Friday, June 08, 2007

Jeffrey St. Clair, Martin Sieff

File the following under "And people wonder why I have no forgiveness for Robert War Criminal McNamara and His Soggy Fog of Apology."


"Israel's Attack on the USS Liberty, Revisited" (Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch):
In early June of 1967, at the onset of the Six Day War, the Pentagon sent the USS Liberty from Spain into international waters off the coast of Gaza to monitor the progress of Israel's attack on the Arab states. The Liberty was a lightly armed surveillance ship.
Only hours after the Liberty arrived it was spotted by the Israeli military. The IDF sent out reconnaissance planes to identify the ship. They made eight trips over a period of three hours. The Liberty was flying a large US flag and was easily recognizable as an American vessel.
A few hours later more planes came. These were Israeli Mirage III fighters, armed with rockets and machine guns. As off-duty officers sunbathed on the deck, the fighters opened fire on the defenseless ship with rockets and machine guns.
A few minutes later a second wave of planes streaked overhead, French-built Mystere jets, which not only pelted the ship with gunfire but also with napalm bomblets, coating the deck with the flaming jelly. By now, the Liberty was on fire and dozens were wounded and killed, excluding several of the ship's top officers.
The Liberty's radio team tried to issue a distress call, but discovered the frequencies had been jammed by the Israeli planes with what one communications specialist called "a buzzsaw sound". Finally, an open channel was found and the Liberty got out a message to the USS America, the Sixth Fleet's large aircraft carrier, that it was under attack
Two F-4s left the carrier to come to the Liberty's aid. Apparently, the jets were armed only with nuclear weapons. When word reached the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara became irate and ordered the jets to return. "Tell the Sixth Fleet to get those aircraft back immediately," he barked. McNamara's injunction was reiterated in saltier terms by Admiral David L. McDonald, the chief of Naval Operations: "You get those f**king airplanes back on deck, and you get them back down." The planes turned around. And the attack on the Liberty continued.
After the Israeli fighter jets had emptied their arsenal of rockets, three Israeli attack boats approached the Liberty. Two torpedoes were launched at the crippled ship, one tore a 40-foot wide hole in the hull, flooding the lower compartments, and killing more than a dozen American sailors.
As the Liberty listed in the choppy seas, its deck aflame, crew members dropped life rafts into the water and prepared to scuttle the ship. Given the number of wounded, this was going to be a dangerous operation. But it soon proved impossible, as the Israeli attack boats strafed the rafts with machine gun fire. No body was going to get out alive that way.
After more than two hours of unremitting assault, the Israelis finally halted their attack. One of the torpedo boats approached the Liberty. An officer asked in English over a bullhorn: "Do you need any help?"
The wounded commander of the Liberty, Lt. William McGonagle, instructed the quartermaster to respond emphatically: "F**k you."
The Israeli boat turned and left.
A Soviet destroyer responded before the US Navy, even though a US submarine, on a covert mission, was apparently in the area and had monitored the attack. The Soviet ship reached the Liberty six hours before the USS Davis. The captain of the Soviet ship offered his aid, but the Liberty's commanding officer refused.
Finally, 16 hours after the attack two US destroyers reached the Liberty. By that time, 34 US sailors were dead and 174 injured, many seriously. As the wounded were being evacuated, an officer with the Office of Naval Intelligence instructed the men not to talk to the press about their ordeal.
The following morning Israel launched a surprise invasion of Syria, breaching the new cease-fire agreement and seizing control of the Golan Heights.
Within three weeks, the Navy put out a 700-page report, exonerating the Israelis, claiming the attack had been accidental and that the Israelis had pulled back as soon as they realized their mistake. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara suggested the whole affair should be forgotten. "These errors do occur," McNamara concluded.


There is a lot about the Six Day War that is still not known. Nora Barrows-Friedman will host a program tomorrow (KPFA and details in C.I.'s snapshot at the bottom). But there's only so much even a good special can do. A lot of people have no idea about The Liberty, or about John McCain's father's involvement in the cover up. But Robert McNamara has known all along and he's lied all along. He got a lot of gushy press for Fog of War and didn't deserve any ot it.

If the details of the attack on the Liberty and McNamara's traitorous behavior* were known, I'm sure he'd be happy to sit for the cameras again and speak of how he regrets it and blah blah. But it wouldn't change that he did it and it wouldn't change that he only got honest because the whole world already knew. (*"Traitorous." I'm not Ann Coulter. I don't toss that word around casually. But I have no trouble applying it to someone in the government who shirked their responsibilities and duties allowing American citizens to die. To be clear, even someone I loathe like Ann Coulter would never have that term applied to her by me. Nor would any other right wing commentator. But when we are discussing a government official who allowed the deaths of Americans, aided the deaths, then that word is appropriate.)

The "Six Day War" has been, really, a five decade war (more if you start it before the Six Day War began). All that's happened since, like all that happened then, has been papered over with clown wallpaper. It's amazing how very little is known about it, how rarely it is addressed to this day.

"Facts on the Ground Insurgents Growing and More Effective" (Martin Sieff, Democracy Rising):
More than four months into the "surge" strategy the statistics of U.S., insurgent and civilian casualties reveal an escalating war that may be entering a decisive "tipping point" phase.
The Pentagon claims that since January, U.S. forces have killed or captured more than 20,000 insurgents. Although this figure is impressive, it suggests that the total number of active insurgents has risen dramatically from the top level of only 20,000 in U.S. military estimates during much of 2005 and 2006.
From June 2005 through September 2006, the total number of insurgents was repeatedly put at 20,000 by U.S. officials, according to figures compiled by the Iraq Index Project of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. However, the IIP put the most recent estimate available to it for March 2007 at 70,000 Sunni insurgents in Iraq, including non-operational supporters. It cited as its source "an analyst employed by the U.S. military."
So far neither the old cautious strategy of the former U.S. ground forces in Iraq commander, Gen. George Casey, nor the current surge strategy of his successor, Gen. David Petraeus, has succeeded in significantly reducing the insurgents' capabilities to inflict losses on U.S. casualties.
U.S. casualties, especially fatalities, soared in April and May this year. After a long period when we monitored in these columns the bulk of insurgent activity being directed against the new Iraqi army and security forces, the insurgents are now putting their primary focus on U.S. forces, especially in Baghdad.
This marks a dramatic change from the first two months of the "surge" especially in Baghdad, when the insurgents were lying low and avoiding direct clashes against U.S. forces.
The percentage of U.S. fatalities caused by improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, placed as roadside bombs fell from 62.6 percent in December to 40.5 percent in January and 31.6 percent in February. But then it jumped back to 62.2 percent in March, 57.7 percent in April and 64.6 percent in May, according to IIP figures.

But Bully Boy says the US military is 'winning' so that's what the mainstream (domestic) press runs with. As if September is going to roll around and what's not improved in four-plus-years will suddenly (overnight) blossom into daises. It's really disgusting.

Changing topics. Mike and I, and I don't know who else, will be going to see Ari Hest this weekend. Do you know him? I didn't. But the new CD is The Break-In and I have to recommend it. I've only heard the first five tracks but it's really something. If you can, give it a listen or, better yet, since he's on tour, go see Ari Hest in concert.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Friday, June 8, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, Baghdad Christians get a warning, Mitt Romney cares about "faulty intelligence" except when he doesn't, and the US military continues to use prosecution as an attempt to silence dissent.

