Tony Kiss (Asheville Citizen-Times) reports, "Presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich will join singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco at her 8 p.m. Sunday concert at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium." That's in North Carolina and I only know that because we've been in that area speaking about the illegal war. In fact, the road trips, as Ty, Jim and Dona have noted, have really resulted in sharpening my geography.
Tjames Madison notes DiFranco's upcoming tour dates:
November 2007
6, 7 - Toronto, Ontario - Toronto Music Hall
9 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theater
10 - Baltimore, MD - Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
11 - Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
13 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
14 - Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
16 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
17, 18 - New York, NY - Town Hall
December 2007
16 - New York, NY - Kaufmann Concert Hall
January 2008
17 - Huntington, NY - Inter-Media Art Center
19 - Asbury Park, NJ - Paramount Theater
21 - Concord, NH - Capitol Center
26 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
February 2008
2 - Ithaca, NY - State Theatre
And, by the way, check the link for a really good photo of DiFranco. I would note the photographer but there's no caption. ZNet has a profile, "Ani DiFranco" written by Ian Sinclair and here's an excerpt:
Since her 1990 self-titled debut album, the Buffalo-born folksinger has consistently highlighted progressive causes on her 19 official albums, selling a total of four million records, while touring relentlessly.
It is this prodigious work ethic that recently gained her a place in a CMJ list of the 25 most influential artists of the last 25 years - alongside bands such as U2 and Nirvana - and led to her being honoured with the National Organisation of Women's 'Women of Courage Award,' presented annually to an individual for their contributions to the feminist movement.
Impressively, DiFranco has achieved these accolades without corporate backing, instead choosing to release her music on her own independent label, Righteous Babe Records. 'It's a very long, unglamorous road to go independently. You have to go 10 years to build an audience that a major marketing blitz can do in two months.'
DiFranco believes that 'it is a bit of a compromise if you are trying to change the system to work within it.' Wasn't it difficult to resist signing with a major label? 'Ten years ago, when I was struggling, it crossed my mind every day,' she remembers. 'I would often see other young songwriters opening up my show one day in a bar and then, six months later, they would be on the cover of every magazine and have a single on the radio and they've got a record deal. I saw this happen many times and I'd be in the same bar.'
Today, though, she is an established artist, who, after giving birth to a baby daughter earlier this year, took time off to compile and release a two-disc 'best of' album and a book of her poetry and lyrics. Her beliefs, though, are as radical as ever. Talking about the US presidential elections, she complains that the media 'have turned politics into a beauty contest, completely devoid of content.'
[. . .]
The gulf between DiFranco and women working in the mainstream was underlined a few days after the interview when Spice Girl Geri Halliwell told the Guardian that feminism, for her, was 'bra-burning lesbianism.' Contrastingly, DiFranco has previously written: 'Either you are a feminist or you are a sexist/misogynist. There is no box marked 'other'.' DiFranco explains: 'Feminist, if you look it up in the dictionary, means 'people who believe women should have rights and opportunities equal to men.' I think it's very telling that there is one word in the language that means women are equal and we won't say it. We can't say it and we don't identify with it.'
"Stills & Difracno" is my review of DiFranco's Canon and "The Death of Ani DiFranco?" is my review of Reprieve. I was noting a review of Joni Mitchell's Shine and there were 12 e-mails complaing that I didn't link to my review of it and they had to Google. In addition, Julia asked that I give links to my review of Tori Amos' The Beekeeper and to Tori's American Doll Posse. She was so-so about going to see Tori. Not because of Tori but because it was the middle of the week and she's got so much to do. Then she read our review of Tori's concert in Boston and she made up her mind to go. She asked me to quote her on this: "If you can see Tori, see her. This was my favorite tour she's done so far and second, on my all time list, only to R.E.M. touring behind Document. You do not want to miss it." I don't know where I'd rank it all time but I will say it's the tour of 2007. You should really make a point to see Tori and she's not charging an arm and leg for tickets. As we noted in our review, she just gets better each tour.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, November 6, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more multiple deaths, Turkey appears set to move military into northern Iraq (if anyone's paying attention), and more.
Staring with war resistance. Michael Massing offers an excerpt (at Salon) from an anthology entitled What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Faces of American Politics. Massing notes that the mainstream press has a very difficult time conveying the realities of Iraq including the vast number of Iraqis being killed and wounded by US service members. He notes books by former US service members tell more than the press about:
The prevalence of drug use among U.S. troops.
The ubiquity of pornography.
The frequency of stealing from Iraqis.
The widespread contempt in which Iraqis are held.
The routine mistreatment of Iraqi citizens during house raids.
The killing of innocent Iraqis at checkpoints.
The high civilian death toll in Iraq.
Among these recommended readings in the excerpt is Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale:
". . . Key observes that each military company in Iraq is responsible for dealing with the bodies of the civilians it has killed, and it fell to him to build a shack to hold the bodies of Iraqis slain by his unit until someone came to claim them." In addition, Key explains how they were discouraged from expressions of sympathy with the families picking up their dead and how he was warned and threatened for being seen as too sympethic. Key now lives in Canada with wife Brandi and their four children. His book has been optioned for filming.
Another war resister who went to Canada is James Burmeister and in June he broke the news on the kill teams. The kill teams of US service members purposely leave US property lying around to then have justification for shooting Iraqis. This isn't something a few enlisted thought up, it is a policy and plan coming from the top. Since war resiters get so little attention from All Things Media Big and Small to begin with, it's not surprising that only Canadian media covered those revelations. In this country Josh White and Joshua Partlow broke the story for the Washington Post on September 24, 2007. AP notes: "An Army sniper team leader charged with murdering three men will be tried today in a court-martial that is likely to highlight a classified Pentagon program in which snipers placed fake weapons as 'bait' to attract and kill enemy fighters." Paul von Zielbauer (New York Times) reports on Michael A. Hensley -- the team leader:
The baiting program was introduced to select members of the First Battalion, including Sergeant Hensley, in late January by the Asymmetrical Warfare Group, a Defense Department agency that develops secret methods of githing insurgents in Iraq, said Capt. Mattew Didier, the platoon commander at the time of the killings, in a sworn statement that has not been made public but was obtained by The New York Times.
"If we happened to see the individual take the items we would engage, to destroy the enemy," Captain Didier said in the statement, dated June 23.
Lawyers for Sergeant Hensley and the other snipers accused in the case have suggested the baiting program is relevant to their defense because it demonstrates the extent to which Army and Pentagon commanders approved unconventional methods of killing not only insurgents but also unarmed men of military age who were believed to be enemy fighters.
Again, Burmeister was discussing the program in June -- and yes, it is a program, it is not a few soldiers deciding to have 'kicks'. They were ordered to participate. That is among the reasons Burmeister decided enough was enough and he was checking himself out.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, 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, Blake LeMoine, 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, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty 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 [(877) 447-4487], 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.
Yesterday in DC, Bully Boy met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the continued tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq. Erdogan and Bully Boy met with the press with Edrogan stating (through a translator), "The focus of our discussions today was mostly on terrorism, international terrorism, and also the PKK and the activities of the PKK terrorist organization in orthern Iraq. As strategic partners, we are fighting jointly against international terrorism in the world. As part of our joint efforts to combat terrorism, we spoke about what we can do against the separatist terrorist organization which has deployed itself in northern Iraq. As you know, on the 17th of October, the Turkish parliament overwhelmingly, almost every single member of the Turkish parliament, gave an authority to our government -- the authority, the mandate, in other words, to do a military cross-border incursion, if necessary. This is a mandate for a cross-border operation that solely aims [at] the PKK. It cannot and it does not cover the civilians." The PKK is defined by the US, Turkey and the European Union as a 'terrorist' organization. In terms of the claims about civilians, any attacks -- small scale or big scale -- would increase Iraq's refugee crisis. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted "that President Bush has effectively given his tacit approval for limited Turkish bombings of Kurdish rebel positions there." At the brief press conference, four questions were permitted. Erdogan and Bully Boy stood before the press which elected to ask two questions about Turkey and two questions about Pakistan. For the record, Erdogan is not the prime minister of Pakistan. Bully Boy refused to "answer hypothetical questions" regarding Turkey's possible actions but noted that "the PKK is an enemy of Turkey, a free Iraq, and the United States of America. And it's in our joint interest to work effectively to deal with the problem." BBC notes, "Kurdish protesters demonstrated outside the White House on Monday, voicing their opposition to any violent action by Turkey." James Gerstenzang (Los Angeles Times) observes that "there was no indication that Erdogan received a US committment to take specific steps that Turkey is seeking to counter Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq." Today, AP reports Turkish President Abdullah Gul is declaring, "Turkey has made its preparations and had decided what to do on this issue before the prime minister left." Decided what? He doesn't say. Reported in the foreign media was the fact that Turkey had a battle plan drawn up. Reuters notes that the prime minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan, "has said that a military operation is still planned against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq". The Financial Times of London sees Turkey on the verge of beginning operations in northern Iraq. AKI reports that Turkey will try to seek support for an operation in northern Iraq when Erdogan visits Italy tomorrow: "Erdogan is expected to stress Turkey's right to defend itself against increasing PKK attacks and seek support for a possible cross border operations into the militant bases in nothern Europe." The topic of Turkey came up once in today's US State Department press briefing by Sean McCormack:
Q: The Turkish Prime Minister said that the Turkish army is going to go ahead with operations in northern Iraq. I wondered if you had any sort of indication of timing, size of force or what exactly he's talking --
McCormack: I hadn't seen his comments. Let me -- let me check for you. I want to -- it's an important, sensitive topic so I want to take a look at exactly what he said.
And that was that. (At the White House press briefing, Turkey came up once and the question had nothing to do with Iraq.)
Repeating, any military operation by Turkey in northern Iraq can be expected to increase the refugee crises. Kurds, Christians and many others would flee (becoming part of the external displaced or the internal). Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) notes the crisis and that "new figures show the number of displaced Iraqis has quadrupled under the so-called U.S. troop surge that began earlier this year. According to the Iraqi Red screscent, two-point three million people have been forced to flee their homes. Eight in ten were residents of Baghdad."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Hawija bombing that wounded three people.
Shootings?
Reuters notes "six off-duty" police officers were shot dead in Mosul and then there bodies were burned and two people were shot dead in Tikrit.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses discovered in Iraq and a corpse discovered in Salahuddin. Reuters notes 33 corpses ("decomposed") discovered "in the Lake Thar Thar region," 2 outside Latifiya and 3 in Dhuluiya (police officers)..
Today, the US military announced: "A U.S. Soldier assigned to Multi National Force-West was killed Nov. 5 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province." And they announced: "Four U.S. Soldiers were killed as result of an explosion near their vehicle while conducting combat operations in the Kirkuk province Monday." And they announced: "A U.S. Sailor was killed as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion while conducting operations in Salah ad Din Province Monday."
We're not done with the reported deaths. This morning, Meanwhile, AP noted that there were 17 reported deaths yesterday in Iraq "including a local councilman gunned down in a neighbourhood next his own in western Baghdad." This continues the trend of assaults on officials in Iraq. Over the weekend, Lt. Gen. Mohan Hafidh and Maj. Gen. Jaleel Khalf (Basra police) survived an attack on Saturday (in Basra) as did Dr. Jabbar Yasir Al Maiyahi (Wasit University president) although he and three bodyguards were wounded; Sunday Qutaiba Badr Al Deen, of the Ministry of Finance, was shot dead Sunday in Baghdad as was Eman Hussein (a female school principal) while a second female principal was wounded and, on Saturday, a police officer's wife was kidnapped in Kut. While yesterday, a municipal manager was shot dead in Baghdad. The trend towards attacks on officials has been largely ignored (Alissa J. Rubin did cover it at the New York Times) though the AP does focus on government worker Mohammed Abdul-Wahab who found a note from a militia telling him to leave his home and he and his family quickly became part of the 2.3 million internally displaced Iraqis as they left their Baghdad home (as 60% of the internally displaced have). Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports today on an attack "of the offices of the PUK in Sadyah town northeast Baquba" on Monday that left two security guards wounded and today, in Hawija, the mayor ("of Al Manzila village") was shot dead while his son was wounded while in Basra there was an attempt to assassinate Abo Al Khaseeb ("head of the local council"). Meanwhile Reuters notes Arif Yousif was shot dead in Mosul -- he had been "a member of the governing council of Mosul." The trend of targeting officials continues.
Turning to US politics, Tom Hayden (writing at Common Dreams) offers an evaluation of the Democratic presidential candidates. He dubs Joe Biden "the worst Democratic candidate because of his demand that partition be imposed on Iraq." Biden supports partitioning (but doesn't care for the term and insists that's not what he's proposed though it's the same thing he was proposing in 2006) but has implied (September 26th Democratic presidential candidate forum billed as a 'debate' in New Hampshire) that if the US Congress doesn't get behind it (and they shouldn't), he would, if elected president, pull troops out of Iraq. Biden: Everyone says there's no political -- there's no military solution, only a political solution. We offered a political solution today" the partition plan "and it got 75 votes. . . . if in fact there is no political solution by the time I am president, then I would bring them out, because all they are is fodder. But if you go along with the Biden plan that got 75 votes today, and you have a stable Iraq,. . . So it would depend on the circumstances when I became president." Though Biden himself has, at times, referred to his plan (conceived with the Council on Foreign Relations) as a "soft partition," he prefers it be called "federalism." It is a partition and that is clear by the fact that the three divisions are based upon the three largest ethnic factions in Iraq. Biden should clarify if his statements -- as they appear to say -- in the September 26th debate are stating that if the Biden plan isn't passed by the time he would become president that would mean he would pull US troops out of Iraq. If that is the case, troops would come home under a Biden presidency because the plan isn't going to be passed.
