The Daily Jot: 2007-10-07

Saturday, October 13, 2007

THIS JUST IN! COWARDLY BOYS TEAM UP!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

BAMBI DECIDED TO 'GET TOUGH.' AND WHAT BETTER WAY FOR THE WEAKLING NEWBIE SENATOR STILL YET TO SPROUT PUBES, BARACK OBAMA, TO PROVE HIS 'MANLINESS' THAN TO GO AFTER SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON?

SOME ARE HAILING IT A "NEW TOUGHER PHASE." BUT AS USUAL, BAMBI CAN'T STAND ALONE SO HE TEAMS WITH JOHNNY EDWARDS IN THE WOMEN HATER'S CLUB AND THE TWO OF THEM GO AFTER CLINTON.

CAMPAIGN ADVISOR SAMMY POWER EXPLAINED TO THESE REPORTERS, "OF COURSE BAMBI'S GOING TO STAND WITH JOHNNY! JOHNNY HAS MORE HAIR ON HIS HEAD THAN BAMBI HAS ON HIS ENTIRE BODY!"

WHEN ASKED HOW SHE WOULD KNOW THAT, SAMMY POWER WARNED THESE REPORTERS SHE WAS "TRYING TO BE NICE" BUT WE ARE STILL ON HER "SH*T LIST, NUMBER 2 UNDER PEOPLE I WILL BOMB AFTER I BECOME SECRETARY OF DEFENSE."

WHEN THESE REPORTERS REACHED THE HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN, WE WERE SURPRISED TO BE CONNECTED TO THE CANDIDATE HERSELF.

"THOSE TWO BOYS," CLINTON TOLD US, "THOSE TWO LITTLE BOYS, THOSE TWO LITTLE, COWARDLY BOYS. I INVITE THEM TO BRING THEIR TOUGH GUY ACT TO MY FACE AT THE NEXT DEBATE.".

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

As Denise Winebrenner Edwards (People's Weekly World) notes, this was to be the week of the second court-martial of Ehren Watada until US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle granted a stay through at least October 26th. Ben Hamamoto (Nichi Bei Times) reports on an October 8th San Francisco press conference held by Pacific Islanders Resist and the Watada Support Committee where Luke Hiken (of the National Lawyers Guild Military Task Force) explained, "Under our constitution, the military is under the judiciary of the United States. In other words, all federal court systems, up to the United States Supreme Court, have authority over the conduct of military personnel when appropriate. Accordingly, federal district courts, all the way up to the courts of appeal and U.S. Supreme Court, intervene when there are violations of U.S. military regulations or laws that contravene the U.S. Constitution. The trial council indicated that there was no jeopardy attached to the case, because the defense had not completed its entire presentation, which is nonsense. In (such a case) jeopardy is attached the second the first witness is called by the prosecution." Hiken is referring to the double-jeopardy issue. In February, Watada was court-martialed. Judge Toilet (John Head) presided. Opening arguments were presented. The prosecution called their witnesses. And their witnesses did a pretty good job of making the defense's case. That was day two. Day three was when Watada was supposed to testify. Instead, Judge Toilet was suddenly shocked by a stipulation he had read, he had agreed to, and he had explained to the jury. Despite his own involvement at all steps of the stipulation, suddenly Judge Toilet wanted to say Watada didn't understand it. This was the excuse Judge Toilet created to call a mistrial. He did so over defense objection. Because the trial had started, double-jeopardy had attached -- as National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn has pointed out since the start.

Through Thursday, November 1st, we'll be including, in the snapshots, this National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force announcement: 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."

Watada is only one Iraq War resister. Courage to Resist reports on James Circello Jr. who self-checked out in April of 2007 and writes about his experience in the poem "I saw kids turn into animals:"

I saw kids turn into animals.

Members of my own unit, who I will never speak negatively about,

doing things that one day I know

will haunt them.

I saw soldiers mistreating detained Iraqis.

Detained on nothing more than pure suspicion in some cases.

But why not, it was the Old West, anything goes and anything did go.

Honestly.

Questionable shootings.

Questionable decisions by superior commanders.

Nothing ever questioned by your superiors.

You as the Soldier were always in the right.

Courage to Resist also has an interview (transcript and audio) with war resister Mark Wilkerson conducted by The War Comes Home's Aaron Glantz. At one point, Wilkerson explains, "I discussed many of these issues with a lot of other soldiers there [in Iraq]; a lot of them just didn't want to think about it at all. And then when I got back, to see the way the media portrayed the war and the way many people thought the war was going on, and then finally, after a few months, seeing some resisters coming on television -- I remember seeing Camilo Mejia in an interview and thinking, 'Wow, there are people out there like me, who are confused and angry and upset.' This 'conscientious objector' that I applied for, it was a very rough patch for me. It was a period of -- I ended up applying for conscientious objector in June. I took the rules fo conscientious objector home, and in the course of one night, I answered all the questions. I filled out my form. It was mostly seething. I was very angry, so I put all the emotion into what should be a very proper, very well thought-out document and application. I turned it in. I was told that I had a week to fill it out. And then over the next several months, I sometimes got in many arguments and heated debates with my chain of command -- my first sergeant, my platoon sergeant, some military chaplains, military investigators, military psychologists . . ." November 2005, he was denied CO status -- as most who apply are -- and decided to self-check out. He announced he was turning himself in August 2006 at Camp Casey and was eventually sentenced to imprisonment in Fort Still, OK.

Sunday in Corvallis, Oregon (a college town not far from Portland) Gerry Condon will speak at the Odd Fellows Hall, 223 S.W. Second St. at 7:00 pm. Gerry Condon is a war resister from the Vietnam era and he's very active in war resistance today. He can speak about war resisters in Canada -- not just Kyle Snyder, but he knows Snyder's case front to back -- and about the legal process in Canada which has thus far refused to grant any war resisters of this era refugee status. Along with a can't-miss-speech, those attending will also be able to see Michelle Mason's Breaking Ranks -- a documentary about war resisters in Canada today. Paul Fattig (Mail Tribune) reports that Condon will also "give a talk about his work at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Medford Congregational United Church of Christ."

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, 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, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(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.