Yesterday, in Boston, Liam Madden spoke on the steps in front of the Massachusetts State House wearing a black
Iraq Veterans Against the War t-shirt and jeans about the efforts of the US miltary to, as with Adam Kokesh and Cloy Richards, silence him. Madden sees the "hearing and this investigation to be a vindicative waste of tax payer dollars to silence free speech and to assault the First Amendment rights of our veterans." Madden was honorably discharged from active duty status (with the rank of Sgt.) in January only to be notified May 14 that he "was being recommnded for an other than honorable discharge from the IRR [Inactive Ready Reserves]." He is being investigated for two things. First, for "wearing a partial uniform at a protest" which he translated as "a camaflage utility top, unbuttoned with jeans and t-shirt" and noted that Vietnam veterans, during that illegal war, participated in demonstrations, rallies, etc. in their uniforms with no such punishment. He is also accused of making "disloyal" statements while speaking last February. Before taking questions, he concluded with, "I stand by what I said." If you stand with Liam Madden, you can demonstrate that by signing a petition in support of Madden.

In the question and answers that followed, he was asked of
Adam Kokesh and responded,
"Adam's case is different than mine he was charged with wearing a uniform during a political street theater and also with making disrespectful comments to a superior commissioned officer. So his charges are different and the board will be different. And that is just one grounds that Adam has to appeal his case." Notice how well, and briefly, Madden can sum up the issues at stake in Kokesh's case. Much better than you can find it done in the media. Take
Marilou Johanek (Toledo Blade) whose column should be entitled "Call Me a Dumb Ass" when she makes fact-free statements such as this: "As long as a reservist is still obligated to the Marine Corps and can be reactivated at any time, he must play by the rules." The rules everyone must "play by" are the rules governing our nation so, pay attention Johanek, when the Supreme Court rules in Schacht v. United States (1970) that the US military has no right to dictate theater productions -- when Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black specifically notes that street theater is theater -- that's it, it's over. Prior to Schacht v. United States, the US military thought they had the right to allow some productions (pro-military) and disallow others (anti-military). They thought they had the right to determine whether their uniforms could be worn or not based on what they thought of the performance. Daniel Jay Schecht participated (with two others) in street theater (not at all different from Operation First Casualty that Kokesh did) in front of a recruiting center in 1967. The case made it to the Supreme Court and the Court found that the US military had no say in theaterical productions. Let's quote Justice Hugo Black one more time since it's so difficult for some to grasp:

The Government's argument in this case seems to imply that somehow what these amateur actors did in Houston should not be treated as a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f). We are unable to follow such a suggestion. Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world. Here, the record shows without dispute the preparation and repeated presentation by amateur actors of a short play designed to create in the audience an understanding of and opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war. Supra, at 60 and this page. It may be that the performances were crude and [398 U.S. 58, 62] amateurish and perhaps unappealing, but the same thing can be said about many theatrical performances. We cannot believe that when Congress wrote out a special exception for theatrical productions it intended to protect only a narrow and limited category of professionally produced plays. 3 Of course, we need not decide here all the questions concerning what is and what is not within the scope of 772 (f). We need only find, as we emphatically do, that the street skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of that section.
This brings us to petitioner's complaint that giving force and effect to the last clause of 772 (f) would impose an unconstitutional restraint on his right of free speech. We agree. This clause on its face simply restricts 772 (f)'s authorization to those dramatic portrayals that do not "tend to discredit" the military, but, when this restriction is read together with 18 U.S.C. 702, it becomes clear that Congress has in effect made it a crime for an actor wearing a military uniform to say things during his performance critical of the conduct or [398 U.S. 58,63]
policies of the Armed Forces. An actor, like everyone else in our country, enjoys a constitutional right to freedom of speech, including the right openly to criticize the Government during a dramatic performance. The last clause of 772 (f) denies this constitutional right to an actor who is wearing a military uniform by making it a crime for him to say things that tend to bring the military into discredit and disrepute. In the present case Schacht was free to participate in any skit at the demonstration that praised the Army, but under the final clause of 772 (f) he could be convicted of a federal offense if his portrayal attacked the Army instead of praising it. In light of our earlier finding that the skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f), it follows that his conviction can be sustained only if he can be punished for speaking out against the role of our Army and our country in Vietnam. Clearly punishment for this reason would be an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom of speech. The final clause of 772 (f), which leaves Americans free to praise the war in Vietnam but can send persons like Schacht to prison for opposing it, cannot survive in a country which has the First Amendment. To preserve the constitutionality of 772 (f) that final clause must be stricken from the section.

To repeat: the US military has no say regarding theater (street or otherwise). To repeat, and you have to go to
Iraq Veterans Against the War to find this out because idiots like Heather Hollingsworth left it out of the reports, "the Marine Corps panel, as well as the prosecution's key witness, Major Whyte, agreed that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)." UCMJ does not apply to IRR? That only leaves the Supreme Court verdict.

Mark Rainer (World Socialist Web Site) notes that Kokesh's military appeal was denied Wednesday and the panel's finding "must now be approved by Brig. Gen. Darrell Moore, commander of the Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Missouri. A decision is expected within a week. According to Kokesh's attorney Mike Lebowitz, who is also an Iraq veteran, Moore cannot increase Kokesh's punishment by issuing an other-than-honorable discharge, but can only accept the board's general discharge recommendation, or reinstate the honorable discharge." If the other-than-honorable discharge stands, Tom A. Peter (Christian Science Monitor) reports, it "probably won't affect his veterans' benefits. But two other marines in the IRR [Liam Madden and Cloy Richards] face similar charges and risk losing their veterans' benefits, such as healthcare and money for education."

Turning to other news of war resistance, earlier this week
Geoff Ziezuleicz (Stars and Stripes) reported that US war resister Aguayo will recieve an award from AnStifter, "According to an interpreted release put out last week by Connection e.V., another German anti-war group, the prize will be awarded to Aguayo on Dec. 1 during a ceremony in Stuttgart."

The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key,
Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, 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, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care 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, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

In Iraq, oil workers went on strike and the puppet government's response? As
Great Britain's Socialist Worker noted Wednesday, the response was to order "the arrest of four leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, including Hassan Jumaa Awad, for 'sabotaging the Iraqi economy' by ordering a strike." The puppet government believes the most important 'freedom' is the 'freedom to arrest' whomever they want for whatever they want. Ben Lando (UPI via AfterDowningStreet) reports US House Rep Lynn Woolsey has stated, "If they're working for a true democracy, working rights have to be front and center". Ben Lando (UPI) reports today: "With an arrest warrant looming, an Iraqi union leader warned during a U.S. visit failed negotiations will escalate a standoff in Basra's oil sector. Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions, said a five-day colling off/negotiation period, which began Wednesday, is crucial to keep Iraq's oil sector pumping and 1.6 million barrels per day flowing to the global oil market." Also under attack are Christians in Baghdad. Hannah Allam and Lelia Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) report that a group suspected ties of al-Qaeda have issued an edict to Christians living in Baghdad: "Convert to Islam, marry your daughters to our fighters, pay an Islamic tax or leave with only the clothes on your back." That would be the city of the fabled 'crackdown,' ongoing for over a year now, repeatedly beefed up, with no results to show for it. Unless you see 'success' in CNN's report that the first week of June saw 199 corpses discovered in Baghdad alone. "Actually alarming" is the phrase China's Xinhua reports Iraq's Sunni vice-president Tareq al-Hsahimi used to describe his country while visiting Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak Wednesday.


Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that the "Fatah Basha mosque, Sunni mosque, in Al Bayaa neighborhood" of Baghdad was bombed, an Al Sakran bombing that killed 2 police officers (one more wounded), that a bombing involving a person in a "vest bomb" and a parked car in Kirkuk resulted in 19 dead (20 wounded), and two car bombings in Al Qurna led to 10 dead (25 wounded). Reuters notes a mini-bus explosion outside Basra that left 12 dead (33 injured) and 19 dead from a Dakok car bombing (20 wounded).