The stance Hayden takes for the analysis is that "single-digit support at present" for a Dem candidate means they "should be considered as strong voices against the war . . . but not as likely nominees." People can agree with that set-up or not, but that's how he structures his argument. That approach leaves candidates Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson -- who both say all troops come under a their presidency -- on the margins and puts the focus to John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Noting Obama's desire to construct a "new center" stance, Hayden says Obama's position has improved. Hayden references the New York Times and is speaking of the article written by Michael R. Gordon and Jeff Zeleny. As noted in Friday's snapshot and "NYT: 'Barack Obama Will Keep Troops In Iraq'" (The Third Estate Sunday Review), if you use the transcript (which the paper has posted online), Obama's position is not as peace friendly as the reporters portrayed. On Clinton, Hayden judges her "the most indecipherable of the candidates on Iraq" noting her vote against the escalation and support for "a March 2008 withdrawal deadline for combat troops" which it the con-game the Pelosi-controlled Democratic House of Representatives tried to play on Americans -- the proposal leaves troops in Iraq, it just allows for new classifications. Hadyen finds Edwards to have "the strongest anti-war position" -- remember, the way the analysis is constructed, he's eliminated Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson and Mike Gravel doesn't even get a shout out -- but Edwards position is not any different than Clinton's. And, in fact, Edwards has taken a pass on the topic of Iraq in debates.
Hayden sees the potential for Obama and Edwards supporters to be disenchanted with a Clinton nomination which could mean "a two-percent space will open for Ralph Nader and/or Cynthia McKinney to possibly make the difference in the November election." The November election is in 2008. Nader will announce whether or not he's running by the end of this year, McKinney will announce this month. Others in The Green Party may seek the nomination as well. Just to be clear before Green and third party voters e-mail to point out that flaw in the analysis. Where he finds the "two-percent space" is not stated. Since Clinton is leading in the polls, it would be far more likely that someone other than her being selected could create a "space" (of any percentage) for a third party just because she has the larger group of supporters at this point. At the end of his article is the statement "He has not endorsed any candidate for president." As Greens and third party community members will note, it should read: "He has not endorsed any Democratic candidate for president." The two-percent space section comes at the end and is unclear. If the meaning is that voters could swing to the Green Party, they could go Green for any number of reasons and that is their choice -- not a "stolen" vote, a choice made by voters. Polling shows self-identified "liberals" are supporting Hillary Clinton in larger numbers than they are Barack Obama or John Edwards. Hillary leads over all in support (at this point in the primary race, it could change) so she has a much larger number of supporters. Where these disgruntled voters will allegedly come from if she wins the nomination is not stated. Repeating, based on the current polling results, Clinton losing the nomination would create more disgruntled Democrats than Obama or Edwards simply because she has much greater support (at this point).
Reality, if you eliminate Kucinich and Richardson, if voters are left with the three 'front runners' then, on Iraq, there's no difference between the three Democrats. Nor is there a huge difference between the three and Democratic leadership in Congress. Which means if the line up of the 'front runners' does not change, there's no peace candidate and the peace movement's energies are better used applying pressure than in blindly supporting a candidate. That is what happened in 2004, even with many warning against it (Naomi Klein was among those warning against that). It took forever for the peace movement to recover from having put tremendous energies behind electing John Kerry and, for those not paying attention, the thanks for all that effort expanded was for the 'left' to turn around and dump Iraq. Hayden, in fact, called out one such voice after 2004. To be clear, Hayden did not dump Iraq after the 2004 election. In early January he was on Air America Radio as a guest one night and rightly decrying the lack of attention being given to Iraq. So much so that the host focused on questions of the Ohio voter results felt the need to state something to the effect of, "I believe we can do two things at once" -- after he was off air. While the host could, did and does, the bulk of the 'left' does not. Iraq was dropped like a hot potatoe, Ad Nags created the myth of the 'value voters' (never supported in the New York Times own polling -- we went over all of this in real time) and that's where the 'left' chose to focus their energies with "WE'RE RELIGIOUS TOO!" campaigns and "WE HAVE VALUES!" campaigns and other efforts to use this decade's hulahoop ("framing") but only coming off on the defensive. All that nonsense (including coming to the defense of James Dobson -- which, yes, did happen) accomplished was nothing. The peace movement would be better served grasping that no current 'front runner' Democrat is an ally in ending the illegal war and that the illegal war will end because the people demand that it ends. That's regardless of who gets elected in 2008. If an Out of Iraq candidate makes it onto the ballot, supporting them is one thing the peace movement can consider but the energies of the movement should not be wasted supporting candidates who are not calling for US troops out of Iraq. That's the movement itself. Individuals can do whatever they want. But the movement's energies should not be focused on electing a Democrat that won the primary just because he or she won the primary. The peace movement has independents, Greens, third party members, Democrats and, yes, Republicans. It also has non-voters. It should not be used as a 527 PAC.
Staying with US House Rep and Democratic presidential contender Kucinich since he was reduced to one sentence in the analysis and if those against the illegal war can't be counted on to note the candidates trying to end it, who can be counted on to do so? Yesterday Kucinich's campaign planned a teleconference on the impeachment of president of vice Dick Cheney (Wally & Cedric's phrase for Cheney). Call volume scuttled it and it will take place later in the week. Matthew Hay Brown (Baltimore Sun's blog The Swamp) reports that Kucinich's attempt to get a vote on the impeachment of Cheney should happen today but that House Majority Leader and War Hawk Steny Hoyer has already bragged to the press that it's not happening because he and Fancy Nancy "have both said impeachment is not on our agenda." Strange, Congress is supposed to work the people's agenda. Jason Rhyne (Raw Story) reports Kucinich "is also planning a similar resolution to impeach President Bush." Rhyne steers to Mike Soraghan (The Hill) who reports on the discomfort for the centrists and that the response to the privileged resolution is passage, sent to (buried in) committe or tabled (buried). Matthew Hay Brown notes, "Kucinich alleges that Cheney misled Congress and the American public into the war in Iraq, and is trying now to mislead lawmakers and voters into a war with Iran." Along with impeachment being supported by a sizeable portion of Americans (much more than ever supported the impeachment of Bill Clinton in any poll), the National Lawyers Guild voted a resoultion supporting the impeachment of Bully Boy and Cheney "at its national convention in Washington, DC. The resolution lists more than a dozen high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush and Cheney administration and 'calls upon the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately initiate impeachment proceedings, to investigate the charges, and if the investigation supports the charges, to vote to impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. cheney as provided in the constitution of the United Stats of America.'" PDF warning, the resolution is here. NLG president Marjorie Cohn states, "The war of aggression, the secret prisons, the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, the use of evidence obtained by torture, and the surveillance of citizens without warrants, all initiated and carried out under the tenure of Bush and Cheney, are illegal under the U.S. Constitution and international law." The NLG is far from alone. The Center for Constitutional Rights is among the authors of books on impeachment. Author most recently of The End of America: Letters of Warning to a Young Patriot, Naomi Wolf (The Huffington Post) writes of the new laws on the horizon and, "Why should Congress impeach and prosecute this instant, not waiting till February? Why should this impeachment and prosecution be solidly bipartisn? After February it is the leaders on both sides of the aisle -- and the people writing these essays -- who are at most risk" due to changes in the law "of being turned back at the border. People who can't leave in a police state are effectively silenced. And history shows that Republicans are at the exact same risk as Democrats of being violently silenced once liberties are lost. I am reading about IBM's close, profitable involvement with Nazi Germany -- much akin to Prescott Bush's well-documented close and profitable involvement with Nazi Germany through German industrialist Fritz Thyssen. Right up to the top of the solidly Nazi hierarchy of the IBM affiliate, corporate executives were terrified of taking a wrong step in the eyes of the Party; 'There are concentration camps,' they would whisper to their US backers. The teenage son of one solid Nazi ally was taken hostage when he resisted Party orders. So alignment with the regime in a police stat offers no ultimate protection."
Citing Blackwater Tactical Weekly, the mercenary corporation's own weekly, Wolf concludes that "it is reasonable to speculate that Blackwater is focusing on becoming more active domestically in managing domestic domestic protests and rallies." In yesterday's Los Angeles Times, US House Rep and chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has examined Blackwater, Henry Waxman addressed corruption in Iraq, "Two truths have emerged from Iraq in recent months. First, corruption is so pervasive in Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government that political progress in Iraq may be impossible. Second, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and our embassy in Baghdad are inexplicably neglecting this corrosive threat" and noted that Bully Boy's request "Hearings in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, of which I am chairman, have revealed a devastating cycle of corruption. Rampant theft in Iraqi ministries undermines political reconciliation and diverts billions of dollars from the rebuilding effort. Even worse, the stolen money funds terrorists who attack our troops. Yet no one in our government is holding Iraqi ministers to account." On corruption in construction and contractors, James Glanz (New York Times) reports that "More than a year after the Parsons Corporation, the American contracting giant, promised Congress that it would fix the disastrous plubming and shoody construction in barracks the company built at the Baghdad police academy, the ceilings are still stained with excrement, parts of the structures are crumbling and sections of the buildings are unusable because the toilets are filthy and nonfuctioning." The water's been shut off because the concrete is "collapsing in places" at the project whose cost (to US tax payers) was $72 million. As an unnamed US military officer tells Glanz, "When it's for something good, I don't mind flipping the dime, but this money just went from my pocket to a contractor."
iraq
joshua key
democracy nowamy goodman
naomi wolf
henry waxman
the los angeles times
the new york times
james glanz
the third estate sunday review
paul von zielbauer
the washington postjoshua partlow
josh whitematthew chavez
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Joni Mitchell's Shine
"Kat's Korner: Planet something, but it's not earth" is my latest CD review and it went up Sunday morning. I am a bit surprised by the reaction because I honestly expected to get boos and hisses over this one. I was bracing for a storm. Instead, the reaction has been more along the lines of e-mails saying that's really sums up what they thought. I guess I shouldn't have worried. My plans or intentions are two or three additional reviews before the end of the year. At the end of the year, I'll do my year-in-review of music.
Canada's Leader-Post has one article that contains five reviews so I believe I can excerpt one of the five brief ones. I will also note that one of the albums I want to review before the end of the year is covered in this review, so, if you're curious, you can read the article:
Sparse, clear and uncluttered, Joni Mitchell's Shine satisfies so well because these fresh-sounding melodies set the perfect contrasting mood for her political messages.
The first original work in a decade, save for a wacky re-work of her classic "Big Yellow Taxi," Mitchell has set out to speak sternly about issues like war and the environment, and wrap it nicely in classic, subtle sounds. She has her hands over everything, playing the bulk of the instruments. The meandering mix of horns, guitar and piano create songs of that dip into folk, jazz and classical.
The CD begins with a sweet instrumental, and what follows are Mitchell's patient, careful look at the world around us.
In the song "Bad Dreams," Mitchell delivers a sultry jazz piece and sings: "The cellphones zombies babble, through the shopping malls, while candors fall from Indian Skies, whales beach and die in sand."
She's painted a beautiful picture of a world she finds ugly.
-- Andrew Matte
I love Shine and I'm so glad to see it get some positive reviews. If you haven't checked out Joni Mitchell's Shine, please make a point to. West e-mailed that his parents found it at Borders Books (you can also get it at Starbucks) and he was, "Joni who?" (West is a teenager.) Then they were playing it and now he wants his own copy. For those wondering, I'm working this week and next and then plan to get back out on the road with Ava and C.I.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, November 5, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, big meetup in DC, violence in the US military, and more.
Starting with war resistance. John Hartl (Seattle Times) reviews the new documentary by Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimber, Soldiers of Conscience, which examines war resistance, and Hartl notes, "Two of the conscientious objectors, charismatic Aidan Delgado (who leans toward Buddhism) and straight-arrow Joshua Casteel (a patriotic, evangical Christian), are given honorable discharges after they refuse to kill in Iraq. Delgado, who finds himself incapable of using arms 'designed to roast people,' honors one rule: 'Don't take life.' Interrogating an Abu Ghraib jihadist who challenges his commitment to Jesus' teachings, Casteel becomes defensive and self-doubting and finally opts out of the service."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, 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, Blake LeMoine, 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, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty 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 [(877) 447-4487], 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.
Staying with the topic of the US military. Courage to Resist reports that a recent story on "search and avoid" missions (which the New York Times described last year -- without identifying it as such) has received attention for one active duty soldier: "The Army has begun a very official 'unofficial investigation of out-spoken Iraq veteran Eli Wright, an active duty soldier at Fort Drum, New York. Apparently the story below prompted right-wing bloggers to press the military to take action against Eli -- for either the actions decribed, or simply talking about them. The military might take action to keep 'search and avoid' missions from again becoming an 'open secret' -- as during the Vietnam War."
