Tuesday, November 27, 2007

THIS JUST IN! A STAR BEATS A RHINESTONE!

 
IN THE CONTINUED LAUGH-FEST THAT IS THE BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN, THE DUNCE CAPS WERE PASSED OUT AGAIN.
 
 
A YAWN FROM AMERICA WOULD HAVE BEEN A KIND RESPONSE.  INSTEAD, BAMBI'S CAMPAIGN IS LEFT WITH THE FACT THAT HIS 'BIG NAME' IS IN THE MIDDLE OF TWO SCANDALS: THE DEATH OF KANYE WEST'S MOTHER ALLEGEDLY BY A PLASTIC SURGEON -- ONE OPRAH TRIED TO "HOOK UP" WITH HER AUDIENCE AND THE ANOTHER SEX SCANDAL.
 
NO THE RUMORS OF HER AND GAYLE ARE NOT (YET) BREAKING AGAIN.
 
 
OPRAH STATES HER EXPLAINATION ABSOLVING HERSELF OF ANY GUILT IS COMPLETELY BELIEVABLE.
 
"WHO'S SHE KIDDING?" SNARLED KATHY LEE GIFFORD TO THESE REPORTERS.
 
 
A TIRED LOOKING ORPAH TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "PEOPLE TRUST ME."
 
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE DEATH OF KANYE WEST'S MOTHER, OPRAH REPEATED, "PEOPLE TRUST ME."  WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE SEX SCANDAL, OPRAH REPEATED, "PEOPLE TRUST ME."  WHEN ASKED ABOUT ENDORSING JAMES FRY'S NON-FICTION BOOK THAT TURNED OUT TO BE FICTION, OPRAH REPLIED, "PEOPLE TRUST ME."  WHEN ASKED ABOUT CHEERLEADING AND EGGING ON THE IRAQ WAR BEFORE IT STARTED ON HER DAYTIME SHOW, OPRAH REPLIED, "PEOPLE TRUST ME."  WHEN ASKED WHEN SHE WILL BE MARRYING GAYLE KING, OPRAH REPLIED, "PEOPLE TRUST ME. . . . WAIT!  I WASN'T LISTENING!  I MISPOKE!"
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Following the refusal of the Canadian Supreme Cour to hear the appeals of US war resisters  Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, the best road to legal recognition appears to be the Canadian Parliament.  Cindy Sheehan (OpEdNews) urges people to utilize Courage to Resist's easy to mail or e-mail resources to allow the Canadian government to know you are watching and to support organizations supporting war resisters as well as:
 
 
Support actual war resisters in Canada by sending them expense money. From my friend Ryan (I gave him and his wife money to get to Canada over two years ago):
 
In light of the recent Supreme Court denial in Canada, I (Ryan Johnson), My wife (Jen Johnson) and Brandon Hughey need help raising funds to travel to Ottawa to attend hearings before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, where War Resisters will be giving Testimony to the committee. At these hearings the committee will be deciding on whether or not to make a provision to allow war resisters to stay in Canada. This is one of our last chances to be able to continue living in Canada. We will be leaving December 7th because the hearings are December 11th, 2007 so we need to act fast. They may try to send guys back soon and we need to have a strong War Resister Presence. We appreciate all of the support and Want to thank all of you who can help.
 
Checks/money orders can be sent for Ryan, Jen and Brandon to:312 Tower RdNelson, BC V1L3K6
 
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, 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.  In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
 
 
The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who recently appeared on Democracy Now! addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project. 
 
 
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers. 
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.  
 
March 13th through 15th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.
 
