4,000 present were the Ragin' Grannies, members of Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Cindy Sheehan, and Dennis Kucinich. Sheehan declared, "In August 2005, I went to Crawford to ruin the vacation of the man who has ruined all of my vacations." IVAW's Liam Madden told the crowd, "Our government has failed us. This war will not end by an act of Congress. It will end through an organized and collective act of conscience."
Eli Israel is a member of IVAW and the first US service member to publicly refuse to serve in the illegal war while stationed in Iraq. At Courage To Resist (video and text) Israel declares, "The last few months have changed my life forever. From Soldier, JVB Protective Service Agent, and Sniper in the middle of an occupation war, to anti-war veteran within days. . . . I'm hoping to use my experience and my education to change the course our country has been on: To end the policies of occupation. To stop the avoidance of domestic defensive measures. To end the violations of domestic liberties. And to stop the heavy-handed offensive actions around the world which are done in the name of security, but which instead result in more insecurity." He is also attempting to regain his veterans' benefits, get his discharge upgraded, etc. Courage To Resist has started a donation page that will help with those costs as well as the costs of getting Eli Israel throughout the country to tell his story.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Last Saturday the big peace event was in Kennebunk Port, this Saturday? Iraq Veterans Against the War will be in Texas. Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket.
The event is sponsored and Endorsed by Texans for Peace, Dallas Peace Center, IVAW, Veterans for Peace, Crawford Peace House, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, CODEPINK - Dallas Chapter, Peace Action Texas, Peace and Justice - Arlington, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and more.
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays. September will kick off many actions across the country calling for an end to the illegal war and this Saturday, Texas kicks off the action in Fort Worth.
In Kennebunkport last week, Dr. Dahlia Wasfi spoke and Common Dreams has posted her speech in full. We'll note this from the speech:
There has been debate recently within the American peace movement on the issue of support for the Iraqi resistance. The argument has been made by some that we don't support the resistance in Iraq because it's different than it has been for other countries we've invaded. That "what is understood to be 'the Iraqi resistance' is a disaggregated and diverse set of largely unconnected factions There is no unified leadership that can speak for 'the resistance' ...There is no unified program, either of what the fight is against or what it is for (Bennis, 2007)"Well -- judge not lest we be judged, for this is an offensive display of the arrogance of empire.
We sit here 8000 miles away with our luxuries of electricity and water, while Iraqis suffer in the desert heat with no relief, and we tell them they are disorganized. This is fiddling while Iraq burns. People are dying; the question is moot.
We are not fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq; we are slaughtering people's children. We went in to liberate Iraqis from a ruthless dictator we imposed upon them who allegedly killed 300,000 during his 30 year reign of terror. We've accomplished more than triple that in a fraction of the time.
If ever there were legitimate resistance to illegal occupation, it is in Iraq.
If ever there were a people struggling for democracy and independence, there are Iraqis.
If ever there were a people who have known suffering at the hands of bloodthirsty American imperialism, there are Iraqis.
Meanwhile, if "knowledge is power" -- what's Wikipedia. Mike (Mikey Likes It!) observes that the online encyclopedia has 'cleaned up' puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki's history, removing all references to his exile period in Iran and Syria as well as the fact that he served in the post-invasion interim government on the De-Baathification Commisson
As AFP has reported of al-Maliki, "His first job in post-Saddam Iraq was one perhaps better suited to someone of his background than the premiership; he was head of the de-Baathification commission that booted Saddam's supporters out of public office." In fact, everything Wikipeida apparently allowed a user from MOREnet to remove has been reported by many outlets. But the reality of al-Maliki is no longer available to Wikipedia readers. Vanishing it doesn't alter the fact that he left Iraq and lived in Iran and Syria nor does it take away the fact that he served on the De-Baathification Commission. De-de-Baathing Iraq has been a problem for him to put it mildly. This month's 'alliance' created by him did not include Sunnis and he's basically tossed out the US White House's 'benchmarks' two and sixteen. As he continues to turn a blind eye to the thugs serving in his own Interior Ministry who regularly target Sunnis, Wikipedia readers would probably be better served knowing that al-Maliki in fact served on the De-Baathification Commission. [Mike's write up has been reposted at uruknet.info.]
In news of Iraq, Nancy Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that "the Pentagon said Wednesday that it won't make a single unfied recommendation to President Bush during next month's strategy assessment, but instead will allow top commanders to make individual presentations. . . . Military analysts called the move unusual for an institution that ordinarily does not air its differences in public, especially while its troops are deployed in combat." Meanwhile, Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) obtained a a draft copy of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Iraq which they term "strikingly negative" and finds that "Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress". The reporters were provided the report out of fear that it the US administration would attempt to water it down or classify sections of it ("as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month's National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq").
In Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr declared yesterday that he was asking his forces (Mahdi Army) to stand down for six months (cease operations). Joshua Partlow and Saad Sarhan (Washington Post) obeserve, "Some officials interpreted the statement to mean Sadr had called off attacks on U.S. soldiers as well as Iraqi opponents, but a source close to Sadr said some fighting would continue in the name of 'self-defense'." Ewen MacAskill (Guardian of London) reminds, "Mr Sadr, who has thousands of armed men at his command, has called truces before but these have been short-lived." Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Aides to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr appeared Thursday to place conditions on his call for a six-month halt to militia operations . . . The militia operations were frozen for no more than six months, said the aide, Abu Firas Muteri, 'and the halt can be revoked at any time if there is a need for that'."
Turning to broken record news, Hoshyar Zerbari -- Iraq's Foreign Minister and apparent KC and the Sunshine Band fanatic, has only one song to sing these days, "So please don't go, Don't go, Don't go away, Please don't go, Don't go, I'm begging you to stay . . ." On the United Kingdom's planned withdrawal from Basra, Martin Fletcher (Times of London) notes Zerbari has questioned and critiqued Britain's committment to the illegal war and quotes Zerbari declaring, "I am worried, absolutely worried." So worried in fact that he rushed to give Bassem Mroue (AP) a soundbyte as well, this time on the reports that US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petreaus will give to Congress (after the White House 'polishes' it): "The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what this report will indicate. I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions or provide any magical solutions or provide and instant answers to the difficulties and challenges we are going through." Zebari, take a breath. Anyone remembering the Zebari of 2003? The one who told Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) that the US had to give up control of Iraq "because their present course -- occupation by America alone -- won't be successful." Apparently, Zebari doesn't remember that. But he's a busy guy. He's also announced he's hosting "a meeting with Iraq's neighboring countries, the five permanent members of the United Nations, and the G-8 during the first week of September."
AP reports Zebari's also issuing statements regarding Iran allegedly shelling "Kurdish guerilla positions in border areas" which the government of Iran claims is launching attacks in Iran. In a rush of words, Zerbari explains that this "has been ongoing and unfortunately has become a daily or a routine practice. Recently, we summoned the Iranian ambassador and handed him a note of protest. . . . [We] demanded an immediate cessation of these attacks on innocent people because it has led to extensive damage to the property, to the environment of the area and it also has led many people to leave their homes because of the continuation of the shelling." The PEJAK is the group accused of shelling Iran, they are also accused of shelling Turkey and launching attacks there and a splinter group of the PKK which is considered a 'terrorist' group by many countries (including the US). They are a Kurdish group (Zerbari himself is a Kurd) and the Turkish government has been very vocal about their belief that actions launched by the group from Iraq are ignored. The Turkish Daily News reports, "In a speciall session called after the alleged bombing in northern Iraq by Turkey and Iran, the parliament of the northern Iraqi government called on both its neighbors to find a solution to the conflict through dialogue, reported the NTV news channel yesterday. Parliament speaker, Adnan Mufti, stated that the stability of the region was severely threatened due to the shelling of northern Iraqi territories." As Lenore G. Martin (Boston Globe) noted today the US "administration's polices are pushing Turkey toward Iran rather than planting it firmly in the US security network." Martin notes pre-illegal war fears in Turkey that the Iraq War would result in the northern section of Iraq becoming a Kurdish state thereby encouraging a similar, ongoing push led by the PKK. Martin sketches out the conflict:
With the revival of PKK violence in Turkey in 2004, Turkish fears concerning Kurdistan are becoming a reality. The PKK is ensconced in the Kandil mountains of Northern Iraq, killing Turkish soldiers almost daily, and has set off bombs in major Turkish cities. The Kurdish Regional Government, led by Massoud Barzani, refuses to isolate or oust the PKK.