Earlier this week, National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn (at Truthout) addressed the issue of torture noting that the administration continues to deny it tortures when the reality is the White House has okayed torture for some time, "Torture is a war crime. Those who commit or order torture can be convicted under the U.S. War Crimes Statute. Techniques that don't rise to the level of torture but constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment also violate U.S. law. Congress should provide for the appointment of a special independent counsel to fully investigate and prosecute all who are complicit in the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody." AP quoted former president Jimmy Carter declaring this week on CNN, "Our country for the first time in my life time has abandoned the basic principle of human rights. We've said that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those people in Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo, and we've said we can torture prisoners and deprive them of an accusation of a crime." Yesterday the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq released (PDF format warning) "Human Rights Report 1 April -- 30 June 2007" which found many human rights abuses but let's zoom in on the issues having to do with imprisonment. Those being held went from 17,565 in March to 21,112 by the end of June leading to overcrowding in holding facilities across Iraq, prolonged periods of waiting for something resembling justice to arrive, denial of "access to legal counsel and to family visits," and "reports of the widespread and routine torture or ill-treatment of detainees, particularly those being held in pre-trial detention facitilities under Ministry of Interior facilities, including police stations. Several such cases were document during the reporting period, where UNAMI was able to interview and examine victims of physical abuse shortly following their release or following their conviction and transfer to a Ministry of Justice prison." So torture and abuse is alive and well in Iraq. For all the Bully Boy's grand words of creating a torture free Iraq, Abu Ghraib (and other earlier, less well known events) demonstrated that the US will torture so it's no surprise that the Iraqis placed in charge (by the US and its puppets) will as well.

Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
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Thursday, October 11, 2007

THIS JUST IN! BAMBI HAS TRUST ISSUES!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

"THE TRUST ME CANDIDATE" IS HOW THE BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN IS BILLING THEIR NON-STAR.

IN 2002, BARACK OBAMA WAS NOT IN FAVOR OF THE IRAQ WAR. HE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS ILLEGAL. HE JUST DIDN'T THINK IT WAS 'SMART.' WHILE RUNNING FOR THE SENATE IN 2004, HE REGULARLY NOTED HE WAS AGAINST WITHDRAWAL; INSTEAD HE ARGUED THAT NOW THAT U.S. FORCES WERE IN IRAQ, THEY HAD TO STAY.

BUT "TRUST HIM" -- HE WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE -- IF HE'D BEEN IN THE SENATE IN 2002 HE WOULD HAVE VOTED AGAINST THE ILLEGAL WAR.

BUILDING ON THE CONCEPT THAT AMERICA IS A COUNTRY WHERE A SUCKER'S BORN EVERY MINUTE, OBAMA ATTEMPTED TO DRAW A LINE BETWEEN HIMSELF AND HIS SIAMESE TWIN HILLARY CLINTON TODAY.

ON CNN TODAY, BAMBI REMINDED THE WORLD YET AGAIN THAT SENATOR CLINTON VOTED IN FAVOR OF AUTHORIZATION OF THE WAR (CLINTON DISPUTES THAT IS WHAT SHE WAS VOTING FOR) AND THAT HE DID NOT . . . BECAUSE HE WAS NOT IN THE CONGRESS.

HE THEN REMINDED EVERYONE THAT SHE JUST VOTED IN FAVOR OF WHAT SOME SEE AS AN IRAN WAR MEASURE (CLINTON'S ARGUMENT IS THAT SHE VOTED TO HAVE IRAN DESIGNATED A TERRORIST STATE SO THAT OPTIONS OTHER THAN WAR COULD BE USED).

"THIS IS A PROBLEM," BAMBI WHINED.

THE ARGUMENT IS THAT SENATOR CLINTON WAS WRONG TO VOTE FOR THE IRAQ MEASURE IN 2002 AND WRONG TO VOTE FOR THE IRAN MEASURE THIS YEAR. THE ARUGMENT DEPENDS ON PEOPLE TRUSTING BAMBI. HE WASN'T IN THE CONGRESS IN 2002 FOR THE IRAQ VOTE AND HE WASN'T IN CONGRESS IN 2007 FOR THE IRAN WAR. NOW HE WAS A SENATOR BUT INSTEAD OF VOTING ON THE MEASURE HE NOW CONSIDERS SO DAMN IMPORTANT, HE SKIPPED THE VOTE TO CAMPAIGN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. VOTERS MUST TRUST BAMBI BECAUSE HE HAS NO RECORD TO POINT TO -- EVEN AFTER BECOMING SENATOR.

THESE REPORTERS CALLED THE CAMPAIGN THIS AFTERNOON AND REACHED WAR HAWK SAMANTHA POWER. WHEN ASKED WHERE BAMBI GOT OFF CRITICIZING ANYONE ON A VOTE HE SKIPPED, WAR HAWK SAMMY POWER HISSED, "WHEN BARACK MAKES ME SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, I'LL BOMB YOU BOTH! I'LL BOMB DARFUR! I'LL BOMB SWITZERLAND! I'LL BOMB THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD! WAR! WAR! WAR!"

SAMMY POWER BEGAN PANTING INTO THE PHONE AND THESE REPORTERS HUNG UP ON HER.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with war resistance. Sunday in Corvallis, Oregon (a college town not far from Portland) Gerry Condon will speak at the Odd Fellows Hall, 223 S.W. Second St. at 7:00 pm. Gerry Condon is a war resister from the Vietnam era and he's very active in war resistance today. He can speak about war resisters in Canada -- not just Kyle Snyder, but he knows Snyder's case front to back -- and about the legal process in Canada which has thus far refused to grant any war resisters of this era refugee status. Along with a can't-miss-speech, those attending will also be able to see Michelle Mason's Breaking Ranks -- a documentary about war resisters in Canada today.