Turning to the topic of AWOL, Robert Przbylski (noted here and here) is missing. The Army captain was stationed in Germany, due to deploy to Iraq early next year and has disappeared last month. John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) reported last week that the military is moving towards reclassifying him: "Today, Przbylski is the only officer in U.S. Army Europe to be listed absent without leave, a position he's been in since Oct. 10. And in a matter of days he faces the prospect of being classified as a deserter, which takes effect after 30 consecutive days of unauthorized absence. As authorities investigate the case, the circumstances surrounding Przbylski's disappearance remain shrouded in mystery." Przybylski's father refused comment to Vandiver. What is know is that Robert Przybylski remains misisng.
Also known is that Ashleigh Higgins was discharged from the US military in July 2006. Over a year ago. She had been in the IRR -- Individual Ready Reserve. Rachel Cohen (The Daily Review) reports that Higgins, who gave birth less than four months ago, has been informed that she must report for duty at Fort Jackson November 11th where she will receive training before being shipped off to Iraq "for up to 400 days" and that not only does she have a newborn, she has no one to take care of it since her husband Daniel is in the Oakland Police Department's police academy and her mother just had surgery and can't pick up any baby -- not even her granddaughter Gabriela. Higgins has found that the military has no desire to work with her thus far. She's been told to fill out a deferment form and report to Fort Jackson at which point something may be decided. Women have been the military for some time and that they want to pull a new mother away from an infant -- a new mother who was discharged over 15 months ago -- goes to just how hard up the military currently is. The guidelines, not suprisingly, for deferments note things such as the potential for a four to six month delay if you are getting married but say nothing about pregnancy. Apparently the US military hasn't noted that women have been serving for some time. Cohen reports that when Higgins informed her superiors that she was pregnant, she was 'rewarded' with being ordered to do push-ups and to run.
Is that really surprising considering the US military's attitude towards women? Nicole Sotelo (WeNews) observes of the realities for some US women married to service members, "It's the principle of the Golden Rule in action. The United States is giving and therefore getting violence in return. The battlefields of Iraq become the battlefields in our homes and neighborhoods in the shape of domestic violence." Sotelo notes that statistics ("military families have a domestic violence rate three to five times higher than the general U.S. population") and that "The U.S. war in Iraq has produced numerous reports of U.S. male soldiers assaulting both Iraqi women and fellow U.S. female soldiers. These soldiers are not assailants by nature, but have been traumatized by the violence of war and now act out that violence against the innocent in Iraq and in the United States upon their return." On the treatment of female service members, Matthew D. LaPlanet (Salt Lake Tribune) covers the topic beginning with Amanda Blume haveing to face soldiers screaming at her ("Why won't you date any of us, b**ch?") beofre kicking her barracks door down and then had to fight off an assault by the men and, GET THIS, "Army commanders charged her with assault." Blume recounts a too familiar story of a command that just didn't give a damn and quotes Blume explaining of how she got charged, "They told me they knew I had hit one of those guys and that was the only thing they could prove." Faced with extending her time in the military to fight the charges, "Blume accepted the charge". Now if you're thinking, "Well her door was kicked down and why exactly did the US military think a group of drunken men were showing up at her door, kicking it down and entering her room in the night to begin with, turns out that the 'investigation' never even bothered to send anyone out to examine the door. The military says three members were punished -- Blume is one of the three -- and Blume reveals that one of the other two punished was a man "who was a senior enlisted soldier who had come to her defense after she ran out of the building." It gets better. The punishment she received for hitting the man (who assaulted her)? He was already supposed to be "under orders to stay away" from her because he had been stalking her.
Now stop a minute and put it all together. At night, a group of men show up at her door, kick it in, and one of them wants to whine that she hit him. Even if the US military is unable to prove the men were drunk, they know damn well that if the poor baby struck is "under orders to stay away" from her, he had no business being in her room. Blume notes her regrets over not fighting it (she just wanted out of the military) and notes that the week before she was finally released "her sergeant, a man she considered a friend . . . chased her into a field and choked her into unconsciousness after she refused his order to stay at at his home after a party there." Now this time, pay attention Congress, it didn't go the way it had before even though the man knew to swear charges first. It was off base so a civilian assault: "Lawton, Okla., city prosecutors prepared a criminal complaint against Blume, but ripped up the charges after speaking to her -- and seeing the bruises on her neck" and the man, Larnelle Lewis, and he refused to contest the three counts of misdemanor assault. Even so, he got a slap on the wrist at the sentencing and Blume didn't know that because she was even advised that the sentencing was taking place. Though convicted, Lewis faced no penalties from the US military -- no reduction in rank, nothing. Sara Rich is quoted in the article explaining, "It's just so typical. The women get blamed. My daughter went to prison instead of getting the help she needed. She was ridiculed and put in jail and reduced in rank. She was treated like the criminal."
Rich's daughter is of course Suzanne Swift. Swift was assaulted and harassed repeatedly as she served in Iraq. There was no punishment for that. When she reported it, it was ignored. When she reported it again it was thought that Swift needed to take a class to learn how not to 'tempt' men because surely every woman who is assaulted -- in the US military's mind -- is just begging for it. In the US military's mind, who doesn't love that kind of attention? Swift got sick of it, as any woman would, and when she was back in the US on leave, since the US military REFUSED to address the command rape, the harassment, the assaults, Swift self-checked out proving that she had far more sanity than the US military which thought the way to address the situation was to flat-out ignore it. The response was to handcuff her and haul her off from her mother's house, to refuse to give her treatment for PTSD, to do a whitewash investigation (that, even so, found some of Swift's charges to be true) and to try to bully her into recanting the truth. Because she wouldn't lie, the US military court-martialed her, she spent thirty days in prison and she's in the service -- the same service where she was regularly assaulted -- until 2009. You might think the US Congress would practice some of that "oversight" that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can't shut up about; however, the reality is that just as the US military failed Suzanne Swift so did the US Congress. Sara Rich stands without any government body to help her daughter. To this day. Swift needs to be immediately and honorably discharged, with full benefits. That the US Congress will not take up this issue goes to just how worthless the Pelosi-led House and the Reid-led Senate are. Remember right after the 2006 elections, in November, when Pelosi blogged (at The Huffington Post): "I told my colleagues yesterday that the biggest ethical issue facing our country for the past three and a half years is the war in Iraq"? That would be the same illegal war that nearly one year later (six days shy of one year) still drags on though Pelosi did endorse a few toothless, symbolic measures. Is there a reason Pelosi refuses to champion Swift's release? Or is it just another sign of how useless Pelosi's 'leadership' has been? Or as Nora Ephron (The Huffington Post) notes of the Dems in Congres: "What a bunch of losers, hiding behind the fact that it takes 60 votes to shut down debate and 67 votes to override a presidential veto. So what? So pass a law and make Bush veto it. Make him veto something every single day. Drive the guy crazy. What have you got to lose? And meanwhile what have you done? You've voted for the surge, you've voted to authorize a war against Iran, and you're about to vote in favor an attorney general-designate who refuses to call waterboarding torture." And as former CIA analyst Ray McGovern (at Consortium News) observes of an earlier illegal war (Vietnam), "Why did we leave? Only because, despite continued lying by the administration then in power, Congress belatedly woke up to the fact that the war was unwinnable, admitted that for the previous ten years Congress had been wrong, and finally cut off funding for the war. Even then, Congress was not leading; rather it was reacting to a storm of protest across the land." McGovern is calling for action and calling for US troops to withdraw. He also castigates US Senator Joseph Biden as "co-opted." And it's no different across the Atlantic. Madeleine Bunting (Guardian of London) calls out the inaction, "Government ministers now talk of Iraq as a tragedy, as if it was a natural disaster and they had no hand in its making. There's a public revolusion at the violent sectarian struggles best summed up as 'a plague on all their houses', as even the horror gives way to exhaustion. The irony is that in this great age of communications and saturation media, this is perhaps the most important war to become nigh on impossible to report. Unless the reporter is embedded with the occupation forces, it takes either terrifying courage or extraordinary ingenuity to bring images to our screens of those caught up in the awful maelstrom of this imploded country. Without the human stories that bring people and their suffering so vividly to life, there is little chance of public opinon re-engaging with the biggest political calamity of our time. The Iraq war represents the end of the media as a major actor in war."
Turning to the conflict between Turkey and northern Iraq. Today, in DC, the Bully Boy met with the Turkish prime minister. Prior to that there were other meet ups. Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported Saturday on the dissatisfaction Ali Babacan, Foreign Minister for Turkey, was expressing "at a news conference with Secretary of State Conoleezza Rice in Ankara" where he declared, "We need to work on actually making things happen. This is where the words end and action needs to start." Matthew Scholfield (McClatchy Newspapers) also noted the Friday meet-up and how Rice was tossing around terms like "terrorist organization" (PKK) and "common enemy" (ibid) but the White House "has assured Turkey at least four times that it would take action against the PKK, as it's known in its Kurdish initials, but hasn't done so, in part because there are no U.S. troops in Iraq available for such a mission." Yesterday, Helene Cooper and Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) noted that puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki was painting "a rosy picture" of what was being done as he told Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, and Rice that Iraq was getting tough -- why, they just shut down two "offices of a political party affiliated with the PKK" but, as Cooper and Oppel explained, "a senior party official, Dr. Abu Bakr Majid, said later the party members had been told to go home but had not been ordered out of the city, and that officers told them their computers and other equipment would not be removed." Also on Sunday, Selcuk Gokoluk (Reuters) reported that the 8 Turkish soldiers captured last month by the PKK were released and the US military was hailing it as an accomplished for the puppet government of Iraq. Today Bobby Caina Calvan (McClatchy Newspapers) reported reality -- "U.S. officials served as the go-between in the release of eight Turkish soldiers who'd been caputer" and the doubts Turkey continued to have regarding the weight of the words the White House and the puppet government in Iraq were tossing around. As Jim Muir (BBC) postulates today, "The timing of the release was probably no coincidence. It gave US President George W Bush something new and positive to point to when he met an angry Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan" today in DC. Ross Colvin (Reuters) revealed Sunday that Saturday the Iraqi government announced that instead of holding a vote next month on whether to make the oil rich Kirkuk part of "Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region," the vote has been postponed for two years and Colvin notes that experts state "the dispute over the city's status could trigger and explosion of violence and possibly draw in neighbouring Turkey unless it is carefully handled." Carol Glatz (Catholic News Service) reports, "Pope Benedict XVI called for a peaceful solution to mouthing tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq" yesterday and that he noted a large number of those fleeing the region were Christians. Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) examines the realities of life in Baghdad for the Catholic Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly who notes that a number of Iraqi Christians live in north Iraq, that it and Baghdad were the traditional areas in which they lived, that an estimated one million have fled the country and quotes him stating, "I am not happy when people ask, 'How is the situation for Christians?' Those who kill don't kill only Christians. They kill Muslims as well -- the situation is the same for both."
Prior to the meetup between Erdogan and Bully Boy today in DC, White House flack Dana Perino outlined the planned topics for the meet up and then took questions -- very few on Turkey as one reporter noted ("The situation in Pakistan has kind of overshadowed the situation with Turkey") -- replying to the issue of the PKK that she thought "the Turks understand that we are fully committed to helping them eradicate the PKK. We understand the threat; we agree the PKK are terrorists and they should be stopped." At the US State Department press briefing today, Turkey was not raised. Rather surprising since this was the first DC briefing since Rice was dealing with the issue on Friday and Saturday.) CBS and AP report of the meetup between Erdogan and Bully Boy that intel was offered (sharing of intel was actually offered last week) and Bully Boy pleged that "top military figures from the United States and Turkey would be in more regular contact in an effort to track the movement of guerrilla fighters" (again, they have heard that before -- at least as far as April 2004). At stake, as Deborah Haynes (Times of London) notes, was whether or not "the prospect of a new and perilous front of fighting in Iraq" -- between Turkey and northern Iraq -- could be put off. Vicent Boland (Financial Times of London) observes, "Mr Erdogan is under intense pressure to order a large-scale military incursion into northern Iraq to pursue the PKK, which has killed nearly 50 Turkish soldiers and civilians in the past month." The meet up took place as new polls show continued lack of confidence in the Bully Boy. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explained that "new poll figures continue to show declining support for President Bush and the Iraqi invasion. According to the Washington Post and ABC News, less than one-quarter of the population thinks the nation is on the right track. Six out of ten Americans think the Iraq war has not been worth fighting."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 person dead from a Baghdad roadside bombing this morning, 2 people dead from a Baghdad roadside bombing this evening (seven more wounded) and a Diyala province roadside bombing wounded one police officer.
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the Baghdad assassination of "a manager department in Baghdad municipality at Al-Ghadeer neighborhood".
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad, 3 corpses discovered in Mosul and two corpses "between Tikrit and Dour". Reuters notes that the three in Mosul climbed 4 to make seven corpses total (one was decapitated).
On violence, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) observes, "2007 is on pace to be the deadliest year on record for U.S. troops since the invasion more than four years ago. According to the Associated Press, at least eight-hundred-forty-seven American service members have died in Iraq this year. With less than two months left it's the second-highest annual U.S. toll of the Iraq occupation." The easiest way to track the dead in 2007 is to remember that the 3,000 mark was reached December 31, 2006.