In response, the Turkish military has assembled a large force at the border and threatened to invade northern Iraq. The United States is warning Turkey not to, fearing that a major Turkish military incursion will destabilize Kurdistan, currently the most stable region in Iraq.
This stability is ephemeral. Indeed, signs of trouble are already evident, due in part to the contest between Kurds and the rest of Iraq over oil-rich Kirkuk. The instability is likely to continue, whether the constitutionally mandated referendum over Kirkuk's fate is held or not. The Sunni and Shia will not live quietly with the inclusion of Kirkuk into the Kurdish Regional Government -- at least without an oil-sharing agreement, which has proved elusive.
While Iraq's Foreign Minister critiques the British decision to withdraw, David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, has his own (and presumably the British government's take). Thomas Harding (Telegraph of London) reports that Miliband has indicated what others think (including the US) really isn't the issue declaring "we will always take British decision in the British national interest. Our decision about Basra are about the situation on the ground in Basra not the situation on the ground in Baghdad" (with Harding noting that was "in reference to America's zone of control").
Turning to some of today's violence . . .
Bombings?Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports three police officers wounded in a Baghdad roadside bombing while another Baghdad roadside bombing wounded four civilians, a third had no known fatalities or injuries but a fourth claimed 1 life (two more wounded) while 2 Kirkuk roadside bombings which left a bodyguard of police brigadier Burhan Taeeb wounded; while "Wednesday night" a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives (four wounded). CNN reports that "at least four Iraqi police officers" were wounded while they attempted to dismantle a bomb planted on a bridge in Baghdad: "Insurgents have targeted bridges in and around the Iraqi capital in recent months, including a suicide bombing in June that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded six other near Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. That blast triggered a highway overpass to collapse on the Americans."
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Abu Haider Al-Hasnawi was shot dead ("head of Najaf oil warehouses"); while yesterday
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 5 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Today the US military announced: "One Task Force Lightning Soldier was killed by an explosion near his vehicle while conducting combat operations in Diyala province, August 29." And they announced: "A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and another wounded during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 30."
ICCC's total for the number of US service members announced dead this month is 77 so far with 3735 being the number since the start of the illegal war.
Another thing we'll be noting through the end of the week -- events for Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. Tonight there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
iraq
eli israel
iraq veterans against the war
liam madden
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnit
mcclatchy newspapers
nancy a. youssef
the washington post
karen deyoung
thomas e. ricks
the los angeles times
carol j. williams
mikey likes it
I'm grabbing this because I went into the members e-mail accounts and this is 1 of the 4 biggest topics. I'll grab it and C.I. won't have to.
Katha Pollitt is a tired, disgusting voice.
She's flaunted her racism when she, as a White woman, felt she could ridicule the NAACP for making an issue of representation -- an issue that White Pollitt doesn't think is important. Strange considering her dumb ass attack on CODEPINK last year for bird dogging War Hawk Hillary Clinton whose only reason for support would be her gender and for Pollitt that would be representation.
In an attempt to slap down Alexander Cockburn, Katha Pollitt flaunted so much xenophobia that she had Arab and Arab-American feminists in my city to the point of tears.
The only one that should be crying is Katha Pollitt as she watches her once semi-big name go down in flames.
More recently, she decided the thing to do was to trash Cindy Sheehan.
Cindy Sheehan was a public personality before the first Camp Casey but August 2005, she became known around the world.
How many times has Katha Pollitt written about Cindy Sheehan before 2007?
Answer: ZERO.
When did Katha Pollitt haul her tired ass (or is it her face?) out of bed to finally write about Cindy Sheehan?
When Sheehan decided to run for the eighth Congressional district.
Now fortunatley for my neighborhood, for my city, for my area, Katha Pollitt keeps her tired ass in NYC except when flying to Conn. to vote for her boy-crush Ned Lamont.
She has now written 3 times about Cindy Sheehan. All since Sheehan decided to run in a district that I -- unlike the TRASHY Katha Pollitt -- will be voting in.
Pollitt's panties are now in a wad over Sheehan responding after Pollitt has written about her twice. Here is Pollitt hauling her flabby ass onto the cross in her most recent post:
Her outraged and self-righteous response to my mild and polite posts make me wonder how she will withstand the rigors of political campaigning.
"Mild"? "Polite"? Cindy Sheehan declared she was running for public office. Katha Pollitt who does not vote in the eighth district and should keep her ass on LA radio and not pollute the Bay Area wrote that Sheehan's run was 'futile' and went on to share:
Maybe Sheehan got tired of being a symbol, a catalyst. I didn't really understand the somewhat murky blog post she wrote in May, announcing her resignation from the antiwar movement , but her frustration and impatience were clear enough.
Still, the place for symbolic protest is in protest movements. Elections are about something else and are played by different rules. There, symbolic figures are mostly wasting their time, and tend to emerge smaller than they went in.
That is all so offensive. "Murky"? Telling a woman she shouldn't run.
Pollitt needs to take her traitorous mouth and stuff with whatever she's been pigging out on as she ballooned and ballooned in the last few years.
Her brain must be in her fat ass and starving for oxygen.
Pollitt titled that first post, "Dear Cindy, Please Don't Run." No links, no links to trash.
On August 20th, after her feelings were hurt, Katha Pollitt wrote another post. This time she was saying readers had some good comments. (Like correcting her stupid errors.)
She also proved how sad she was. We should, she said, go after Blue Dogs. While also saying that she really wasn't about electoral politics.
She's not about electoral politics but she pushes a 'get rid of Blue Dogs' strategy?
She really doesn't know what she's about from one day to the next as the song says.
She's written several posts tonight so who knows which will stay up? Maybe like her idiot boss Katrina vanden Heuvel, she'll 'disappear' one or all?
Remember that? Remember when Congress was voting on the Iraq supplemental and the perfect thing for Katrina vanden Heuvel -- alleged adult and editor & publisher of an alleged left weekly -- to write about was American Idol? She disappeared that post. But it didn't go away.
Here's Pollitt screeching (that's all she has to offer) tonight about Sheehan:
Her outraged and self-righteous response to my mild and polite posts make me wonder how she will withstand the rigors of political campaigning. Because I express doubt that she will make much impression on the ballot box, and think that likelihood and its implications are worth discussing frankly, Sheehan accuses me of "stridently" (nice --does anyone EVER use that word for a man?) defending the Democratic Party's "complicity" in the war and of not caring about the sufferings of Iraqis the way she does.
Here's what outraged Katha Pollitt:
Maybe Katha Pollitt et al. should go to the Middle East and view the carnage that this Administration has caused with the complicity of the Democratic Party, which she so stridently defends.
Katha Pollitt does stridently defend the Democratic Party. She attacked CODEPINK for bird dogging War Hawk Hillary Clinton in 2006. She tells Cindy Sheehan not to run and thinks tossing in "please" softens the blow.
Cindy Sheehan has been to the Middle East. Katha Pollitt is a dumb ass whose writing grows worse with each year. She's a dottering old fool who's scared of her own shadow.
Maybe the thing for Katha Pollitt to do would have been to stayed out of it to begin with? She certainly made a point to stay out of the discussion on Iraq. She certainly made a point to avoid writing about the gang-rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer. When, after repeated criticism, she finally wrote about Abeer in the spring of 2007 (Abeer was news in the spring of 2006, the Article 32 hearing into the War Crimes took place in August of 2006), she had enough 'love' to write about Abeer for one sentence but, as C.I. pointed out, she could yammer on and on like a fool about a stoning she knew nothing about.