Shootings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Colonel Ali Dilaiyan Al Journai's Diyala province home was invaded and his "wife, his son and 10 policemen" were shot dead in a home invasion in which three police officers were also kidnapped while in Basra Lt. Ali Adai was shot dead. Reuters raises the death toll on the home invasion from 12 to 14. BBC reports that the 14 includes the police Col.'s wife but that three of their children are kidnapped. CBS and AP note that the children (undetermined age) are thought to include two males and one female and note: "Unknown gunmen speeding by in the northern city of Kirkuk shot and killed a soldier, Adnan Mahmoud, as he drove with his 2-year-old daughter Friday morning. The child also was killed, said police Capt. Jassim Abdullah." On the home invasion, Kim Gamel (AP) reports that the three children kidnapped are "grown children" and that Col. al-Jorani is Sunni.


Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 7 corpses discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 4 corpses discovered in Falluja.


In the United States, Petey Pace has given the full Rumsfeld.
AFP reports that US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates declared today that General Pace will not remain "as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to avoid a divisive showdown in Congress focusing on the Iraq war" and quotes Pace declaring he is "disappointed." Admiral Edmund Giambastiani has been picked to replace Pace. He will require Senate confirmation. CBS and AP state: "The decision has been in the works for more than a couple of weeks, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports."

In US political news,
Noam N. Levey (Los Angeles Times) informs that Sam Brownback and Gordon Smith, Republican US senators, "got behind new legislation designed to encourage the Bush administration to reduce U.S. military involvement in Iraq" and that this "comes a day after five GOP senators signed on to separate legislation that would enact the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which envisioned most U.S. combat troops coming home by early 2008." Brownback is also hoping to become the GOP nominee for the 2008 US presidential race. In news of other GOP candidates for president,
CounterSpin offered this today:


Janine Jackson: In the June 5th Republican presidential candidates debate former governor Mitt Romney made a straight up factual error claiming that Saddam Hussein had not allowed inspectors into Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction in advance of the 2003 invasion. That's simply wrong. Inspectors were in Iraq -- looking for, but not finding, WMDs up until they were ordered out before the war began, Perhaps Romney was misled by reading the paper or numerous papers over the years? The story about Saddam Hussein not allowing inspections is one of those mainstream media seem to find too useful to let go of despite its utter falsehood. When George W. Bush himself made the same claim in July of 2003 most outlets didn't even report it while the Washington Post boldly declared that Bush's claim "appeared to contradict the events leading up to war." Even though the story is completely bogus, media have gotten it wrong so often that for them it seems to carry a cloud of ambiguity thus Democratic strategist Paul Begala found himself having to debate a basic fact of history
on CNN's Anderson Cooper show. Begala said Romney's error was "like saying the Mexicans bombed Pearl Harbor." But he was outnumbered by Republican strategist Mike Murphy and by conservative pundit Amy Holmes making the historical record seem like a minority opinion. Even worse, Begala himself screwed up by asserting that Saddam Hussein had thrown out inspectors in 1998 before a round of US bombing directed by Bill Clinton. That too was false but it's also a perinneal media myth. In the end, Anderson Cooper was left to declare, "We're not going to get this resolved tonight." To which viewers might respond, "No, so long as falsehoods are given the same weight as facts, it seems unlikely such matters will be resolved."

Of the lack of serious attention to Romney's error/lie,
Robert Parry (Consortium News) explains, "The answer to the media question of why the U.S. press corps didn't object to Romney's bogus account is that Washington journalists have accepted this revisionist history since Bush began lying about the facts in July 2003. . . . Facing no contradiction from the White House press corps, Bush continued repeating this lie in varied forms over the next four years as part of his public litany for defending the invasion."

Romney's offered other reasons in the past for why he believes the US started the Iraq war. In 2005, when he met with military families, he cited a different reason for the illegal war.
Scott Helman (Boston Globe via Military Families Speak Out) reported October 18, 2005: "After meeting with six families whose loved ones have served in Iraq, Governor Mitt Romney said yesterday that the United States had invaded the country based on 'faulty intelligence.' But he refused to press President Bush to bring home the state's National Guard." In a Februrary 2006 report by Glen Johnson (AP), Romney was continuing to cite "faulty intelligence" and Johnson observed, "Romney's kaleidoscopic views have allowed him to express support for the war when it benefits him and his potential candidacy, but maintain distance from the president when necessary." "Faulty intelligence," so oft cited by Romney, is something you might expect his campaign to run from. That really hasn't been the case.

Romney was pleased as punch to discuss all the 'flip-flops' of his rivals
in an interview with Liz Sidoti (AP) last April and revealed he had a "senior adviser" joining his campaign one with a "faulty intelligence" connection of his own:

Cofer Black served as the director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center during the attacks and was singled out for especially harsh criticism by the agency's inspector general in a 2005 report on faulty intelligence efforts before the attacks. Black has worked for the past two years as vice chairman of Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based security firm which specializes in private security and private military services.


Turning to Democratic presidential candidates, Matthew Rothschild interviewed
David Swanson for this week's Progressive Radio about a number of issues including US House Rep Dennis Kucinich who is running to be the Democratic 2008 presidential nominee:


David Swanson: It's a real uphill fight and it's a fight largely against the media. . . . In that [2004] campaign, before I even got involved, when there was no separation among the candidates in the polling or the financing, he was blacked out. There were other candidates
getting hundreds, literally hundreds of times the coverage.

Matthew Rothschild: The thing that stuck in my mind from the media coverage of the Kucinich campaign was the one Ted Koppel debate where Kucinich really took it to Ted Koppel and actually won the debate and you could search high and low in the media stories
to find reference to Kucinich at all, much less the fact that he clearly won the thing, hands down.

David Swanson: Yeah, it became a verb to get Koppel-ed and Kucinich really let him have it because he [Koppel] opened this debate in New Hampshire with a question about polls a question about money and so on, and Kucinch said "Wait a minute, look at what you've just done. Here are the topics you've addressed. We've wasted half the debate." And the crowd went nuts because the crowd gets it, you know, and they understand that the media is determining who is quote-unquote "viable" and who is not and what that power means and how the media trivializes the debate. And so that applause was just thunderous.

Matthew Rothschild: And they're doing it again this time.

David Swanson: Oh absolutely. . . . But it's going to depend on people overcoming that prejudice and saying "Wait a minute. It's two years until this thing happens, don't tell me who is viable or not and even if I want to influence who you tell me is viable the best way for me to do it is to back who's with me and if he ends up winning, we'll prove you wrong and you'll have to cover it because he'll be president."



KPFA will broadcast a special tomorrow (Saturday, June 9th) beginning at 11:00 am.

Sunday, June 10th marks four decades of Israel's illegal military occupation of Palestine, against a backdrop of nearly sixty years of ethnic transfer and displacement.
On this national Pacifica special, producers from around the country investigate the cause and effect of Israel's continuous military occupation policies toward the Palestinians, which permeates every aspect of life - from the suffocating checkpoints and land theft inside the West Bank to the violence and chaos inside a hermetically-sealed Gaza strip; to the issues of identity and culture in a widening diaspora.
As international witnesses to an ongoing crisis in occupied Palestine, this special will also address America's role of responsibility toward the intractable Palestinian-Israeli crisis and offer avenues of involvement in peace, justice and solidarity movements.
Hear Palestinian voices from the older generation and today's youth movements, from refugee camps and the Palestinian diaspora.