Two items quickly. WBAI's Law and Disorder -(hosted by Dalia Hashad, Heidi Boghosian, Michael Ratner and Michael Smith), Ratner noted the people need to be contacting their senators to oppose the confirmation of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. Ratner gave out the switchboard number (202) 224-3121 -- call that and ask for senators serving on the committe and/or your own senators. More information at the program's website and here at the Center for Constitutional Rights and here at the National Lawyers Guild. And in the report Ruth noted, "'The sixth and final hearing,' as the PDF format announcement words it, will take place next Friday, November the 9th, in Seattle, Washington. The timing is four p.m. to eleven p.m. and the location is Town Hall Seattle on 1119 Eight Avenue."
iraq
aiden delgadojoshua casteeljohn hartl
robert przybylskijohn vandiver
ashleigh higginsrachel cohen
suzanne swift
sara rich
democracy nowamy goodman
nora ephron
karen deyoungthe washington postmatthew schofield
bobby caina calvanmcclatchy newspapers
the new york times
helene cooper
law and disorder
michael ratner
michael smith
dalia hashad
heidi boghosian
Canada's Leader-Post has one article that contains five reviews so I believe I can excerpt one of the five brief ones. I will also note that one of the albums I want to review before the end of the year is covered in this review, so, if you're curious, you can read the article:
Sparse, clear and uncluttered, Joni Mitchell's Shine satisfies so well because these fresh-sounding melodies set the perfect contrasting mood for her political messages.
The first original work in a decade, save for a wacky re-work of her classic "Big Yellow Taxi," Mitchell has set out to speak sternly about issues like war and the environment, and wrap it nicely in classic, subtle sounds. She has her hands over everything, playing the bulk of the instruments. The meandering mix of horns, guitar and piano create songs of that dip into folk, jazz and classical.
The CD begins with a sweet instrumental, and what follows are Mitchell's patient, careful look at the world around us.
In the song "Bad Dreams," Mitchell delivers a sultry jazz piece and sings: "The cellphones zombies babble, through the shopping malls, while candors fall from Indian Skies, whales beach and die in sand."
She's painted a beautiful picture of a world she finds ugly.
-- Andrew Matte
I love Shine and I'm so glad to see it get some positive reviews. If you haven't checked out Joni Mitchell's Shine, please make a point to. West e-mailed that his parents found it at Borders Books (you can also get it at Starbucks) and he was, "Joni who?" (West is a teenager.) Then they were playing it and now he wants his own copy. For those wondering, I'm working this week and next and then plan to get back out on the road with Ava and C.I.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, November 5, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, big meetup in DC, violence in the US military, and more.
Starting with war resistance. John Hartl (Seattle Times) reviews the new documentary by Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimber, Soldiers of Conscience, which examines war resistance, and Hartl notes, "Two of the conscientious objectors, charismatic Aidan Delgado (who leans toward Buddhism) and straight-arrow Joshua Casteel (a patriotic, evangical Christian), are given honorable discharges after they refuse to kill in Iraq. Delgado, who finds himself incapable of using arms 'designed to roast people,' honors one rule: 'Don't take life.' Interrogating an Abu Ghraib jihadist who challenges his commitment to Jesus' teachings, Casteel becomes defensive and self-doubting and finally opts out of the service."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, 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, Blake LeMoine, 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, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty 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 [(877) 447-4487], 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.
Staying with the topic of the US military. Courage to Resist reports that a recent story on "search and avoid" missions (which the New York Times described last year -- without identifying it as such) has received attention for one active duty soldier: "The Army has begun a very official 'unofficial investigation of out-spoken Iraq veteran Eli Wright, an active duty soldier at Fort Drum, New York. Apparently the story below prompted right-wing bloggers to press the military to take action against Eli -- for either the actions decribed, or simply talking about them. The military might take action to keep 'search and avoid' missions from again becoming an 'open secret' -- as during the Vietnam War."
Turning to the topic of AWOL, Robert Przbylski (noted here and here) is missing. The Army captain was stationed in Germany, due to deploy to Iraq early next year and has disappeared last month. John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) reported last week that the military is moving towards reclassifying him: "Today, Przbylski is the only officer in U.S. Army Europe to be listed absent without leave, a position he's been in since Oct. 10. And in a matter of days he faces the prospect of being classified as a deserter, which takes effect after 30 consecutive days of unauthorized absence. As authorities investigate the case, the circumstances surrounding Przbylski's disappearance remain shrouded in mystery." Przybylski's father refused comment to Vandiver. What is know is that Robert Przybylski remains misisng.
Also known is that Ashleigh Higgins was discharged from the US military in July 2006. Over a year ago. She had been in the IRR -- Individual Ready Reserve. Rachel Cohen (The Daily Review) reports that Higgins, who gave birth less than four months ago, has been informed that she must report for duty at Fort Jackson November 11th where she will receive training before being shipped off to Iraq "for up to 400 days" and that not only does she have a newborn, she has no one to take care of it since her husband Daniel is in the Oakland Police Department's police academy and her mother just had surgery and can't pick up any baby -- not even her granddaughter Gabriela. Higgins has found that the military has no desire to work with her thus far. She's been told to fill out a deferment form and report to Fort Jackson at which point something may be decided. Women have been the military for some time and that they want to pull a new mother away from an infant -- a new mother who was discharged over 15 months ago -- goes to just how hard up the military currently is. The guidelines, not suprisingly, for deferments note things such as the potential for a four to six month delay if you are getting married but say nothing about pregnancy. Apparently the US military hasn't noted that women have been serving for some time. Cohen reports that when Higgins informed her superiors that she was pregnant, she was 'rewarded' with being ordered to do push-ups and to run.
Is that really surprising considering the US military's attitude towards women? Nicole Sotelo (WeNews) observes of the realities for some US women married to service members, "It's the principle of the Golden Rule in action. The United States is giving and therefore getting violence in return. The battlefields of Iraq become the battlefields in our homes and neighborhoods in the shape of domestic violence." Sotelo notes that statistics ("military families have a domestic violence rate three to five times higher than the general U.S. population") and that "The U.S. war in Iraq has produced numerous reports of U.S. male soldiers assaulting both Iraqi women and fellow U.S. female soldiers. These soldiers are not assailants by nature, but have been traumatized by the violence of war and now act out that violence against the innocent in Iraq and in the United States upon their return." On the treatment of female service members, Matthew D. LaPlanet (Salt Lake Tribune) covers the topic beginning with Amanda Blume haveing to face soldiers screaming at her ("Why won't you date any of us, b**ch?") beofre kicking her barracks door down and then had to fight off an assault by the men and, GET THIS, "Army commanders charged her with assault." Blume recounts a too familiar story of a command that just didn't give a damn and quotes Blume explaining of how she got charged, "They told me they knew I had hit one of those guys and that was the only thing they could prove." Faced with extending her time in the military to fight the charges, "Blume accepted the charge". Now if you're thinking, "Well her door was kicked down and why exactly did the US military think a group of drunken men were showing up at her door, kicking it down and entering her room in the night to begin with, turns out that the 'investigation' never even bothered to send anyone out to examine the door. The military says three members were punished -- Blume is one of the three -- and Blume reveals that one of the other two punished was a man "who was a senior enlisted soldier who had come to her defense after she ran out of the building." It gets better. The punishment she received for hitting the man (who assaulted her)? He was already supposed to be "under orders to stay away" from her because he had been stalking her.
Now stop a minute and put it all together. At night, a group of men show up at her door, kick it in, and one of them wants to whine that she hit him. Even if the US military is unable to prove the men were drunk, they know damn well that if the poor baby struck is "under orders to stay away" from her, he had no business being in her room. Blume notes her regrets over not fighting it (she just wanted out of the military) and notes that the week before she was finally released "her sergeant, a man she considered a friend . . . chased her into a field and choked her into unconsciousness after she refused his order to stay at at his home after a party there." Now this time, pay attention Congress, it didn't go the way it had before even though the man knew to swear charges first. It was off base so a civilian assault: "Lawton, Okla., city prosecutors prepared a criminal complaint against Blume, but ripped up the charges after speaking to her -- and seeing the bruises on her neck" and the man, Larnelle Lewis, and he refused to contest the three counts of misdemanor assault. Even so, he got a slap on the wrist at the sentencing and Blume didn't know that because she was even advised that the sentencing was taking place. Though convicted, Lewis faced no penalties from the US military -- no reduction in rank, nothing. Sara Rich is quoted in the article explaining, "It's just so typical. The women get blamed. My daughter went to prison instead of getting the help she needed. She was ridiculed and put in jail and reduced in rank. She was treated like the criminal."
Rich's daughter is of course Suzanne Swift. Swift was assaulted and harassed repeatedly as she served in Iraq. There was no punishment for that. When she reported it, it was ignored. When she reported it again it was thought that Swift needed to take a class to learn how not to 'tempt' men because surely every woman who is assaulted -- in the US military's mind -- is just begging for it. In the US military's mind, who doesn't love that kind of attention? Swift got sick of it, as any woman would, and when she was back in the US on leave, since the US military REFUSED to address the command rape, the harassment, the assaults, Swift self-checked out proving that she had far more sanity than the US military which thought the way to address the situation was to flat-out ignore it. The response was to handcuff her and haul her off from her mother's house, to refuse to give her treatment for PTSD, to do a whitewash investigation (that, even so, found some of Swift's charges to be true) and to try to bully her into recanting the truth. Because she wouldn't lie, the US military court-martialed her, she spent thirty days in prison and she's in the service -- the same service where she was regularly assaulted -- until 2009. You might think the US Congress would practice some of that "oversight" that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can't shut up about; however, the reality is that just as the US military failed Suzanne Swift so did the US Congress. Sara Rich stands without any government body to help her daughter. To this day. Swift needs to be immediately and honorably discharged, with full benefits. That the US Congress will not take up this issue goes to just how worthless the Pelosi-led House and the Reid-led Senate are. Remember right after the 2006 elections, in November, when Pelosi blogged (at The Huffington Post): "I told my colleagues yesterday that the biggest ethical issue facing our country for the past three and a half years is the war in Iraq"? That would be the same illegal war that nearly one year later (six days shy of one year) still drags on though Pelosi did endorse a few toothless, symbolic measures. Is there a reason Pelosi refuses to champion Swift's release? Or is it just another sign of how useless Pelosi's 'leadership' has been? Or as Nora Ephron (The Huffington Post) notes of the Dems in Congres: "What a bunch of losers, hiding behind the fact that it takes 60 votes to shut down debate and 67 votes to override a presidential veto. So what? So pass a law and make Bush veto it. Make him veto something every single day. Drive the guy crazy. What have you got to lose? And meanwhile what have you done? You've voted for the surge, you've voted to authorize a war against Iran, and you're about to vote in favor an attorney general-designate who refuses to call waterboarding torture." And as former CIA analyst Ray McGovern (at Consortium News) observes of an earlier illegal war (Vietnam), "Why did we leave? Only because, despite continued lying by the administration then in power, Congress belatedly woke up to the fact that the war was unwinnable, admitted that for the previous ten years Congress had been wrong, and finally cut off funding for the war. Even then, Congress was not leading; rather it was reacting to a storm of protest across the land." McGovern is calling for action and calling for US troops to withdraw. He also castigates US Senator Joseph Biden as "co-opted." And it's no different across the Atlantic. Madeleine Bunting (Guardian of London) calls out the inaction, "Government ministers now talk of Iraq as a tragedy, as if it was a natural disaster and they had no hand in its making. There's a public revolusion at the violent sectarian struggles best summed up as 'a plague on all their houses', as even the horror gives way to exhaustion. The irony is that in this great age of communications and saturation media, this is perhaps the most important war to become nigh on impossible to report. Unless the reporter is embedded with the occupation forces, it takes either terrifying courage or extraordinary ingenuity to bring images to our screens of those caught up in the awful maelstrom of this imploded country. Without the human stories that bring people and their suffering so vividly to life, there is little chance of public opinon re-engaging with the biggest political calamity of our time. The Iraq war represents the end of the media as a major actor in war."
