Saturday, May 26, 2007

THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY'S 1ST VICTORY!

 
IT'S BEEN A LONG 6 YEARS BUT BULLY BOY WAS HANDED HIS 1ST VICTORY SINCE HE BEGAN OCCUPYING THE OVAL OFFICE.
 
 
THE ILLEGAL WAR HAS ALREADY EATEN OVER 300 BILLION DOLLARS.
 
AT THIS POINT, IT'S LIKE A LOST BLOCKBUSTER VIDEOTAPE THAT SMART PEOPLE WOULD STOP PAYING FOR LATE FEES FOR.  BUT THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT HAVE MANY SMART PEOPLE IN CONGRESS WHICH IS HOW BULLY BOY, WHO JUST RUBBER STAMPED WHILE REPUBLICANS CONTROLLED CONGRESS, NOW HAS HIS FIRST VICTORY IN OFFICE.  THE DEMOCRATS, GIVERS ALL, HANDED IT TO HIM -- ON THE BACKS OF A NEARLY A MILLION DEAD IRAQIS, OVER 3444 DEAD US SERVICE MEMBERS AND ASSORTED OTHERS.
 
 
Among the victims of violence are women though they remain the true hidden victims. Kasia Anderson (TruthDig) interviews Yanar Mohammed (Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq) and asks early on the obvious (though usually unasked) question, "How did the onset of the Iraq war change things for Iraqi women, specifically?" Mohammed replies, "Well, although people on this part of the world think that Iraqi women are liberated, actually, we have lost all of the achievements or all the status that we used to have. It is no longer safe to leave your house and get groceries. We're not speaking here about a young woman trying to reach the university, because that is beginning to get too difficult. We're not speaking here about women who are trying to go back and forth to work and even those of my friends who do that already because they have to--many of the police at work are being killed for sectarian reasons. So, you have to witness all sorts of atrocities just going back and forth to work, and if there is this new [policy] of Sunni and Shiite, checking all the IDs of people, you leave the house and you do not guarantee that you come back safe. [. . .] Well, the myth of democracy has killed already half a million Iraqis, and if it were giving us real democracy, where people are represented according to their political affiliations or their economic understanding or their social justice affiliations, that would have been understood. But the way Iraqis are represented is according to their religion and their ethnicities. It is as if the U.S. administration is trying to tell the whole world that Iraqis are not entitled to political understanding or political activity. The political formula that was forwarded to us is a total insult for a part of the world where the politics are very much thriving and all kinds of politics--with the dawn of the war, thousands of political parties have registered. And they all wanted to be competing, or let's say running into democracy, but who was empowered, who was supported? It's mostly the religious and mostly the ethnic groups, and the women's groups? The U.S. administration wasn't really interested to speak to, let's say, free women's groups. They preferred to bring decorative factors to the parliament, where they look like women, but they all voted for a constitution that is against women. And the constitution at this moment has imposed Shariah law upon us, when in the times before the war we had more of a secular constitution that respected women's rights. So, it's one more thing lost for this war."



Yanar Mohammed mentioned university students. On Tuesday, the Ibn Al Haitham college faced a mortar attack in Baghdad that left at least 4 students dead and at least 25 wounded while, same day, an attack, in Baghdad, on a mini-bus claimed the lives of 9 students (including two female students). On Wednesday, Baghdad's National Theater was attacked with mortarts leaving at least one person wounded. The theater is where college students and recent college graduates have mounted a new play, The Intensive Care Unit, which castmember Rita Casber described to Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) as "Our play is a miniature of our reality. It conveys the reality the people in Iraq are subjected to." Londono noted that Casber is the sole woman in the cast and late to the cast -- she joined only after death threats (over the 'crime' of wearing a tank top on stage) forced the original actress to leave the production.



On the subject of schools, Alive in Baghdad intervews students at the girls' school in Baghdad, Safina Middle School. The link is not currently working, we'll quote the students next week. Last month, Alive in Baghdad interviewed Hameeda al-Bassam who works a private library in Baghdad and spoke of the difficulties she encounters traveling, in her wheelchair, through checkpoints and scenes of violence to arrive at work. She spoke of inside the library as one of the few places where the chaos and violence has yet to emerge and noted, with regret, that due to the violence she has had to curtail her work week. Please note that the videos have audio and an English translation at the bottom which can serve as closed captioning.



Also on the subject of women in Iraq, the AP reported yesterday that Clenard M. Simmons was given a 30 year sentence after pleading guilty (April 5th) "to four counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of aggravated sexual abuse for five attacks from February 2004 to May 2005" which took place at Fort Hood as well as while he was stationed in Iraq and the victims were five female US service members. The AP noted that "Simmons attacked the soldiers in their barracks, groping and threatening them."