This is a
Pacifica Radio special so it will likely be broadcast on other stations as well. Houston's KPFT will broadcast it Sunday, June 10th at 6:00 pm. Flashpoints Radio's Nora Barrows-Friedman will be the host or one of the hosts.

In other media news, as independent media continues to be under attack, News Dissector Danny Schechter's "
Special Blog: Can Our Media Channel Survive?" announces the potential fate of Mediachannel.org which may shut down: "If we can get 1500 of our readers (that means you) to give $25, we can keep going for another quarter. [PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ONLINE]"


Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at:
http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htmPresented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com."June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com."From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org."The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.











Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Hieu Nguyen, etc.

Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 7th, he will discuss his book with Amy Goodman at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:15). Admission is $5 per person and students (with ID) can attend for free. Pilger will sign copies of his book afterwards and Amy Goodman will sign copies of her latest book (written with her brother David Goodman) Static. "For ticket information, contact (212) 229-5488 or boxoffice@newschool.edu. For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, click here or e-mail pilgerny@gmail.com." He will also be interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Thursday June 7th.
June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at: http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htm
Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)
For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com."
June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com." From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org."
The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.

The above has been in C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for the last three weeks (maybe longer) and I always assume everyone reads through it all but Sunny suggested I pull that to open with to be sure that everyone was aware of it. We (Mike and I) are hoping to attend some of the Chicago activities. His grandfather has noticed this in the snapshot and is really excited by it so Mike's making plans for it. (I'm not spoiling a surprise here. His grandfather knows about this.) We actually have four tickets already and are trying to see who else wants to go. (If more than four want to go, that's fine. The tickets were from a friend who booked ahead of time but now will be unable to attend.) So if there's anything in your area or near you, I would urge you to consider going. John Pilger is a strong journalist and you're probably familiar with him from Flashpoints and many other programs. If you're able to go to Chicago, you could potentially see panels with Dahr, Laura Flanders, Anthony Arnove, Camilo Mejia and all the names listed above.


"Refugees Personify Iraq War" (Hieu Nguyen, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer via Common Dreams):
In April, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees convened a conference in Geneva on the growing refugee crisis in Iraq.
Approximately 4 million Iraqi citizens, of a population of 24 million, have fled their homes to avoid the violence of war. About half are in neighboring countries such as Syria and Jordan, and half are dislocated within Iraq in fear of their lives. Many Vietnamese Americans know firsthand what this refugee crisis means for those fleeing their homes and communities. They know firsthand what war in their homeland brings to them.
Thirty-two years ago, on April 30, 1975, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Communists. Hundreds of thousands fled in the initial exodus and more than a million Vietnamese refugees fled afterward as boat people. An estimated half-million refugees perished at sea. They fled because of brutal retributions by the communists through "re-education" labor camps, forced eviction and property confiscation.
During the Vietnam War, millions more were displaced from their home villages to avoid being in the crossfire, particularly from artillery and air strikes, and to avoid being killed as suspected enemies of one side or the other. Children became orphans begging on city streets, women became widows selling their bodies, and elders became destitute without family support.
Millions of soldiers and civilians on both sides were killed. Physical, cultural and spiritual destruction compounded the suffering. Suspicion, fear, hatred and revenge permeated society.
Thirty-two years have passed since the end of the war and most physical wounds have healed. The cultural and spiritual trauma, however, has become generational and still maims the "dying lives."
Today hundreds remain stateless in the Philippines, having spent up to 20 years of their lives languishing in refugee camps.

One of the many reasons I hated the rah-rah Rambo-type films was that they never bothered to address the very real suffering of the Vietnamese (they were too busy rewriting history to deal with much reality). If there's one big difference today between the two illegal wars, for me, it would have to be the fact that there is so little concern for Iraqis. I think you see that in the Save Darfur nonsense. If there was concern for what the US is doing to Iraqis, the Modern Day Carrie Nations wouldn't be able to recruit so many college students. The students would realize that what the US is doing to Iraqis needs to be dealt with.

As I remember the earlier illegal war, we were aware of the Vietnamese as people. Today, and this may go to so much of the reporting ('reporting') and how it takes place, Iraqis are this nameless, free floating blob that can have demands placed on them but are rarely seen as human beings.

Totally unrelated but I really do want to recommend Ron Jacobs' "A Different Take on the Summer of Love: Luv n' Hate" (CounterPunch). On the topic of Iraq, C.I. wanted us to note something that there wasn't time to put in the snapshot today. The article below is from the UK's Socialist Worker:

This article should be read after: » Iraqi oil workers on shut down
Iraqi Oil Workers' leaders face arrest online only
The US backed Iraqi government has ordered the arrest of four leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, including Hassan Jumaa Awad, for "sabotaging the Iraqi economy" by organising a strike.
Please send letters of protest to the Iraqi government. Below is a model letter:
Dear Mr Maliki [or] Dear Dr Hussein al Sharastani
I am writing to express support for the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions in their right to take industrial action over issues relating to their members’ economic and social welfare.
I am also concerned about the decision to arrest union leaders for deciding to take strike action. I trust that the Union will not be penalised for taking action which is legal according to the Iraqi constiution and a fundamental trade union freedom recognised all over the world.
The Union has repeatedly asked for involvement in the drafting of the Hydrocarbon Law but has been ignored. Iraqi civil society should be involved in the decision making process over the future of the Iraqi economy -- this includes trade unions.
I will be monitoring the forthcoming news from the union and would like assurance that union members will not be harmed or punished for their actions.
Yours Sincerely,
For the attention of:

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki [or] Minister of Oil, Dr Hussein al Sharastani
c/o Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
169 Knightsbridge London SW7 1DW
Phone: (020) 7581 2264 or (020) 7602 8456Fax: (020) 7589 3356
Email: lonemb@iraqmofamail.net
The following should be read alongside this article: »
Iraqi oil workers on shut down
For more on the strike and updates go to
» www.handsoffiraqioil.org

The Iraqi oil workers have fought against the privatization so it was only a matter of time before the puppet of the occupation attempted to silence them. During Vietnam, there would have been campus rallies -- on US campuses -- for these workers. Today?

Students are calling for an end to the illegal war and being very active. But many are being pushed off into the nonsense of Save Darfur. I'd think after the article in Saturday's New York Times about how Save Darfur spent $15 million last year and not a penny went towards aid in Darfur, everyone would realize that group is nothing but a front for more illegal war. Hopefully, that is the case.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, "Jim Wallis, stop. I believe you dropped your 'inclusion.'," Our Miss Brooks tells us that contractors are just big ol', altruistic teddy bears, the US military announces more deaths, and more.


Starting with
Adam Kokesh who has made a decision regarding the 'finding' of a military panel Monday. Kokesh, along with other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, has been taking part in street theater (Operation First Casualty) and, on Monday, the US military attempted to punish him for that. Nicole Colson (Socialist Worker) rightly points out that the participants/players wear fatigues and conduct "a mock patrol that he and other veterans participated in to show their opposition to the website." Colson also notes that Kokesh, Liam Madden and Cloy Richards are in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) where you "aren't paid, don't participate in military exercises or drills, have no chain of command, and are almost never recalled to active duty." Elaine Brower (OpEdNews) observes that, with only "2 weeks left in the Individual REady Reserves (IRR)," the US marine corps decides that a "military discplinary panel" is just the thing for Kokesh. Appearing last week on CNN's Paula Zahn Now, Kokesh noted of arguments that he's restricted from wearing a uniform at certain types of gatherings (theater isn't listed and couldn't be, we'll get back to that) and Kokesh replied, "Well, actually, it's specifically stated in the -- in the UCMJ that -- the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- that it does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve. And, so -- that was my understanding." That was also the military panel's understanding on Monday, they noted IRR wasn't covered by UCMJ. So what are we talking about?