Turning to the conflict between Turkey and northern Iraq. Today, in DC, the Bully Boy met with the Turkish prime minister. Prior to that there were other meet ups. Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported Saturday on the dissatisfaction Ali Babacan, Foreign Minister for Turkey, was expressing "at a news conference with Secretary of State Conoleezza Rice in Ankara" where he declared, "We need to work on actually making things happen. This is where the words end and action needs to start." Matthew Scholfield (McClatchy Newspapers) also noted the Friday meet-up and how Rice was tossing around terms like "terrorist organization" (PKK) and "common enemy" (ibid) but the White House "has assured Turkey at least four times that it would take action against the PKK, as it's known in its Kurdish initials, but hasn't done so, in part because there are no U.S. troops in Iraq available for such a mission." Yesterday, Helene Cooper and Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) noted that puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki was painting "a rosy picture" of what was being done as he told Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, and Rice that Iraq was getting tough -- why, they just shut down two "offices of a political party affiliated with the PKK" but, as Cooper and Oppel explained, "a senior party official, Dr. Abu Bakr Majid, said later the party members had been told to go home but had not been ordered out of the city, and that officers told them their computers and other equipment would not be removed." Also on Sunday, Selcuk Gokoluk (Reuters) reported that the 8 Turkish soldiers captured last month by the PKK were released and the US military was hailing it as an accomplished for the puppet government of Iraq. Today Bobby Caina Calvan (McClatchy Newspapers) reported reality -- "U.S. officials served as the go-between in the release of eight Turkish soldiers who'd been caputer" and the doubts Turkey continued to have regarding the weight of the words the White House and the puppet government in Iraq were tossing around. As Jim Muir (BBC) postulates today, "The timing of the release was probably no coincidence. It gave US President George W Bush something new and positive to point to when he met an angry Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan" today in DC. Ross Colvin (Reuters) revealed Sunday that Saturday the Iraqi government announced that instead of holding a vote next month on whether to make the oil rich Kirkuk part of "Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region," the vote has been postponed for two years and Colvin notes that experts state "the dispute over the city's status could trigger and explosion of violence and possibly draw in neighbouring Turkey unless it is carefully handled." Carol Glatz (Catholic News Service) reports, "Pope Benedict XVI called for a peaceful solution to mouthing tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq" yesterday and that he noted a large number of those fleeing the region were Christians. Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) examines the realities of life in Baghdad for the Catholic Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly who notes that a number of Iraqi Christians live in north Iraq, that it and Baghdad were the traditional areas in which they lived, that an estimated one million have fled the country and quotes him stating, "I am not happy when people ask, 'How is the situation for Christians?' Those who kill don't kill only Christians. They kill Muslims as well -- the situation is the same for both."
Prior to the meetup between Erdogan and Bully Boy today in DC, White House flack Dana Perino outlined the planned topics for the meet up and then took questions -- very few on Turkey as one reporter noted ("The situation in Pakistan has kind of overshadowed the situation with Turkey") -- replying to the issue of the PKK that she thought "the Turks understand that we are fully committed to helping them eradicate the PKK. We understand the threat; we agree the PKK are terrorists and they should be stopped." At the US State Department press briefing today, Turkey was not raised. Rather surprising since this was the first DC briefing since Rice was dealing with the issue on Friday and Saturday.) CBS and AP report of the meetup between Erdogan and Bully Boy that intel was offered (sharing of intel was actually offered last week) and Bully Boy pleged that "top military figures from the United States and Turkey would be in more regular contact in an effort to track the movement of guerrilla fighters" (again, they have heard that before -- at least as far as April 2004). At stake, as Deborah Haynes (Times of London) notes, was whether or not "the prospect of a new and perilous front of fighting in Iraq" -- between Turkey and northern Iraq -- could be put off. Vicent Boland (Financial Times of London) observes, "Mr Erdogan is under intense pressure to order a large-scale military incursion into northern Iraq to pursue the PKK, which has killed nearly 50 Turkish soldiers and civilians in the past month." The meet up took place as new polls show continued lack of confidence in the Bully Boy. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explained that "new poll figures continue to show declining support for President Bush and the Iraqi invasion. According to the Washington Post and ABC News, less than one-quarter of the population thinks the nation is on the right track. Six out of ten Americans think the Iraq war has not been worth fighting."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 person dead from a Baghdad roadside bombing this morning, 2 people dead from a Baghdad roadside bombing this evening (seven more wounded) and a Diyala province roadside bombing wounded one police officer.
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the Baghdad assassination of "a manager department in Baghdad municipality at Al-Ghadeer neighborhood".
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad, 3 corpses discovered in Mosul and two corpses "between Tikrit and Dour". Reuters notes that the three in Mosul climbed 4 to make seven corpses total (one was decapitated).
On violence, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) observes, "2007 is on pace to be the deadliest year on record for U.S. troops since the invasion more than four years ago. According to the Associated Press, at least eight-hundred-forty-seven American service members have died in Iraq this year. With less than two months left it's the second-highest annual U.S. toll of the Iraq occupation." The easiest way to track the dead in 2007 is to remember that the 3,000 mark was reached December 31, 2006.
Two items quickly. WBAI's Law and Disorder -(hosted by Dalia Hashad, Heidi Boghosian, Michael Ratner and Michael Smith), Ratner noted the people need to be contacting their senators to oppose the confirmation of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. Ratner gave out the switchboard number (202) 224-3121 -- call that and ask for senators serving on the committe and/or your own senators. More information at the program's website and here at the Center for Constitutional Rights and here at the National Lawyers Guild. And in the report Ruth noted, "'The sixth and final hearing,' as the PDF format announcement words it, will take place next Friday, November the 9th, in Seattle, Washington. The timing is four p.m. to eleven p.m. and the location is Town Hall Seattle on 1119 Eight Avenue."
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aiden delgadojoshua casteeljohn hartl
robert przybylskijohn vandiver
ashleigh higginsrachel cohen
suzanne swift
sara rich
democracy nowamy goodman
nora ephron
karen deyoungthe washington postmatthew schofield
bobby caina calvanmcclatchy newspapers
the new york times
helene cooper
law and disorder
michael ratner
michael smith
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heidi boghosian
Friday, November 02, 2007
When Hillary won the nomination?
Okay, I'm not a Hillary Clinton supporter. Everyone knows that or should. But have you heard the latest nonsense from Barack Obama? From Reuters:
Democrat Barack Obama accused rival Hillary Clinton on Friday of hiding behind her gender after her campaign complained six male candidates engaged in "the politics of pile on" at a debate.
Now look, Hillary's gender is clear. She is a female. If anyone's been hiding, it's been Barack Obama whose whole campaign is built around being "Black" when he is bi-racial. That's not a minor thing. He's been considered the "right kind" because he's not "too Black." That's what Joe Biden was getting at with his praise for Obama when contrasted with Jesse Jackson and others.
Jesse Jackson is an African-American. He's not hiding behind anything. He wouldn't forget who he is and he knows the press wouldn't let him forget it. But Barack's fumbles and stumbles with the whole "gospel concert" (featuring a homophobe who was allowed to express his homophobia from the stage and Obama's campaign did not even call it out afterwards) is a sign of someone who does not see themselves as part of Black culture and is desperate to figure out how to appeal to African-Americans. "I know! A gospel concert!" This from the man who has repeatedly and publicly put distance between himself and the pastor of his church.
So when he's not insulting African-Americans or gays and lesbians, he's got to figure out whom to insult next. Apparently it's women.
Five men decided to pile onto Clinton in an alleged 'debate' this week. Now none have called Obama out on the fact that his friend and supporter is now under indictment. None have called Obama out on his anti-war posturing when he was against withdrawal before he was elected to the Senate and he voted for the continuation of the illegal war contiuously until last summer.
But Hillary is fair game and they all want to carve her up?
If I'd said what Chris Dodd said about immigrants, I don't think I'd be trashing Hillary. And it's a sign of what a dog-pile it was that his offensive comments have not received significant press attention.
It's equally true that this isn't one man doing it. This is pretty much everyone except Bill Richardson -- who called it out in the 'debate'. I guess Bill Richardson, Obama would aruge, is playing a card as well.
No, Bill Richardson was noting the obvious facts. And Barack's an idiot, we all know that, because this isn't going away. This is like the Hill-Thomas hearings and women are registering what happened to Hillary. And they will continue to do so. It was a huge mis-step on the part of Edwards and Obama. And C.I. and Rebecca were saying for weeks that if it happened it would backfire on the two men. They are right.
I don't like the woman, I have no interest in voting for her and I feel sorry for her. Let me repeat that, I feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. As a woman, I'm offended by how she was treated on stage. And, again, I don't like her.
Instead of trying to spin it, Barack Obama should drop it and find something else to push because he and Edwards look like trash right now. And this isn't something women are going to forget or let go of.
Maggie and Toni despise Hillary almost as much as I do and they're offended on her behalf. This is only going to grow and all Edwards and Obama have done is make Hillary a sympathetic figure. The more they pursue this, the more women will close ranks on this issue because we've all been through that. We've all had some guy cozy up and act like he respects us and wants to be our friends but when he gets another guy around him, suddenly they have the 'manly' power to rip us apart.
This is messing with something very cultural and very relatable. If Hillary does end up with the nomination (which I hope she doesn't), people will look back at this and grasp how significant it was. And, for the record, offline C.I.'s had a much more in depth critique of how this would play out which included citing how Republican women -- by name -- have benfitted from these sort of attacks. It's never a win and Obama's just digging the hole deeper. Maybe he wants a grave to bury his political career in?
Meanwhile the newbie senator whose presidential campaign is imploding was elected in november 2004 to be a US senator. He was sworn in January 2005. But he thinks he's ready to be president. And yet? CNN reports:
Sen. Barack Obama has missed the most votes of any Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate over the last two months, including a vote on an Iran resolution he has blasted Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting.
The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.
And on that bad vote by Clinton (I don't dispute it was a bad vote) that Obama keeps throwing in her face but he didn't bother to vote on:
Obama was campaigning in New Hampshire when the vote was taken. His campaign blamed his absence on the short notice given when the vote was scheduled. But two senior Democratic Senate aides said senators were advised the night before that the vote would occur the next day.
If the pick-up in that story, Obama missed the vote he's criticizing Hillary for, seems familiar it's because we've made it for weeks in this community.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, November 2, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Barack Obama sits down with the New York Times and flashes his War Hawk, and more.
Starting with war resistance. War resister Joshua Key told his story in The Deserter's Tale and now Key's book is among those optioned to tell the story of the illegal war on the big screen. Eric Jordan has optioned Key's story. Jordan and partner Paul Stephens began their producing careers with documentaries made for television at The Film Works, their Toronto based production company. Their latest release is Beowulf and Grendel in 2005 featuring Sarah Polley and many others. Josh Getlin (Los Angeles Times) quotes Jordan, "I didn't set out to make a pro-Iraq war movie or an anti-Iraq war movie. I wanted to make a movie about people under pressure, real people, and the fact that this is complex world. Just imagine what this kid went through, never dreaming he'd desert the U.S. Army. That's a great book -- and a great movie." And a story that needs to be told. Time and again, war resisters who go public cite the internet overwhelming. Helga and Agustin Aguayo have also cited David Zeiger's documentary of resistance within the military during Vietnam, Sir! No Sir! If Jordan is able to bring Key's story to the screen, it will have an impact.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, 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, Blake LeMoine, 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, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty 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 [(877) 447-4487], 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.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
Turning to US politics. Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) summarizes the state of Senator Barack Obama's Democratic presidential primary campaign, "For months Obama was the political flavor of the month, wooed by fawning celebrities, and promoted by the corporate media. The stamp of approval from the right people had him sitting firmly atop an enormous pile of campaign cash. Now his deep pocketed contributors are showing signs of buyers' remorse, miffed because he is only neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in Iowa and trailing behind her in New Hampshire. Obama has been hoisted on his own petard. He assured Democrats that he was 'safe.' He openly scorned movement politics, and made the appeal of color blindness his calling card. He chose neo-con Bush suck-up Joe Lieberman as his Senate mentor. His criticisms of the evil occupation of Iraq focused not on murder and theft committed by Uncle Sam, but by the traumatized Iraqs' efforts to deal with an American-created hellish existence. Leaving 'all options on the table' is part of the Obama stump speech on Iran." On the subject of Iran, Barack Obama appears on the front page of this morning's New York Times. War pornographer Michael Gordon and Jeff Zeleny who lied in print (click here, here and here -- the paper finally retracted Zeleny's falsehood that should have never appeared) present a view of Barack Obama that's hardly pleasing. Among the many problems with the article is that Obama as portrayed in the article -- and his campaign has issued no statement clarifying. The Times has the transcript online and from it, Barack Obama does mildly push the unproven claim that the Iranian government is supporting resistance in Iraq. Gordo's pushed that unproven claim repeatedly for over a year now. But Obama's remarks appear more of a reply and partial points in lengthy sentences -- not the sort of thing a functioning hard news reporter would lead with in an opening paragraph, touch on again in the third paragraph, in the fourth paragraph, in . . . But though this isn't the main emphasis of Obama's statements (at any time -- to be clear, when it pops up, it is a fleeting statement in an overly long, multi-sentenced paragraphs), it does go to the fact that Obama is once again reinforcing unproven claims of the right wing. In the transcript, he comes off as obsessed with Hillary Clinton. After her, he attempts to get a few jabs in at John Edwards and one in at Bill Richardson. Here is what real reporters should have made the lede of the front page: "Presidential candidate and US Senator Barack Obama who is perceived as an 'anti-war' candidate by some announced that he would not commit to a withdrawal, declared that he was comfortable sending US troops back into Iraq after a withdrawal started and lacked clarity on exactly what a withdrawal under a President Obama would mean." That is what the transcript reveals. Gordo really needs to let go of his blood lust for war with Iran.
Writing up a report, Gordo and Zeleny are useless but, surprisingly, they do a strong job with some of their questions. The paper should have printed up the transcript. If they had, people might be wondering about the 'anti-war' candidate. He maintains Bill Richardson is incorrect on how quickly US troops could be withdrawan from Iraq. Obama states that it would take at least 16 months which makes one wonder how long, if elected, it would take him to move into the White House? If you can grab a strainer or wade through Obama's Chicken Sop For The Soul, you grasp quickly why he refused to pledge (in September's MSNBC 'debate') that, if elected president, he would have all US troops out of Iraq by 2013: He's not talking all troops home. He tries to fudge it, he tries to hide it but it's there in the transcript. He doesn't want permanent military bases in Iraq -- he appears to want them outside of Iraq -- such as Kuwait. But he doesn't see the US embassy in Iraq -- the largest US embassy in the world as a base. However, he does feel that even after the illegal war was ended, US troops would need to remain behind in order guard the embassy and the staff. In addition, it becomes clear that he will keep US troops in Iraq to train the Iraqi police. Because?