Katha Pollitt's contributions to Iraq in the last two years have been two columns: one calling out CODEPINK for bird dogging a War Hawk, the other caught up in a Romeo & Juliet myth that never had any grounding in fact.
She feels she's been called a traitor. I have no idea whether or not her friends think she's a traitor. I know that a feminist never tells a woman not to run for public office. I'd say that's pretty traitorous. But other than that? I don't think she's a traitor. She's never GIVEN A DAMN ABOUT IRAQ.
She writes that same BULLSH*T column every year for the holidays and includes her idea of worthy charities to support. There's been nothing on Iraq in there. No calls to donate to MADRE. She doesn't care about Iraq.
If she did, she would have written about Abeer. If she GAVE A DAMN about the illegal war, she would have written about Abeer. She didn't. She's uselees. She's an idiot. And she embarrasses herself with each column she writes.
She was once considered 'promising.' Now she's just someone to avoid. She's become the female AlterPunk.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, August 30, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Wikipedia 'cleans up' al-Maliki's history, Texas gears up for a major rally against the illegal war on Saturday and more.
Starting with war resistance. The Seacoast reports some of the statements from last Saturday's rally for peace in Kennebunkport, Maine and quotes Eli Israel declaring, "We are not fighting insurgents, we're fighting Iraqis in their own neighborhoods. We were there -- we saw the truth." The rally was there since Bully Boy -- haunted by the memory of Camp Casey -- has preferred to spend his summer vacation instead of at the ranchette in Crawford, Texas. Among the over 4,000 present were the Ragin' Grannies, members of Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Cindy Sheehan, and Dennis Kucinich. Sheehan declared, "In August 2005, I went to Crawford to ruin the vacation of the man who has ruined all of my vacations." IVAW's Liam Madden told the crowd, "Our government has failed us. This war will not end by an act of Congress. It will end through an organized and collective act of conscience."
Eli Israel is a member of IVAW and the first US service member to publicly refuse to serve in the illegal war while stationed in Iraq. At Courage To Resist (video and text) Israel declares, "The last few months have changed my life forever. From Soldier, JVB Protective Service Agent, and Sniper in the middle of an occupation war, to anti-war veteran within days. . . . I'm hoping to use my experience and my education to change the course our country has been on: To end the policies of occupation. To stop the avoidance of domestic defensive measures. To end the violations of domestic liberties. And to stop the heavy-handed offensive actions around the world which are done in the name of security, but which instead result in more insecurity." He is also attempting to regain his veterans' benefits, get his discharge upgraded, etc. Courage To Resist has started a donation page that will help with those costs as well as the costs of getting Eli Israel throughout the country to tell his story.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Last Saturday the big peace event was in Kennebunk Port, this Saturday? Iraq Veterans Against the War will be in Texas. Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket.
The event is sponsored and Endorsed by Texans for Peace, Dallas Peace Center, IVAW, Veterans for Peace, Crawford Peace House, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, CODEPINK - Dallas Chapter, Peace Action Texas, Peace and Justice - Arlington, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and more.
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays. September will kick off many actions across the country calling for an end to the illegal war and this Saturday, Texas kicks off the action in Fort Worth.
In Kennebunkport last week, Dr. Dahlia Wasfi spoke and Common Dreams has posted her speech in full. We'll note this from the speech:
There has been debate recently within the American peace movement on the issue of support for the Iraqi resistance. The argument has been made by some that we don't support the resistance in Iraq because it's different than it has been for other countries we've invaded. That "what is understood to be 'the Iraqi resistance' is a disaggregated and diverse set of largely unconnected factions There is no unified leadership that can speak for 'the resistance' ...There is no unified program, either of what the fight is against or what it is for (Bennis, 2007)"Well -- judge not lest we be judged, for this is an offensive display of the arrogance of empire.
We sit here 8000 miles away with our luxuries of electricity and water, while Iraqis suffer in the desert heat with no relief, and we tell them they are disorganized. This is fiddling while Iraq burns. People are dying; the question is moot.
We are not fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq; we are slaughtering people's children. We went in to liberate Iraqis from a ruthless dictator we imposed upon them who allegedly killed 300,000 during his 30 year reign of terror. We've accomplished more than triple that in a fraction of the time.
If ever there were legitimate resistance to illegal occupation, it is in Iraq.
If ever there were a people struggling for democracy and independence, there are Iraqis.
If ever there were a people who have known suffering at the hands of bloodthirsty American imperialism, there are Iraqis.
Meanwhile, if "knowledge is power" -- what's Wikipedia. Mike (Mikey Likes It!) observes that the online encyclopedia has 'cleaned up' puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki's history, removing all references to his exile period in Iran and Syria as well as the fact that he served in the post-invasion interim government on the De-Baathification Commisson
As AFP has reported of al-Maliki, "His first job in post-Saddam Iraq was one perhaps better suited to someone of his background than the premiership; he was head of the de-Baathification commission that booted Saddam's supporters out of public office." In fact, everything Wikipeida apparently allowed a user from MOREnet to remove has been reported by many outlets. But the reality of al-Maliki is no longer available to Wikipedia readers. Vanishing it doesn't alter the fact that he left Iraq and lived in Iran and Syria nor does it take away the fact that he served on the De-Baathification Commission. De-de-Baathing Iraq has been a problem for him to put it mildly. This month's 'alliance' created by him did not include Sunnis and he's basically tossed out the US White House's 'benchmarks' two and sixteen. As he continues to turn a blind eye to the thugs serving in his own Interior Ministry who regularly target Sunnis, Wikipedia readers would probably be better served knowing that al-Maliki in fact served on the De-Baathification Commission. [Mike's write up has been reposted at uruknet.info.]
In news of Iraq, Nancy Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that "the Pentagon said Wednesday that it won't make a single unfied recommendation to President Bush during next month's strategy assessment, but instead will allow top commanders to make individual presentations. . . . Military analysts called the move unusual for an institution that ordinarily does not air its differences in public, especially while its troops are deployed in combat." Meanwhile, Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) obtained a a draft copy of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Iraq which they term "strikingly negative" and finds that "Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress". The reporters were provided the report out of fear that it the US administration would attempt to water it down or classify sections of it ("as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month's National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq").
In Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr declared yesterday that he was asking his forces (Mahdi Army) to stand down for six months (cease operations). Joshua Partlow and Saad Sarhan (Washington Post) obeserve, "Some officials interpreted the statement to mean Sadr had called off attacks on U.S. soldiers as well as Iraqi opponents, but a source close to Sadr said some fighting would continue in the name of 'self-defense'." Ewen MacAskill (Guardian of London) reminds, "Mr Sadr, who has thousands of armed men at his command, has called truces before but these have been short-lived." Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Aides to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr appeared Thursday to place conditions on his call for a six-month halt to militia operations . . . The militia operations were frozen for no more than six months, said the aide, Abu Firas Muteri, 'and the halt can be revoked at any time if there is a need for that'."
Turning to broken record news, Hoshyar Zerbari -- Iraq's Foreign Minister and apparent KC and the Sunshine Band fanatic, has only one song to sing these days, "So please don't go, Don't go, Don't go away, Please don't go, Don't go, I'm begging you to stay . . ." On the United Kingdom's planned withdrawal from Basra, Martin Fletcher (Times of London) notes Zerbari has questioned and critiqued Britain's committment to the illegal war and quotes Zerbari declaring, "I am worried, absolutely worried." So worried in fact that he rushed to give Bassem Mroue (AP) a soundbyte as well, this time on the reports that US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petreaus will give to Congress (after the White House 'polishes' it): "The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what this report will indicate. I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions or provide any magical solutions or provide and instant answers to the difficulties and challenges we are going through." Zebari, take a breath. Anyone remembering the Zebari of 2003? The one who told Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) that the US had to give up control of Iraq "because their present course -- occupation by America alone -- won't be successful." Apparently, Zebari doesn't remember that. But he's a busy guy. He's also announced he's hosting "a meeting with Iraq's neighboring countries, the five permanent members of the United Nations, and the G-8 during the first week of September."