We're talking about street theater and whether or not anyone wears military drag, clown garb, or nothing, isn't something the US military has a say in. The Supreme Court made that decision in 1970 (see Schacht v. United States -- we
covered it Tuesday, we covered it Monday, and it was covered Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review). If you're late too the party, cake's all gone but the Court was quite clear that the US military had no say over theater (stage, street, what have you) and whether or not their uniforms (in part or total) were worn -- nor did it matter whether the production was pro or anti-military. None of it mattered, the Court was very clear that the US military had no authority over productions.

With the panel agreeing that UCMJ didn't cover Kokesh (or anyone in IRR) the only ruling is the Supreme Court verdict and any reading of it supports Kokesh. Despite this, the panel wanted to issue Kokesh a "general discharge."
Dave Helling (Kansas City Star) reports that Michael Lebowitz, one of Kokesh's two attorneys, filed papers to move for a new hearing because the panel/board contained a member/judge who "wasn't a commissioned officer" and "Marine rules require all such board members to be commissioned officers." Imagine that, the same group that thought they could ignore the Supreme Court also hoped they could get away with ignoring the marines' own rules regarding these panels.

Meanwhile,
Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) report (noted here yesterday, Monday and Sunday) on Luke, Leo and Leif Kamunen -- the three brothers who decided to self-check out of the US military during Christmas break -- has resulted in the paper running three letters. Paul Rozycki writes in to express agreement with the brothers ("I guess they wanted to serve their country, and then changed their minds when they found they were really to be serving as hostages to the president") while David Kaercher wants to relive his own boot camp days and Laurie Franklin can't understand why anyone would break "a contract." Laurie's baffled, she's confused. Why, why, why? "A contract," she whines. Suprisingly, she's not troubled that the Bully Boy lied a nation into an illegal war -- crimes of the administration don't concern her, but a contract . . . now that's serious! So serious that she's offended by the paper putting the article on the front page. But understand, she's "not a hawk" and she thinks Bully Boy is "inept" but she's apparently so tired from all her work to end the war -- judging by the letter that's the effort it took to "display several antiwar bumper stickers" -- because honking always ends the war! -- that her big beef is with three young people who said no to an illegal war.

Honking a horn doesn't end the war. Affixing a bumper sticker doesn't end the war. And, as we've seen, Dems in Congress aren't going to end the war. So it's up to the people and the Kamunen brothers did their part which took a lot more energy and drive than slapping on a bumper sticker. Those resisting within the military who go public can always count on cranks like Laurie and David. But they still demonstrate the
Courage to Resist and that will help end the illegal war.

The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key,
Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, 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, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care 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, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

While the war drags on,
Tania Branigan and Rosie Lavan (Guardian of London via Common Dreams) report that Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to the US, declared to the Iraq Commission in London, "I personally believe that the presence of American and British and coalition forces is making things worse, not only inside Iraq but the wider region around Iraq." This as Kirk Semple (New York Times) speaks with Hasan Nassar who tries to run an art gallery in Iraq but now "says he is ready to gather all of his art history archives -- articles, books, reviews, photographs, slides and paintings -- and burn them" because "I feel now that all humanity is against Iraq and against the Iraqi people and against Iraqi history and against Iraqi culture. We entered an endless dark tunnel."

Today, in the daily bloodbath . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Baghdad car bombings left 3 dead and twenty-five wounded, and at least 14 people injured in three Baghdad roadside bombings. Reuters notes a roadside Kirkuk bombing that left 2 police officers dead and three more injured and raises the two car bombing toll to 7 dead (still 25 wounded).


Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a cease fire in Khalis following a lengthy battle that left 6 police officers killed, 10 resistance fighters dead and at least 8 wounded. Reuters reports two police officers shot dead in Balad and a police officer shot dead in Mosul.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 34 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and one in al-Latif.

Also today, the
US military announced: "A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed when a roadside bomb detonated during combat operations in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital June 6." And they announced: "one 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device at approximately 5 p.m. June 6 while executing a combat logistics patrol in the vicinity of Bayji, Iraq." And they announced: "A Multinational Division-North Soldier died of wounds sustained from enemy gunfire in Diyala Province, Tuesday." The deaths bring the total number of US service members killed in the Iraq war since it began to 3503 and the total number killed in the illegal war so far this month to 26.


You might think the ongoing deaths (May was a record high this year for Iraqis and for US service members killed) would lead to a discussion on the illegal war in the Democratic Party. Instead, this week it was time to discuss 'faith.'



Jim Wallis, the man who would be Jerry Fallwell in clown drag, held a 'debate' on Monday that was by invitation only. Jesus may have sat with the sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, etc., but Wallis only breaks bread with the really the big names. That's the only explanation on how a supposed 'forum on faith, values and politics' sponsored by our Right-On-Bro Jimmy managed to include 2008 Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton,
John Edwards and Barack Obama but, SOMEHOW, managed to exclude Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel, Bill Richardson and Mike Gravel.

Heaven may be open to all but Wallis has a bit of the bully bouncer in his carriage. After Obams, Hills and Johns joined Right-On-Bro Jimmy to ask, "Are You There God, It's Me Front Runner?"
CNN's Paula Zahn Now presented Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden. Strangely, all four are Catholic. Strangely? Catholics in Alliance For The Common Good sponsored the Jimmy Wallis group -- the one that . . . excluded four Catholics. Exactly how does Catholics in Alliance intended to meet their stated goal ("promoting the fullness of the Catholic Social Tradition in the public square") while denying Catholics invites?

On Paula Zahn Now, Joe Biden found his heart (in all seriousness, he's the best served by those type of forums and any who've never seen the less verbose side of Biden and is curious, should check that out); Dodd spoke of the need not to wear your faith on your sleeve; and Richards made clear that he will never, ever, ever have an abortion but he will mix in one Spanish word for every ten minutes onscreen. Dennis Kucinich used the forum to address Iraq. (Dodd was able to use it to address the rights of all.)

Kucinich: We have -- we're in Iraq based on lies. And, you know, the Bible has a line that says that which is crooked cannot be made straight. Nothing will ever be made straight about our presence in Iraq. We must leave Iraq. We must bring our troops home. And we must work to achieve a kind of reconciliation with the people of Iraq, with the people of the world and within our own country for -- in order to establish truth once again and make the truth the single principle upon which our country is based.

Draft Robert Scheer to run for office. In
a new column (at Truthdig), Scheer refutes Bully Boy's Korea nonsense and notes: "At a time when the United States has more troops, official and private, proportionate to the host population than it did at the height of the Vietnam War, and when once again it is clear that a military 'surge' is not the answer, it is bizarre that this administration gets away with staying the course. To his credit, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was the only presidential candidate at the Democrats' debate to criticize the Korea analogy, warning: 'Keep in mind we've been there six decades in the Korean peninsula, and the best way for us to support the troops is that we are not continuing to try to impose a military solution on what is essentially a political problem in Iraq'."