Though frequently ignored and swept under the rug, women serving in Iraq are under very real attack from those serving with them. For more on this, see Jane Hoppen's "Women in the Military: Who's Got Your Back?," Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff's "The Rape of the 'Hadji Girl'," and
Allison Tobey's "Serving in the Rape Zone" (Off Our Backs); Traci Hukill's "A Peculiar Version of Friendly Fire: Female Troops Face Double Danger" (The Progressive); and "Women and the military" (The Third Estate Sunday Review). And always look to what happened to Suzanne Swift. Swift went to Iraq wanting to serve her country (US) and quickly discovered that those above her expected her to serve them. Repeated attempts to stop the abuse and harassment resulted in no action (unless a course in how Swift could learn not to 'invite' harassment is considered 'action' -- anyone thinking it is should have their head examined). Swift self-checked out. As Sara Rich, Swift's mother, has noted, Swift wasn't against the illegal war. Swift wasn't saying, "I will not go back because I'm against the war." She checked out because when the military refuses to discipline their own, you have to take the situation into your own hands. To not do so would be 'inviting' harassment. There's not a (rational) woman alive who should be able to question Swift's decision to self-check out. She was abused, she was harassed, she was the victim of command rape, and the military did nothing. She went through channels and rather than disciplining the ones breaking the code of conduct (and exhibiting criminal behaviors) the military's 'answer' was to 'teach' Swift how not to 'invite' criminal acts upon her person. (Which is similar to the US military's refusal to punish those enlisted males who regularly attack women serving when the women go to take a shower. Instead of coming down hard and sending a strong message that the crime of rape is not tolerated in the US military, the military elects to caution women to 'buddy up' and never visit the latrines alone.) So Swift self-checked out, the smartest thing she could have done and no (rational) woman would say otherwise.



Swift is now against the war and the treatment she experienced (laughably known as military 'justice') went a long way towards opening her eyes. In a climate that regularly rails against the military banning YouTube and blog postings, you might think the gag order imposed upon Swift would raise some righteous indignation but websites have largely been silent. Swift's mother, Sara Rich, is not gagged and Melissa Sanders (Socialst Alternative) interviews her -- Rich explains that her daughter's been extended in the military through January 2009 and, in response to a question about the "sexualized violence against female soldiers," rightly notes,
"We're teaching guys about 18 to kill, and that killing's ok, before they are even allowed to legally drink. If you do that, I mean, who's going to tell them that raping isn't ok?"



Along with Sanders' article, more information can be found at Suzanne Swift's website. (Which her mother runs and the military has no control over Sara Rich.)

Turning to the issue of war resisters, The Shreveport Times reports that Jackie Leroy Moore was arrested in Shreveport today for self-checking out and that he is the fourth self-check out to be arrested in Shreveport this year. Though the military continues to undercount the number of enlisted choosing to self-check out (undercounts for the press, they know the privately held number), this is part of the growing resistance within the military to the illegal war. "It now appears that if this war in Iraq is to end, it will be our soldiers who will have to bring it about," observes Albert Petraca (JuneauEmpire). "Nowadays, our soldiers also know this war is lost. Thankfully, soldiers have begun to take matters into their own hands. From U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's refusing deployment to Iraq, to the appeal for redress now circulating among active-duty personnel, to Iraq Veterans Against the War's recent decision to support resisters, we are seeing the initial stirrings of what will likely grow into a movement of soldiers in revolt. The Defense Department recently admitted that at least 3,196 troops deserted in 2006, with an 8 percent increase already in the first quarter of 2007. Plummeting enlistment standards are unlikely to fill this void. The life-altering decisions made by these brave men and women are, in many ways, even more difficult than those made by former resisters. Today's volunteer soldier, unlike Vietnam-era draftees, is too often callously scolded by the mostly comfortable for having freely signed a recruitment contract and, therefore, must suffer the consequences. This judgmental attitude reveals a profound disrespect for service men and women who answered their country's call based on a belief that their government spoke truthfully about weapons of mass destruction and Iraqi links to 9/11. We now know that the pretense used to play on their genuine feelings of duty was little more than a pack of lies."
 
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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Thursday, May 24, 2007

THIS JUST IN! TRANSLATING DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP!

 
 
HARRY REID SAID, "WOOP-DE-DOO!  DEMOCRATS RULE!  WE'RE USING THE HANDBOOK ON THIS ONE!"
 
FOR THOSE STILL REELING FROM THE DEMOCRATS ABDICATION OF THEIR DUTY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, WE WILL TRANSLATE WHAT THAT MEANS: BY THE TIME DEMOCRATS ACTUALLY INTRODUCE THE RESOLUTION, IT WILL READ: "WE HEARBY EXPRESS OUR STRONGEST URGING THAT ALBERTO GONZALES WEAR TIES OF ALL COLORS AND NOT JUST RED ONES.  WE LIKE TIES.  WE LIKE ALBERTO.  WE JUST WISH HE WOULDN'T ALWAYS WEAR RED."
 
IN DEMOCRATIC CIRCLES THIS IS KNOWN AS "HANGING TOUGH."
 
 
One day shy of two weeks since 3 US soldiers went missing in Iraq, Garrett Therolf and Louis Sahagun (Los Angeles Times) report that the U.S. military confirmed the corpse discovered in the Euphrates yesterday was one of the 3 missing soliders, Joseph J. Anzack Jr. Jeremiah Marquez (AP) notes that Byron Fouty and Alex Jimenez remain missing and, "According to a U.S. military official, a second body was found in the area near where Anzack's body was discovered.  The official, who requested anonymity because the information has not yet been released, said there was no indication yet whether the body was another of the missing soldiers."  Therolf and Sahagun reported "that there were two other bodies in the river, also clad in U.S. military uniforms" according to an unnamed Iraqi officer. 
 