AP reports Zebari's also issuing statements regarding Iran allegedly shelling "Kurdish guerilla positions in border areas" which the government of Iran claims is launching attacks in Iran. In a rush of words, Zerbari explains that this "has been ongoing and unfortunately has become a daily or a routine practice. Recently, we summoned the Iranian ambassador and handed him a note of protest. . . . [We] demanded an immediate cessation of these attacks on innocent people because it has led to extensive damage to the property, to the environment of the area and it also has led many people to leave their homes because of the continuation of the shelling." The PEJAK is the group accused of shelling Iran, they are also accused of shelling Turkey and launching attacks there and a splinter group of the PKK which is considered a 'terrorist' group by many countries (including the US). They are a Kurdish group (Zerbari himself is a Kurd) and the Turkish government has been very vocal about their belief that actions launched by the group from Iraq are ignored. The Turkish Daily News reports, "In a speciall session called after the alleged bombing in northern Iraq by Turkey and Iran, the parliament of the northern Iraqi government called on both its neighbors to find a solution to the conflict through dialogue, reported the NTV news channel yesterday. Parliament speaker, Adnan Mufti, stated that the stability of the region was severely threatened due to the shelling of northern Iraqi territories." As Lenore G. Martin (Boston Globe) noted today the US "administration's polices are pushing Turkey toward Iran rather than planting it firmly in the US security network." Martin notes pre-illegal war fears in Turkey that the Iraq War would result in the northern section of Iraq becoming a Kurdish state thereby encouraging a similar, ongoing push led by the PKK. Martin sketches out the conflict:
With the revival of PKK violence in Turkey in 2004, Turkish fears concerning Kurdistan are becoming a reality. The PKK is ensconced in the Kandil mountains of Northern Iraq, killing Turkish soldiers almost daily, and has set off bombs in major Turkish cities. The Kurdish Regional Government, led by Massoud Barzani, refuses to isolate or oust the PKK.
In response, the Turkish military has assembled a large force at the border and threatened to invade northern Iraq. The United States is warning Turkey not to, fearing that a major Turkish military incursion will destabilize Kurdistan, currently the most stable region in Iraq.
This stability is ephemeral. Indeed, signs of trouble are already evident, due in part to the contest between Kurds and the rest of Iraq over oil-rich Kirkuk. The instability is likely to continue, whether the constitutionally mandated referendum over Kirkuk's fate is held or not. The Sunni and Shia will not live quietly with the inclusion of Kirkuk into the Kurdish Regional Government -- at least without an oil-sharing agreement, which has proved elusive.
While Iraq's Foreign Minister critiques the British decision to withdraw, David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, has his own (and presumably the British government's take). Thomas Harding (Telegraph of London) reports that Miliband has indicated what others think (including the US) really isn't the issue declaring "we will always take British decision in the British national interest. Our decision about Basra are about the situation on the ground in Basra not the situation on the ground in Baghdad" (with Harding noting that was "in reference to America's zone of control").
Turning to some of today's violence . . .
Bombings?Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports three police officers wounded in a Baghdad roadside bombing while another Baghdad roadside bombing wounded four civilians, a third had no known fatalities or injuries but a fourth claimed 1 life (two more wounded) while 2 Kirkuk roadside bombings which left a bodyguard of police brigadier Burhan Taeeb wounded; while "Wednesday night" a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives (four wounded). CNN reports that "at least four Iraqi police officers" were wounded while they attempted to dismantle a bomb planted on a bridge in Baghdad: "Insurgents have targeted bridges in and around the Iraqi capital in recent months, including a suicide bombing in June that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded six other near Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. That blast triggered a highway overpass to collapse on the Americans."
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Abu Haider Al-Hasnawi was shot dead ("head of Najaf oil warehouses"); while yesterday
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 5 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Today the US military announced: "One Task Force Lightning Soldier was killed by an explosion near his vehicle while conducting combat operations in Diyala province, August 29." And they announced: "A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and another wounded during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 30."
ICCC's total for the number of US service members announced dead this month is 77 so far with 3735 being the number since the start of the illegal war.
Another thing we'll be noting through the end of the week -- events for Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. Tonight there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
iraq
eli israel
iraq veterans against the war
liam madden
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnit
mcclatchy newspapers
nancy a. youssef
the washington post
karen deyoung
thomas e. ricks
the los angeles times
carol j. williams
mikey likes it
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The ones who deserve sympathy & the one who doesn't
And now there's a concerted effort to blame much of the mess on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who apparently richly deserves his failing grades and may soon find himself dismissed from class. But the chorus of disapproval has become so intense that one wonders: Is this perhaps our exit strategy?
Blame the disaster on the Iraqis and then quit; we gave them every chance, we gave them lives and money and time, we gave them advice and pep talks and freedom, and they have been too petty, too vengeful, too lazy, too spineless to build on all we’ve given them. So we’re out of there. Bye bye, Iraq.
There are two problems with that speculation. The first is that President Bush does not appear to be searching for a way out. Instead, he is searching for a rationale for staying in.
His latest piece of deceptive irrelevance is his comparison of Iraq and Vietnam. We left behind an awful mess in Vietnam, the president reminds us; we dare not do that again.
The sober response is that the Vietnam mess would have been no greater had we left there much, much sooner. Had we left, for example, when Lyndon Johnson realized -- as he said in his taped conversations with McGeorge Bundy and Senator Richard Russell on May 27, 1964, a year before our large-scale buildup in Vietnam began -- that the war was "pointless." He called it "the biggest damn mess I ever saw" and lamented, "I don't think it's worth fighting for, and I don't think we can get out." And we didn't get out, not for 11 more years.
That's from Leonard Fein's "We Do Not Know How To Leave Iraq" (The Jewish Daily Foward). What's an Irish-Catholic doing reading The Forward? Actually, I wan't. We had dinner tonight with 2 friends of C.I.'s and they mentioned the article which none of us had seen. They know Fein (and I believe C.I. does as well but I only came in when they were talking about how two people called it like it was on al-Maliki today, C.I. and Fein. So throughout dinner, I told myself I had to read Fein's piece when I was getting ready to blog later.
al-Maliki is a failure. You can't look at how bad things are for Iraqis and deny al-Maliki's absolute failure. Malnutrion, death squads, go down the list. He may be the night manager at Bully Boy's World of War, but he's done a crappy job on his shift.
I went to CounterPunch looking for something to link to but saw a "poor al-Maliki" piece. al-Maliki is not a poor Iraqi. He is in the safety of the Green Zone excpet when jetting around. He will leave office (if he leaves alive) very wealthy. While he's done well for himself, he's done poorly for Iraqis. In my opinion, he's a collaborator with Bully Boy in destroying Iraq.
And that's before you even get to the fact that he's claiming now the theft of Iraqi oil law is about to happen.
Riverbend of Baghdad Burning is probably now a refugee. In April she wrote that her family was leaving for Syria or Jordan. Hopefully, they made it there safely.
But think about that. Riverbend is probably the best known Iraqi woman. And she's most likely now a refugee. That happened under al-Maliki. That happened because of who al-Maliki backed. And who backed al-Maliki.
So save the tears for al-Maliki. He doesn't deserve them. He's a collaborator.