Today Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) broke the news that the Center for Constitutional Rights was filing a lawsuit against the mercenary company Blackwater USA. CCR's Susan Burke explained that, "We were approached by the families of three gentlemen who were shot and killed, as well as a gentleman who was very seriously injured. They came to us because they know of our work representing the torture victims at Abu Ghraib, and they asked us whether it would be possible to try to get some form of justice, some form of accountability, against this rogue corporation. So we put together a lawsuit that is being filed this morning in federal court in the District of Columbia on behalf of the families of three gentlemen who were killed: Mr. Atban, Mr. Abbass and Mr. Ibraheem The three gentlemen, amongst them, had fourteen children, including one, Mr. Atban, had a newborn baby daughter. So, needless to say, we are very interested in holding this company accountable and in pursuing the lawsuit vigorously." This is relation to the September 16th incident where the mercenaries slaughter at least 17 people in Baghdad. CCR explains that they filed the case and joining them in the filing were the firms of Burke O'Neill LLC and Akeel & Valentine, P.C.: "Filed in Washington, D.C. federal court by Talib Mutlaq Deewan and the estates of the deceased men Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbass, and Oday Ismail Ibraheem the lawsuit claims that Blackwater and its affiliated companies violated U.S. law and created and fostered a culture of lawlessness amongst its employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at the expense of innocent human life. The complaint alleges that Blackwater violated the federal Alien Tort Statute in committing extrajudicial killing and war crimes, and that Blackwater should be liable for claims of assault and battery, wrongful death, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring, training and supervision." Among Paul Bremer's orders was CPA Order 17 and the latest report from the United Nations (more on that later in the snapshot) notes, "While CPA Order 17 also enables the US Government to waive a contractor's immunity, to UNAMI's knowledge it has not done so to date." Susan Burke explained on Democracy Now! that "one of the interesting things to point out is that the Bremer order, which is widely viewed as immunizing these contractors, actually just says that the Iraqi courts will not have jurisdiction over them. So I think as a practical matter that the general choice of law principles still apply that Iraqi law would apply. But in addition, the conduct that we're talking about offends and violates the law of every nation. So when we bring the lawsuit here, whether you apply, you know, the law of the District of Columbia or the law of Iraq, you come to the same conclusion: you're not allowed to gun down innocents." CCR's president Michael Ratner declares, "Blackwater's repeated and consistent failure to act in accord with the law of war, U.S. law, and international law harms our nation and it harms Iraq. For the good of both nations, as well as for countless innocent civilians, the company cannot be allowed to continue operating extra-legally, providing mercenaires who flout all kinds of law. This lawsuit, like the ongoing U.S. and Iraqi government investigations, cannot bring back those killed at Nissor Square but it can make Blackwater accountable for its actions." (Ratner is also a co-host -- along with Heidi Boghosian, Dalia Hashad and Michael Smith -- of WBAI's Law and Disorder -- which also airs online and on other radio stations across the US.) Meanwhile the Blackwater 'investigations' become more of joke. Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Michael Gordon (New York Times) report Iraqi investigators and the US military are both complaining about the US State Dept which is not sharing information from their own alleged investigations and Iraqi investigators see the same stalling from the FBI. And in other non-communicating, non-sharing news, Farah Stockman (Boston Globe) reports that,"US military officials say they have launched a successful effort to reduce the number of such shootings by training soldiers to give more visible warnings, but the Pentagon so far has declined to release data to back up the assertion. That refusal has sparked a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking copies of military reports on such escalation-of-force shootings. Key members of Congress have also called for the release of the documents."

On Tuesday, Geneva Jalal Antranik and Marani Awanis Manouik were killed for the 'crime' of driving with approximately 30 bullets fired into their vehicle. As Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) noted today, "Meanwhile in Iraq, mourners buried two Iraqi women killed Tuesday by guards with another private military firm. The victims were driving home from work when their vehicle came under fire by guards with the Australia-based Unity Resources Group." Andrew E. Kramer (New York Times) reports, "Mournful members of Iraq's Armenian Christian population bowed their heads and recited the Lord's Prayer over an altar of burning incense at a funeral here on Wednesday for two Armenian women killed by private security contractors, the second such fatal shooting in less than a month. Relatives also called for justice on Wednesday, though security contractors are immune from prosecution under Iraqi law." Scott Horton explains to Alissa J. Rubin and Paul von Zielbaer (New York Times) that

despite all the violence contractors have inflicted on Iraqis, "there has yet to be a prosecution for a single incident of violence." Kramer reports that Marany Awanees was a cab driver and "the youngest of nine children in the Momook family, including three brotehrs who are part of the Armenian diaspora in Europe and the United States" and quotes Paul Mammok stating, "She was a lovely sister, my younger sister, a lovely, lovely sister." Democracy Now! quotes an unidentified relative (presumaly of Geneva Jalal Antranik) declaring, "They called me to Basra and told me that the security firms have shot them dead. She is a housewife." As Jeremy Scahill noted (on Democracy Now!) today re: Blackwater USA's September 16th slaughter, "We have to remember that upwards of a million Iraqis have died since the beginning of the US invasion and the names of the victims of both the US military and these private military companies are almost never reported." [Jeremy Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.] Christian Berthelsen and Said Rifai (Los Angeles Times) report that Marani Oranis had been a scientist with the country's Agriculture Ministry until she and her husband Azad decided to start a family (Nora, Karon and Alice are the three daughters) but in 2005 her husband died and she began using her 1990 Oldsmobile as a cab to support herself and her three daughters and Marani's niece tells the Times, "She was forced to traverse the roads of Baghdad on a daily basis in order to provide for her daughters. This turn of fate is something that every single one of us Iraqis expects on a daily basis. We are all targets for elimination, leaving for work and school in the mornings and not knowing whether we will make it back home safely."

Today the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq released a (PDF format warning) report "documenting widespread human rights abuses and recommending specific measures in response, including due process for detainees, punishment for perpetrators of 'honor killings,' and investigations into deaths caused by private military firms operating in the country." The UN report ("Human Rights Report 1 April -- 30 June 2007") finds, "Daily life for the average Iraqi civilian remains extremely precarious. The violence remains in large part indiscriminate, targeting public places where large numbers of people gather to inflict maximum casualties and foment fears of further descent into chaos and loss of any semblance of state control. The violence has affected all of Iraq's ethnic groups and communities, including minority groups. Targeted assassinations, abductions for ransom or other motives, and extrajudicial executions, continued to be reported on a regular basis. As in the past, professional groups remained a prime target of such attacks, among them media professionals and members of the leagl profession, as highlighted in this report." During the period of the report, UNAMI found that "88 civilians were reportedly killed during air strikes conducted by MNF forces. They included the following: nine civilians killed in five villages in the al-Anbakiya area near Ba'quba on 11 March; two civilians killed in Dulu'iya in Salahuddin Governorate on 15 March; 16 civilians killed in Sadr City in Baghdad on 30 March; 27 civilians killed in Khaldiya, Ramadi, on 3 April; four civilians killed in Sadr City and four others west of Taji on 26 April; three civilians killed in Basra on 30 April; seven civilians killed east of Baghdad on 5 May; one civilian killed in Sadr City on 6 May; and eight civilians killed in Basra on 26 May. On 8 May, seven children were reportedly killed when helicopters attacked an elementary school in a village in Diyala Governorate near the Iranian border. Following this incident, a spokesperson for US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant-Colonel Christoper Garver, announced that the MNF authorities were conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the children. However, the findings of such investigations are not systematically publicized. On 28 June, UNAMI wrote to the MNF Chief of Staff, seeking further information on all these recorded incidents in which civilians were said to have been killed during air strikes." BBC reports today that the US military is admitting that even if they killed 19 'insurgents' in Lake Tharthar, they also killed "15 civilians, including nine children" in an air strike (that happened when? -- no date given).

RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"

"Torture, Blackwater, etc."

"The 'secret' war"

"the cowardly pelosi & the strong marjorie cohn"

"Tori Amos, Dems caving"

"Isaiah, Granny D, Lance Selfa"

"Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd Adam Kokesh"

"The soulful nuances of Robert Gates"
"THIS JUST IN! THE QUEEN OF SOUL, BOBBY GATES!"

Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

THIS JUST IN! THE QUEEN OF SOUL, BOBBY GATES!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO ADDRESS THE STATE OF THE U.S. MILITARY.

SECRETARY GATES EXPLAINED, "THERE HAS BEEN A GOOD DEAL OF CONCERN ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE ARMY, LEADING SOME TO EVEN SPECULATE THAT IT IS BROKEN. I THINK NOT."

AS REPORTERS PREPARED TO ASK QUESTIONS, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT LOWERING THE REGULATIONS AND THE TARGET GOALS ALLOWED THE U.S. MILITARY TO MEET THE 2007 GOALS BUT THERE ARE SERIOUS DOUBTS THAT IT CAN MEET THE 2008 TARGETS, GATES CLEARED HIS THROAT, WAITED FOR ATTENTION TO RETURN TO HIM AND THEN BEGAN SINGING:

OH, ONE OF THESE MORNINGS

THE CHAIN IS GONNA BREAK

BUT UP UNTIL THE DAY

I'M GONNA TAKE ALL I CAN TAKE

CHAIN, CHAIN, CHAIN

CHAIN OF FOOLS

CHAIN, CHAIN, CHAIN,

CHAIN OF FOOLS

HAVING CONFUSED REPORTERS, GATES MADE A HASTY EXIT.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with war resisters. In June of 2006, Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In February of this year, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) ruled a mistrial over defense objection. His second court-martial was to have started this week; however, the double-jeopardy clause of the Constitution means he should not be court-martialed twice and US District Judge Benjamin H. Settle has ordered a stay through at least October 26th while this and other issues are reviewed. Amnesty International issued a statement of support for Watada last week and Susan Lee (the Americas Program Director) stated, "It is unacceptable that Ehren Watada should face punishment for peacefully expressing his objections to the war in Iraq. His internationally recognized right to conscientious objection must be respected." Sam Bernstein (US Socialist Worker) explains, "Watada's attorneys are also asking that he be allowed to leave the Army since his term of service ended in December, but the pending legal proceedings have prevented his discharge. . . . Now there will be three weeks of hearings so that Settle can decide whether a retrial amounts to double jeopardy. If it doesn't, a retrial would begin as early as October 26. Antiwar activists -- led by Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak out and Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- will use the next three weeks to organize solidarity protests."

War resister Pablo Paredes has been working in Puerto Rico on the issue of counter-recruiting. The Canadian Press reported last month that Paredes found the counter-recruiting "campaign has been more welcomed than efforts on the mainland" and quotes him stating, "There's not an ownership over this war. There's definitely a sense of 'That's someone else's situation. In schools that allows for a lot more fairness for groups that oppose the war." Among the many others working on this issue are Aimee Allison and David Solnit who have written Army Of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment, End War, and Build a Better World (published by Seven Stories Press and available at Courage to Resist). The promotional tour for this book has many dates added to it. Click here for the full schedule. We'll note the October events still to come:

Wednesday Oct. 10th -- Swarthmore, PA. For more information, e-mail: pjames1@swarthmore.edu;

Thursday Oct. 11th -- NYC, NY. For more information: armynone@gmail.com;

Friday October 12th, -- NYC, NY Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington, 7 pm to 9:30 pm. For more information: info@bluestockings.com;

Saturday October 13th -- New Haven CT, The Unitarian Society of New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden, CT 06517, 1 pm to 4 pm. For more information: DAmdur@afsc.org;

Saturday October 13th -- Hartford, CT La Paloma Sabanera Cafe, 405 Capital Ave, Hartford, CT 06106;

Sunday October 14th - Boston or Western Mass, Traprock Peace Center. For more information: armynone@gmail.com;

Monday October 15th -- Boston or Western Mass, Traprock Peace Center;

Tuesday October 16th -- Rochester, NY;

Wednesday October 17th -- The Sanctuary for Independent Media, 3361 6th Avenue, Troy, NY 12181;

Thursday October 18th -- Syracuse, NY, For more information: jessica@peacecouncil.net;

Friday October 19th -- Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Anarchist Bookfair;

Saturday October 20th -- Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Anarchist Bookfair;

Sunday October 21st -- Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Anarchist Bookfair

That's the October events currently posted. October events have already passed and more may be added. If you're interested in the tour you can check here and more dates may be added in the new year but currently there are no dates schedule for the southern portion of the US except for Fort Benning in Georgia (November 16 through November 18). Aimee Allison and David Solnit speak with Matthew Rothschild on this week's The Progressive Radio. They addressed topics of military access to students, student and parent rights, the threat of the draft and much more. "create associations that will be more likely to

David Solnit: They have what we call the military recruitment complex which is a whole series of research analysis, cutting edge, major public relations corporations and then the on ground recruiters. So together they spend billions of dollars using the most sophisticated and modern public relations propaganda techniques to, as they say, penetrate youth culture and create associations which will make people more likely to accept the military as a normal or healthy thing.

Matthew Rothschild: Can you give us some specifics because I was at an anti-war protest here in Madison, Wisconsin and there was a counselor for a high school , in a high school, who said the most pernicious thing for him was these military recruiters coming and setting up gymnasium type things -- that a person could do the quickest climb or the most push-ups or the most sit-ups, it really appealed to the macho kids and he couldn't, he couldn't get them out of there.

[. . .]

