Mike's "Why did Wikpedia vanish the al-Maliki's exile?" went up Wednesday and was reposted at uruknet.info. I hope you already read it. But I also need to note that for obvious reasons.
"FBI Spied On Coretta Scott King For Years After MLK's Death" (Democracy Now!):
Newly released government documents show that FBI agents spied on Coretta Scott King for several years after her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated in 1968. Memos show the FBI was concerned that she might attempt to 'tie the anti-Vietnam movement to the civil rights movement.' There is also evidence that the Nixon administration and then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were kept informed of the FBI's nearly constant surveillance of Coretta Scott King.
The above news is offensive on so many levels. The FBI spied on Dr. King. If they weren't involved in his assassination (and an argument can be made that they were), they certainly knew who was involved and how it went down due to the fact that they were spying on MLK. That didn't prevent them from spying on his widow after he died.
Was Coretta Scott King a threat to national security? No. Was she a criminal? No. Did the FBI have any reason to spy on her? No.
But that's how it was then and that's how it's becoming yet again.
It was stopped (or at least slowed down) before, it could be again. But that requires citizens willing to be adults and not scared little babies crying, "Protect me! Save me!"
"New FBI Network Allows Instant Wiretaps on Any Communication Device" (Democracy Now!):
Wired Magazine is reporting the FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any private communications device. The network allows an FBI agent in New York to remotely set up a wiretap on a cell phone based in Sacramento, California. This would allow the FBI agent to immediately learn the phone's location, then begin receiving conversations, text messages and voicemail pass codes in New York. The surveillance system is called the Digital Collection System Network. It connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet providers and cellular companies. Experts say the system is far more intricately woven into the nation's telecom infrastructure than previously suspected.
This will really date me. Years ago, there was a film called 3 Days of The Condor (I think that was the title). Robert Redford starred and Faye Dunaway was "the girl." Warren Beatty had a film as well (underrated and I can't remember the name but Alan J. Pakula was the director). Those always struck me as the sort of things we worried about when I was in college and, since both Redford and Beattie were already making films in the sixties, it was a bit weird to see them in those kind of storylines. (I enjoy both movies and think both did strong work.)
But what I remember is, from those days, the question that would come up, often at parties, of how would you disappear (go underground) if you had to?
Most of us thought it would be difficult then. It was nothing like it would be today. "Intrusive" doesn't begin to describe what we live in today. The most appalling aspect may be how readily it is all accepted and dubbed 'normal.' It really is amazing how much we've allowed to be destroyed, how much we have taken in part in destroying since September 2001.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Friday, August 31, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, disease outbreaks in northern Iraq, Bully Boy shows contempt for Congress (again), Texas gears up for a big protest Saturday and more.
Starting with war resistance. Tampa Bay's WMNF (88.5) interviewed Aidan Delgado.
Aidan Delgado: First of all I wouldn't encourage just anyone to become a Conscientious Objector because if you don't know it already CO status is the most difficult way to get out of the army. Mine took 18 months and it was a hard 18 months. So if someone's just looking to leave the military, CO status is not the way to do it and you should only do it if you feel absolute moral conviction that you can't participate. And the other thing I would stress is to go online and look up CO packets that have been successful. Go and read through a couple of entire packets that show what it takes to become a successful CO. And don't ever be intimidated by the army and don't let them tell you the regulations. You have to go and read the regulations on CO yourself. Look at some of the successful packets to get an impression of how wide the field is and how you can go about it.
Aidan Delgado also tells his story in The Sutras Of Abu Ghraib: Notes From A Conscientious Objector In Iraq which came out this month. The advice he offered on the radio is advice he followed. That includes the packets and that includes not allowing the military to tell you what you really believe as they attempted to with him.
Aidan Delgado: When I wrote The Sutras Of Abu Ghraib: Notes From A Conscientious Objector In Iraq in my mind I was reacting against a lot of the war literature that was out there -- books like Black Hawk Down and The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell and a lot of the older war novels -- in that I think too much of the war novels are really a kind of hero worship in disguise and they tell the stories of violent actions and real physical bravery and daring. And I think that's great and I think that story needs to be told; however, I think there's a huge gap and I don't think we should read only one kind of war story. And I'm proud to say my war story is not about violence although there is violence in it. And it's not about war exploits although those are in it too. It's kind of about the moral side of war and the moral journey and the development which I think is something that will resonate with a lot more readers. I'm not interested really in having a, you know, heroic soldier flag waving gently in the background. And I'm not really trying to entertain people or satisfy their ghoulish curiosity about war. I really want people to think about the other side, the personal side, that hasn't been reflected in all these gory, violent war memoirs . So my idea was to create a different kind of war novel that talks about the shades of grey not the uncompromising black and white, good and evil, to talk about all the moral quandries and decisions you have to make as a soldier.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Saturday Iraq Veterans Against the War will be in Texas. Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket.
The event is sponsored and Endorsed by Texans for Peace, Dallas Peace Center, IVAW, Veterans for Peace, Crawford Peace House, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Families for Peace, CODEPINK - Dallas Chapter, Peace Action Texas, Peace and Justice - Arlington, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and more.
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays. September will kick off many actions across the country calling for an end to the illegal war and this Saturday, Texas kicks off the action in Fort Worth.
September is a month of actions and protests and it kicks off tomorrow in Fort Worth Texas.Jeff Gibbs will apparently not be in Fort Worth or DC. Gibbs (CounterPunch) explains, "I am tired of protests: they don't stop wars. Not protests that are mostly sign waving and hooking up with friends and strangers and feeling the solidarity and then going back to work or school on Monday. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result." Gibbs' feelings on this are quite common. If those are your feelings then figure out what actions do speak to you. If something's not speaking to you or working for you, find something that is. The movement doesn't need to grow stagnant. Gibbs is calling for work-stoppage and other actions (all solid actions). Iraq Moratorium is proposing new actions as well.