Fall out continues for the Democratic leadership in the US Congress' decision to cave and give Bully Boy everything he asked for in the war supplemental.   Laura Flanders (Common Dreams) tells of spending time yesterday with the mother whose son is in the National Guard and told her, "I was counting on the Democrats to stop this war".   [Reminder, RadioNation with Laura Flanders moves to a Sunday broadcast this Sunday, 1:00 pm EST.] Corporate Crime Reporter (CounterPunch) announces, "Behold the spineless Democratic Party.  On Iraq, no deadlines.  On trade, no enforceable worker protections.  In the face of withering pressure from the oil industry, the Democrats in the House, led by Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Michigan), have reportedly castrated their own legislation."  BuzzFlash editorializes, "Since the 2006 elections, the Dem honchos have been speaking loudly and carrying a little stick.  They claim that they don't have the votes to override a veto.  But they do have the votes to keep passing a bill that Bush will veto, effectively bringing the war in Iraq to a close because funding will run out.  They can end the war in Iraq, but are scared of being labeled with 'losing the war.'  And this is a scarlet letter that they fear cannot be worn in a superpower nation that sees itself as the entitled righteous victor in any war that it starts, no matter how faulty the premise or counterproductive to our real national security that war may be.  So the death continues, of young men and women -- many who are patroitic enough to believe that the lies told to them by the Bush Administration are true."  United for Peace & Justice notes that "instead of standing up for what's right, the Democratic leadership has caved in to Bush.  They are giving him a check for $100 billion to continue and futher EXPAND the war.  That surge they all claimed they don't like?  The money for it is in this bill."  John Nichols (via Common Dreams) argues that "the willingness of Pelosi and Reid to advance a measure that does not include a withdrawal timeline allows Bush to conduct the war as he chooses for much if not all of the remainder of his presidency.  This failure to abide by the will of the people who elected Democrats to end the war will haunt Pelosi, Reid and their party -- not to mention the United States and the battered shell that is Iraq."  Recalling the Democratic leadership remarks leading up to Bully Boy's veto, Robert Parry (Consortium News) reminds, "The Democrats didn't help themselves when they started their 'negotiations' with the White House by announcing that they would eventually give Bush a bill that was acceptable to him.  That's a bit like going into a car dealership, declaring that you intend to pay the full sticker price and then trying to bargain.  Knowing that the Democrats planned to fold . . . Bush could confidently veto the first war spending bill".  Matthew Rothschild (The Progressive) addresses the nonsense noting, "There is not even a timetable for withdrawal, just 18 benchmarks that the President himself can waive.  What an abdication!  What a capitulation!  Even as U.S. soldiers are increasingly bogged down in Baghdad, even as the death tool of our troops zoomed past the 3,400 mark, the Democratic compromisers in Congress could not find enough spinal fluid to stand tall against Bush and the inevitable you-don't-support-the-troops ads that they fear so much."  Dave Lindorff (CounterPunch) declares, "The Iraq War is now fully a Democratic War.  The hand-off is complete, just as the handoff of the Democratic Vietnam War was handed off to Richard Nixon and the Republicans in 1968. . . .  Voters remember: It's not what candidates say; it's what they actually do, or don't do."  Jeff Cohen (Common Dreams) observed, "The shared pretense of the White House and Democratic leaders is that funding the Iraq occupation is somehow a program on behalf of the troops.  Like a subsidy for family farmers. . . .  As Military Families Speak Out says: 'Funding the war is not supporting our troops.  The way to support our troops is to bring them home now and take care of them when they get here'." 
 
US House Rep and 2008 presidential contender Dennis Kucinich explained to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) this morning, "We shouldn't be offering any legislation at all.  We should just simply tell the president we're not going to fund the war. And this idea about funding the war to 'help the troops' is absurd.  Want to help the troops?  Bring them home."  US House Rep Lynn Woolsey states, "The American public voted Democrats into power for one simple reason -- the trusted us to act boldly to hold this President accountable and to bring our troops home.  So far we are failing the very trust that they have placed in us.  But more importantly, every day that we allow this occupation to continue we are failing our brave young men and women who are serving honorably and professionally in Iraq.  And we are failing their families here at home, who, while struggling to keep their lives and families together, are forced to worry whether their loved ones will come home alive, and if so in what condition." Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) make it clear, "There are only a couple [of] ways Congress can end this bloody, unwinnable occupation in Iraq.  These do NOT include the approach of the Democratic leaders.  That's been a failure -- as they now stand ready to give Bush $95 billion more war funding through an Iraq Supplemental bill that no longer has any timelines for troop withdrawal."
 