Aimee Allison: One of the things that I think the military recruiters on the ground rely on are sustained access, regular access to high school kids in particular so they can develop relationships. For the recruiter, they become father or friend or guide and take students out to Burger King and, you know. But of all of the messages that they learn, that recruiters learn, through their hard sell and sustained selling techniques, they never mention the word "kill." And the reason why is because it's very deeply ingrained in human beings not to kill. And we've all had these kind of, someone makes us mad and there's a reason we don't act on that because our church, and our family and our society condition us against that kind of violence. So it's the center of the recruiters' message to tell them all the things they can do with their life without letting them know about what the military really is and that is an institution designed to train someone to kill on command and that was the most surprising thing for me in my own experiences.

On the issue of a draft being brought back, David Solnit stated that the work of the peace movement results in reactions from the other side and while people must keep their eyes open, that's not the overreaching issue today. Solnit and Allison both feel that so much more work needs to be done to build a real resistance within the general public. On the topic of the draft, pay attention once-Young Lions who now puff out the sagging chests and tell the youth of today your half-baked tales, Louise Bernikow (Women's eNews) provides the history missing in so much of the once-Young Lions reminds that "the anti-war organizing was also being done by women of several generations and many political persuasions. Opposition to wars has always been part of women's history: Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day march for peace filled the streets of Boston after the Civil War. By the 20th century, Women's Strike for Peace had evolved out of the anti-nuclear movement into a visible force against the Vietnam War. Among its founders, and quite visible on Moratorium Day, was New Yorker Bella Abzug, soon to be elected to Congress, where her first official act would be to demand a date for withdrawal from Vietnam. In 1972, Abzug would demand Nixon's impeachment for 'defying the will of the people to end the war.' As night fell in the capital city on Moratorium Day, 15,000 people carried candles around the Washington Monument, led by Coretta Scott King, identified by the press, in the custom of the times, as "Mrs. Martin Luther King." Although young men captured the camera's eye as they burned their draft cards, much of the work of organizing draft resistance was done by women. Singer Joan Baez performed protest songs everywhere with a banner behind her that read: 'Girls say yes to boys who say no.' In Greenwich Village, the Peace Center, directed by writer Grace Paley, organized and counseled scores of conscientious objectors willing to go to jail rather than serve in the war." The poster and the very real involvement of women were dealt with in July.

Geneva Jalal Antranik and Marani Awanis Manouik were killed yesterday in Iraq. Their "crime" was driving. Their killers were Unity Resources Group. Andrew E. Kramer and James Glanz (New York Times) address the slaughter in 28 paragraphs today and wait until the 26th paragraph to provide the women's names. Apparently you cover the slaughter by burying the dead.

[. . .]

Turning to peace news, September 7th, we noted the police abuse Tina Richards, Adam Kokesh and Ian Thompson were the victims when they attempted to put up posters -- actually, when they attempted to hold a press conference discussing the legal way to poster in DC for the upcoming peace event sponsored by A.N.S.W.E.R. and others. Last Thursday, the Washington Post notes, Richards, Kokesh and Thompson "appeared in court" and were instructed the DC Superior Court trial will start (for the 'crime' of postering) on January 3rd. At his site, Kokesh addresses the Flock of Seagulls (aka Gathering of Eagles): "Chris Hill ('National Director of Ops' for the Gathering of Eagles, a pro-war advocacy group) and other members of his group verbally and physically attacked a Gold Star father of a fallen soldier who was participating in a anti-war march on 9/15. The Gold Star father, Carlos Arredondo, was marching with a picture of his fallen son when Hill and members of the pro-war group began verbally harassing him and then physically confronted him to take away the photo of his son. In the process Mr. Arredondo was knocked to the ground and kicked. Hill wrestled the photo of Mr. Arredondo's son, Alex, away from Gold Star father, claiming to have liberated it. The Gathering of Eagles Group had attended the anti-war march for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the protesters." And (Language Warning) also here where he includes photos of their attack on Arredondo. The "Gathering" is set to land in the Bay Area Wednesday October 17th where they will attempt to bully CODEPINK into stopping their activism at the military recruiting center in Berkeley on Shattuck Ave. Apparently Flock of Seagulls loves war so much they want all to have a right to bleed to death in an illegal war.

In other disgusting news, CBS and AP note, "The U.S. released 60 Iraqi prisoners, including 10 youths, Wednesday. As a gesture of good will, the U.S. military has pledged to release more than 50 detainees a day during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends later this week." CNN gets in on the nonsense quoting US Maj Gen Doug Stone delcaring that not one "of the 1,000-plus Iraqi detainnes freed in recent weeks have broken a pledge not to return to the insurgency" -- CNN's so caught up in the hype that they fail to make the obvious point that Stone really wouldn't know if they had or not. But is there one damn adult left in broadcast news? If so, might they sound the alarm of these 'releases' which are the sort of things despots do to curry favor. If those imprisoned shouldn't be (and the majority shouldn't), then they get released for that reason, not in "a gesture of good will." This is really disgusting and that it's not registering says something truly troubling about our news media which seems to be longing for a King John.

October 12th, NOW with David Brancaccio will air a one hour program, "Child Brides: Stolen Lives" documenting "the heartbreaking global phenomenon of forced child marriage, and the hope behind breaking the cycle of poverty and despair it causes." They've created an e-Card you can send to friends and family or to yourself to provide a heads up to the broadcast (and there is no cost to send the e-Card). Maria Hinojosa will report from Niger, Guatemala, India, etc. In most markets, the program airs on Friday, check your local listings.

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"THIS JUST IN! HE REALLY IS THAT STUPID!"
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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

THIS JUST IN! HE REALLY IS THAT STUPID!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- MICHIGAN.

APPEARING IN A REPUBLICAN 2008 PRESIDENTIAL FORUM TODAY IN MICHIGAN, ACTOR FRED THOMPSON LOOKED AROUND AT A STATE WHERE 1 IN 29 HOMES IS GOING THROUGH FORECLOSURE AND DECLARED, "WELL I THINK THERE ARE POCKETS IN THE ECONOMY THAT, CERTAINLY, THEY'RE HAVING DIFFICULTY. I THINK THEY'RE CERTAINLY -- THOSE IN MICHIGAN THAT ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY. I THINK YOU ALWAYS FIND THAT IN A VIBRANT DYNAMIC ECNOMY."