And in Iraq . . . Yesterday's snapshot noted:
While Iraq's Foreign Minister critiques the British decision to withdraw, David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, has his own (and presumably the British government's take). Thomas Harding (Telegraph of London) reports that Miliband has indicated what others think (including the US) really isn't the issue declaring "we will always take British decision in the British national interest. Our decision about Basra are about the situation on the ground in Basra not the situation on the ground in Baghdad" (with Harding noting that was "in reference to America's zone of control").
Today Miliband joins with the UK's Minister of Defence Des Browne to pen a column for the Washington Post where they explain the British decision to withdraw from Basra: "We pledged to help Iraqis develop a functioning state, with armed forces, police and other institutions capable of delivering security for the people. We also promised that, when we had done that, we would promptly hand over full responsibility for security to the legitimate, elected Iraq authorities." Damien McElroy (Telegraph of London) notes that Basra Palace is the last British base within Basra and that "[t]he American military is known to harbour concerns over the security of the oilfields that are Iraq's only source of oil exports and its supply lines along the north-south highway". The British began the occupation of Basra April 6, 2003. That was over four years ago. As Great Britain's Socialist Worker notes, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared that there is no planned withdrawal (5,500 British forces are in Iraq, the Basra withdrawal is expected to allow for no more than 500 troops to leave Iraq) and that British army head Richard Dannatt has termed Iraq "a region perched precariously above a large proportion of the world's remaining supply of oil."
Meanwhile Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports that 5,000 Iraqis in the northern part of the country have cholera. AFP reports that the the World Health Organization terms the outbreak a "major epidemic". Earlier this week, UNICEF announced they had "rushed emergency aid" in to "Suleimaniya and Kirkuk in northern Iraq" and that: "Serious problems with water quality and sewage treatment are being blamed for the outbreak. Local reports indicate that only 30 per cent of the population in Suleimaniya has an adequate water supply. Mains water is only available for two hours per day at the most in the main city quarters and suburbs. A water quality report from Suleimaniya from July showed the only 50 per cent of the water inside the city was chlorinated. Many people have been reduced to digging shallow wells outside their own homes." IRIN quotes Slaimaniyah General Hospital's Dr. Dirar Iyad stating, "We need urgent medical support as the disease is spreading. We didn't expect an outbreak in this area. There is a shortage of medicines to control the disease and the focal point [source of the disease] hasn't been identified yet . . . Five deaths have so far been reported here and in Kirkuk, and we believe more could occur over the next couple of days as victims are already in an advanced stage of the illness." Cockburn explains, "Most of Iraq outside Kurdistan is flat so water and sewage need to be pumped, but this has often become impossible due to a lack of electricity. The water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is highly polluted and undrinkable." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) notes that earlier (June) there was an outbreak in southern Iraq.
Cockburn also notes 4.2 million is the current number of Iraqi refugees "of whom two million have been displaced within Iraq." UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie vitied Iraq and Syria this week to meet with Iraqi refugees. The UN notes that Jolie visited a Damascus UNHCR center and visited the "small rented room shared by 13 people between the ages of eight months and 67 years" of one family who were registering with the center and also visited Iraq's Al Waleed camp "which houses 1,300 refugees . . . where there is no running water or electricty." ABC News (US) has photos of the visit. Pasadena Weekly notes the estimate is 1,200 for the number of Iraqi refugees she met with on Tuesday. Many external Iraqi refugees have gone to Syria or Jordan. Today, Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) noted, "The Syrian government has announced it will soon prevent Iraqi refugees from crossing its border unless they have work visas. The new rules take effect on Sept. 10. Over 1.5 million Iraqi refugees have fled to Syria since the U.S. invasion. More than 30,000 Iraqi refugees continue to arrive in Syria each month." Peace Mom and candidate for the US Congress in California's eighth district Cindy Sheehan recently visited Iraqi refugees in Jordan. Great Britain's Socialist Worker reports, "Asked whether the occupying powers had taken steps to alleviate the suffering of refugees, she compared the tiny amounts spent to the billions given to the military. Cindy Sheehan said, 'This is a war crime. It is a crime to create so many refugees and then wash our hands of them'." Josie Clark (Independent of London) also noted the London press conference last week and that Sheehan was asking "the UK to help with the emergency aid operation and to consider taking more refugees from the area."
Refugees, disease outbreaks, how lucky the Iraqi people are to have been 'given' 'peace.' David S. Cloud (New York Times) reports today that an independent committee established by Congress and headed by Gen. James L. Jones will report that the Iraqi police force needs "remaking" due to "corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings". There's the Bully Boy's 'progress'. Rosa Brooks (Los Angeles Times) offers some strong truths regarding the need for US forces to withdraw and also observes, "The honest (though not very satisfying answer is that no one really knows what will happen in Iraq after the United States leaves. Interestingly, a poll in March found that a majority of Iraqis thought the security situation would improve immediately after a U.S. withdrawal. But things could also get worse -- and anyone who claims to have a crystal ball is lying. We long ago squandered any capacity to guarantee a happy ending for the Iraqis."
Meanwhile the US White House has launched an attack (again) on the legislative branch of the United States. Jonathan Weisman (Washington Post) reports that the US military brass distributes 'rap sheets' on visiting Congress members to "Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank" and, by these sheets, those encountering representatives of the US Congress know where they're friend or foe and treat accordingly. This is an assault on the legislative branch and an embarrassment to Congress. Weisman notes:
At one point, the three were trying to discuss the state of Iraqi security forces with Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, but the large, flat-panel television set facing the official proved to be a distraction. Rubaie was watching children's cartoons.When Moran asked him to turn it off, Rubaie protested with a laugh and said, "But this is my favorite television show," Moran recalled.