The deadlines and 'benchmarks' were never enforceable.  They were never binding.  The Bully Boy could waive them, he could reclassify ever US service member in Iraq "military police" and thereby keep them in Iraq without missing the 'deadlines' of the Pelosi-Reid measure that was sent up to the White House and vetoed.  If you think real hard, you'll remember a Party Hack that told Dems in Congress (in the House) opposed to the weak Pelosi-Reid measure that they had to "accept the congressional world as it is right now". 
But those trying to call reality out on the nonsense bill were told (a) they were wrong and (b) the Dems would stick by this measure no matter what (one Party Hack swore the answer to a veto lay in the "conference report" that "we" would take care of).  A few did call the nonsense out, Laura Flanders, Howard Zinn, Black Agenda Report, Alexander Cockburn, Matthew Rothschild, Robert Knight (of Flashpoints Radio -- and include Dennis Bernstein, host of the same show, as well) . . .  But it's a really small list.  The rest either went along with the lie, stuck their head in the sand or, in the case of The Nation, attempted to write an editorial -- a p.o.v. piece -- from various perspectives to avoid calling the nonsense out.
 
But everyone was supposed to hold their tongues because this was the best, this was the only way that everyone could be on board and something could be done, hold your nose and accept it.  Too many did.  And now too many learn that when you act like a cheerleader instead of demanding real action, the Democratic compromise (and it's always a Democratic compromise) will be even weaker.  Instead of cooing, "You can do it, Democrats, you can do it," the people would have been better served rejecting the weak measures.  That might have forced the Dems to do more with their first proposal and, when it was compromise time, we might have seen them put forward the bill they went with last time.  The Democrats will always compromise -- partly because they like to see themselves as "adults" (or, in the age of Oprah, "healers") and party because they still can't quite believe that trianulation isn't a winning strategy.
 
Bill Van Auken (WSWS) reports, "Behind the media reports of a showdown between Democrats and Republicans over the Iraq war, what in reality appears to be emerging in Washington is a bipartisan consensus on a strategy that would continue the US occupation of the oil-rich country for many years to come."  But not everyone's displeased.  AP reports Bully Boy's practically panting over the gift the Democrats have handed him, saying that it "reflects a consensus" -- to which the reporters should have shot back, "Spell it."
 
Norman Solomon (CounterPunch) notes that there is a very long struggle ahead to end the illegal war and cautions:  "When considering what to demand now, it's helpful to put the current moment in historical perspective.  The same basic arguments for keeping U.S. forces in Iraq have long been presented by reigning politicians and key media outlets as self-evident wisdom.  A cover story in Time magazine laid down the prevailing line: 'Foreing policy luminaries from both parties say a precipitous U.S. withdrawal would cripple American credibility, doom reform in the Arab world and turn Iraq into a playground for terrorists and the armies of neighboring states like Iran and Syria.'  That was in April -- 2004."
 
Speaking with Kris Welch on KPFA's Living Room today, Medea Benjamin (CODEPINK) stated, "We haven't bought the Democrats line from day one that they were trying to stop the war and we've been trying to hold them accountable" and reminded of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, "The first policy that she put out on the first 100 hours didn't even include the word 'Iraq' in it."  (Also appearing to discuss Congress' capitulation on Iraq were Tina Richards and David Swanson.)
 
 
War resisters continue trying to end the illegal war.  On Monday, Carol Brouillet interviewed Camilo Mejia for Questioning War-Organizing Resistance on WeThePeopleRadioNetwork.com.  They addressed his newly published book, Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia (The New Press), the abuse he saw in Iraq and his own court-martial.  Camilo Mejia: "The judge basically agreed with the prosection that it is not there job to second guess the commander in chief.  And they did not want to hear about the war crimes or the violations of Geneva on the ground in Iraq.  So they basically brought down the entire case to the question of whether I got back on the plane or not but they didn't look at the reasoning behind it.  They did not examine the claims of war crimes or anything.  And this is something that's happening more and more, Carol.  Like for instance in the case of Lt. Watada that's precisely what happened.  You know the prosecution wanted to prosecute Lt. Watada for saying that he did not want to participate in an illegal war but they did not want to put the war on trial so that's why they declared a mistrail because they could not go to court and look at all these issues without looking at the legality of the war.  They could not examine his statements  without actually verifying the veracity or without somehow one way or another putting the war on trial." 
 
Ehren Watada was the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to the Iraq war.  An attempted court-martial in February ended -- over defense objection -- in a mistrial.  Last Friday, the defense learned that an appeals court, Army Court of Appeals, granted a stay.
 
Watada and Mejia are part of growing movement of resistance within the US military that also includes Joshua Key, Terri Johnson, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty 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.  And of course, there's
 
Yesterday, we noted the case of Adam Kokesh who was honorably discharged in 2006 but whose actions to end the illegal war now has the military threatening him with a change in discharge status.  (More information can be found at kokesh.blogspot.com.) Iraq Veterans Against the War's Kelly Doughtery has a letter posted at Veterans for Peace:
 
I am writing to let you know about an urgent issue that is affecting several of our IVAW members. Adam Kokesh and Liam Madden are both very active members and former Marines. Because of their outspoken opposition to the war, the Marine Corps is threatening to revoke their honorable discharges and change them to other than honorable. We cannot allow this suppression of free speech to occur! Adam and Liam need our help to pay for legal defense and travel to their hearings. Adam just found out his hearing is in Kansas City on June 4th, less than two weeks away! Attached below is a letter from Adam, describing his situation and asking for your help. Besides financial contributions, we also need people who are in the Kansas City area to gather support for Adam before his June 4th hearing. Please contact me at Kelly@ivaw.org if you are in the area and would like to find out how you can help. I will keep you updated on both Adam and Liam's cases as they unfold.