The reporters don't think to ask. Here's a slice of reality, the US military is not trained to train police officers. Here's another to drop on the plate, Jordan was training them. Jordan got pushed aside around the half-way mark of 2006. If Obama wanted to pull US troops out of Iraq, the most obvious solution is to turn over the duty of training police officers to a non-military force. Along with needing those for trainers, he needs some to protect the trainers. Gordo gets to the point asking, "So how will you protect the trainers without forces in Iraq?" His answer is an embarrassment, he'd could keep the trainers out of potentially difficult situations. And in Iraq, that would be where? In addition, he would keep troops in Iraq for counter-terrorism (but not, he insists, counter-insurgency). If this doesn't all sound familiar, you slept through this spring and summer when Congressional Dems tried repeatedly to convince the American people that "all troops out of Iraq" could also mean that US troops stay to train, as military police, to fight terrorism, etc. While he's off talking al Qaeda in Iraq (a small number and one most observers state will be forced out by Iraqis when US troops leave) and working in more attacks on Senator Clinton, it's noted that he has "a more expansive approach to Iraq than she does in that you identify in your plan the possiblity of going back into Iraq to protect the populartion if there's an all-out civil war. . . . And providing monitors to help the population relocate and go after war criminals. Those are three elements -- those are new missions for Americans after Iraq that she doesn't postulate." What follows is a comical exchange:
Obama: But they aren't necessarily military missions.
NYT: But how do you go back into Iraq without military forces?
Obama: No, no, no, no, no. You conflated three things. The latter two that you are talked about are not military missions. Let's just be clear about that.
NYT: An armed escort is not a military mission?
Though Obama says he wants "to be clear," he refuses to answer that yes or no question and the interview is over.
So let's be clear that the 'anti-war' Obama told the paper he would send troops back into Iraq. Furthermore, when asked if he would be willing to do that unilaterally, he attempts to beg off with, "We're talking too speculatively right now for me to answer." But this is his heavily pimped September (non)plan, dusted off again, with a shiny new binder. The story is that Barack Obama will NOT bring all US troops home. Even if the illegal war ended, Obama would still keep troops stationed in Iraq (although he'd really, really love it US forces could be stationed in Kuwait exclusively), he would still use them to train (the police0 and still use them to protect the US fortress/embassy and still use them to conduct counter-terrorism actions. Margaret Kimberley (cited at the opening of this section on politics) called it correctly. Meanwhile Ruth Conniff (The Progressive) weighs in on the alleged Democratic 'debate' this week, dubbing it "pile-on-Hillary night," and wondering what the point of it really was: "But hanging over all this is the specter of the $90 million Hillary had raised by the middle of October. That huge amount of cash so outstrips the other candidates, it seems like a silly game of make-believe to pretend that a clever quip during a debate, or even the extremely important and legistimate points the candidates made last night, could change the dynamic of the race. It doesn't matter how trenchant your comments are if you are drowned out by the amplified voice of a frontrunner who can buy all the airtime that's left in this extremely short primary season." Also noting the heavy donations from big business is Bruce Dixon (Black Agenda Report), "For Democratic and Republican wings of America's permanent ruling party, the all-important selection which precedes the election isn't about poll numbers, votes or the citizens that cast them. It's about winning the favor of military contractors, the banking and financial sectors and Big Oil. It's about reassuring insurance and pharmaceutical companies, cozying up to agribusiness, the cable and telecom monopolies, allaying the fears of chambers of commerce, and wooing Hollywood." Dixon goes on to note the industries pouring big money in Obama and Clinton's campaigns, notes PEJ's tracking of the first six months of mainstream press coverage of the candidates this year -- Obama received more positive coverage from the mainstream than any other candidate for president -- almost 20% more than Hillary Clinton and approximately 19% more than Rudy Giuliani -- and concludes that the Dem presidential ticket will be Clinton-Obama (Clinton for president).
Meanwhile US House Rep and Democratic presidential nominee contender Dennis Kucinich announced that he is calling for House vote next week. On? Impeachment of Cheney. Kucinich: "The momentum is building for impeachment. Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power. Despite this groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of office, Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting the power of the executive branch is supreme. Congress must hold the Vice President accountable. The American people need to let Members of Congress know how they feel about this. The Vice President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will ensure decades of disastrous consequences." His office notes, "The privileged resolution has priority status for consideration on the House floor. Once introduced, the resolution has to be brought to the floor within two legislative days, although the House could act on it immediately. Kucinich is expected to bring it to the House floor on Tuesday, November 6."
Kucinich was among those participating in a bi-partisan forum for candidates (Republican John McCain participated by phone, all others were Democrats). Holly Ramer (AP) reports that the forum, geared to address concerns of the disabled community, resulted in participation from Dem presidential candidates Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Mike Gravel. John Edwards sent a flack to address the group.
Turning to the Green Party. Kimberly Wilder (On the Wilder Side) has posted Cynthia McKinney's declaration of candidacy. The form shows McKinney's signature with a date of October 16th next to it and the FEC (US Federal Elections Commission) lists October 22nd as the filing date. The Green Party of the United States notes, "Always a lightning rod for those who believe a woman's place is in the kitchen, Congressomwan Cynthia McKinney was the first Black woman elected to Georgia's state legislature. With rules that required she wear a dress ont he state house floor, she chose instead to wear a smart pants suit, letting them know that the days of the 'Good Ole Boy' system were a thing of the past. Now, she may be carrying that same message about the two-party system. Controversial not only for her choice of clothing, McKinney has spoken out against the war on Iraq from the beginning, and anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan calls her 'My friend who's running for President.' McKinney is being actively pursued by the Green Party as their nominee in 2008. Local Green Party chair Gregg Jocoy has already endorsed her possible run, saying, 'We had Ralph Nader on our ballot line in 2000, and that brought us recruits and supporters who are with us to this day. I know Cynthia McKinney will bring an entirely new and energized group of people to our side. Then it's our job to show them that we mean business." At All Things Cynthia McKinney, McKinney has posted an audio clip where she explains why she has declared herself a member of the Green Party "and when I vote Green I will vote my values." McKinney was elected to Congress six times as a member of the Democratic Party (1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004). Is McKinney running for president? She concludes her audio message with, "I promise to announce my decision in November." Along with being a leading voice against the war in Congress, the Green Party also notes, "McKinney, who served a dozen years in Congress, filed impeachment papers on President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Sec. of State Rice as her last official act."
As noted Wednesday, Ralph Nader also intends to announce his decision of whether to run for president or not by the end of the year. On Wednesday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) spoke with attorney Carl Mayer about the lawsuit being filed regarding attempts in 2004 to deny Nader ballot access. Over the summer, Ian Wilder filmed Nader discussing the ballot access issue and Ian and Kimberly Wilder have posted the video at their site On the Wilder Side. They have also made it available at YouTube.
Turning to some of today's reported violence in Iraq . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a bridge bombing Thursday night in the Diyala. Reuters notes three injured in a Ramadi bombing and a Diwaniya roadside bombing that claimed the life of 1 Polish soldiers with three more wounded. Counting today's death -- Andrzej Filipek, Poland has lost 23 troops in the illegal war. BBC reports, "The three injured soldiers are being treated in a hospital near the scene of the blast. The incident follows the attempted assassination in October of the Polish Ambassador to Iraq, Edward Pietrzyk."
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Gunmen opened fire on two pupils on Thursday afternoon near Tuz Khurmatu (south of Kirkuk) during their return from school in (Beer Ahmed) village killing one and injuring the other."
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Also today, the US military announced: "Three Airmen were killed Nov. 1 while performing combat operations in the vicinity of Balad Air Base, Iraq. All three were assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Balad AB."
Staying with violence:
Apparently there is one set of rights for Blackwater mercenaries and another for the rest of us. Normally when a group of people alleged to have gunned down 17 civilians in a lawless shooting spree are questioned, investigators will tell them something along the lines of: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." But that is not what the Blackwater operatives involved in the September 16 Nisour Square shooting in Iraq were told. Most of the Blackwater shooters were questioned by State Department Diplomatic Security investigators with the understanding that their statements and information gleaned from them could not be used to bring criminal charges against them, nor could they be introduced as evidence. In other words: "Anything you say can't and won't be used against you in a court of law."
ABC News obtained copies of sworn statements given by Blackwater guards in the immediate aftermath of the shootings, all of which begin, "I understand this statement is being given in furtherance of an official administrative inquiry," and that, "I further understand that neither my statements nor any information or evidence gained by reason of my statements can be used against me in a criminal proceeding." Constitutional law expert Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, says the offering of so-called "use immunity" agreements by the State Department is "very irregular," adding he could not recall a precedent for it. In normal circumstances, Ratner said, such immunity is only granted after a Grand Jury or Congressional committee has been conveyed and the party has invoked their 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination. It would then be authorized by either a judge or the committee.
That's Jeremy Scahill (Huffington Post via Common Dreams) on this week's big development with regards to the mercneary company -- the US State Department's own investigators offered Blackwater 'guards' immunity (limited-immunity, they insist) for their 'cooperation' in the investigation into the slaughter. On Wednesday Aram Roston (NBC News) reported, "Federal agents are investigating allegations that the Blackwater USA security firm illegally exported dozens of firearms sound suppressors -- commonly known as silencers -- to
Iraq and other countries for use by company operatives, sources close to the investigation tell NBC News. . . . The sources said the investigation is part of a broader examination of potential firearms and export violations." Meanwhile, the only US governmental entity to hold Blackwater accountable is the IRS. To avoid paying taxes, FICA, et al, Blackwater was categorizing its employees as contract labor. The IRS overruled that. Yesterday, US Senator John Kerry notified Steven C. Preston, head of the U.S. Small Business Adminstration by letter that he needs answers regarding a Blackwater affilate, Presidential Airways, Inc, and requesting "A thorough analysis of the size determination made regarding Blackwater; The information that was relied on in making the size determination; The number of employees and independent contractors Blackwater and each of its affiliates or related companies listed in Size Determination Memorandum File Number 3-2007-3-4-5 were ddetermined to have through the SBA's analysis; The number (and location) of site visits that were done to confirm any information Blackwater or its affiliates provided; How the SBA used the Twenty Factor Common Law Test in making the size determination; Any additional materials related to other size determinations involving Blackwater USA or any of its affiliates." And on oversight . . . Jeremy Scahill addressed Blackwater on PBS' Bill Moyers Journal October 19th. He also answered questions the following week. One viewer asked about North Carolina's oversight responsibilities. Scahill replied, "I think this would be an important development. One of the interesting -- some might say distrubing -- aspects of Blackwater's presence in the US national security apparatus is its facilites. The main Blackwater headquarters in Moyock, North Carolina is a sprawling 7,000 acre private military base -- the largest of its kind in the world. The company has also been building a parallel network to the structure of the offical government apparatus. The Prince empire now includes an aviation division, a maritime division, an intelligence company and Blackwater manufactures both surveillance blimps and armored vehicles. It recently opened a new Blackwater facility in Illinois called 'Blackwater North' and is fighting back fierce local opposition to a planned 800+ acre facility in Poterero, California, just miles from the US-Mexico border. The Congressman who represents that district, Democrat Bob Filner, recently inroduced legislation seeking to block the creation of what he terms 'mercenary training centers' anywhere in the U.S. outside of military bases. While that is obviously at the federal level, it would be interesting to get basic questions answered about the legal framework for such facilities in the states in which they operate."
Turning to the continued tensions and conflict between Turkey and northern Iraq. Today Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) quotes Air Force Gen. retired Joseph Ralston (whom Bully Boy appointed as his envoy to address the PKK) declaring, "The U.S. government should make good on the commitments they have made to the Turks." US Secretary State and Anger Condi Rice went to Turkey for a diplomatic meeting today. CBS and AP report that Rice declared, following the meeting, the US government's "committed to redoubling its efforts" in assisting Turkey in combating the PKK -- a group the US has labeled a "terrorist" organization. Rice's words ring as hollow as Hoshyar Zebari's, noted by Glen Carey (Bloomberg News), Iraq's Foreign Minister and Kurd -- that, yet again, Iraq's central government is serious about doing something. Rice says more talks will come tomorrow in Istanbul and Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan , meets with Bully Boy in DC on Monday. Translation, nothing has been accomplished.
From do-nothing to actual action, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explored the latest with CODEPINK today:
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to the bigger issue of CODEPINK. Actually, yesterday President Bush invoked CODEPINK's name. Let's hear what he had to say.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Congress needs to put the needs of those who put on the uniform ahead of their desire to spend more money. When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and CODEPINK protesters.
