Saturday, April 21, 2007

THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY CORRECTS THE RECORD!

BULLY BOY WAS PISSED AND DRUNK WHEN HE INVITED THESE REPORTERS OVER TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT AND TO SAMPLE HIS WHITE PHOSPHORUS COCKTAILS.
 
AS HE MIXED THE DRINKS (INCLUDED AT THE END), HE EXPLAINED HOW THE WASHINGTON POST HAD MISQUOTED HIM.
 
"I NEVER SAY 'BLOODBATH'!" HE SLURRED.  "I ALWAYS SAY 'BLOODBOX.'  ALWAYS!"
 
AS HE CONTINUED INSISTING, HE SHOWED THESE REPORTERS A PHOTO OF HIMSELF AND FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH IN HAPPIER TIMES (SEE BELOW) WHILE HE PLAYED IN HIS BLOOD BOX.
 
 
 
"SHE REALLY LOVED ME THEN, MAN," BULLY BOY SIGHED, SLAMMING DOWN 4 COCKTAILS AND CHASERS IN A ROW WHILE LAMENTING THAT THE FIRST LADY HAD CHECKED INTO A HOTEL TO AVOID HIS DRINKING.
 
 
 
RECIPE FOR WHITE PHOSPHORUS COCKTAILS:
 
1 CAN LONE STAR BEER
SPLASH OF VODKA
PEPTO BISMOL CAP FULL OF GIN
SPLASH OF VODKA
PINCH OF THUNDERBIRD
SPLASH OF VODKA
 
MIX WELL AND SERVE WITH A VODKA CHASER.
 
 
"The investigating officer said that it was in the best interest of the military to discharge him and that he believed that Agustin was sincere.  However, higher ups in the chain of command -- that never met with my husband -- decided that he wasn't sincere and just didn't really give a reason, just said that he didn't qualify as a conscienious objector," Helga Aguayo speaking to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) today.  Helga Aguayo sketched out
how her husband came to see the illegal war as immoral while serving in Iraq, how he attempted to receive CO status, the obstacles there and a great deal more including the the convictions of missing movement and desertion.  On the latter, she noted that it "is unheard of for people that are gone less than thirty days -- soldiers that are gone less than thirty days."  Aguayo was gone from September 2nd through September 26th.  The rule of thumb is that if you are gone less than 30 days, desertion isn't even a possible charge.  Not only was Aguayo gone less than 30, he turned himself in.  Helga Aguayo explained how the two felony convictions mean trigger an automatic appeal: 
 
Helga Aguayo: And the other thing is that Agustin will not be discharged.  I'm getting congratulations -- 'Oh, congratulations, he's coming home' -- we don't know when he's coming home, one.  And, two, he actually will not be discharged from the military for twelve to twenty-four months from now, because he got a bad-conduct discharge and it's such a serious offense.  He has two felonies.  It goes onto an automatic appeal, and because of that, he will remain active-duty, which means he has to abide by the standards that is required of every soldier. He could potentially be charged with anything else during the time that he's on voluntary or involuntary leave or administrative leave.  They'll give him of the three, if it's approved.  And we won't know if it's approved.
 
Amy Goodman: Could he sent back to Iraq?
 
Helga Aguayo: I hope not.  I don't think so.  I think it would be -- I mean, Agustin's gotten a lot of support.  And I, you know, would definitely just go to the press and go to the people.  I don't think it would be in their best interest to do that.
 
 
Agustin Aguayo's repeated attempts to receive CO status demonstrate the need for the system to be fixed.  As does the case of Robert Zabala who had to take the issue to the civilian courts to be awarded his status.  The two, and many others, illustrate the problems with and arbitrary nature of the way the US military chooses to recognize (or not) CO status.
 
 
Aguayo is part of a movement of war resistance within the military that also includes  Ehren Watada, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Camilo Mejia, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson,  Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia,  Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. 
 
 
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
 
 
Turning to news in Iraq, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates landed in Baghdad Thursday to provide war weary Iraqis and US service members with a bus and truck show of My Cousin Vinnie.   David S. Cloud, Alissa J. Rubin and Edward Wong (New York Times) report that he visited "to press Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq to move faster on Sunni-Shiite reconciliation at a momment when Mr. Maliki's ability to deliver appears limited, at best."  This allowed Bobby Gates to attack the part of Lisa with vigor as he stomped his feet in the safety of the Green Zone.
 
Bobby Gates:  Well I hate to bring it up because I know you've got enough pressure on you already.  But, we agreed to get an oil law passed as soon as we installed you.  Meanwhile, ELEVEN MONTHS LATER, no oil law, Iran is making us nervous and our bully clock is TICKING and the way this war is going, I ain't never going to see the theft of Iraqi oil.
 
 
While Gates was telling/ordering al-Maliki to step it up, Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reported that it really doesn't make a great deal of difference: "Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.  Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, had dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said."
 
 

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