Turning to the issue of contractors in Iraq -- still related, Robert Scheer is shoved aside at the Los Angeles Times while the likes of Brooksie gets imported in from NYC. This week Brooksie peddled it up and down the street, hoping at least one car would pull over. None did. "Remembering Iraq contractors as important as honoring trooops" Brooksie maintained in a column that must have had her money grubbing friends at the Council on Foreign (Business) Relations counting the zeroes. But the reality is contractors aren't the loveable "Wooster" (Wagon Train) and Brooksie isn't much of a writer. Making that argument -- and quite a few are -- is an insult to everyone. Brooksie felt "something" was absent from the Memorial Day parade and it finally hit her (hopefully the realization packed a punch): "no float memorializing the hundreds of civilian contractors killed in Iraq." Apparently Brooksie needs some schooling on Memorial Day. Brooksie wants you to know some of these mercenaries "operate dining halls" -- yes, they do and and anyone serving in Iraq (serving, not contracted) can tell you about the risks the private contractors (eager to churn out that buck) have put everyone dining at as they refused to operate a 24-hour mess hall and instead packed as many in as possible in limited hours (making US service members targets). Brooksie notes, "You could call it greed". Yes, you could and many do. Many also don't churn out what reads like p.r. copy attempting to sell one of the most frightening developments under the Bully Boy.

Christopher Hedges (Philadelphia Inquirer) observed at the start of the week, "The privatization of war hands an incentive to American corporations, many with tremendous political clout, to keep us mired down in Iraq. But even more disturbing is the steady rise of this modern Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard in ancient Rome was a paramilitary force that defied legal constraints, made violence part of the political discourse, and eventually plunged the Roman Republic into tyranny and despotism. Despotic movements need paramilitary forces that operate outside the law, forces that sow fear among potential opponents, and are capable of physically silencing those branded by their leaders as traitors. And in the wrong hands, a Blackwater could well become that force. American taxpayers have so far handed a staggering $4 billion to 'armed security' companies in Iraq such as Blackwater, according to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chariman Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.). Tens of billions more have been paid to companies that provide logistical support. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.) of the House Intelligence Committee estimates that 40 cents of every dollar spent on the occupation has gone to war contractors. It is unlikely that any of these corporations will push for an early withdrawal. The profits are too lucrative." Brooksie's not worried about that either.

Deborah Haynes (Times of London) also attempts to put a compassionate face on empire but is defeated in the comments to her article: "As a Western contractor who has worked in Iraq for the last 18 months i would say that for the most part we are here first and formost for the cash. However when i first came over here the money was an issue, but not the main one, it really did feel like i was helping in a small way to shape history and put this country back on its feet. Of course since that time its now just a question of how long this cash gravy train is gonna run." On Saturday, Alec Klein and Steve Fainaru (Washington Post) reported on army veteran Brian X. Scott temporarily stopped the the US military from "from awarding the largest securit contract in Iraq" as he protested "against the government practice of hiring what he calls mercenaries" by suing in the US Court of Federal Claims and arguing "that the military's use of private security contractors is 'against America's core values' and violates an 1893 law that prohibits the government from hiring quasi-military forces."

Meanwhile
Andrew Johnson, Marie Woolf and Raymond Whitaker (Belfast Telegraph) report on United Kingdom tax payers' monies going to line the pockets of corporations and note: "Former SAS members, as well as British ex-soldiers and policemen, are in demand, the companies say, because they are less trigger-happy and trained to work to far tighter rules of engagement than their US counterparts. But given that the torrent of reconstruction money poured into Iraq was mainly American, US companies come into the business. 'The Americans never had a private security industry previously, but they do now, thanks to Iraq,' said one British executive." The reporters go on to list key British companies in Iraq including Aegis featuring "Tim Spicer operated in Sierra Leone in 1997" and Control Risks Group which has contracts with the US Office of Reconstruction.

As the
Palm Beach Post noted Friday: "Private security can provoke the violence it is supposed to quell. Last week, armed personnel working for Blackwater USA were involved in two gun battles in Baghdad and killed an Iraqi driver near the Interior Ministry. They said that he drove too close to the convoy and ignored warnings. That death resulted in a standoff with Iraqi forces that had to be mediated by US troops and anger toward American workers in the ministry." Here's the reality and someone get a small pan because Brooksie's mind might start melting and flowing out of her ears (get a really small pan), US troops will be pulled. There's not a question of that happening. The only question is when that will happen. And putting a smiley sticker over the blood will allow the US to continue to wage an illegal war with contractors long after the US military has left. Here's some more reality, the illegal war would be over if money grubbers in the West would stop going over to Iraq to make a quick buck. Pressure should be put on these companies and these employees and, if it were, the illegal war would be a lot closer to ending. But that requires more thought than Our Miss Brooksie can muster.

Today,
on Democracy Now!, Antonia Juhasz discussed 'benchmarks,' Congress, and other topics. Below is the exchange on the theft of Iraqi oil -- the privatization scheme.

AMY GOODMAN: And what is this US-backed proposal?
ANTONIA JUHASZ: It's a Bush administration, US corporate, very simple attempt to figure out: if you're going to wage a war for oil, how do you get the oil. Does Exxon come in on a tank with a flag and stick it in the ground, or do you have a more careful process? The careful process is very simply: write a law, get a new Iraqi government in place, have the Iraqis pass the law, and then turn the oil over to US oil corporations.
The Bush administration designed the law. Last January, President Bush announced that it was a benchmark for passage by the Iraqi government. It was the same day that he announced the surge. And in the language of the administration, the surge was meant to provide the political space so that the Iraqis could discuss the oil law and other benchmarks. The Democrats then adopted this language of the benchmarks and said in the supplemental war spending bill, again, that the Iraqis have to pass this benchmark. And it very simply turns Iraq from a nationalized oil system, essentially closed to US oil corporations, to a privatized system in which potentially two-thirds of all of Iraq's oil could be owned by foreign oil companies, and they can control the production with as long as thirty-year contracts.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, what about the news coming out of Iraq that Raed Jarrar has reported on, talking about the significance of the vote for the US to get out of Iraq by the parliament?
ANTONIA JUHASZ: It's very significant. The United Nations mandate for the US occupation of Iraq gives ultimate authority to the Iraqi parliament and the Iraqi cabinet to determine if the occupation can continue. So, theoretically, if the Iraqi parliament, joined by the cabinet -- and that's critical -- say that the occupation cannot continue, theoretically it would have to end. That stands in vast opposition to the plans of the Bush administration and now, apparently, the plans of the Democratic leadership, as well.

In media news, as independent media continues to be under attack, News Dissector Danny Schechter's "
Special Blog: Can Our Media Channel Survive?" announces the potential fate of
Mediachannel.org which may shut down: "If we can get 1500 of our readers (that means you) to give $25, we can keep going for another quarter. [PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ONLINE]"

Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 7th, he will discuss his book with Amy Goodman at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:15). Admission is $5 per person and students (with ID) can attend for free. Pilger will sign copies of his book afterwards and Amy Goodman will sign copies of her latest book (written with her brother David Goodman) Static. "For ticket information, contact (212) 229-5488 or
boxoffice@newschool.edu. For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, click here or e-mail pilgerny@gmail.com." He will also be interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Thursday June 7th.June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at: http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htmPresented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com." June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com." From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org." The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.



antonia juhasz

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Adam Kokesh, Isaiah

Okay, C.I. took constitutional law in college, I didn't. But I didn't need it to realize how important Schacht v. United States is to Adam Kokesh's case. I agree with C.I., there's no excuse for the sorry press coverage. The minute the hearing said the UCMJ didn't apply to those in the IRR, there was only one thing that did, Schacht v. United States. That should have trumped UCMJ all along because a Supreme Court verdict trumps all. But the second the military panel conceeded UCMJ didn't apply to the IRR, Kokesh was only governed by the Supreme Court ruling.