AMY GOODMAN: That's President Bush speaking yesterday. Medea Benjamin, your response?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, we think it's great that Bush mentioned us. We only wish he would have listened to us back in 2002, when we formed CODEPINK and said that invading Iraq would be a disaster. And, of course, we wish that he and Congress would listen to us now, when we say bring the troops home and don't invade Iran.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the strategy that you've employed and what it means to be banned from the Capitol. In fact, it wasn't just Desiree who was banned when she approached Condoleezza Rice; you, too, were banned that day, weren't you?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Yes. There were five of us that were pulled out of the hearing room. I was pulled out for going like this.
AMY GOODMAN: Meaning holding up a peace sign.
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Holding up my hands in a peace sign, that's right. And I face a jury trial for that unlawful conduct. And they are cracking down harder on us. We have about a dozen CODEPINK men and women right now who are banned from the Capitol, which is something we would like to get some lawyers to contest the legality of that. In the meantime, we really need more people to come forward and join us in the CODEPINK house in D.C., because we're absolutely determined that we have people in every one of these hearings where they're talking about the war. And right now, there's going to be another big moment when Bush is asking for more money for the war, and Congress is going to have to decide whether they're going to give it to him. We need to be there in their faces every single day. So our appeal to all the listeners of Democracy Now! is: come to D.C. Stay at the CODEPINK house. It's a fabulous experience. But we need you to be there when we can't.
As Ruth notes, PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, tonight in most markets Moyers examines how FCC chair Kevin Martin's push to deregulate the communications industry will threaten minority ownership and that Moyers will also provide a commentary regarding press coverage of peace rallies. PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio (also Friday night in most markets, check local listings) looks at farming and asks, "Can local farmers change course and crops and still survive in a shifting economy?" Brancaccio interviews Bill McKibben and Steven L. Hopp is also interviewed on the program while online Hopp and Barbara Kingsolver offer an excerpt of their new book. And Sunday, CBS' 60 Minutes airs Bob Simon's report on 'Curveball' -- the Iraqi exile who invented stories the administration swallowed (despite warnings) because it fit with the other lies they were using to launch an illegal war.
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ruths report
Democrat Barack Obama accused rival Hillary Clinton on Friday of hiding behind her gender after her campaign complained six male candidates engaged in "the politics of pile on" at a debate.
Now look, Hillary's gender is clear. She is a female. If anyone's been hiding, it's been Barack Obama whose whole campaign is built around being "Black" when he is bi-racial. That's not a minor thing. He's been considered the "right kind" because he's not "too Black." That's what Joe Biden was getting at with his praise for Obama when contrasted with Jesse Jackson and others.
Jesse Jackson is an African-American. He's not hiding behind anything. He wouldn't forget who he is and he knows the press wouldn't let him forget it. But Barack's fumbles and stumbles with the whole "gospel concert" (featuring a homophobe who was allowed to express his homophobia from the stage and Obama's campaign did not even call it out afterwards) is a sign of someone who does not see themselves as part of Black culture and is desperate to figure out how to appeal to African-Americans. "I know! A gospel concert!" This from the man who has repeatedly and publicly put distance between himself and the pastor of his church.
So when he's not insulting African-Americans or gays and lesbians, he's got to figure out whom to insult next. Apparently it's women.
Five men decided to pile onto Clinton in an alleged 'debate' this week. Now none have called Obama out on the fact that his friend and supporter is now under indictment. None have called Obama out on his anti-war posturing when he was against withdrawal before he was elected to the Senate and he voted for the continuation of the illegal war contiuously until last summer.
But Hillary is fair game and they all want to carve her up?
If I'd said what Chris Dodd said about immigrants, I don't think I'd be trashing Hillary. And it's a sign of what a dog-pile it was that his offensive comments have not received significant press attention.
It's equally true that this isn't one man doing it. This is pretty much everyone except Bill Richardson -- who called it out in the 'debate'. I guess Bill Richardson, Obama would aruge, is playing a card as well.
No, Bill Richardson was noting the obvious facts. And Barack's an idiot, we all know that, because this isn't going away. This is like the Hill-Thomas hearings and women are registering what happened to Hillary. And they will continue to do so. It was a huge mis-step on the part of Edwards and Obama. And C.I. and Rebecca were saying for weeks that if it happened it would backfire on the two men. They are right.
I don't like the woman, I have no interest in voting for her and I feel sorry for her. Let me repeat that, I feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. As a woman, I'm offended by how she was treated on stage. And, again, I don't like her.
Instead of trying to spin it, Barack Obama should drop it and find something else to push because he and Edwards look like trash right now. And this isn't something women are going to forget or let go of.
Maggie and Toni despise Hillary almost as much as I do and they're offended on her behalf. This is only going to grow and all Edwards and Obama have done is make Hillary a sympathetic figure. The more they pursue this, the more women will close ranks on this issue because we've all been through that. We've all had some guy cozy up and act like he respects us and wants to be our friends but when he gets another guy around him, suddenly they have the 'manly' power to rip us apart.
This is messing with something very cultural and very relatable. If Hillary does end up with the nomination (which I hope she doesn't), people will look back at this and grasp how significant it was. And, for the record, offline C.I.'s had a much more in depth critique of how this would play out which included citing how Republican women -- by name -- have benfitted from these sort of attacks. It's never a win and Obama's just digging the hole deeper. Maybe he wants a grave to bury his political career in?
Meanwhile the newbie senator whose presidential campaign is imploding was elected in november 2004 to be a US senator. He was sworn in January 2005. But he thinks he's ready to be president. And yet? CNN reports:
Sen. Barack Obama has missed the most votes of any Democratic presidential hopeful in the Senate over the last two months, including a vote on an Iran resolution he has blasted Sen. Hillary Clinton for supporting.
The Illinois Democrat has missed nearly 80 percent of all votes since September.
And on that bad vote by Clinton (I don't dispute it was a bad vote) that Obama keeps throwing in her face but he didn't bother to vote on:
Obama was campaigning in New Hampshire when the vote was taken. His campaign blamed his absence on the short notice given when the vote was scheduled. But two senior Democratic Senate aides said senators were advised the night before that the vote would occur the next day.
If the pick-up in that story, Obama missed the vote he's criticizing Hillary for, seems familiar it's because we've made it for weeks in this community.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, November 2, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Barack Obama sits down with the New York Times and flashes his War Hawk, and more.
Starting with war resistance. War resister Joshua Key told his story in The Deserter's Tale and now Key's book is among those optioned to tell the story of the illegal war on the big screen. Eric Jordan has optioned Key's story. Jordan and partner Paul Stephens began their producing careers with documentaries made for television at The Film Works, their Toronto based production company. Their latest release is Beowulf and Grendel in 2005 featuring Sarah Polley and many others. Josh Getlin (Los Angeles Times) quotes Jordan, "I didn't set out to make a pro-Iraq war movie or an anti-Iraq war movie. I wanted to make a movie about people under pressure, real people, and the fact that this is complex world. Just imagine what this kid went through, never dreaming he'd desert the U.S. Army. That's a great book -- and a great movie." And a story that needs to be told. Time and again, war resisters who go public cite the internet overwhelming. Helga and Agustin Aguayo have also cited David Zeiger's documentary of resistance within the military during Vietnam, Sir! No Sir! If Jordan is able to bring Key's story to the screen, it will have an impact.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, 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, Blake LeMoine, 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, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty 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 [(877) 447-4487], 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.
The National Lawyers Guild's convention begins shortly: The Military Law Task Force and the Center on Conscience & War are sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education seminar -- Representing Conscientious Objectors in Habeas Corpus Proceedings -- as part of the National Lawyers Guild National Convention in Washington, D.C. The half-day seminar will be held on Thursday, November 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the convention site, the Holiday Inn on the Hill in D.C. This is a must-attend seminar, with excelent speakers and a wealth of information. The seminar will be moderated by the Military Law Task Force's co-chair Kathleen Gilberd and scheduled speakers are NYC Bar Association's Committee on Military Affairs and Justice's Deborah Karpatkin, the Center on Conscience & War's J.E. McNeil, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee's Peter Goldberger, Louis Font who has represented Camilo Mejia, Dr. Mary Hanna and others, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's James Feldman. The fee is $60 for attorneys; $25 for non-profit attorneys, students and legal workers; and you can also enquire about scholarships or reduced fees. The convention itself will run from October 31st through November 4th and it's full circle on the 70th anniversary of NLG since they "began in Washington, D.C." where "the founding convention took place in the District at the height of the New Deal in 1937, Activist, progressive lawyers, tired of butting heads with the reactionary white male lawyers then comprising the American Bar Association, formed the nucleus of the Guild."
Turning to US politics. Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) summarizes the state of Senator Barack Obama's Democratic presidential primary campaign, "For months Obama was the political flavor of the month, wooed by fawning celebrities, and promoted by the corporate media. The stamp of approval from the right people had him sitting firmly atop an enormous pile of campaign cash. Now his deep pocketed contributors are showing signs of buyers' remorse, miffed because he is only neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in Iowa and trailing behind her in New Hampshire. Obama has been hoisted on his own petard. He assured Democrats that he was 'safe.' He openly scorned movement politics, and made the appeal of color blindness his calling card. He chose neo-con Bush suck-up Joe Lieberman as his Senate mentor. His criticisms of the evil occupation of Iraq focused not on murder and theft committed by Uncle Sam, but by the traumatized Iraqs' efforts to deal with an American-created hellish existence. Leaving 'all options on the table' is part of the Obama stump speech on Iran." On the subject of Iran, Barack Obama appears on the front page of this morning's New York Times. War pornographer Michael Gordon and Jeff Zeleny who lied in print (click here, here and here -- the paper finally retracted Zeleny's falsehood that should have never appeared) present a view of Barack Obama that's hardly pleasing. Among the many problems with the article is that Obama as portrayed in the article -- and his campaign has issued no statement clarifying. The Times has the transcript online and from it, Barack Obama does mildly push the unproven claim that the Iranian government is supporting resistance in Iraq. Gordo's pushed that unproven claim repeatedly for over a year now. But Obama's remarks appear more of a reply and partial points in lengthy sentences -- not the sort of thing a functioning hard news reporter would lead with in an opening paragraph, touch on again in the third paragraph, in the fourth paragraph, in . . . But though this isn't the main emphasis of Obama's statements (at any time -- to be clear, when it pops up, it is a fleeting statement in an overly long, multi-sentenced paragraphs), it does go to the fact that Obama is once again reinforcing unproven claims of the right wing. In the transcript, he comes off as obsessed with Hillary Clinton. After her, he attempts to get a few jabs in at John Edwards and one in at Bill Richardson. Here is what real reporters should have made the lede of the front page: "Presidential candidate and US Senator Barack Obama who is perceived as an 'anti-war' candidate by some announced that he would not commit to a withdrawal, declared that he was comfortable sending US troops back into Iraq after a withdrawal started and lacked clarity on exactly what a withdrawal under a President Obama would mean." That is what the transcript reveals. Gordo really needs to let go of his blood lust for war with Iran.
Writing up a report, Gordo and Zeleny are useless but, surprisingly, they do a strong job with some of their questions. The paper should have printed up the transcript. If they had, people might be wondering about the 'anti-war' candidate. He maintains Bill Richardson is incorrect on how quickly US troops could be withdrawan from Iraq. Obama states that it would take at least 16 months which makes one wonder how long, if elected, it would take him to move into the White House? If you can grab a strainer or wade through Obama's Chicken Sop For The Soul, you grasp quickly why he refused to pledge (in September's MSNBC 'debate') that, if elected president, he would have all US troops out of Iraq by 2013: He's not talking all troops home. He tries to fudge it, he tries to hide it but it's there in the transcript. He doesn't want permanent military bases in Iraq -- he appears to want them outside of Iraq -- such as Kuwait. But he doesn't see the US embassy in Iraq -- the largest US embassy in the world as a base. However, he does feel that even after the illegal war was ended, US troops would need to remain behind in order guard the embassy and the staff. In addition, it becomes clear that he will keep US troops in Iraq to train the Iraqi police. Because?
The reporters don't think to ask. Here's a slice of reality, the US military is not trained to train police officers. Here's another to drop on the plate, Jordan was training them. Jordan got pushed aside around the half-way mark of 2006. If Obama wanted to pull US troops out of Iraq, the most obvious solution is to turn over the duty of training police officers to a non-military force. Along with needing those for trainers, he needs some to protect the trainers. Gordo gets to the point asking, "So how will you protect the trainers without forces in Iraq?" His answer is an embarrassment, he'd could keep the trainers out of potentially difficult situations. And in Iraq, that would be where? In addition, he would keep troops in Iraq for counter-terrorism (but not, he insists, counter-insurgency). If this doesn't all sound familiar, you slept through this spring and summer when Congressional Dems tried repeatedly to convince the American people that "all troops out of Iraq" could also mean that US troops stay to train, as military police, to fight terrorism, etc. While he's off talking al Qaeda in Iraq (a small number and one most observers state will be forced out by Iraqis when US troops leave) and working in more attacks on Senator Clinton, it's noted that he has "a more expansive approach to Iraq than she does in that you identify in your plan the possiblity of going back into Iraq to protect the populartion if there's an all-out civil war. . . . And providing monitors to help the population relocate and go after war criminals. Those are three elements -- those are new missions for Americans after Iraq that she doesn't postulate." What follows is a comical exchange:
Obama: But they aren't necessarily military missions.
NYT: But how do you go back into Iraq without military forces?