The disrespect shown to Congress, forget the particular members, is shameful. That these actions have been tolerated goes a long way to demonstrating just how Congress continues to stand up for itself repeatedly. The White House should be called to the carpet on this.
Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) examines the long relationship between Iraq and the US, ponders the candidates for president and notes, "Poor al-Maliki. He is just the latest to discover that in certain circumstances, being a friend of the United States is a terrible position indeed. Uneasy lies the head of America's allies. Just ask Saddam Hussein." As Kimberly notes, Nouri al-Maliki knew the odds going in (or should have). Meanwhile Nermeen Al-Mufti (Al-Ahram Weekly) summarizes the many failures of al-Maliki's government (including "seems unable to keepts its own ministers in the cabinet) and concludes, "Al-Maliki is facing domestic and international criticism over the failure of his government to achieve national reconciliation and pass certain laws --- principally the US-favoured oil law. So far, Al-Maliki has reacted angrily to criticism, pledging to stay on in office." Robert H. Reid (AP) reports that al-Maliki is now attempting to blame Sunnis for this week's viiolence in Karbala -- the violence that was Shia-on-Shia violence. Sami Moubayed (Asia Times) reports on the latest paranoid induced ravings of al-Maliki regarding Krabala: "Maliki also accused the culprits of having wanted to blow up the shrine of Imam al-Hussein and then ordered the arrest of Hamid Kannush, a member of the city's municipality who is a ranking member of the Sadrist bloc. Kannush was accused of conspiracy in the Karbala violence. Maliki was effectively saying: the Sadrists did it, although his office's official press release blamed 'the Saddamis'. Maliki's office, however, did not actually explain what had happened in Karbala. National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rabei, however, said that militants wanted to occupy the two holy shrines of Imam al-Husseini and Imam al-Abbas, 'and topple the Maliki government'."
Marshall Helmberger (Timberjay Newspapers) reminds, "And don't forget that Gen. Petraeus himself said the most critical progress in Iraq had to come on the political front. On that score, there’s little debate over the fact that the Iraqi government is in utter chaos. A large portion of Prime Minister al-Maliki's cabinet has quit, as have significant blocs within the Parliament. None of the benchmark legislation the White House called 'must-pass' six months ago has been approved. The political situation is so bad that some in Congress, from both parties, are now calling for al-Maliki's replacement and rumors are again afoot about a U.S.-supported coup that would put former interim Iraqi prime minister and CIA informant Ayad Alawi in charge in Baghdad. So much for promoting democracy. While President Bush hasn't yet signed on to the idea, it's clear even the White House is no longer oblivious to Iraq's political implosion."
In some of the violence today . . .
Bombings?
Reuters reports a Samarra car bombing that claimed the lives of 4 police officers (seven wounded). Late last night, Mary Orndoff (The Birmingham News) reported that a plane "carrying Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, and two other sentors" was en route to Baghdad when it was fired upon by three rockets. No person or plane was hurt.
Shootings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Gunmen killed a barber man, Ghazwan Jawad, inside his shop in Al Nasr neighborhood. The deceased worked as a personal barber man to a colonel in Kirkuk police." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) explains Ghazwan Jawad's murder is "the ninth slaying of a barber in the city this year by Islamic militants who oppose Western haircuts and grooming styles."
Corpses?
It's Friday. Reports trickle out of the day's violence on Saturday.
Today, the US military announced: "A Marine and a Soldier assigned to Multi National Force-West died Aug. 29 in separate in attacks while conducting combat operations in AlAnbar Province." The announcement brings ICCC's total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq so far this month to 80 with the total since the start of the illegal war to 3738.
A new book entitled Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This is a practical, inspiring book on ways to resist. Watch for these events in the month of September [And clicking here will give you more info]:
Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA; Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH; Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI; Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI; Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI; Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN; Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN; Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN; Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City; and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
In US political news, Matthew Rothschild (The Progressive) reports that US House Rep John Conyers has declared that impeachment may be off Nancy Pelosi's table (more room for the centerpiece made of the spines that once were in Democratic leaders) but it's not off his table and Pelosi "cannot prvent me from introducing an impeachment resolution." Remember that for two reasons. First, Conyers have caved and backtracked on this issue before. Second, those enablers rushing to rescue Conyers a few weeks back kept insisting that Conyers had no real power. He's said otherwise. Rothschild wonders, "So what's his hesitation now? And when is a more appropriate time than now, after all the crimes Bush and Cheney have already committed?" Also wondering about the refusal to move foward on the part of Democrats is Jimmy Breslin (New York Daily News via Common Dreams):
There had been the sound of many feet on a Brooklyn street at the first funeral, of firefighter Joseph Graffa-gnino, and at the second funeral, of firefighter Robert Beddia, a fire engine sounded in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. In my office about an hour later, slips of paper came silently out of a machine, the slips coming from the Department of Defense and carrying the names and ages of the 14 soldiers who were killed in Iraq when their helicopter crashed. Four were under 21 and nine 25 or under. Of course the first thought was how the city at this time could handle such calamity if the 14 dead were New York firefighters or police officers. This gives a good view of the catastrophe that happens in Iraq, day after day. But as the soldiers die at a time of national Alzheimer's, there was virtually no reaction to the 14. When anybody you elect tries to end the war, Bush blocks all intentions with a veto or threats of a veto that prevent it. And his Supreme Court is ready to validate whatever he does, this court with its five Catholic justices, and a chief who falls on his face a couple of times that we know of. Our politicians despair that there can be no way to override Bush and save our young and everybody of any age in Iraq. Of course there is. By all the energy and dignified disgust of a nation that needs it to keep any semblance of greatness, there is an extraordinary need for an impeachment of this president and his vice president.You start an impeachment with an investigator who starts to develop a case. That's what got Nixon out. He had the most expensive, elaborate defense in the world, and when they were pressed his assistants folded and Nixon quit. I wonder whether Bush and his people can do any better when pressed.