Let's dive into the nonsense.  Bully Boy and his puppet Nouri al-Maliki came to an agreement -- in it al-Maliki sells out Iraq and gets his own ass protected.  CBS and AP play dumb together stating of the agreement: "It would also help the Iraqi government thrwart any attempt to suspend or repeal a constitution drafted with U.S. help and adopted in a nationwide vote in 2005.  That appeared to be a reference to any attempt to remove the government by violence or in a coup." Now there are a number of facts that are questionable in those two sentences but since when does repealing a constitution mean "violence" or "coup"?  It doesn't. And Iraqis are (naturally) interested in writing their own constitution as opposed to having one written for them. Ron Jacobs (CounterPunch) explains reality, "Meanwhile the government in Baghdad's Green Zone is asking the US military to commit to a longterm agreement to stay in Iraq in substantial numbers.  Besides the obvious fact that the Green Zone government really has no say in how long the US military occupies Iraq, the fact that those in power are asking the military to remain is an acknowledgement that their power does not come from the Iraqi people but from the military power of Washington.  In fact, according to the November 26, 2007 Associated Press story discussing this 'request' by the Green Zone government, the request was made because 'Iraq's government, (is) seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups.'  One can be certain that those internal coups most likely refer to Washington's fear of a victorious insurgency."  James Gerstenzang and Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) put their two brains together and all they can come up with that's worth noting is that the new 'agreement' "guarantee a U.S. troop presence in Iraq for at least a few more years."  Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) can't find any current critics of al-Maliki's offensive attempt to circumvent the Iraqi parliament (Question: Who ratifies treaties in the United States?  The Congress.  One more aspect of 'democracy' that never got exported to Iraq.) but she does note that in al-Maliki has (rightly) "critized the U.S. military presence in palaces that formerly belonged to Saddam Hussein and chastised American forces for operating with 'impunity' in Iraq."  Thom Shanker and Cara Buckley (New York Times) probably summarize the events better than any mainstream outlet: "In Iraq on Monday, there was little public discussion of the agreement. It is not a popular move politically because many Iraqis view the United Nations mandate as a reminder that they cannot yet control their own destiny and must rely on outsiders.
In the past, members of the Iraqi Parliament have complained that allowing the continued presence of international forces abrogates the country's sovereignty. While some of the complaints can be labelled political rhetoric, there is also a real underlying resentment that the nation still needs American help."  Well, the puppet government needs help.  The Iraqi people are more than willing to take control of their country.  It's only the US installed government that falters.
 
What's missing from the coverage?  The voices of Iraqis who aren't the play toys of puppet al-Maliki.  Haifa Zangan is the author of City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance (Seven Stories Press), and writes for al-Quds and the Guardian of London.  Yesterday she was a guest on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show where she spoke of Paul Bremer dismantling the government, destroying military, the police, jobs for women (90% of women are employed) and much more.
 
Diane Rehm: The question becomes: If the US withdrew would all of that sectarian violence cease?  Do you really believe that?
 
Haifa Zangan: If you give a minute.  There was, there are the powers on the ground in Iraq now.  The US army multi-national forces, there are 60,000 of them a parallel army to the US military there which is the mercenary contractors, the security firms, they are both of them enjoy complete immunity from Iraqi law.  But the mercenary firms, the security firms, unlike the US army, they enjoy also immunity from the American law and the international law and those people are really creating havoc within the country.  Those contractors have their own sub-contractors who are willing to kill more and more to continue the war.
 
Zangan spoke of Iraq's long, long history and explained why she doesn't believe it will be an Iraqi-Iraqi on violence bloodbath should the US military leave Iraq.  Raed Jarrar (Raed in the Middle) also notes the history of the country -- that Baghdad recently celebrated it's 1245th anniversary and that in 20 previous occupations, when foreign forces left the country, there withdrawal was not followed with a "full scale war between Sunnis and Shiites".  Haifa Zangan explained to Rehm, "It seems like every day of the extension of the staying of the American troops and what's called the multi-national forces in Iraq bringing with it new problems for Iraqi people deeping what is there already. . . .  I think their support for the militias would stop, Iraqis themselves would take control of their country."
 
Rehm returns to the topic of violence later in the interview.
 
Haifa Zangan: It's not just the Apaches, the helicopters, not only the pre-dawn arrests by the US troops led by with . . . and in collaboration with what's called the Iraqi army and the Iraq police but also we are targeted by the militias and that is not the sectarian war between Iraqi people themselves.  The militias?  Each political party in Iraq at the moment taking part in what's called the political process as designed by Paul Bremer and the occupation, each one of them has its own militia.  Take for example, the Supreme Court for Islamic Revolution --which was established in Iran and has no base whatsoever in Iraq -- went with the occupation and Iraq -- with its own powerful well trained militia -- they are in control of what's called the government now.
 
Ron Jacobs (CounterPunch) sums up the realities of the illegal war and occupation in four short sentences: "Making occupation and calling it peace.  Killing fewer and calling it progress.  Rotating troops and calling it a withdrawal.  Setting up new death squads and calling them allies.  Lowering standards and calling it opening new opportunities."  Hence the violence continues.
 

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