Thank you so much for your time and support, it really means everything to our veterans who dare to speak the truth.

In Peace,
Kelly Dougherty
Former Sergeant Army National Guard
Executive Director
Iraq Veterans Against the War
 
 
 
 

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

THIS JUST IN! SELLING THE NEXT WAR VIA BUSY BODIES!

 
AS THE BULLY BOY ITCHES TO START ANOTHER ILLEGAL WAR, THIS ONE WITH IRAN, HE IS AIDED BY U.S. GOVERNMENTAL BUSY BODIES SUCH AS HALEH ESFANDIARI WHO HOLDS BOTH AMERICAN AND IRANIAN CITZENSHIP AND WAS ARRESTED IN IRAN.  HER ARREST, FOR STUPIDITY OR SPYING, IS AN ISSUE SHE BROUGHT ON HER SELF IN THE BEST SENSE OF MIDNIGHT EXPRESS.
 
MEANWHILE KIAN TAJBAKHSH, OF GEORGE SOROS' OPENSOCIETY ORGANIZATION, HAS ALSO BEEN ARRESTED.  TAJBAKHSH IS ALSO AN IRANIAN-AMERICAN WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION WHY DID HE BECOME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN TO BEGIN WITH?  IS HE UNAWARE THAT AID AND HELP IS STILL NEEDED IN THE REGION SAVAGED BY HURRICANE KATRINA?  IS HE UNAWARE OF THE MOUNTING TENSIONS BETWEEN IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES?
 
BUSY BODIES WANT TO DRAG THE U.S. INTO A WAR WITH IRAN AND THE LAUGHABLE COUNCIL OF FOREIGN RELATIONS IS ALWAYS THERE TO CHEERLEAD MORE WAR.  RAY TAKEYH IGNORES THE IRANIAN DIPLOMATS KIDNAPPED BY U.S. FORCES IN IRAQ AT GUN POINT AND HELD SINCE FEBRUARY TO FOCUS ON AMERICAN -- OR 1/2 AMERICAN -- BUSY BODIES AND WHINE THAT THE U.S. SHOULD NOT BE TALKING TO IRAN UNLESS THEY'RE DEMANDING THE RELEASE OF THE BUSY BODIES.  RAY TAKEYH HAS YET TO WEIGH IN ON THE CUBAN FIVE, POLITICAL PRISONERS HELD IN THE UNITED STATES BUT HE'S SOILING HIS BVDS OVER THE FACT THAT TWO PROFESSIONAL BUSY BODIES GOT ARRESTED IN THEIR OWN HOME COUNTRY.
 
SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN THE THINK TANKS AND YOU DON'T NEED TO READ THE NATION MAGAZINE TO GRASP THAT.
 
 
Today is day twelve since 3 US soldiers went missing following an attack that killed 4 US soldiers and 1 Iraqi translator.  The US military has issued many statements that said very little (but what is there to say when it appears the attack took place as a result of where command stationed the soldiers and the time duration the soldiers were left in place).  Though the search for the 3 continues today, one may have been discovered. Steven R. Hurst (AP) reports that Iraqi police believe they have found one of the missing soldiers, that he is a corpse they found in the Euphrates River today.  Paul Tait (Reuters) reports: "The half-naked body had bullet wounds and bore signs of torture.  Captain Muthanna al-Maamouri, a police spokesman in the provincial capital Hilla, said there were wounds to the torso and shaved head of the body, which was wearing U.S. Army-issue pants and boots and had a tattoo on the left arm.  'This is one of the missing soldiers,' he said."  The US military has yet to confirm that.  Howard Schneider and Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) note that the body is now being examined by the US military.
 