I think we're seeing how stupid our press is and, certainly, Heather Hollingsworth is among the most stupid. That's very dangerous since she works for Associated Press and her story was carried everywhere (including being read by on air personalities whom I will not call journalists because journalists should be able to grasp the importance of a Supreme Court verdict).

adam

Adam got screwed and it may be no surprise when it happens from the US military; however, it's another issue all together when it results from a stupid press. But journalism majors are among the most stupid. They take their half-ass core classes and there's little time for them to learn anything else. Then they get a job and think they are a little god who doesn't need to know anymore than he or she walked in with.

I hope Adam does appeal (if that's what he wants to do) because after the panel admitted UCMJ did not apply, there's no way to take that back. A federal court is bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court. As is the military and, had the press done their job, the military would have grasped that. The panel launched a huge attack on our democratic system and it now goes beyond just screwing Adam over, we all got screwed. When the US military thinks they can ignore a Supreme Court verdict, we are all screwed.

Here's an example of an idiot, All Headline News whose headline reads "Military Court Rules On Marine Who Attended Peace March In Uniform." They don't even know the case. He was not attending a march of any kind. He was taking part in street theater but that's a sign of how stupid journalists are. They're all dumb, they go on TV and act like they're smart, but unless they majored in something other than journalism, they didn't learn anything of value.

Let's talk about some of the other mistakes. There was no "letter" sent to Kokesh. Now there should have been. If the US military is going to investigate someone, they need to notify that person and they need to do by registered mail. Cry Baby Whyte sent a sarcastic, snide e-mail to Kokesh who had no way of knowing whether the thing was legitmate or not. That's why you send it registered mail. He was not in a "march." This was a street action (that's been repeated in several cities), where they pretended they were in Iraq and aimed imaginary guns at people to dramatize life in Iraq. This was street theater. Anyone who can't grasp that and calls themselves a 'reporter' only demostrates how useless nearly all journalists are.

In fairness, it may not be that the press is just stupid, they may also be liars. I would suspect Heather Hollingsworth is a bit of both.

To post Isaiah's comics, I need the password to make them readable. Otherwise they end up fuzzy. C.I. gave me the password so this is Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Bully Boy's Immigration Plan" below:


xenophobia

I really enjoyed that comic and I'll pick up on his next one tomorrow. You know what? I will forget. So let me go ahead and post it tonight. Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Alberto's Hospital Rounds" is below:

albertoshospitalrounds

I really do love the work Isaiah does. (I respect political cartoonists so much more than reporters.) Alberto's hospital visit is a play on his 'raid' on John Ashcroft (J-Ass) who was recovering from gallbladder surgery but Alberto thought he could skip over acting AG Comey who found parts of the illegal spying illegal and wouldn't sign off on it. So he goes running to Ashcroft's hospital room trying to strong arm an ill man.

That'll be it for me tonight. I'm disgusted. I'm not surprised that the US military would attempt to screw over a veteran (I see that all the time). I am shocked that a spineless, brainless press can't even report on the fact that the Supreme Court decided the issues involved back in 1970.


"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, June 5, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, reporters (big and small) reveal their lack of knowledge and stupidity (possibly "reveal" is the wrong word, try "flaunt their lack of knowledge and stupidity") while covering Adam Kokesh's hearing, at least 91 Iraqis are reported dead today, the US military announces the death of another service member and which Iraqis are fleeing and which are leaving?

Starting with
Adam Kokesh and let's go over a few basics. If you're reporting (even just reading from the AP wire), you have no excuse to fail to note that, in the hearing, Adam Kokesh was questioned as to whether or not he voted in the 2004 presidential election or whether or not he could be considered "a card carrying member" of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Carey Gillam (Reuters) could note that, others played dumb. Neither was pertinent to the hearing nor acceptable questions for the US military to note and the "are you a card carrying member" of any organization or group has historical antecedents in this country so don't even call yourself a member of the press if you stuck to reading the AP wire. (Yes, I've read the e-mails, I'm aware there's a long list of posers.)

Iraq Veterans Against the War notes the following:

Iraq Veterans Against the War scored a victory for free speech today in Kansas City, MO. A panel of three Marine Corps officers recommended today that Adam Kokesh receive a general discharge under honorable conditions. Adam and his attorney will, however, appeal this finding on the grounds that Adam is entitled to his full honorable discharge. In a seemingly hypocritical contradiction, the Marine Corps panel, as well as the prosecution's key witness, Major Whyte, agreed that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Regardless of this, several other honorably discharged IVAW members are facing a similar hearing based on their stance against the war. IVAW members will continue to tell the truth about our experiences in Iraq and in the military and fight to bring our brothers and sisters home from Iraq now.
Adam, Liam Madden and Cloy Richards appeared on Good Morning America on Sunday, June 3rd.
Click to watch the video and other video coverage.
More updates will follow. To donate to the IVAW legal defense fund,
click here (check "Legal Defense Fund" in the Current Special Project section).
For the latest on Adam's hearing,
click here.

Okay, let's speak slowly because there is confusion thanks to bad reporting (or 'reporting'): the panel and Cry Baby Whyte both admitted that the UCMJ did not "apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)." If you can absorb that, then you know only real issue remains.

David Montgomery (Washington Post) (the only reporter other than Gillam who doesn't embarrass themselves) reports that Kokesh "protested the war while wearing parts of his uniform during a theatrical demonstration in Washington in March." It was street theater and though Heather Hollingsworth apparently never heard of the Supreme Court, that's no excuse. With UCMJ not covering Kokesh, there's nothing to resolve, the Supreme Court ruled on this in 1970. As we explained Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Schacht v. United States addressed this. UCMJ does not cover Kokesh, that was admitted in the hearing. That immediately means the issues were resolved in Schacht v. United States. Kokesh is not classified active duty. He participated in street theater. The US military may not have liked Kokesh's actions but the Supreme Court's already informed them that no one really gives a damn what they think of theatrical productions. Justice Huge Black writing for the majority of the Court: "The street skit in which Schacht wore the army uniform as a constume was designed, in his view, to expose the evil presence in Vietnam and was part of a larger, peaceful antiwar demonstrations at the induction center that morning." The skit? Three people (including Schact) -- two in military drag, the third dressed in Viet Cong drag. Water pistols loaded with a red liqud, fired when one of them said, "Be an Able American." The victim would fall to the ground, one of the actors would shout, "My God, this is a pregnant woman." The Court of Appeals noted, "Without noticeable variation this skit was reenacted several times during the morning of the demonstration." This is quoted in Justice Hugo's opinion. In fact, let's move to the conclusions. First, remember the military hearing thought they could reject that Kokesh was involved in street theater. The military thought the same before and the Court set them straight:


The Government's argument in this case seems to imply that somehow what these amateur actors did in Houston should not be treated as a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f). We are unable to follow such a suggestion. Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world. Here, the record shows without dispute the preparation and repeated presentation by amateur actors of a short play designed to create in the audience an understanding of and opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war. Supra, at 60 and this page. It may be that the performances were crude and [398 U.S. 58, 62] amateurish and perhaps unappealing, but the same thing can be said about many theatrical performances. We cannot believe that when Congress wrote out a special exception for theatrical productions it intended to protect only a narrow and limited category of professionally produced plays. 3 Of course, we need not decide here all the questions concerning what is and what is not within the scope of 772 (f). We need only find, as we emphatically do, that the street skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of that section.