Cry for Riverbend and her family. Cry for the Iraqis who have died, been maimed, lost loved ones, lost their homes, been imprisoned falsely . . . But don't cry for Bully Boy's night manager.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, August 29, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Texas gears up for a big rally on Saturday, Bully Boy wants another $50 billion for his illegal war, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Nick Chin and Hannah Morong (US Socialist Worker) report the Eli Israel was a huge hit in Kennebunkport, Maine on Saturday at the peace rally held there where Cindy Sheehan, Dennis Kucinich, Carlos and Melida Arredonod, Cynthia McKinney and Dahlia Wasfi were among the over 4,000 people participating. Eli Israel is the first service member to publicly refuse to fight in the illegal war while being stationed in Iraq. The reporters quote Israel asking, "What's going to stop [the war]? It has to stop from the inside."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Iraq Veterans Against the War were also a big hit at the Kennebunkport rally. They'll no doubt be a huge hit Saturday in Texas. In what may be one of the biggest actions in Texas against the illegal war in September, Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket. A number of community members are in the D-FW area. If you're en route to the rally and see a friend, take them along. Texans For Peace are encouraging people to invite friends. This could be the biggest peace rally the area has seen. The event's theme is "Bring the troops home now and take care of them."
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays.
[The last two paragraphs were noted yesterday and will be noted tomorrow and Friday. Texas members in that area, or able to get to that area, will hopefully be attending and getting the word out.]
Yesterday, Bully Boy gave another laughable speech. Cedric, Wally and I addressed it yesterday. Michael Abramowitz (Washington Post) observes the "upbeat" speech came as Bully Boy "is stepping up his case for keeping additional U.S. forces in the country. However, Democrats and Iraq experts say that Bush's proposals will face a steep hurdle because many of his predictions of success have not materialized." Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reports that the White House will be asking for another 50 billion dollars ($50,000,000,000.00) for the illegal war "which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" with the announcement most likely coming "after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the stat eof the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year."
Bully Boy's responsible for the illegal war. The puppet's responsible for his lousy performance. Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) interviews him and he declares that he did not arrive at "this postition from being a king or a prince but have reached here through a political process, democracy and national will." Each claim, in and of itself, laughable. He then tries to play himself off as an accident of history: "I never wished to be put in a position of responsibility, neither did I see for one minute to be here." Apparently, he was just sipping a soda at the counter of Schwaabs and Bully Boy liked the way al-Maliki filled out a sweater. In a report by Fadel on the interview, it's noted that: "Despite Maliki's confidence, the scene at his office made it clear that his survival isn't being debated only in Washington. Maliki's security guards were closely watching a talk show on a wide screen Panasonic television in the lobby. The topic was whether Maliki is the only choice for Iraq, and political pundits were debating whether the prime minister should step down. When Maliki entered, the guards turned down the volume, but kept the program on."
This week Erica Bouris (Foreign Policy in Focus) became the latest offer that criticism of al-Maliki is not helpful. Well sometimes the truth hurts. al-Maliki has done an awful job and doesn't represent Iraqis.
Let's deal with some basics before we get to specifics. Iraq is a war zone. Iraq is occupied. Leaders in those situations (in any country) have a limited number of options. They can lead a resistance to occupying forces. They can attempt to work with the occupation in a 'savy' manner that benefits the people of the country. Or they can become a collaborator in the occuaption. They can attempt to work between all the options listed -- ping-ponging back and forth -- but those are the options for leaders in any occupied country. Bouris declares, "Scolding Maliki, however tempting it is in the dog days of August, when heat, violence, and the 2008 election are all a little close for comfort, is a dangerous temptation to give in to. Especially when combined with the just released National Intelligence Estimate report that paints a grimp picture of Maliki's ability to lead Iraq towards effective governance." In other words, Bouris is aware of the NIE and its evaluation of the puppet so why is she bothered by criticisim of al-Maliki? She fears that al-Maliki might begin to "reach out to less moderate Shiites. Or he could broaden his horizons and respond to the overtures of the Iranians. The Iranians would likely be happy to lend a supportive hand to keep Maliki securely in power."
Nouri al-Maliki came into puppet office with ties to Iran (he lived there in exile). US intelligence notes those ties and when they became firmer is when al-Maliki started getting more public criticism. al-Maliki cannot be pushed closer to Iran, he's already there. That may or may not be a bad thing for Iraq or for the United States. But a claim that he might be pushed into the arms of Iran requires a lack of awareness of his firm ties prior to becoming prime minister and the strengthening of those ties since he has.
As to the concern that he might "reach out to less moderate Shiites" -- again, anyone paying attention will raise an eye brow over that 'fear' as well. Not only has al-Maliki backed the Shia death squads and refused to call out their attacks, calling his Interior Ministry "thugs" is being generous. On July 30th, Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) walked readers through the Interior Ministry building noting that Mahdi Gharrawi controls the second floor ("Last year, U.S. and Iraqi troops found 1,400 prisoners, mostly Sunnis, at a base he controlled in eastern Baghdad. Many showed signs of torture"), the sixth floor is "home to border enforcement and the major crimes unit, belongs to the Badr Organization militia. Its leader, Deputy Minister Ahmed Khfaji, is lauded by some Western officials as an efficient administrator and suspected by others of running secret prisons," the seventh floor is the location of "a turf war" betwen the Badhr Organization and Kurds . . .
That is not a new development, that is not a rarely reported development. al-Maliki would have a very difficult time getting closer with "less moderate Shiites" because they're already arm-in-arm.
"Maliki is the stupidest man alive (well, after Bush of course . . .) if he belives his arrogance and callous handling of the sitatuion will work to dismiss it from the minds of Iraqis. By doing what he is doing, he's making it more clear than ever that under his rule, under his government, vigilante justice is the only way to go. Why leave it to the security forces and police? Simply hire a militia or gang to get revenge." Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) wrote that on February 20th of this year. She was commenting specifically of the refusal to pursue justice for Sabrine Al Janabi. What does Riverbend think today? Her last post was in April and she noted that she and her family were going to attempt to make it to Syria or Jordan:
Riverbend is now a refugee and under the puppet's 'rule' a vast number of those have been created.
On Monday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explained, "Meanwhile the Iraqi Red Crescent reports the number of internally displaced Iraqis has also doubled over the course of the so-called U.S. troop surge. More than 1.1 million Iraqis are now internally-displaced, up from under four-hundred fifty thousand earlier this year." Today, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted that "the Iraqi refugee crisis worsens by the month. The United Nations says the monthly rate of displacement has reached 60,000 people -- an increase of 10,000 over previous estimates. Some 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S. invasion of Iraq." Do we want to talk orphans? Jonathan Finer (Washington Post) reported in 2006 that prior to the illegal war approximately 400 children were living in orphanages throughout Iraq but by the beginning of 2006, the number had already grown to 1,000.
Assuming the puppet was attempting to be 'savy' and not collaborating, he has failed. There are many things the US wants. Top of the list, the US wants to put into law the theft of Iraqi oil. If he was attempting to be 'savy,' he could have used the desires to leverage items that would make life under occupation a little better for Iraqis. He hasn't.
He told Fadel, "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept -- because we do not agree to support either Sunnis or Shiites. I have made a pledge to deal with matters according to state law and citizens regardless of their affiliations. Our responsibility is to break down the barriers that have been erected recently". The first eleven words are probably the closest to the truth al-Maliki got: "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept". That would explain creating an 'alliance' this month without Sunnis and trashing the US White House's 'benchmarks' two and sixteen.
He is a miserable failure and with regards to the Sunni population, he is a menace by whom he appoints and what he chooses to recognize and what he chooses to ignore.
Over a week before the NIE was made public, Peter W. Galbraith (The New York Review of Books) was already laying reality out: "Provincial elections will make Iraq less governable while the process of constitutional revision could break the country apart. . . . Iraq's mainstream Shiite leaders resist holding new provincial elections because they know what such elections are likely to bring. Because the Sunnis boycotted the January 2005 elections, they do not control the northern governorate, or province, of Nineveh, in which there is a Sunni majority, and they are not represented in governorates with mixed populations, such as Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. New elections would, it is argued, give Sunnis a greater voice in the places where they live, and the Shiites say they do not have a problem with this, although just how they would treat the militant Sunnis who would be elected is far from clear."