Meanwhile, in the United States, Congressional Democrats attempt to deal with the fact that leadership has caved.  US News and World Reports observes that "their concession to the White House has angered anti-war activists and lawmakers, who are now expected to oppose the legislation."  This is the legislation that, despite some denials from leadership, leadership crafted.  It removes the non-binding, toothless calls for withdrawal and even the appearance of substance while giving Bully Boy everything he asked for and stacking up pork such as relief for those suffering from Hurricane Katrina, a slight spike in the minimum wage and funding children's health care.  Nancy Pelosi is the US Speaker of the House so it's a bit hard to swallow many of her statements.  Carl Hulse (New York Times) quotes her stating of the new legislation, "I would never vote for such a thing."  Shailagh Murray (Washington Post) quotes Pelosi declaring, "I'm not likely to vote for something that doesn't have a timetable."  Two questions here.  First, how does a party push through legislation without the Speaker's approval?  Second, why did she allow Steny Hoyer (House majority leader -- whom she outranks) to take to the airwaves yesterday declaring the sell out to be "an agreement"?  US Senator Russ Feingold issued a statement yesterday and we'll note this from it, "I cannot support a bill that contains nothing more than toothless benchmarks and that allows the President to continue what may be the greatest foreign policy blunder in our nation's history. There has been a lot of tough talk from members of Congress about wanting to end this war, but it looks like the desire for political comfort won out over real action. Congress should have stood strong, acknowledged the will of the American people, and insisted on a bill requiring a real change of course in Iraq."  As did Dennis Kucinich, US House Rep and 2008 presidential candidate, "If this is true, and I hope it is not, it tells American workers that the only way they will get an increase in wages is to continue to support funding the war which is taking the lives of their sons and daughters.  First blood for oil. Now a minimum wage for maximum blood. Aren't the American people giving enough blood for this war without having to give more to have a wage increase?  What's happened to our country? We are losing our moral compass. We're losing our sense of justice. We're losing touch with the difference between right and wrong. We do not have to fund this war. We must leave Iraq now. Support our troops and bring them home. HR 1234 is a plan to end the war and stabilize Iraq and give Iraqis control of their oil. We must take a new path. We must take a path of truth and justice."  Kucinich will hold a press conference tomorrow (Thursday) on this topic at the Cannon Terrace and be joined by Antonia Juhasz and Denice Lombar (US Labor Against the War).  Today, he spoke on the House floor about the privatization of Iraqi oil (from AfterDowningStreet.org): "This war is about oil. We must not be party to the Administration's blatant attempt to set the stage for multinational oil companies to take over Iraq's oil resources. The Administration set several benchmarks for the Iraqi government, including passage of the 'Hydrocarbon Law' by the Iraqi Parliament.
And many inside the beltway are contemplating linking funding for the war in Iraq to the completion of these benchmarks, including passage of the 'Hydrocarbon Law' by the Iraqi Parliament. The Administration has once again misled Congress by mislabeling the draft law as an oil revenues distribution law, just as the Administration misled Congress about the Iraq war. The war in Iraq is a stain on American history. Let us not further besmirch our nation by participating in the outrageous exploitation of a nation which is in shambles due to U.S. intervention."
 
US House Rep Lynn Woolsey predicts much less support for this bill and believes leadership will have to count on cross-over votes from Republicans for it to pass. She tells Mike Soraghan (The Hill), "The anti-war Democrats have reached their tipping point.  It's going to take Republican votes to pass it."
 
As Democrats cave, those who stand up find themselves punished. From "Legal Defense Fund for Adam Kokesh:"
 
Dear Friend of Iraq Veterans Against the War,      
My name is Adam Kokesh and I need your help. Because of my involvement in IVAW, I have been singled out and called for a military hearing to be made an example of for those of us who have spoken out against the war. I have been an active member of IVAW for a mere four months, but have already garnered enough attention to be perceived as a threat by those using our military to maintain political support for the occupation of Iraq.
I was honorably discharged after serving over six years, and two tours in Iraq, last November. I am part of the Inactive Ready Reserve until June 18, 2007, less than a month away. After my discharge, I moved to Washington, DC to get a Masters in Political Management at GWU, and joined IVAW. I have since appeared on behalf of IVAW speaking at concerts, universities, and high schools. I have written about my views on the occupation and my military experience for the IVAW website and on my blog.     
Most notably, I participated in Operation First Casualty on March 19th. This was a mock combat patrol through Washington, DC in order to bring home the truth of the occupation of Iraq, because the first casualty of war is the truth. I appeared in my uniform, without my name, without rank, and without the patch that says US MARINES. I received an email of warning about possible violations of the UCMJ for appearing in uniform at a political event. Instead of ignoring it like everyone I know who has received similar emails, I wrote a strongly worded reply admonishing the Major who was "investigating" me for wasting time on such trivial matters. The text of that email is posted here.           
I soon received a package from the Marine Corps informing me of a separation hearing to re-separate me with an Other Than Honorable Discharge. A scan of the complete package can be seen here. I have sought private counsel for this hearing, as is my right. I intend to bring as many witnesses as possible to testify to both the character of my service and the nature of my involvement with IVAW. The Marine Corps only made it known to us today that the hearing will be held on June 4, in a mere 13 days. They have also decided to activate me for the hearing and hold it in Kansas City, home of the Marine Corps Mobilization Command.
This case is important because the intimidation of servicemen and women who speak out will suppress the truth about the Iraq occupation. With the help of IVAW, I intend to fight this to the end and stand up for the rights of all members of our armed forces. Please support this effort by mailing a check made out to IVAW with "Adam Kokesh Legal Defense Fund" in the memo to PO Box 8296, Philadelphia, PA 19101 or by going here, clicking on "Donate Now" and including "Adam Kokesh Legal Defense Fund" in the Special Project Support window. Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments.
Sincerely,        
Adam Kokesh          
adam@ivaw.org        
kokesh.blogspot.com       

Unlike Congress, Iraq Veterans Against the War  are working to end the illegal war. And they continue to show support for resisters within the military such as Joshua Key,  Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull,  Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty 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.
 
 
 

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Tuesday, May 22, 2007

THIS JUST IN! FLIP-FLOP!

 
 
BILL RICHARDSON, WHO SERVED IN THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION, FORMALLY DECLARED YESTERDAY THAT HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.
 