WHAT???

TO STEAL FROM EVITA, "THE ACTOR HASN'T LEARNED THE LINES . . ."

THOMPSON DEMONSTRATED THAT HE HAD NOTHING TO OFFER AND WENT FROM STATE TO STATE MAKING THE EXACT SAME STATEMENTS CONFUSING THE ACTUAL STATES WITH TV STUDIO SETS.

BECAUSE HE DIDN'T BURP, FART OR VISIBLY SOIL HIMSELF, SOME IN THE PRESS ARE HAILING IT AS A SUCCESS WHILE NOTING THAT THOMPSON'S CAMPAIGN SPENT WEEKS LOWERING THE BAR. QUESTION FOR THE PRESS: IN WHAT WORLD ARE THE CAMPAIGNS SUPPOSED TO SET THE BAR? IN WHAT JOURNALISM CLASS WERE YOU TAUGHT TO THROW OUT WHAT YOU SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES AND LET OTHERS DETERMINE WHAT YOU REPORT?

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with war resistance. Despite Michael Winter (USA Today)'s blog post ("Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused to deploy to Iraq, faces his second court-martial at Fort Lewis, Wash.") posted last night, there is no court-martial for Ehren Watada today. The court-martial has a stay in place until at least October 26th. As Dave Lindorff (CounterPunch) observes, "US. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle in Seattle, WA took the unusual step of intervening in a military proceeding, ordering a halt to the second attempt by the Army to court-martial Lt. Ehren Watada, while he considers the merits of Lt. Watada's claim that he is being subjected to double jeopardy by being re-court-martialed a second time. Watada, who in June 2006 refused orders to ship out to Iraq with his Stryker brigade, claiming that it was an illegal war and that it would subject US military particpants to participating in war crimes, made his argument last February at a court-martial proceeding that eneded in a mistrail when the military and the military trial judge realized that the young lieutenant was winning his case. Rather than risk losing on acliam of the Iraq War's legitimacy, the judge in the prosecution sought, and the hearing officer granted a mistrial. However, under established precedent, all the way to the US Supreme Court, it has been accepted that it is not appropritate for prosecutors to declare mistrials and then seek another trial, for the obvious reason that prosecutors would always resort to such a tactic if they found themselves in danger of losing a case. Only when the defense wins a mistrial ruling can the prosecution seek a second trial. Precedent notwithstanding, the Army decided it couldn't let Lt. Watada walk away from the war claiming it is illegal, so it has attempted to court-martial him again." Mari-Ela David (Hawaii's KHNL) quotes Kenneth Kagan -- one of Watada's two civilian attorneys -- stating, "As you can imagine Lt. Watada is feeling incredibly relieved that A, he's not going to have to go to trial on Tuesday and B., that somebody finally is going to take this case seriously and give it a meaningful review.". At the Veterans for Peace confrence last year (August 12, 2006), Watada was one of the speakers (a/v and text both here) and his speech included this:

I stand before you today, not as an expert -- not as one who pretends to have all the answers. I am simply an American and a servant of the American people. My humble opinions today are just that. I realize that you may not agree with everything I have to say. However, I did not choose to be a leader for popularity. I did it to serve and make better the soldiers of this country. And I swore to carry out this charge honorably under the rule of law.

Today, I speak with you about a radical idea. It is one born from the very concept of the American soldier (or service member). It became instrumental in ending the Vietnam War - but it has been long since forgotten. The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it.

Now it is not an easy task for the soldier. For he or she must be aware that they are being used for ill-gain. They must hold themselves responsible for individual action. They must remember duty to the Constitution and the people supersedes the ideologies of their leadership. The soldier must be willing to face ostracism by their peers, worry over the survival of their families, and of course the loss of personal freedom. They must know that resisting an authoritarian government at home is equally important to fighting a foreign aggressor on the battlefield. Finally, those wearing the uniform must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that by refusing immoral and illegal orders they will be supported by the people not with mere words but by action.

Philip Greenspan (Swans Commentary) reflects on the historical nature of resistance within the military, "An unprecedented massive mutiny during the Vietnam War was the coup de grace for the US. Col Robert D. Heinl, Jr. in an englightening article on that mutiny states 'It is a truism that national armies closely reflect societies from which they have been raised. It would be strange indeed if the Armed Forces did not today mirror the agonizing divisions and social traumas of American society, and of course they do.' What happened then can recur and symptoms are already appearing. Reenlistments are down. The services are having difficulty meeting enlistment quotas although they have downgraded requirements and expanded the age for enlistment. West Point graduates are increasingly opting-out when their commitment is complete. Over twenty retired generals defied tradition to criticize the commander in chief. Desertions and AOWLs are increasing."

"I mean, is part of the problem that even though they've had this rogue reputation, they've been successful?" Joan Biskupic, USA Today, demonstrating a desire to jump into the gas baggery on PBS' Washington Week over the weekend and also demonstrating she's hopelessly out of touch when it comes to the issue of Blackwater or any other mecenaries operating under US contract in Iraq. Today, Aileen Alfandary, on KPFA's The Morning Show, noted the latest victims of the mercenaries who think the country of Iraq is a turkey shoot -- mercenaries "killed two women". Sources at the Iraqi Interior Ministry inform CNN that the women had been driving through Baghdad and the spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, Abdul Karim Khalaf, states that the women's vehicle was hit by at least nineteen bullets. CBS and AP place the slaughter "at an intersection in central Baghdad, notes the US State Dept states their own staff were not part of the convoy but "an American nongovernmental organization may have been involved" while CBS and AP note that the two "deaths threatened to increase calls for limits on the private security firms, which have come under intense scrutiny since the Sept. 15 shooting deaths of as many as 17 Iraqi civilians allegedly by guards with Blackwater" -- Blackwater is not said to be the mercenary company involved in this slaughter, to be clear. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) notes the mercenary company is thought to be Australian. Mariam Karouny and Haider Salahudding (Reuters) report that the company is Unity Resources Group which is a Dubai-based company that has been "on a U.S. State Department list of security firms doing business in Iraq. The State Department Web site said the company was staffed and managed by experienced security professionals drawn from the special forces and police SWAT communities of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Europe." AFP reports eye witness Sattar Jabar states a third woman was "wounded in the shoulder" and that children in the car included at least one who "had been struck by flying glass." On the September slaughter, Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) noted today, "Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times has revealed that the widow of the Iraqi vice presidential guard killed last year by a Blackwater employee has yet to receive any compensation. The Iraqi guard was fatally shot while on duty in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone by a drunk Blackwater employee named Andrew Moonen. After the fatal shooting Moonen was flown out of Iraq. He was never charged with a crime. Two months later, Moonen reportedly returned to the Middle East to work for another private military company, Combat Support Associates." Tina Susman and Raheem Salman are the LAT reporters who covered that story and wrote of thirty-year-old Umm Sajjad and the two sons she now raises without their father (ages six and ten-years-old) and quote Umm Sajjad stating, "The money of the whole world is not able to compensate for my husband, but what I want is enough to guarantee my children's future . . . and to buy a house. I don't want them to feel that they lost their father. My responsibilities now are to act as both a mother and a father." Umm Sajjad was also misinformed by someone because she was under the impression Andrew Moonen had been tried in Iraq for the death of her husband -- that has never happened.