Breslin was one of the few voices this time last year noting the silence on Iraq as media elected to travelogue over the summer and allowed Iraq to fall off the media radar. The late Molly Ivins also called out the nonsense. Sadly, others cannot be added to the list. As he did last summer, Breslin is refusing to allow his voice to be wasted.
iraq
democracy now
juan gonzalez
margaret kimberley
iraq veterans against the war
army of none
aimeee allison
david solnit
jimmy breslin
matthew rothschild
mcclatchy newspapers
the los angeles times
tina susman
rosa brooks
the washington post
karen deyoung
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Ned Parker, Mary Pipher
Okay, what I mainly want to steer you to tonight is the snapshot. Yesterday, C.I.'s "More lies from the Bully Boy," Cedric's "Bully Boy wins the Liar! Liar! competition again" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY CAN'T STOP LYING!" provided an analysis of Bully Boy's speech. Today, exploring the failure of the puppet Nouri al-Maliki, C.I. refutes Bully Boy's claims again. Bully Boy, as C.I. makes clear, is responsible for the illegal war. But this "Sympathy for the Puppet" nonsense is garbage and needs to be called out. Nouri al-Maliki was not forced into the position of prime minister, he sought it. What has he done with it? Added to the destruction, added to the violence.
It is not accurate to say al-Maliki has "no power." As C.I. points out, al-Maliki could have used something the US desired, such as the privatization of Iraqi oil, as leverage. Note when al-Maliki is suddenly screaming, "It's coming!" Only after it's obvious how low he's fallen in the eyes of the world. He uses it now, as leverage, to save his own ass. He did not use it to get potable water for the people of Iraq, to get electricity improved, he didn't use it for anything . . . except to save his own ass.
We all know Allawi's waiting in the wings. There are probably several waiting in the wings. If this is your typical 'let's plan the coup,' you'll have several in the running. The CIA will back one, the State Department another, the Pentagon another and they will squabble amongst themselves to decide who it will be.
But the whole "Sympathy for the Puppet" strikes me as the same nonsense as "Bully Boy can't be impeached! We'd end up with Dick Cheney!" Mike deconsructs that flawed argument here. Could we just once try to act as if our principles matter to us and not sitting there trying to plays oddsmaker in Vegas?
"Interior Ministry mirrors chaos of a fractured Iraq" (Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times):
Parties representing the Sunni minority, which controlled Iraq in Hussein's day, have been almost entirely purged from the ministry in the last two years. Three of the ministry's longest-serving Sunni generals have been killed in the last year.
Feel like playing "Sympathy for the Puppet" now? Nouri al-Maliki's responsible for that. Read Parker's article before you start humming along with the 'poor al-Maliki' chorus. That's just one example of what al-Maliki's responsible for in Iraq today. He wanted to be in charge, he wanted to be prime minister. He is a puppet, no question, but even a puppet has some powers.
"Psychologist, Author Mary Pipher Returns APA Award Over Interrogation Policy" (Democracy Now!):
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Pipher, what do you say to those who resisted the moratorium on psychologist participation in these interrogations, saying if psychologists aren't there, they can't make it better, that psychologists who are there could protest if they see torture taking place?
MARY PIPHER: Well, first of all, psychologists designed much of the torture. We were involved with the SERE project at Fort Bragg. We developed the protocols. And what our field has actually done is create through reverse-engineering, actually, some of the earlier methods for our captured [POWs]. We reverse-engineered them into a very rapid and heinous process by which almost anyone could be broken down and hallucinating and psychotic and, in a sense, destroying their mind within about twenty-four hours, forty-eight hours. And so, we've been very, very much a part of this.
If we leave, first of all, it can't happen anymore. But secondly, if we leave, what we’re really saying is psychologists are not involved as interrogators. You know, this goes back. My mother was a doctor in a small town. And first of all, she was a very good person. And she was one of these people that she told me a lot of stories, and all of her stories had a strong moral crux. But she took her work very seriously. She worked very hard. And one of the things that I remember her saying was parts of the Hippocratic Oath. Here's one of them: never do harm to someone for someone else's benefit. That's what we're claiming to do. That violates the most basic of standards for caregivers. The other thing is, make your patient your highest priority. Psychologists, doctors, we are about helping people. That is our mission. And so, anytime we do something else, we become something else. And it's very important to me that I am defined not by the APA's current recent behavior, not by the APA's Substitute Motion Three, but that I'm defined as my mother was defined, by a way of thinking about human beings that in a sense insists I treat all human beings as people of worth and dignity.
You know, I remember one thing that happened a lot. I lived out in rural Nebraska. My mom had to do everything. I mean, she was the doctor at football games. She did all the physicals. She sat with old farmers while they were dying. But she always carried her little black doctor bag. And if we stopped along a road because there was a car wreck -- we did that all the time -- she and my dad -- had been a medic in the war -- would jump out and run for that accident victim. And they didn't ask that person if they had a criminal history. They didn't ask that person if they were a Republican or a Democrat or paying their taxes or had the proper identification. They took care of that person. And that's what I think is our job as psychologists, just as my mother thought it was her job as a doctor.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mary Pipher, you have worked with torture victims. Explain when you worked with them, where you did and what you learned.
MARY PIPHER: Well, I've worked in two capacities. First of all, I've always been someone deeply interested in human rights -- again, I think, from my mother. But I was marching in 1965 in Kansas City to desegregate. I was a long-term member of Amnesty International. I was writing, ironically -- today I was writing urgent action messages all over the world to protest the torture of specific people who are being held in facilities, sadly not unlike some of the facilities where we're holding, in quotes, "enemy combatants." The other thing, though, is I've long worked with Physicians for Human Rights. I've done Asylum. I wrote a book, Middle of Everywhere, in which I immersed myself in our refugee community for about three years, and I have always worked with refugees in our poverty programs, and so on.