Obama: No, no, no, no, no. You conflated three things. The latter two that you are talked about are not military missions. Let's just be clear about that.
NYT: An armed escort is not a military mission?
Though Obama says he wants "to be clear," he refuses to answer that yes or no question and the interview is over.
So let's be clear that the 'anti-war' Obama told the paper he would send troops back into Iraq. Furthermore, when asked if he would be willing to do that unilaterally, he attempts to beg off with, "We're talking too speculatively right now for me to answer." But this is his heavily pimped September (non)plan, dusted off again, with a shiny new binder. The story is that Barack Obama will NOT bring all US troops home. Even if the illegal war ended, Obama would still keep troops stationed in Iraq (although he'd really, really love it US forces could be stationed in Kuwait exclusively), he would still use them to train (the police0 and still use them to protect the US fortress/embassy and still use them to conduct counter-terrorism actions. Margaret Kimberley (cited at the opening of this section on politics) called it correctly. Meanwhile Ruth Conniff (The Progressive) weighs in on the alleged Democratic 'debate' this week, dubbing it "pile-on-Hillary night," and wondering what the point of it really was: "But hanging over all this is the specter of the $90 million Hillary had raised by the middle of October. That huge amount of cash so outstrips the other candidates, it seems like a silly game of make-believe to pretend that a clever quip during a debate, or even the extremely important and legistimate points the candidates made last night, could change the dynamic of the race. It doesn't matter how trenchant your comments are if you are drowned out by the amplified voice of a frontrunner who can buy all the airtime that's left in this extremely short primary season." Also noting the heavy donations from big business is Bruce Dixon (Black Agenda Report), "For Democratic and Republican wings of America's permanent ruling party, the all-important selection which precedes the election isn't about poll numbers, votes or the citizens that cast them. It's about winning the favor of military contractors, the banking and financial sectors and Big Oil. It's about reassuring insurance and pharmaceutical companies, cozying up to agribusiness, the cable and telecom monopolies, allaying the fears of chambers of commerce, and wooing Hollywood." Dixon goes on to note the industries pouring big money in Obama and Clinton's campaigns, notes PEJ's tracking of the first six months of mainstream press coverage of the candidates this year -- Obama received more positive coverage from the mainstream than any other candidate for president -- almost 20% more than Hillary Clinton and approximately 19% more than Rudy Giuliani -- and concludes that the Dem presidential ticket will be Clinton-Obama (Clinton for president).
Meanwhile US House Rep and Democratic presidential nominee contender Dennis Kucinich announced that he is calling for House vote next week. On? Impeachment of Cheney. Kucinich: "The momentum is building for impeachment. Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power. Despite this groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of office, Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting the power of the executive branch is supreme. Congress must hold the Vice President accountable. The American people need to let Members of Congress know how they feel about this. The Vice President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will ensure decades of disastrous consequences." His office notes, "The privileged resolution has priority status for consideration on the House floor. Once introduced, the resolution has to be brought to the floor within two legislative days, although the House could act on it immediately. Kucinich is expected to bring it to the House floor on Tuesday, November 6."
Kucinich was among those participating in a bi-partisan forum for candidates (Republican John McCain participated by phone, all others were Democrats). Holly Ramer (AP) reports that the forum, geared to address concerns of the disabled community, resulted in participation from Dem presidential candidates Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Mike Gravel. John Edwards sent a flack to address the group.
Turning to the Green Party. Kimberly Wilder (On the Wilder Side) has posted Cynthia McKinney's declaration of candidacy. The form shows McKinney's signature with a date of October 16th next to it and the FEC (US Federal Elections Commission) lists October 22nd as the filing date. The Green Party of the United States notes, "Always a lightning rod for those who believe a woman's place is in the kitchen, Congressomwan Cynthia McKinney was the first Black woman elected to Georgia's state legislature. With rules that required she wear a dress ont he state house floor, she chose instead to wear a smart pants suit, letting them know that the days of the 'Good Ole Boy' system were a thing of the past. Now, she may be carrying that same message about the two-party system. Controversial not only for her choice of clothing, McKinney has spoken out against the war on Iraq from the beginning, and anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan calls her 'My friend who's running for President.' McKinney is being actively pursued by the Green Party as their nominee in 2008. Local Green Party chair Gregg Jocoy has already endorsed her possible run, saying, 'We had Ralph Nader on our ballot line in 2000, and that brought us recruits and supporters who are with us to this day. I know Cynthia McKinney will bring an entirely new and energized group of people to our side. Then it's our job to show them that we mean business." At All Things Cynthia McKinney, McKinney has posted an audio clip where she explains why she has declared herself a member of the Green Party "and when I vote Green I will vote my values." McKinney was elected to Congress six times as a member of the Democratic Party (1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004). Is McKinney running for president? She concludes her audio message with, "I promise to announce my decision in November." Along with being a leading voice against the war in Congress, the Green Party also notes, "McKinney, who served a dozen years in Congress, filed impeachment papers on President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Sec. of State Rice as her last official act."
As noted Wednesday, Ralph Nader also intends to announce his decision of whether to run for president or not by the end of the year. On Wednesday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) spoke with attorney Carl Mayer about the lawsuit being filed regarding attempts in 2004 to deny Nader ballot access. Over the summer, Ian Wilder filmed Nader discussing the ballot access issue and Ian and Kimberly Wilder have posted the video at their site On the Wilder Side. They have also made it available at YouTube.
Turning to some of today's reported violence in Iraq . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a bridge bombing Thursday night in the Diyala. Reuters notes three injured in a Ramadi bombing and a Diwaniya roadside bombing that claimed the life of 1 Polish soldiers with three more wounded. Counting today's death -- Andrzej Filipek, Poland has lost 23 troops in the illegal war. BBC reports, "The three injured soldiers are being treated in a hospital near the scene of the blast. The incident follows the attempted assassination in October of the Polish Ambassador to Iraq, Edward Pietrzyk."
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Gunmen opened fire on two pupils on Thursday afternoon near Tuz Khurmatu (south of Kirkuk) during their return from school in (Beer Ahmed) village killing one and injuring the other."
Corpses?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Also today, the US military announced: "Three Airmen were killed Nov. 1 while performing combat operations in the vicinity of Balad Air Base, Iraq. All three were assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Balad AB."
Staying with violence:
Apparently there is one set of rights for Blackwater mercenaries and another for the rest of us. Normally when a group of people alleged to have gunned down 17 civilians in a lawless shooting spree are questioned, investigators will tell them something along the lines of: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." But that is not what the Blackwater operatives involved in the September 16 Nisour Square shooting in Iraq were told. Most of the Blackwater shooters were questioned by State Department Diplomatic Security investigators with the understanding that their statements and information gleaned from them could not be used to bring criminal charges against them, nor could they be introduced as evidence. In other words: "Anything you say can't and won't be used against you in a court of law."
ABC News obtained copies of sworn statements given by Blackwater guards in the immediate aftermath of the shootings, all of which begin, "I understand this statement is being given in furtherance of an official administrative inquiry," and that, "I further understand that neither my statements nor any information or evidence gained by reason of my statements can be used against me in a criminal proceeding." Constitutional law expert Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, says the offering of so-called "use immunity" agreements by the State Department is "very irregular," adding he could not recall a precedent for it. In normal circumstances, Ratner said, such immunity is only granted after a Grand Jury or Congressional committee has been conveyed and the party has invoked their 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination. It would then be authorized by either a judge or the committee.
That's Jeremy Scahill (Huffington Post via Common Dreams) on this week's big development with regards to the mercneary company -- the US State Department's own investigators offered Blackwater 'guards' immunity (limited-immunity, they insist) for their 'cooperation' in the investigation into the slaughter. On Wednesday Aram Roston (NBC News) reported, "Federal agents are investigating allegations that the Blackwater USA security firm illegally exported dozens of firearms sound suppressors -- commonly known as silencers -- to
Iraq and other countries for use by company operatives, sources close to the investigation tell NBC News. . . . The sources said the investigation is part of a broader examination of potential firearms and export violations." Meanwhile, the only US governmental entity to hold Blackwater accountable is the IRS. To avoid paying taxes, FICA, et al, Blackwater was categorizing its employees as contract labor. The IRS overruled that. Yesterday, US Senator John Kerry notified Steven C. Preston, head of the U.S. Small Business Adminstration by letter that he needs answers regarding a Blackwater affilate, Presidential Airways, Inc, and requesting "A thorough analysis of the size determination made regarding Blackwater; The information that was relied on in making the size determination; The number of employees and independent contractors Blackwater and each of its affiliates or related companies listed in Size Determination Memorandum File Number 3-2007-3-4-5 were ddetermined to have through the SBA's analysis; The number (and location) of site visits that were done to confirm any information Blackwater or its affiliates provided; How the SBA used the Twenty Factor Common Law Test in making the size determination; Any additional materials related to other size determinations involving Blackwater USA or any of its affiliates." And on oversight . . . Jeremy Scahill addressed Blackwater on PBS' Bill Moyers Journal October 19th. He also answered questions the following week. One viewer asked about North Carolina's oversight responsibilities. Scahill replied, "I think this would be an important development. One of the interesting -- some might say distrubing -- aspects of Blackwater's presence in the US national security apparatus is its facilites. The main Blackwater headquarters in Moyock, North Carolina is a sprawling 7,000 acre private military base -- the largest of its kind in the world. The company has also been building a parallel network to the structure of the offical government apparatus. The Prince empire now includes an aviation division, a maritime division, an intelligence company and Blackwater manufactures both surveillance blimps and armored vehicles. It recently opened a new Blackwater facility in Illinois called 'Blackwater North' and is fighting back fierce local opposition to a planned 800+ acre facility in Poterero, California, just miles from the US-Mexico border. The Congressman who represents that district, Democrat Bob Filner, recently inroduced legislation seeking to block the creation of what he terms 'mercenary training centers' anywhere in the U.S. outside of military bases. While that is obviously at the federal level, it would be interesting to get basic questions answered about the legal framework for such facilities in the states in which they operate."
Turning to the continued tensions and conflict between Turkey and northern Iraq. Today Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) quotes Air Force Gen. retired Joseph Ralston (whom Bully Boy appointed as his envoy to address the PKK) declaring, "The U.S. government should make good on the commitments they have made to the Turks." US Secretary State and Anger Condi Rice went to Turkey for a diplomatic meeting today. CBS and AP report that Rice declared, following the meeting, the US government's "committed to redoubling its efforts" in assisting Turkey in combating the PKK -- a group the US has labeled a "terrorist" organization. Rice's words ring as hollow as Hoshyar Zebari's, noted by Glen Carey (Bloomberg News), Iraq's Foreign Minister and Kurd -- that, yet again, Iraq's central government is serious about doing something. Rice says more talks will come tomorrow in Istanbul and Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan , meets with Bully Boy in DC on Monday. Translation, nothing has been accomplished.
From do-nothing to actual action, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explored the latest with CODEPINK today:
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to the bigger issue of CODEPINK. Actually, yesterday President Bush invoked CODEPINK's name. Let's hear what he had to say.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Congress needs to put the needs of those who put on the uniform ahead of their desire to spend more money. When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands of MoveOn.org bloggers and CODEPINK protesters.
AMY GOODMAN: That's President Bush speaking yesterday. Medea Benjamin, your response?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, we think it's great that Bush mentioned us. We only wish he would have listened to us back in 2002, when we formed CODEPINK and said that invading Iraq would be a disaster. And, of course, we wish that he and Congress would listen to us now, when we say bring the troops home and don't invade Iran.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the strategy that you've employed and what it means to be banned from the Capitol. In fact, it wasn't just Desiree who was banned when she approached Condoleezza Rice; you, too, were banned that day, weren't you?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Yes. There were five of us that were pulled out of the hearing room. I was pulled out for going like this.
AMY GOODMAN: Meaning holding up a peace sign.
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Holding up my hands in a peace sign, that's right. And I face a jury trial for that unlawful conduct. And they are cracking down harder on us. We have about a dozen CODEPINK men and women right now who are banned from the Capitol, which is something we would like to get some lawyers to contest the legality of that. In the meantime, we really need more people to come forward and join us in the CODEPINK house in D.C., because we're absolutely determined that we have people in every one of these hearings where they're talking about the war. And right now, there's going to be another big moment when Bush is asking for more money for the war, and Congress is going to have to decide whether they're going to give it to him. We need to be there in their faces every single day. So our appeal to all the listeners of Democracy Now! is: come to D.C. Stay at the CODEPINK house. It's a fabulous experience. But we need you to be there when we can't.
As Ruth notes, PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, tonight in most markets Moyers examines how FCC chair Kevin Martin's push to deregulate the communications industry will threaten minority ownership and that Moyers will also provide a commentary regarding press coverage of peace rallies. PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio (also Friday night in most markets, check local listings) looks at farming and asks, "Can local farmers change course and crops and still survive in a shifting economy?" Brancaccio interviews Bill McKibben and Steven L. Hopp is also interviewed on the program while online Hopp and Barbara Kingsolver offer an excerpt of their new book. And Sunday, CBS' 60 Minutes airs Bob Simon's report on 'Curveball' -- the Iraqi exile who invented stories the administration swallowed (despite warnings) because it fit with the other lies they were using to launch an illegal war.
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