Are we clear? I know Heather Hollingsworth (AP) isn't but is everyone else clear? Operation First Casualty is street theater and it has been performed repeatedly (in NYC on Memorial Day). Now let's move to the issue of the fatigues. Remember, Kokesh is not active duty, remember UCMJ -- by the hearing itself -- does not apply to him. Justice Black, writing for the Court:

This brings us to petitioner's complaint that giving force and effect to the last clause of 772 (f) would impose an unconstitutional restraint on his right of free speech. We agree. This clause on its face simply restricts 772 (f)'s authorization to those dramatic portrayals that do not "tend to discredit" the military, but, when this restriction is read together with 18 U.S.C. 702, it becomes clear that Congress has in effect made it a crime for an actor wearing a military uniform to say things during his performance critical of the conduct or [398 U.S. 58,63]
policies of the Armed Forces. An actor, like everyone else in our country, enjoys a constitutional right to freedom of speech, including the right openly to criticize the Government during a dramatic performance. The last clause of 772 (f) denies this constitutional right to an actor who is wearing a military uniform by making it a crime for him to say things that tend to bring the military into discredit and disrepute. In the present case Schacht was free to participate in any skit at the demonstration that praised the Army, but under the final clause of 772 (f) he could be convicted of a federal offense if his portrayal attacked the Army instead of praising it. In light of our earlier finding that the skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f), it follows that his conviction can be sustained only if he can be punished for speaking out against the role of our Army and our country in Vietnam. Clearly punishment for this reason would be an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom of speech. The final clause of 772 (f), which leaves Americans free to praise the war in Vietnam but can send persons like Schacht to prison for opposing it, cannot survive in a country which has the First Amendment. To preserve the constitutionality of 772 (f) that final clause must be stricken from the section.

Is anyone confused still? The US military was told (STRONGLY) by the Court that they had no say over theater productions, they were told theater productions included street productions. The only reason there's any doubt about this is because DUMB ASS 'reporters' and 'news readers' didn't learn their damn history, don't know their Constitution and apparently will dumb down American without anyone ever calling them out on it. This issue was addressed by the Supreme Court in 1970. The hearing yesterday made it very clear that UCMJ did not apply to IRR. The minute that was made clear, there was no longer any question about it, Schacht v. US was the only ruling that mattered.

David Montgomery (Washington Post) notes Kokesh may appeal and that, following the next step (marine corps has to endorse the recomendation) his attorney Mike Lebowitz states they may appeal (civilian court) because "There's still a First Amendment issue involved. We have a lot to go on if we take it to federal court." Indeed they do and bad reporting serves no one. If you're last name is Montgomery or Gillam, chances are you did the people a disservice by failing to inform them of what was at stake which, while very personal to Adam Kokesh, effects all Americans. As Rebecca (rightly) notes the US military's actions need to be called out and when the US military thinks it does not have to obey the Supreme Court, the US press should be up in arms.

Turning to news of war resistance,
AP reports on brothers Leif, Leo and Luke Kamunen who self-checked out while on Christmas break [we noted Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) report on the brothers yesterday], that the three had signed up for the National Guard and that Chris Beron (recruiter) denis Luke Kamunen's statements that Beron told him he wouldn't be going to Iraq. Apparently, AP's never heard the many reported stories of When Recruiters Lie (which predate the current illegal war). The brothers reveal that they hadn't even discussed the decision with each other -- Luke: "We saw each other a couple days later and we're saying, 'What, you didn't go back either?" To restate from yesterday, Luke is discharged now, Leo and Leif plan to turn themselves in at some point in the future.

Meanwhile, Common Ground reports on an upcoming event in Canada,
Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion. The multi-day event will be held from July 4th through 8th at the Brilliant Cultural Center in the community of Brilliant, part of the city of Castlegear, British Columbia, Canada. "We invited you to participate in the second annual Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion weekend, which honours the courage and contribution of US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War as well as the courageous US war resisters who sought safe haven in Canada after resisting the war in Iraq. The event also honours the thousands of Canadians who helped them resettle in this country, both then and now. US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War offer our world an important model of non-violence, as do those US war resisters arriving in Canada today during the US War in Iraq." Who'll be there? US war resister Kyle Snyder will speak, Daniel Ellsberg will be the keynote speaker, Leonard I. Weinglass will take part, Tom Hayden, Michelle Mason (director, Breaking Ranks, which will be shown at the multi-day festival), David Zeiger (Sir! No Sir!) and many more.



The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key,
Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, 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, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

Turning to Iraq,
Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports there is no new information on the 2 US soldiers who have been missing since May 12 but, video claims or not, the search continues for Byron Fouty and Alex Jimenez. While they remain missing, displacement continues in and out of Iraq with UNHCR's Jennifer Pagonis declaring today, "The situation in Iraq continues to worsen, with more than 2 million Iraqis now believed to be displaced inside Iraq and another 2.2. million sheltering in neighbouring States." Though not fleeing, some college students are planning on leaving. Damien Cave (New York Times) reports on 30 Iraqi colleges from seven different colleges -- 26 of whom "said they hoped to flee immediately after receiving their degrees" and "did not expect Iraq to stabilize for at least a decade." Much more difficult to leave is Falluja. Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reports that the city slaughtered in November 2004 is adding even more checkpoints (they already use biometric data throughout the city), curtailing movement within Falluja as well as in and out of the city, imposing a curfew which has now lasted two weeks and Ahmed Alwan (Muslim Scholars Association) tells al-Fadhily, "This kind of collective punishment only means slow death to the people of the city and is adding to their agonies that have continued since April 2003."

Today has seen at least 91 reported deaths in Iraq.

Bombings?

CNN notes 15 people dead (thirteen wounded) from a car bombing in Falluja. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that killed 3 Iraqi soldiers and a Baghdad car bombing that killed 1 person. Reuters raises the death toll from the Falluja bombing to 19 (twenty-five wounded) and notes a Mahmudiya car bombing that killed 1 person.


Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a woman was shot dead in Baquba as she "was escorting a sick lady," 1 person was shot dead in in Diyala Province in an attack on a mini-bus and "A civilian was killed and his car burnt when gunmean attacked him near Al Ahrar bridge" (Baghdad). Reuters notes Abdul Raheem Nayef was shot dead in Jbela. Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports a woman carrying a bomb was shot dead in Baghdad -- upon which her bomb exploded.

Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 33 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 8 corpses discovered in Diyala. Reuters notes 2 corpses were discovered in Iskandariya.

Counting corpses discovered, that is at least 91 Iraqis who have died.

Also today, the
US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed when his patrol was attacked with small arms fire in a southern section of the Iraqi capital June 5." This brings ICCC's total number of US service members who have died since the start of the illegal war to 3496 and the toll for June thus far to 19. The ever rising death toll comes as Dan Balz and Jon Cohen (Washington Post) report on a new ABC-Washington Post poll that finds increasing discontent with the Bully Boy and the Democratically controlled Congress "has left satisfaction with the overall direction of the country at its lowest point in more than a decade" with many voicing disasisfaction with the direction of the country (six out of ten) and most saying that the illegal war has not increased the safety of the US (53%).


In media news, as independent media continues to be under attack, News Dissector Danny Schechter's "
Special Blog: Can Our Media Channel Survive?" announces the potential fate of
Mediachannel.org which may shut down: "If we can get 1500 of our readers (that means you) to give $25, we can keep going for another quarter. [PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ONLINE]"

Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 7th, he will discuss his book with Amy Goodman at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:15). Admission is $5 per person and students (with ID) can attend for free. Pilger will sign copies of his book afterwards and Amy Goodman will sign copies of her latest book (written with her brother David Goodman) Static. "For ticket information, contact (212) 229-5488 or
boxoffice@newschool.edu. For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, click here or e-mail pilgerny@gmail.com." He will also be interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Thursday June 7th.June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at: http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htmPresented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com." June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com." From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org." The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.