The other thing, though, is just as a therapist I’ve spent my entire life helping traumatized people. I listen to the damage that people talk about when they've been -- for example, someone whose child has been murdered. One time we worked with a policeman who had accidentally killed someone, someone who’s been raped or had a child who was sexually assaulted, someone who’s been abandoned by their long-term mate. I understand trauma very well.
And two things I know about torture victims, Amy. One is many of them are innocent of any wrongdoing. They were tortured for purely political reasons. The other thing is there is always lasting harm. There is always lasting harm. I could tell you stories of specific people, if we had the time, but what I know for sure is if you have been locked up and treated as an animal, you're never the same person again. It's like you have a chronic disease like diabetes or schizophrenia or Parkinson's: you’re forever compromised. Your mind indeed has been very changed by those experiences.
So I think because of my empathy and my understanding and my moral education, I was someone who was perhaps more aware of these issues than many other issues. The other thing, too, and I’m very lucky in this, is I’m not in a bad position. I don't have to make my living participating in behavior that’s questionable. I've always tried to arrange my life that way, and I’m proud that I’ve been able to. But I'm someone who can speak on these issues and probably not be terribly hurt by it.
I noted what was the start of the interview yesterday. I didn't realize that. It was continued today. That's an excerpt of it. You can use the link to read it in full, listen to it in full or watch it in full.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Wednesday, August 29, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Texas gears up for a big rally on Saturday, Bully Boy wants another $50 billion for his illegal war, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Nick Chin and Hannah Morong (US Socialist Worker) report the Eli Israel was a huge hit in Kennebunkport, Maine on Saturday at the peace rally held there where Cindy Sheehan, Dennis Kucinich, Carlos and Melida Arredonod, Cynthia McKinney and Dahlia Wasfi were among the over 4,000 people participating. Eli Israel is the first service member to publicly refuse to fight in the illegal war while being stationed in Iraq. The reporters quote Israel asking, "What's going to stop [the war]? It has to stop from the inside."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Iraq Veterans Against the War were also a big hit at the Kennebunkport rally. They'll no doubt be a huge hit Saturday in Texas. In what may be one of the biggest actions in Texas against the illegal war in September, Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket. A number of community members are in the D-FW area. If you're en route to the rally and see a friend, take them along. Texans For Peace are encouraging people to invite friends. This could be the biggest peace rally the area has seen. The event's theme is "Bring the troops home now and take care of them."
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays.
[The last two paragraphs were noted yesterday and will be noted tomorrow and Friday. Texas members in that area, or able to get to that area, will hopefully be attending and getting the word out.]
Yesterday, Bully Boy gave another laughable speech. Cedric, Wally and I addressed it yesterday. Michael Abramowitz (Washington Post) observes the "upbeat" speech came as Bully Boy "is stepping up his case for keeping additional U.S. forces in the country. However, Democrats and Iraq experts say that Bush's proposals will face a steep hurdle because many of his predictions of success have not materialized." Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reports that the White House will be asking for another 50 billion dollars ($50,000,000,000.00) for the illegal war "which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" with the announcement most likely coming "after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the stat eof the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year."
Bully Boy's responsible for the illegal war. The puppet's responsible for his lousy performance. Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) interviews him and he declares that he did not arrive at "this postition from being a king or a prince but have reached here through a political process, democracy and national will." Each claim, in and of itself, laughable. He then tries to play himself off as an accident of history: "I never wished to be put in a position of responsibility, neither did I see for one minute to be here." Apparently, he was just sipping a soda at the counter of Schwaabs and Bully Boy liked the way al-Maliki filled out a sweater. In a report by Fadel on the interview, it's noted that: "Despite Maliki's confidence, the scene at his office made it clear that his survival isn't being debated only in Washington. Maliki's security guards were closely watching a talk show on a wide screen Panasonic television in the lobby. The topic was whether Maliki is the only choice for Iraq, and political pundits were debating whether the prime minister should step down. When Maliki entered, the guards turned down the volume, but kept the program on."
This week Erica Bouris (Foreign Policy in Focus) became the latest offer that criticism of al-Maliki is not helpful. Well sometimes the truth hurts. al-Maliki has done an awful job and doesn't represent Iraqis.
Let's deal with some basics before we get to specifics. Iraq is a war zone. Iraq is occupied. Leaders in those situations (in any country) have a limited number of options. They can lead a resistance to occupying forces. They can attempt to work with the occupation in a 'savy' manner that benefits the people of the country. Or they can become a collaborator in the occuaption. They can attempt to work between all the options listed -- ping-ponging back and forth -- but those are the options for leaders in any occupied country. Bouris declares, "Scolding Maliki, however tempting it is in the dog days of August, when heat, violence, and the 2008 election are all a little close for comfort, is a dangerous temptation to give in to. Especially when combined with the just released National Intelligence Estimate report that paints a grimp picture of Maliki's ability to lead Iraq towards effective governance." In other words, Bouris is aware of the NIE and its evaluation of the puppet so why is she bothered by criticisim of al-Maliki? She fears that al-Maliki might begin to "reach out to less moderate Shiites. Or he could broaden his horizons and respond to the overtures of the Iranians. The Iranians would likely be happy to lend a supportive hand to keep Maliki securely in power."
Nouri al-Maliki came into puppet office with ties to Iran (he lived there in exile). US intelligence notes those ties and when they became firmer is when al-Maliki started getting more public criticism. al-Maliki cannot be pushed closer to Iran, he's already there. That may or may not be a bad thing for Iraq or for the United States. But a claim that he might be pushed into the arms of Iran requires a lack of awareness of his firm ties prior to becoming prime minister and the strengthening of those ties since he has.