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Monday, October 08, 2007

THIS JUST IN! DEMOCRATS GET READY TO CAVE AGAIN!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

AS DEMOCRATIC LEADERS WERE EAGER TO RUSH OFF ON THEIR SUMMER VACATIONS AND SHIFTING FROM FOOT TO FOOT, AFRAID THEY MIGHT WET THEMSELVES IN EXCITEMENT, THEY PUSHED THROUGH AN INSULT TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, TO THE CONGRESS AND TO ANY IDEAS OF DEMOCRACY OR JUSTICE.

INSTEAD OF STAYING IN D.C. TO CLEAN UP THE MESS THEY MADE, THEY RUSHED OFF TO THEIR VACATION BUT VOWED THEY'D CLEAN UP THE MESS WHEN THEY RETURNED.

NOW DEMS ARE SCARED THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE VOTES AND THAT THE BULLY BOY WILL GET THE POWER TO SPY ON AMERICANS RETROACTIVELY. THE BEST THE COWARDS CAN DO IS TO PROPOSE AN ALTERNATE BILL AUTHORIZING MORE SPYING ON AMERICANS BUT PUTTING THE OVERSIGHT OF IT ONTO THE SECRET COURT F.I.S.A.

BIT BY BIT, THE DEMOCRATS BETRAY AMERICANS AND AMERICA. SECRET COURTS ARE A-OKAY WITH THE COWARDS.

SAID SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI, "I KNOW SOME ACCUSE ME OF SELLING MY SOUL FOR POWER BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE. I'LL DIE AT SOME POINT. AND MY ATTITUDE IS LET THE NEXT GENERATIONS FIX MY F**K UPS."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Monday, October 8, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Watada's court-martial will not beging tomorrow, Blackwater . . . and the mainstream press that loves them (or, in the case of the New York Times, lusts after them), and more.

Starting with war resistance. Tomorrow Ehren Watada was set to face his second court-martial. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today, "A judge in Washington state has granted an emergency stay to postpone the second court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada". In June of 2006, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In February of this year, a court-martial was held and, over defense objection, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) declared a mistrial. As Marjorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild, pointed out, double-jeopardy had attached the case. To attempt to court-martial Watada again would be in violation of the Constitution. In what Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) reports as "a rare, last-minute move, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle on Friday put Watada's Tuesday court-martial on hold. In the weeks ahead, Settle will decide whether ths second trial should proceed, or be quashed as a violation of the officer's constitutional rights that protect against double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same crime." Tomas Alex Tizon (Los Angeles Times) notes the belief of some that there is a "pssobility that he might cancel the military trial altogether" and quotes James Lobsenz, one of Watada's two civilian attorneys, stating, "If we win the next part, we win." Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) explains, "Settle was careful to point out that 'the issues raised by the petition for habeas corpus bear no relation to the charges or defenses in the petitioner's (Watada's) court-martial proceedings.' Settle was a military lawyer in the Army in the 1970s and was recently appointed to the federal bench by President Bush.
Quoting case law, Settle wrote, 'The irreparable harm suffered by being put to a trial a second time in violation of the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment stems not just from being subjected to double punishment but also from undergoing a second trial proceeding'." Currently, the court-martial is stayed until at least October 26th.

In news of other war resister, Canadian radio reported Saturday that the mayor of Nelson -- where Robin Long was arrested this week and where Kyle Snyder was arrested in February -- is openly bragging that the final report on an investigation into the police department and police chief Dan Maluta's illegal arrest of Synder is not only complete, but he's had it for a week and hasn't bothered to read it. Repeating: The mayor, John Dooley, charged with oversight has had the report on the investigation and does not see the point in 'rushing' to read it. He brags that he has carried it around in his briefcase "all week" -- which does explain how the Nelson police, under Maluta, have been able to conduct themselves as they have.

Turning to the subject of the mercenaries at Blackwater USA. Jeremy Scahill (Guardian of London via Common Dreams) observes, "A pattern is emerging from the Congressional investigation into Blackwater: the state department urging the company to pay what amounts to hush money to victims' families while facilitating the return of contractors involved in deadly incidents for which not a single one has faced prosecution." The relationship between the US State Department and Blackwater is one of repeated cover ups. On Saturday, John M. Broder (New York Times) got all excited on a new 'answer' -- the State Department would by utilizing "its own personnel as monitors on all Blackwater security convoys in and around Baghdad" and by placing "video cameras in Blackwater armored vehicles to produce a record of all operations". Friday NPR's Jackie Northam (All Things Considered) discussed the so-called measures with -- after noting that Rice's recordings "apply only to Blackwater and only in Baghdad" -- Peter W. Singer (Brookings boy) who said that most already had recording devices, questioned "embedding' a State Department monitor with a private contractor doing government work" (a monitor who will "be making somewhere between 3 to 500 dollars less a day than the people that he or she is supposed to be chaperoning") and sees the measures as "very small, and they don't deal with the fundamental issue". CNN reported over the weekend that the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Henry Waxman, sent another letter to US Secretary of State Condi Rice regarding the State Dept's refusal to stop stonewalling Congress over the issue of Blackwater and CNN noted that Andrew Moonen (Blackwater gun for hire who shot the bodyguard of Iraq's vice-president -- allegedly while Moonen was drunk -- in December 2006) was working, in Kuwait, for a US Defense Dept contractor weeks later. For those who have forgotten, last week -- in Tuesday's hearing -- Blackwater CEO, Erik Prince, told Congress that Moonen (unnamed in the hearing) was stripped of his security clearance before being hustled out of Iraq. If Moonen was stripped of his security clearance, how is it that the DoD and their contractor didn't know that? If he was stripped of his security clearance and still made it back over to the region without it, how many other contractor employees are not in compliance with the basic guidelines?