TODAY, BILL RICHARDSON TOLD THESE REPORTERS HE WAS TELLING VOTERS HE WANTS THEM TO "CONSIDER ME, NOT BECAUSE I AM HISPANIC BUT BECAUSE I HAVE THE BEST PROGRAM FOR THE COUNTRY."
 
MOMENTS LATER, HE EXPLAINED HOW HE WAS GOING TO TARGET HISPANIC VOTERS, "I AM SAYING 'IT'S BILL RICHARDSON LOPEZ AND I AM ONE OF YOU."
 
AS SEASONED CAMPAIGN REPORTERS EVEN WE WERE SHOCKED BY THE SPEED WITH WHICH RICHARDSON FLIP-FLOPPED.
 
 
 
In war resistance news, Nilanjana S Roy (India's Business Standard).reviews Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale and concludes, "His story, blunt, unapologetic and defiant, may be the most unsettling indictment of the Iraq war to have emerged thus far."  Roy becomes another reviewer in a long line to sing the praises of Key's  The Deserter's Tale which traces his journey from a father attempting to help put food on the table and willing to believe a recruiter to a young man serving in Iraq and seeing the war was based on lies.  Key self-checks out of the military while back in the States and he, Brandi Key and their children move to Canada where the family now resides. Key concludes his book (pp. 230-231):
 
When I came home I told Brandi that I had seen innocent people die in Iraq.  For the longest time, that is just about all she knew.  But because she loved me that was all she needed to hear.  In fact, she did not want to hear any details.  Taking care of three young boys and me, as well as little Anna, who was soon growing in her womb, Brandi did not feel she had the strength to hear about everything I had seen and done in Iraq.  Apart from one time in Philadelphia when I got drunk and began to shout about the young girl I had seen killed outside the hospital in Ramadi, I have never spoken to her directly about all the intimate details given in this book.  She reads the information form I gave the Canadian immigration authorities when I applied for refugee status.  When she put it down, she said she never would have read it in the first place if she had known what she'd find it.  We both carry emotional wounds as a result of the war in Iraq, and I imagine that thousands of other Americans who served in Iraq have also brought their own nightmares back home.  Their families, too, will be suffering.  Ordinary Iraqis have paid very dearly for this war, and ordinary Americans are paying for it too with their lives and with their souls.    
I have never been a man to run from a challenge, and I have never fled from danger or abandoned vulenerable people.  I am neither a coward nor a traitor.  When I was being recruited in Oklahoma City in 2002, I had to sign a paper to the effect that I had read and understood a warning from the military: "Desertion in the time war means death by a firing squad."  That just about sums it up.  We could do whatever we wanted to Iraqis.  Yet if we ran from duty, there would be hell to pay.  I will never apologize for deserting the American army.  I destered an injustice and leaving was the right thing to do.  I owe one apology and one apology only, and that is to the people of Iraq.
 
Joshua Key is part of a growing movement of war resistance within the military that also includes Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull,  Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty 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.
 
 
Reminder, a look at another activist airs tonight on  The Sundance Channel:

Tuesday, May 22nd 9:30 pm e/p
Forest For The Trees (U.S. Television Premiere) -- Directed by Bernadine Mellis. Mellis follows her father, civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham, as he goes to federal court in 2002 on behalf of his client, the late environmental activist Judi Bari. A leader of EarthFirst!, Bari was injured in a car bombing as she prepared for 1990's "Redwood Summer," a peaceful action protesting the logging of old-growth redwoods in Northern California.
Arrested for the crime but never charged, Bari believed she was targeted in order to discredit her organization and sued the FBI and the Oakland Police. A suspenseful chronicle of an important trial, Forest for the Trees is also a profile of a dynamic and funny woman, who earned the respect of loggers as well as environmentalists.
 

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Monday, May 21, 2007

THIS JUST IN! DEMS ALL GUMS!

 
NEWS FROM CAPITOL HILL IS THAT CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS ARE DROPPING THEIR SYMBOLIC, NON-BINDING MEASURE ON IRAQ FUNDING THAT WOULD SET GUIDELINES THAT COULD BE FOLLOWED OR NOT.
 
IN THEIR PLACE?
 
 
"WE LIKE TOOTHLESS," EXPLAINED SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID TO THESE REPORTERS.  "IN FACT, I DON'T WANT TO BE CALLED 'HARRY' ANYMORE.  CALL ME 'GUMS'."
 
FROM THE GUMS OF HARRY REID.
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Ehren Watada has won what Melanthia Mitchell (AP) dubs "a small victory."  In June of last year, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.  The first day of the court-martial (Monday, Feb. 5th) was your basic first day of court.  On Tuesday, the prosecution presented their case.  Wednesday, the defense was supposed to mount their limited defense.  Limited?  Judge Toilet (aka John Head) had already ruled that the defense could not address the legality of the war, had been happy to pay for prosecution witnesses but would not do the same for the defense (and wouldn't allow witnesses).  Wednesday the case would depend on Watada's testimony.  The judge called a mistrial (over defense objection) before Watada could testify -- most likely because the prosecution's witnesses on Tuesday had, in different ways, backed up Watada's stand.  Many legal commentators have pointed out (including Marjorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild), Judge Toilet's decision to call a mistrial after the case began, over the objection of the defense, a second court-martial would violate the Constitution's ban on double-jeopardy. February 8th, on Flashpoints, Marjorie Cohn explained that, "When a mistrial is declared, the defense has to agree to it.  The only thing that will defeat a finding of double-jeopardy . . . is if there was a manifest necessity to declare the mistrial . . . .  There wasn't a manifest destiny."  (Those who can't listen can click here to read Rebecca on Cohn's appearance.)  Manifest necessity. 
 