Reality is reality and calling al-Maliki out for his failures is reality. Reality check: Baghad went under 'crackdown' when? June 2006. Over a year later and nothing to show for it. No improvement. On September 2, 2006 -- almost a year ago -- AFP reported the effects of the 'crackdown' -- the only real effects: "Several of Iraq's leading booksellers and writers have burnt a pyre of books to denounce a curfew which they said has turned the centre of Baghdad's intellectual life into 'a street of ghosts'." The curfews only inflame the tensions, they do not solve anything. The 'crackdown' has been an extreme curfew. It has had resulted in the destruction of many of the last remaining cosmopolitan aspects of Baghdad.
al-Maliki was not swept in by 'national will' as he claims to McClatchy Newspapers. He got the job when Ibrahim al-Jaafari didn't have the support needed. April 22, 2006 was when al-Maliki became the prime mnister. From the May 17, 2006 snapshot: "CNN, the Associated Press and BBC note that Iraqi prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki will, apparently, announce his cabinet nominations this Saturday. As the rah-rah-rah-put-on-Etta-James'-"At Last!"-mood builds, it's left to AFP to note the obvious: the parliment meets Saturday because the constitutional deadline is Monday, the 22nd. al-Maliki has already missed his own imposed deadline. The Monday deadline is not optional." On May 22nd, he had a cabinet -- if you were willing to ignore Iraq's Constitution and al-Maliki was. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, the 'cabinet' wasn't full: "Several key cabinet positions remain unfilled including Minister of Defense and Minister of the Interior." Of course, the Constitutional deadline of May 22nd was about the full cabinet, not partial.
That should have been the first clue that he was ineffective. How about that fabeled 24-point plan al-Maliki was talking up in May? In May of 2006, it should be noted. That 'peace plan' didn't amount to anything. After the Green Zone barricades were stormed in June 2006 (the reason for the crackdown), al-Maliki suddenly had a new 'plan' and it was another 'peace plan'. Lot of praise for an awful plan and one that never worked but let's drop back to October 3, 2006's snapshot:
Operation Happy Talkers are on the move and telling you that Nouri al-Maliki offers a 'four-point' peace plan. You may have trouble reading of the 'four-point' plan because the third point isn't about "peace" or "democracy" so reports tend to ignore it. The first step has already been (rightly) dismissed by Andrew North (BBC) of the "local security committees": "In fact, most neighourhoods of Baghdad set up their own local security bodies some time ago to protect themselves -- because they do not trust the authorities to look after them." AP reports that the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the 'peace' plan (reality title: "continued carnage plan").
As we went on to note (and noted repeatedly), it was difficult to hear about the plan because so much of the press made a point of ignoring one point. The third plank of the 'peace plan' was the attack on a free press. The war on the press. It was the war on the press that created the problems in Falluja in April 2004 when Paul Bremer's itsy-bitsy feelings were hurt over a political cartoon. It was the war on the press that led al-Maliki to shut down al-Arabiya in September 2006.The 'peace plan' pushed in the fall of 2006 only enshrined the assault on a free press though most media outlets avoided noting that. The assault continues. Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reported yesterday on the "fascist behavior" in Falluja where even the journalists live in fear "after a few of them were arrested and held for several days. One of the detained journalists spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity. Visible shaken, he said that a major in the Fallujah police force had told him that freedom of the media had been missued and the police would not allow it anymore. He said the major told him that 'the news you transmit to the world will be what we tell you, not what you pick up from the street'."
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. When he was in Egypt, the US decided to install permanent barricades in Baghdad. al-Maliki declared, "I oppse the building of the wall, and its construction will stop," as Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) noted before adding that the US "military did not say whether the wall's construction would be halted." And the following day, as CNN reported, Iraq's Brig. General Qassim Atta held a press conference in Baghdad where he declared, "We will continue to set up these barries in Adhamiya and other areas." And, FYI, the construction continued.
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. But he wanted to have the title of "prime minister" and be seen as a leader. The Iraqi people have nothing to show from his 'leadership'. If this was al-Maliki being 'savy' for 15 months, he's an idiot. More likely, he decided to be a collaborator in an illegal occupation. Regardless, he has not used the limited power he does hold to leverage better conditions for Iraqis. He has allowed Shi'ite death squads to run free, he has allowed his Interior Ministry to target Sunnis when they coveted their homes. The statements being made by people holding office in the US government, mild as they are, are not really that different from what was being stated publicly by October 2006. The difference is that the jury is no longer out on al-Maliki. September 30, 2006, Amit R. Paley and Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that then US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said of al-Maliki, "He has a window of a couple months. If the perception is that this unity government is not able to deal with this issue [the death toll and threat of civil war], then a big opportunity would have been lost and it would take a long time to address this issue." In their opening sentence, Paley and Raghavan wrote, "The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned on Friday that time is running out for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to contain the burgeoning sectarian bloodshed that threatens to plunge the country into a civil war." That was almost a year ago. The statements or threats are the same today as they were then except for the fact that there's no talk of "if" -- the jury is in, the puppet failed. By the US government's standards he has failed. By measures of daily life for Iraqis he has failed.
US forces arrested Iranians in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reports, "An Iranian Energy Ministry delegation was arrested by American troops at a hotel in central Baghdad during an official visit to Iraq" while the US military "did not mention the hotel" and asserted the arrests took place "near the checkpoint on the east bank of the Tigris" but staff at the hotel say "the members were eating dinner in the ground floor restaurant" of the hotel when they were arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded. Robin Stringer (Bloomberg News) notes they were released and that the US military's latest version of the ever changing story is that they waived the Iranians through a checkpoint and then changed their minds which is how they ended up arrested at the hotel.
In other violence.
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life (three wounded). Reuters reports a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives (seven people wounded), a Kirkuk mortar attack claimed 2 lives (one more wounded), a Diwaniyah roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 "bodyguards of a government official",
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Hawija shooting that left an Iraqi soldier dead and 1 person shot dead in Kirkuk. Reuters reports a police officer shot dead in Najaf.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 11 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Today the US military announced: "One Multi-National Corps Iraq Soldier died of wounds suffered during combat operations in the vicinity of Kirkuk Aug. 28." The announcement brings the ICCC total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq this month to 75 with 3733 being the total number killed in the illegal war since it started.
Another thing we'll be noting through the end of the week -- events for Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This Thursday there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
iraq
eli israel
iraq veterans against the war
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnitdemocracy nowamy goodman
ali al-fadhily
leila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
the socialist worker
the new york timesalissa j. rubin
stephen farrell
the washington postamit r. paleysudarsan raghavan
the los angeles times
Blame the disaster on the Iraqis and then quit; we gave them every chance, we gave them lives and money and time, we gave them advice and pep talks and freedom, and they have been too petty, too vengeful, too lazy, too spineless to build on all we’ve given them. So we’re out of there. Bye bye, Iraq.
There are two problems with that speculation. The first is that President Bush does not appear to be searching for a way out. Instead, he is searching for a rationale for staying in.
His latest piece of deceptive irrelevance is his comparison of Iraq and Vietnam. We left behind an awful mess in Vietnam, the president reminds us; we dare not do that again.
The sober response is that the Vietnam mess would have been no greater had we left there much, much sooner. Had we left, for example, when Lyndon Johnson realized -- as he said in his taped conversations with McGeorge Bundy and Senator Richard Russell on May 27, 1964, a year before our large-scale buildup in Vietnam began -- that the war was "pointless." He called it "the biggest damn mess I ever saw" and lamented, "I don't think it's worth fighting for, and I don't think we can get out." And we didn't get out, not for 11 more years.
That's from Leonard Fein's "We Do Not Know How To Leave Iraq" (The Jewish Daily Foward). What's an Irish-Catholic doing reading The Forward? Actually, I wan't. We had dinner tonight with 2 friends of C.I.'s and they mentioned the article which none of us had seen. They know Fein (and I believe C.I. does as well but I only came in when they were talking about how two people called it like it was on al-Maliki today, C.I. and Fein. So throughout dinner, I told myself I had to read Fein's piece when I was getting ready to blog later.
al-Maliki is a failure. You can't look at how bad things are for Iraqis and deny al-Maliki's absolute failure. Malnutrion, death squads, go down the list. He may be the night manager at Bully Boy's World of War, but he's done a crappy job on his shift.