As to the concern that he might "reach out to less moderate Shiites" -- again, anyone paying attention will raise an eye brow over that 'fear' as well. Not only has al-Maliki backed the Shia death squads and refused to call out their attacks, calling his Interior Ministry "thugs" is being generous. On July 30th, Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) walked readers through the Interior Ministry building noting that Mahdi Gharrawi controls the second floor ("Last year, U.S. and Iraqi troops found 1,400 prisoners, mostly Sunnis, at a base he controlled in eastern Baghdad. Many showed signs of torture"), the sixth floor is "home to border enforcement and the major crimes unit, belongs to the Badr Organization militia. Its leader, Deputy Minister Ahmed Khfaji, is lauded by some Western officials as an efficient administrator and suspected by others of running secret prisons," the seventh floor is the location of "a turf war" betwen the Badhr Organization and Kurds . . .
That is not a new development, that is not a rarely reported development. al-Maliki would have a very difficult time getting closer with "less moderate Shiites" because they're already arm-in-arm.
"Maliki is the stupidest man alive (well, after Bush of course . . .) if he belives his arrogance and callous handling of the sitatuion will work to dismiss it from the minds of Iraqis. By doing what he is doing, he's making it more clear than ever that under his rule, under his government, vigilante justice is the only way to go. Why leave it to the security forces and police? Simply hire a militia or gang to get revenge." Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) wrote that on February 20th of this year. She was commenting specifically of the refusal to pursue justice for Sabrine Al Janabi. What does Riverbend think today? Her last post was in April and she noted that she and her family were going to attempt to make it to Syria or Jordan:
Riverbend is now a refugee and under the puppet's 'rule' a vast number of those have been created.
On Monday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explained, "Meanwhile the Iraqi Red Crescent reports the number of internally displaced Iraqis has also doubled over the course of the so-called U.S. troop surge. More than 1.1 million Iraqis are now internally-displaced, up from under four-hundred fifty thousand earlier this year." Today, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted that "the Iraqi refugee crisis worsens by the month. The United Nations says the monthly rate of displacement has reached 60,000 people -- an increase of 10,000 over previous estimates. Some 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S. invasion of Iraq." Do we want to talk orphans? Jonathan Finer (Washington Post) reported in 2006 that prior to the illegal war approximately 400 children were living in orphanages throughout Iraq but by the beginning of 2006, the number had already grown to 1,000.
Assuming the puppet was attempting to be 'savy' and not collaborating, he has failed. There are many things the US wants. Top of the list, the US wants to put into law the theft of Iraqi oil. If he was attempting to be 'savy,' he could have used the desires to leverage items that would make life under occupation a little better for Iraqis. He hasn't.
He told Fadel, "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept -- because we do not agree to support either Sunnis or Shiites. I have made a pledge to deal with matters according to state law and citizens regardless of their affiliations. Our responsibility is to break down the barriers that have been erected recently". The first eleven words are probably the closest to the truth al-Maliki got: "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept". That would explain creating an 'alliance' this month without Sunnis and trashing the US White House's 'benchmarks' two and sixteen.
He is a miserable failure and with regards to the Sunni population, he is a menace by whom he appoints and what he chooses to recognize and what he chooses to ignore.
Over a week before the NIE was made public, Peter W. Galbraith (The New York Review of Books) was already laying reality out: "Provincial elections will make Iraq less governable while the process of constitutional revision could break the country apart. . . . Iraq's mainstream Shiite leaders resist holding new provincial elections because they know what such elections are likely to bring. Because the Sunnis boycotted the January 2005 elections, they do not control the northern governorate, or province, of Nineveh, in which there is a Sunni majority, and they are not represented in governorates with mixed populations, such as Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. New elections would, it is argued, give Sunnis a greater voice in the places where they live, and the Shiites say they do not have a problem with this, although just how they would treat the militant Sunnis who would be elected is far from clear."
Reality is reality and calling al-Maliki out for his failures is reality. Reality check: Baghad went under 'crackdown' when? June 2006. Over a year later and nothing to show for it. No improvement. On September 2, 2006 -- almost a year ago -- AFP reported the effects of the 'crackdown' -- the only real effects: "Several of Iraq's leading booksellers and writers have burnt a pyre of books to denounce a curfew which they said has turned the centre of Baghdad's intellectual life into 'a street of ghosts'." The curfews only inflame the tensions, they do not solve anything. The 'crackdown' has been an extreme curfew. It has had resulted in the destruction of many of the last remaining cosmopolitan aspects of Baghdad.
al-Maliki was not swept in by 'national will' as he claims to McClatchy Newspapers. He got the job when Ibrahim al-Jaafari didn't have the support needed. April 22, 2006 was when al-Maliki became the prime mnister. From the May 17, 2006 snapshot: "CNN, the Associated Press and BBC note that Iraqi prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki will, apparently, announce his cabinet nominations this Saturday. As the rah-rah-rah-put-on-Etta-James'-"At Last!"-mood builds, it's left to AFP to note the obvious: the parliment meets Saturday because the constitutional deadline is Monday, the 22nd. al-Maliki has already missed his own imposed deadline. The Monday deadline is not optional." On May 22nd, he had a cabinet -- if you were willing to ignore Iraq's Constitution and al-Maliki was. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, the 'cabinet' wasn't full: "Several key cabinet positions remain unfilled including Minister of Defense and Minister of the Interior." Of course, the Constitutional deadline of May 22nd was about the full cabinet, not partial.
That should have been the first clue that he was ineffective. How about that fabeled 24-point plan al-Maliki was talking up in May? In May of 2006, it should be noted. That 'peace plan' didn't amount to anything. After the Green Zone barricades were stormed in June 2006 (the reason for the crackdown), al-Maliki suddenly had a new 'plan' and it was another 'peace plan'. Lot of praise for an awful plan and one that never worked but let's drop back to October 3, 2006's snapshot:
Operation Happy Talkers are on the move and telling you that Nouri al-Maliki offers a 'four-point' peace plan. You may have trouble reading of the 'four-point' plan because the third point isn't about "peace" or "democracy" so reports tend to ignore it. The first step has already been (rightly) dismissed by Andrew North (BBC) of the "local security committees": "In fact, most neighourhoods of Baghdad set up their own local security bodies some time ago to protect themselves -- because they do not trust the authorities to look after them." AP reports that the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the 'peace' plan (reality title: "continued carnage plan").