Cohn was addressing how double-jeopardy attached the moment the jury was sworn in (Watada elected to go with a jury of his peers -- there is a choice of whether to allow a military judge to decide the verdict or to go with a jury of military members).  This was not an opinion pulled out of thin air, it gets to heart of the US Constitution's Fifth Amendment.  Speaking on Flashpoints, she offered the example that a jury couldn't reach a verdict.  Had Watada's jury been unable to reach a verdict, the judge would have had reason to declare a mistrial.  Judge Toilet had no reason to declare one (his actual reason for declaring a mistrial was that the prosecution's witnesses ended up making statements helpful to the defense and the prosecution's easy victory had vanished). A judge cannot stop a trial in the middle of proceedings because he fears the probable verdict.
 
The July 23rd court-martial faces a new obstacle.  Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) reported Saturday that the Army Court of Appeals has "granted a partial stay of defense motion.  It has given Fort Lewis prosecutors 10 days to respond to the defense arguments, and also extended to the defense the option of filing a second round of briefs."  Melanthia Mitchell (AP) reported Sunday that the Court declared: "Assembly of the court-martial and all proceedings ordinarily following assembly of the court-martial are hereby stayed."  Mitchell also notes that Watada's attorneys, Kenneth Kagan and James Lobsenz, argued "there was no 'manifest necessity' for the mistrial."  Now the prosecution will decided their next move. Bernton reports: "According to Lobsenz, once the briefs are filed, the appeals court could: dissolve the stay and allow the case to proceed; hear oral arguments and then issue a ruling; or issue a ruling based on a review of the briefs."
 
In other war resister news, Aaron Glantz (IPS) reports on Agustin Aguayo's return to the United States and Aguayo discusses his time in Iraq, his reasons for enlisting and his resistance.  On his imprisonment in Germany, Aguayo states, "Initially it was that shocking moment.  I had never gotten in trouble in any kind of way.  Just two speeding tickets back when I started driving in 1990.  But on the other hand it was also a moment of peace where I could reflect and I'm really at peace because I finally have what I wanted for so long.  I wanted to be separated from the military because this is wrong, because morally I couldn't continue down this path."  Glantz notes the speaking tour Aguayo took part in along with Camilo Mejia (author of the just released Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia), Pablo Paredes and Robert Zabala and how all four are Latino:  
 
"It's hard to overlook," Paredes told IPS.  "The evidence is pretty clear that there's a lot of Latino resistance.  Part of it is that we're disproportionately targeted for jobs that are high risk -- combat roles, infantry roles.  We make up a very small percentage of elit jobs like officers and Blue Angels [a naval aviation show squadron].  We make up only four percent of the officer corps but when the invasion started we were 20 percent of the infantry."
 
Jeff Paterson (at Courage to Resist and Indybay IMC) also reports on Aguayo's return to the US and the report includes many photos (including of Helga Aguayo's wife, Camilo Mejia, Robert Zabala, Pablo Paredes, Sean O'Neill and many more).  Jeff Paterson, Camilo Mejia and Pablo Paredes join Michael Wong tonight on  WeThePeopleRadioNetwork.com for the program Questioning War-Organizing Resistance which airs from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm PST. More information can be found in Carol Brouillet's "Questioning War- Organizing Resistance- War Resisters Radio Show" (Indybay IMC).
 
US war resisters are part of a growing movement of war resistance within the military: Camilo Mejia, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Joshua Key, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty 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 Iraq, today is the 10th day since Alex R. Jimenez (25 y.o.), Joseph J. Anzack Jr. (20 y.o.) and Byron W. Fouty (19 y.o.) went missing following an attack that left 4 other US soldiers and 1 Iraqi translator dead.  The three are assumed to be captured and the US military continues to search for them.  CBS and AP note, via CBS' Mark Strassman, that David Petraues, "top U.S. commander in Iraq," made a claim to the Army Times that "couldn't be confirmed.  Petraeus gave no details or proof."  His claim, also reported by Damien Cave of the New York Times on Sunday, is that he knows 2 of the 3 missing soldiers are still alive.  Cave did not note that there was no confirmation, no details nor any proof.  Cave did note that Petraues claims to know who captured the soldiers ("We know who that guy is").  At this point, there is little indication that Petraues knows anything.
 
CNN reports that the search was focused "around the site where they were attacked May 12 south of Baghdad."  Aaron Sheldrick (Bloomberg News) reported yesterday, "Thousands of U.S. personnel are still searching for three soldiers missing in Iraq since a May 12 ambush that killed four others and Iraqi army interpreter near Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad.  The search is diverting soldiers from a security clampdown in Baghdad".
 

 

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