I went to CounterPunch looking for something to link to but saw a "poor al-Maliki" piece. al-Maliki is not a poor Iraqi. He is in the safety of the Green Zone excpet when jetting around. He will leave office (if he leaves alive) very wealthy. While he's done well for himself, he's done poorly for Iraqis. In my opinion, he's a collaborator with Bully Boy in destroying Iraq.
And that's before you even get to the fact that he's claiming now the theft of Iraqi oil law is about to happen.
Riverbend of Baghdad Burning is probably now a refugee. In April she wrote that her family was leaving for Syria or Jordan. Hopefully, they made it there safely.
But think about that. Riverbend is probably the best known Iraqi woman. And she's most likely now a refugee. That happened under al-Maliki. That happened because of who al-Maliki backed. And who backed al-Maliki.
So save the tears for al-Maliki. He doesn't deserve them. He's a collaborator.
Cry for Riverbend and her family. Cry for the Iraqis who have died, been maimed, lost loved ones, lost their homes, been imprisoned falsely . . . But don't cry for Bully Boy's night manager.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, August 29, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Texas gears up for a big rally on Saturday, Bully Boy wants another $50 billion for his illegal war, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Nick Chin and Hannah Morong (US Socialist Worker) report the Eli Israel was a huge hit in Kennebunkport, Maine on Saturday at the peace rally held there where Cindy Sheehan, Dennis Kucinich, Carlos and Melida Arredonod, Cynthia McKinney and Dahlia Wasfi were among the over 4,000 people participating. Eli Israel is the first service member to publicly refuse to fight in the illegal war while being stationed in Iraq. The reporters quote Israel asking, "What's going to stop [the war]? It has to stop from the inside."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Iraq Veterans Against the War were also a big hit at the Kennebunkport rally. They'll no doubt be a huge hit Saturday in Texas. In what may be one of the biggest actions in Texas against the illegal war in September, Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket. A number of community members are in the D-FW area. If you're en route to the rally and see a friend, take them along. Texans For Peace are encouraging people to invite friends. This could be the biggest peace rally the area has seen. The event's theme is "Bring the troops home now and take care of them."
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays.
[The last two paragraphs were noted yesterday and will be noted tomorrow and Friday. Texas members in that area, or able to get to that area, will hopefully be attending and getting the word out.]
Yesterday, Bully Boy gave another laughable speech. Cedric, Wally and I addressed it yesterday. Michael Abramowitz (Washington Post) observes the "upbeat" speech came as Bully Boy "is stepping up his case for keeping additional U.S. forces in the country. However, Democrats and Iraq experts say that Bush's proposals will face a steep hurdle because many of his predictions of success have not materialized." Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reports that the White House will be asking for another 50 billion dollars ($50,000,000,000.00) for the illegal war "which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" with the announcement most likely coming "after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the stat eof the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year."
Bully Boy's responsible for the illegal war. The puppet's responsible for his lousy performance. Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) interviews him and he declares that he did not arrive at "this postition from being a king or a prince but have reached here through a political process, democracy and national will." Each claim, in and of itself, laughable. He then tries to play himself off as an accident of history: "I never wished to be put in a position of responsibility, neither did I see for one minute to be here." Apparently, he was just sipping a soda at the counter of Schwaabs and Bully Boy liked the way al-Maliki filled out a sweater. In a report by Fadel on the interview, it's noted that: "Despite Maliki's confidence, the scene at his office made it clear that his survival isn't being debated only in Washington. Maliki's security guards were closely watching a talk show on a wide screen Panasonic television in the lobby. The topic was whether Maliki is the only choice for Iraq, and political pundits were debating whether the prime minister should step down. When Maliki entered, the guards turned down the volume, but kept the program on."
This week Erica Bouris (Foreign Policy in Focus) became the latest offer that criticism of al-Maliki is not helpful. Well sometimes the truth hurts. al-Maliki has done an awful job and doesn't represent Iraqis.
Let's deal with some basics before we get to specifics. Iraq is a war zone. Iraq is occupied. Leaders in those situations (in any country) have a limited number of options. They can lead a resistance to occupying forces. They can attempt to work with the occupation in a 'savy' manner that benefits the people of the country. Or they can become a collaborator in the occuaption. They can attempt to work between all the options listed -- ping-ponging back and forth -- but those are the options for leaders in any occupied country. Bouris declares, "Scolding Maliki, however tempting it is in the dog days of August, when heat, violence, and the 2008 election are all a little close for comfort, is a dangerous temptation to give in to. Especially when combined with the just released National Intelligence Estimate report that paints a grimp picture of Maliki's ability to lead Iraq towards effective governance." In other words, Bouris is aware of the NIE and its evaluation of the puppet so why is she bothered by criticisim of al-Maliki? She fears that al-Maliki might begin to "reach out to less moderate Shiites. Or he could broaden his horizons and respond to the overtures of the Iranians. The Iranians would likely be happy to lend a supportive hand to keep Maliki securely in power."
Nouri al-Maliki came into puppet office with ties to Iran (he lived there in exile). US intelligence notes those ties and when they became firmer is when al-Maliki started getting more public criticism. al-Maliki cannot be pushed closer to Iran, he's already there. That may or may not be a bad thing for Iraq or for the United States. But a claim that he might be pushed into the arms of Iran requires a lack of awareness of his firm ties prior to becoming prime minister and the strengthening of those ties since he has.
As to the concern that he might "reach out to less moderate Shiites" -- again, anyone paying attention will raise an eye brow over that 'fear' as well. Not only has al-Maliki backed the Shia death squads and refused to call out their attacks, calling his Interior Ministry "thugs" is being generous. On July 30th, Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) walked readers through the Interior Ministry building noting that Mahdi Gharrawi controls the second floor ("Last year, U.S. and Iraqi troops found 1,400 prisoners, mostly Sunnis, at a base he controlled in eastern Baghdad. Many showed signs of torture"), the sixth floor is "home to border enforcement and the major crimes unit, belongs to the Badr Organization militia. Its leader, Deputy Minister Ahmed Khfaji, is lauded by some Western officials as an efficient administrator and suspected by others of running secret prisons," the seventh floor is the location of "a turf war" betwen the Badhr Organization and Kurds . . .
That is not a new development, that is not a rarely reported development. al-Maliki would have a very difficult time getting closer with "less moderate Shiites" because they're already arm-in-arm.
"Maliki is the stupidest man alive (well, after Bush of course . . .) if he belives his arrogance and callous handling of the sitatuion will work to dismiss it from the minds of Iraqis. By doing what he is doing, he's making it more clear than ever that under his rule, under his government, vigilante justice is the only way to go. Why leave it to the security forces and police? Simply hire a militia or gang to get revenge." Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) wrote that on February 20th of this year. She was commenting specifically of the refusal to pursue justice for Sabrine Al Janabi. What does Riverbend think today? Her last post was in April and she noted that she and her family were going to attempt to make it to Syria or Jordan:
Riverbend is now a refugee and under the puppet's 'rule' a vast number of those have been created.
On Monday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explained, "Meanwhile the Iraqi Red Crescent reports the number of internally displaced Iraqis has also doubled over the course of the so-called U.S. troop surge. More than 1.1 million Iraqis are now internally-displaced, up from under four-hundred fifty thousand earlier this year." Today, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted that "the Iraqi refugee crisis worsens by the month. The United Nations says the monthly rate of displacement has reached 60,000 people -- an increase of 10,000 over previous estimates. Some 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S. invasion of Iraq." Do we want to talk orphans? Jonathan Finer (Washington Post) reported in 2006 that prior to the illegal war approximately 400 children were living in orphanages throughout Iraq but by the beginning of 2006, the number had already grown to 1,000.