As we went on to note (and noted repeatedly), it was difficult to hear about the plan because so much of the press made a point of ignoring one point. The third plank of the 'peace plan' was the attack on a free press. The war on the press. It was the war on the press that created the problems in Falluja in April 2004 when Paul Bremer's itsy-bitsy feelings were hurt over a political cartoon. It was the war on the press that led al-Maliki to shut down al-Arabiya in September 2006.The 'peace plan' pushed in the fall of 2006 only enshrined the assault on a free press though most media outlets avoided noting that. The assault continues. Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reported yesterday on the "fascist behavior" in Falluja where even the journalists live in fear "after a few of them were arrested and held for several days. One of the detained journalists spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity. Visible shaken, he said that a major in the Fallujah police force had told him that freedom of the media had been missued and the police would not allow it anymore. He said the major told him that 'the news you transmit to the world will be what we tell you, not what you pick up from the street'."
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. When he was in Egypt, the US decided to install permanent barricades in Baghdad. al-Maliki declared, "I oppse the building of the wall, and its construction will stop," as Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) noted before adding that the US "military did not say whether the wall's construction would be halted." And the following day, as CNN reported, Iraq's Brig. General Qassim Atta held a press conference in Baghdad where he declared, "We will continue to set up these barries in Adhamiya and other areas." And, FYI, the construction continued.
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. But he wanted to have the title of "prime minister" and be seen as a leader. The Iraqi people have nothing to show from his 'leadership'. If this was al-Maliki being 'savy' for 15 months, he's an idiot. More likely, he decided to be a collaborator in an illegal occupation. Regardless, he has not used the limited power he does hold to leverage better conditions for Iraqis. He has allowed Shi'ite death squads to run free, he has allowed his Interior Ministry to target Sunnis when they coveted their homes. The statements being made by people holding office in the US government, mild as they are, are not really that different from what was being stated publicly by October 2006. The difference is that the jury is no longer out on al-Maliki. September 30, 2006, Amit R. Paley and Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that then US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said of al-Maliki, "He has a window of a couple months. If the perception is that this unity government is not able to deal with this issue [the death toll and threat of civil war], then a big opportunity would have been lost and it would take a long time to address this issue." In their opening sentence, Paley and Raghavan wrote, "The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned on Friday that time is running out for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to contain the burgeoning sectarian bloodshed that threatens to plunge the country into a civil war." That was almost a year ago. The statements or threats are the same today as they were then except for the fact that there's no talk of "if" -- the jury is in, the puppet failed. By the US government's standards he has failed. By measures of daily life for Iraqis he has failed.
US forces arrested Iranians in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reports, "An Iranian Energy Ministry delegation was arrested by American troops at a hotel in central Baghdad during an official visit to Iraq" while the US military "did not mention the hotel" and asserted the arrests took place "near the checkpoint on the east bank of the Tigris" but staff at the hotel say "the members were eating dinner in the ground floor restaurant" of the hotel when they were arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded. Robin Stringer (Bloomberg News) notes they were released and that the US military's latest version of the ever changing story is that they waived the Iranians through a checkpoint and then changed their minds which is how they ended up arrested at the hotel.
In other violence.
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life (three wounded). Reuters reports a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives (seven people wounded), a Kirkuk mortar attack claimed 2 lives (one more wounded), a Diwaniyah roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 "bodyguards of a government official",
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Hawija shooting that left an Iraqi soldier dead and 1 person shot dead in Kirkuk. Reuters reports a police officer shot dead in Najaf.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 11 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Today the US military announced: "One Multi-National Corps – Iraq Soldier died of wounds suffered during combat operations in the vicinity of Kirkuk Aug. 28." The announcement brings the ICCC total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq this month to 75 with 3733 being the total number killed in the illegal war since it started.
Another thing we'll be noting through the end of the week -- events for Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This Thursday there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
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army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnitdemocracy nowamy goodman
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leila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
the socialist worker
the new york timesalissa j. rubin
stephen farrell
the washington postamit r. paleysudarsan raghavan
the los angeles times
It is not accurate to say al-Maliki has "no power." As C.I. points out, al-Maliki could have used something the US desired, such as the privatization of Iraqi oil, as leverage. Note when al-Maliki is suddenly screaming, "It's coming!" Only after it's obvious how low he's fallen in the eyes of the world. He uses it now, as leverage, to save his own ass. He did not use it to get potable water for the people of Iraq, to get electricity improved, he didn't use it for anything . . . except to save his own ass.
We all know Allawi's waiting in the wings. There are probably several waiting in the wings. If this is your typical 'let's plan the coup,' you'll have several in the running. The CIA will back one, the State Department another, the Pentagon another and they will squabble amongst themselves to decide who it will be.
But the whole "Sympathy for the Puppet" strikes me as the same nonsense as "Bully Boy can't be impeached! We'd end up with Dick Cheney!" Mike deconsructs that flawed argument here. Could we just once try to act as if our principles matter to us and not sitting there trying to plays oddsmaker in Vegas?
"Interior Ministry mirrors chaos of a fractured Iraq" (Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times):
Parties representing the Sunni minority, which controlled Iraq in Hussein's day, have been almost entirely purged from the ministry in the last two years. Three of the ministry's longest-serving Sunni generals have been killed in the last year.