Paul von Zielbauer (New York Times) reports that the Iraqi government has finalized their investigation and "found that employees of the American security company Blackwater USA shot unprovoked at Iraqi civilians at a downtown traffic circle three weeks ago, an episode that killed 17 people and wounded more than 20 others, a government spokesman said Sunday" quoting Ali al-Dabbagh who also declares that Blackwater's vehicles were not "even hit by a stone" before Blackwater initiated the slaughter of Iraqi civilians. James Glanz and Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) add, "Those conclusions contradict Blackwater's original statement on the shooting, which said that a convoy operated by the company's guards 'acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack.' The Iraqi findings are also at odds with initial assertions by the State Department that the convoy had received small-arms fire." Which again goes the issue that the US State Dept has repeatedly provided cover and falsehoods in order to protect Blackwater. AP reports, "Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm's guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy maching gun fire last month."

Naomi Klein's new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism and she uses the book and the research for her article "Disaster Capitalism: The new economy of catastrophe" (October's Harper's magazine, pp. 47 -- 58). this is from the article (page 48):

Everywhere in Iraq, the wildly divergent values assigned to different categories of people are on crude display. Westerners and their Iraqi colleagues have checkpoints at the entrances to their streets, blast walls in front of their houses, body armor, and private security guards on call at all hours. They travel the country in menacing armored convoys, with mercenaries pointing guns out the windows as they follow their prime directive to "protect the principal." With every move they broadcast the same unapologetic message: We are the chosen, our lives are infinitely more precious than yours. Middle-class Iraqis, meanwhile, cling to the next rung down the ladder: they can afford to buy protection from local militias, they are able to ransom a family member held by kidnappers, they may ultimately escape to a life of poverty in Jordan. But the vast majority of Iraqis have no protection at all. They walk the streets exposed to any possible ravaging, with nothing between them and the next car bomb but a thin layer of fabric. In Iraq, the lucky get Kevlar; the rest get prayer beads.

That's pretty clear. Except to the mainstream. Over the weekend on PBS' Washington Week (or Washington Weak) Linda Robinson of US News and World Reports decided to chat and chew the topic with star Gwen:

Linda Robinson: Well Blackwater has about 800 people who are primarily providing bodyguard service to the embassy personnel. And there are about, well there are some thousands of other contractors doing this exact kind of job. So they're moving around the city in convoys and they apply very aggressive tactics in general. There are some who are alleging that Blackwater in particular uses much more aggressive tactics. But let's just set the stage a little bit. Very, very violent city. You're driving around, bombs are going off, at any unpredicted time. So what happens is these convoy drivers uses a tactic: they throw things at people, they sound their horns their sirens if you don't get out of the way they will shoot. So Iraqi drivers generally pull over as soon as they see a convoy. The problem is SUVs cannot readily be identified often from a distance --

Gwen Ifill: Yeah, how do you know it's a convoy? How do you know it's not the military? How do you know -- tell the difference?

That's the problem. Washington Weak tells you that's the problem. For the record, Robinson informs Gwen that it's very obvious when it's the military and it's only confusing when it comes to civilian contractors. So the question is, were Linda Robinson or Gwen to be walking to their cars at the start of the day and a car came zooming through with those in it throwing things at them, would they see that as a problem? Should Jon Stewart attempt to find out for The Daily Show? In fact, it shouldn't even be a surprise. Gwen and Robinson should volunteer for it to prove what good sports they are. After ten to fifteen minutes of drive-bys where water bottles are hurled at them (the mildest object usually cited in press reports) from speeding cars, let's see their smiling, bruised (possibly bloodied?) faces and find out whether they now think that "the problem" includes a great deal more than being able to tell if a convoy is approaching? What's really appalling is Robinson admits to being selective in her report explaining that's why she "set up" because, apparently, reporters are not supposed to show any sympathy for the civilian populations they are allegedly covering but instead are supposed to be act as a p.r. hack for multi-billion dollar corporations. And the chat and chew only got worse as it was wondered if this was all just sour grapes due to Blackwater's "success"?

Last week, the Financial Times of London editorialized: "But privatising war is, in reality, financially, politically and militarily very expensive. The lawlessness of some of these outfits has stained America's reputation and stirred up rage against its troops. Blackwater, which has earned nearly $1bn from the Department of State for protecting its officials, is notoriously trigger-happy: opening fire first in 163 out of 195 shooting incidents since 2005, according to a report by Congress. A Blackwater employee killed a bodyguard of Adel Abdel Mahdi, an Iraqi vice-president Washington favours as a possible prime minister, in an argument last Christmas." Yet our Weak Washington gas bags couldn't explore the topic and, besides, Robinson vouched that the illegal war couldn't continue without mercenaries so they are needed. (Naturally, whether the illegal war 'needed' also went unaddressed on programming 'brought to you by viewers like you'.)

And in "Get them a subscription to Young Miss already!" news, James Risen (New York Times) decided to follow in the foot steps of John M. Broder (Times of New York) and Peter Spiegel (Times of Los Angeles) by going public with his crush on Blackwater CEO Erik Prince in today's New York Times. Little Jimmy explains what puts the "rise" in Risen and it's, "Erik D. Prince, the crew-cut, square-jawed founder of Blackwater USA". Apparently Details doesn't provide facial types? Prince is not square-jawed, he has a pointy chin and his facial type is a triangle (an inverted triangle). Over fifty is a bit late in life to begin learning facial types but if it's suddenly important to Risen, someone quickly get him a subscription to Young Miss -- where he may also learn that Prince does not have a "crew-cut." Those little wisps and bangs and the dip do not qualify for a crew-cut. Astronaut Alan Shepard (link goes to Life magazine 1961 cover) had a crew-cut. If Risen can be pulled away from his day-drooling, the differences can be explained to him and possibly it can also be explained to him that he's supposed to be a reporter for a daily paper, not a fanzine? For any wondering, yes, this is how criminal Ollie North was elevated and protected by the press during Iran-Contra, with fan scribbles (Risen's first sentence) and nonsense.

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