Assuming the puppet was attempting to be 'savy' and not collaborating, he has failed. There are many things the US wants. Top of the list, the US wants to put into law the theft of Iraqi oil. If he was attempting to be 'savy,' he could have used the desires to leverage items that would make life under occupation a little better for Iraqis. He hasn't.
He told Fadel, "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept -- because we do not agree to support either Sunnis or Shiites. I have made a pledge to deal with matters according to state law and citizens regardless of their affiliations. Our responsibility is to break down the barriers that have been erected recently". The first eleven words are probably the closest to the truth al-Maliki got: "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept". That would explain creating an 'alliance' this month without Sunnis and trashing the US White House's 'benchmarks' two and sixteen.
He is a miserable failure and with regards to the Sunni population, he is a menace by whom he appoints and what he chooses to recognize and what he chooses to ignore.
Over a week before the NIE was made public, Peter W. Galbraith (The New York Review of Books) was already laying reality out: "Provincial elections will make Iraq less governable while the process of constitutional revision could break the country apart. . . . Iraq's mainstream Shiite leaders resist holding new provincial elections because they know what such elections are likely to bring. Because the Sunnis boycotted the January 2005 elections, they do not control the northern governorate, or province, of Nineveh, in which there is a Sunni majority, and they are not represented in governorates with mixed populations, such as Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. New elections would, it is argued, give Sunnis a greater voice in the places where they live, and the Shiites say they do not have a problem with this, although just how they would treat the militant Sunnis who would be elected is far from clear."
Reality is reality and calling al-Maliki out for his failures is reality. Reality check: Baghad went under 'crackdown' when? June 2006. Over a year later and nothing to show for it. No improvement. On September 2, 2006 -- almost a year ago -- AFP reported the effects of the 'crackdown' -- the only real effects: "Several of Iraq's leading booksellers and writers have burnt a pyre of books to denounce a curfew which they said has turned the centre of Baghdad's intellectual life into 'a street of ghosts'." The curfews only inflame the tensions, they do not solve anything. The 'crackdown' has been an extreme curfew. It has had resulted in the destruction of many of the last remaining cosmopolitan aspects of Baghdad.
al-Maliki was not swept in by 'national will' as he claims to McClatchy Newspapers. He got the job when Ibrahim al-Jaafari didn't have the support needed. April 22, 2006 was when al-Maliki became the prime mnister. From the May 17, 2006 snapshot: "CNN, the Associated Press and BBC note that Iraqi prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki will, apparently, announce his cabinet nominations this Saturday. As the rah-rah-rah-put-on-Etta-James'-"At Last!"-mood builds, it's left to AFP to note the obvious: the parliment meets Saturday because the constitutional deadline is Monday, the 22nd. al-Maliki has already missed his own imposed deadline. The Monday deadline is not optional." On May 22nd, he had a cabinet -- if you were willing to ignore Iraq's Constitution and al-Maliki was. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, the 'cabinet' wasn't full: "Several key cabinet positions remain unfilled including Minister of Defense and Minister of the Interior." Of course, the Constitutional deadline of May 22nd was about the full cabinet, not partial.
That should have been the first clue that he was ineffective. How about that fabeled 24-point plan al-Maliki was talking up in May? In May of 2006, it should be noted. That 'peace plan' didn't amount to anything. After the Green Zone barricades were stormed in June 2006 (the reason for the crackdown), al-Maliki suddenly had a new 'plan' and it was another 'peace plan'. Lot of praise for an awful plan and one that never worked but let's drop back to October 3, 2006's snapshot:
Operation Happy Talkers are on the move and telling you that Nouri al-Maliki offers a 'four-point' peace plan. You may have trouble reading of the 'four-point' plan because the third point isn't about "peace" or "democracy" so reports tend to ignore it. The first step has already been (rightly) dismissed by Andrew North (BBC) of the "local security committees": "In fact, most neighourhoods of Baghdad set up their own local security bodies some time ago to protect themselves -- because they do not trust the authorities to look after them." AP reports that the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the 'peace' plan (reality title: "continued carnage plan").
As we went on to note (and noted repeatedly), it was difficult to hear about the plan because so much of the press made a point of ignoring one point. The third plank of the 'peace plan' was the attack on a free press. The war on the press. It was the war on the press that created the problems in Falluja in April 2004 when Paul Bremer's itsy-bitsy feelings were hurt over a political cartoon. It was the war on the press that led al-Maliki to shut down al-Arabiya in September 2006.The 'peace plan' pushed in the fall of 2006 only enshrined the assault on a free press though most media outlets avoided noting that. The assault continues. Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reported yesterday on the "fascist behavior" in Falluja where even the journalists live in fear "after a few of them were arrested and held for several days. One of the detained journalists spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity. Visible shaken, he said that a major in the Fallujah police force had told him that freedom of the media had been missued and the police would not allow it anymore. He said the major told him that 'the news you transmit to the world will be what we tell you, not what you pick up from the street'."
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. When he was in Egypt, the US decided to install permanent barricades in Baghdad. al-Maliki declared, "I oppse the building of the wall, and its construction will stop," as Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) noted before adding that the US "military did not say whether the wall's construction would be halted." And the following day, as CNN reported, Iraq's Brig. General Qassim Atta held a press conference in Baghdad where he declared, "We will continue to set up these barries in Adhamiya and other areas." And, FYI, the construction continued.
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. But he wanted to have the title of "prime minister" and be seen as a leader. The Iraqi people have nothing to show from his 'leadership'. If this was al-Maliki being 'savy' for 15 months, he's an idiot. More likely, he decided to be a collaborator in an illegal occupation. Regardless, he has not used the limited power he does hold to leverage better conditions for Iraqis. He has allowed Shi'ite death squads to run free, he has allowed his Interior Ministry to target Sunnis when they coveted their homes. The statements being made by people holding office in the US government, mild as they are, are not really that different from what was being stated publicly by October 2006. The difference is that the jury is no longer out on al-Maliki. September 30, 2006, Amit R. Paley and Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that then US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said of al-Maliki, "He has a window of a couple months. If the perception is that this unity government is not able to deal with this issue [the death toll and threat of civil war], then a big opportunity would have been lost and it would take a long time to address this issue." In their opening sentence, Paley and Raghavan wrote, "The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned on Friday that time is running out for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to contain the burgeoning sectarian bloodshed that threatens to plunge the country into a civil war." That was almost a year ago. The statements or threats are the same today as they were then except for the fact that there's no talk of "if" -- the jury is in, the puppet failed. By the US government's standards he has failed. By measures of daily life for Iraqis he has failed.
US forces arrested Iranians in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reports, "An Iranian Energy Ministry delegation was arrested by American troops at a hotel in central Baghdad during an official visit to Iraq" while the US military "did not mention the hotel" and asserted the arrests took place "near the checkpoint on the east bank of the Tigris" but staff at the hotel say "the members were eating dinner in the ground floor restaurant" of the hotel when they were arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded. Robin Stringer (Bloomberg News) notes they were released and that the US military's latest version of the ever changing story is that they waived the Iranians through a checkpoint and then changed their minds which is how they ended up arrested at the hotel.
In other violence.
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life (three wounded). Reuters reports a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives (seven people wounded), a Kirkuk mortar attack claimed 2 lives (one more wounded), a Diwaniyah roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 "bodyguards of a government official",
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Hawija shooting that left an Iraqi soldier dead and 1 person shot dead in Kirkuk. Reuters reports a police officer shot dead in Najaf.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 11 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Today the US military announced: "One Multi-National Corps Iraq Soldier died of wounds suffered during combat operations in the vicinity of Kirkuk Aug. 28." The announcement brings the ICCC total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq this month to 75 with 3733 being the total number killed in the illegal war since it started.
Another thing we'll be noting through the end of the week -- events for Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This Thursday there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
iraq
eli israel
iraq veterans against the war
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnitdemocracy nowamy goodman
ali al-fadhily
leila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
the socialist worker
the new york timesalissa j. rubin
stephen farrell
the washington postamit r. paleysudarsan raghavan
the los angeles times
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)