Feel like playing "Sympathy for the Puppet" now? Nouri al-Maliki's responsible for that. Read Parker's article before you start humming along with the 'poor al-Maliki' chorus. That's just one example of what al-Maliki's responsible for in Iraq today. He wanted to be in charge, he wanted to be prime minister. He is a puppet, no question, but even a puppet has some powers.
"Psychologist, Author Mary Pipher Returns APA Award Over Interrogation Policy" (Democracy Now!):
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Pipher, what do you say to those who resisted the moratorium on psychologist participation in these interrogations, saying if psychologists aren't there, they can't make it better, that psychologists who are there could protest if they see torture taking place?
MARY PIPHER: Well, first of all, psychologists designed much of the torture. We were involved with the SERE project at Fort Bragg. We developed the protocols. And what our field has actually done is create through reverse-engineering, actually, some of the earlier methods for our captured [POWs]. We reverse-engineered them into a very rapid and heinous process by which almost anyone could be broken down and hallucinating and psychotic and, in a sense, destroying their mind within about twenty-four hours, forty-eight hours. And so, we've been very, very much a part of this.
If we leave, first of all, it can't happen anymore. But secondly, if we leave, what we’re really saying is psychologists are not involved as interrogators. You know, this goes back. My mother was a doctor in a small town. And first of all, she was a very good person. And she was one of these people that she told me a lot of stories, and all of her stories had a strong moral crux. But she took her work very seriously. She worked very hard. And one of the things that I remember her saying was parts of the Hippocratic Oath. Here's one of them: never do harm to someone for someone else's benefit. That's what we're claiming to do. That violates the most basic of standards for caregivers. The other thing is, make your patient your highest priority. Psychologists, doctors, we are about helping people. That is our mission. And so, anytime we do something else, we become something else. And it's very important to me that I am defined not by the APA's current recent behavior, not by the APA's Substitute Motion Three, but that I'm defined as my mother was defined, by a way of thinking about human beings that in a sense insists I treat all human beings as people of worth and dignity.
You know, I remember one thing that happened a lot. I lived out in rural Nebraska. My mom had to do everything. I mean, she was the doctor at football games. She did all the physicals. She sat with old farmers while they were dying. But she always carried her little black doctor bag. And if we stopped along a road because there was a car wreck -- we did that all the time -- she and my dad -- had been a medic in the war -- would jump out and run for that accident victim. And they didn't ask that person if they had a criminal history. They didn't ask that person if they were a Republican or a Democrat or paying their taxes or had the proper identification. They took care of that person. And that's what I think is our job as psychologists, just as my mother thought it was her job as a doctor.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mary Pipher, you have worked with torture victims. Explain when you worked with them, where you did and what you learned.
MARY PIPHER: Well, I've worked in two capacities. First of all, I've always been someone deeply interested in human rights -- again, I think, from my mother. But I was marching in 1965 in Kansas City to desegregate. I was a long-term member of Amnesty International. I was writing, ironically -- today I was writing urgent action messages all over the world to protest the torture of specific people who are being held in facilities, sadly not unlike some of the facilities where we're holding, in quotes, "enemy combatants." The other thing, though, is I've long worked with Physicians for Human Rights. I've done Asylum. I wrote a book, Middle of Everywhere, in which I immersed myself in our refugee community for about three years, and I have always worked with refugees in our poverty programs, and so on.
The other thing, though, is just as a therapist I’ve spent my entire life helping traumatized people. I listen to the damage that people talk about when they've been -- for example, someone whose child has been murdered. One time we worked with a policeman who had accidentally killed someone, someone who’s been raped or had a child who was sexually assaulted, someone who’s been abandoned by their long-term mate. I understand trauma very well.
And two things I know about torture victims, Amy. One is many of them are innocent of any wrongdoing. They were tortured for purely political reasons. The other thing is there is always lasting harm. There is always lasting harm. I could tell you stories of specific people, if we had the time, but what I know for sure is if you have been locked up and treated as an animal, you're never the same person again. It's like you have a chronic disease like diabetes or schizophrenia or Parkinson's: you’re forever compromised. Your mind indeed has been very changed by those experiences.
So I think because of my empathy and my understanding and my moral education, I was someone who was perhaps more aware of these issues than many other issues. The other thing, too, and I’m very lucky in this, is I’m not in a bad position. I don't have to make my living participating in behavior that’s questionable. I've always tried to arrange my life that way, and I’m proud that I’ve been able to. But I'm someone who can speak on these issues and probably not be terribly hurt by it.
I noted what was the start of the interview yesterday. I didn't realize that. It was continued today. That's an excerpt of it. You can use the link to read it in full, listen to it in full or watch it in full.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Wednesday, August 29, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Texas gears up for a big rally on Saturday, Bully Boy wants another $50 billion for his illegal war, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Nick Chin and Hannah Morong (US Socialist Worker) report the Eli Israel was a huge hit in Kennebunkport, Maine on Saturday at the peace rally held there where Cindy Sheehan, Dennis Kucinich, Carlos and Melida Arredonod, Cynthia McKinney and Dahlia Wasfi were among the over 4,000 people participating. Eli Israel is the first service member to publicly refuse to fight in the illegal war while being stationed in Iraq. The reporters quote Israel asking, "What's going to stop [the war]? It has to stop from the inside."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Iraq Veterans Against the War were also a big hit at the Kennebunkport rally. They'll no doubt be a huge hit Saturday in Texas. In what may be one of the biggest actions in Texas against the illegal war in September, Texans For Peace are staging an American People's Poll on Iraq in Fort Worth, Texas featuring many speakers including IVAW's Adam Kokesh, Leonard Shelton and Hart Viges as well as Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright and many others. Click here for the press release. There is not a fee to attend, the event is Saturday, in Fort Worth, Texas which is also where the Republican Straw Poll will be "taking place in General Worth Square". People will begin arriving at nine in the morning, the speeches will begin at 1:30. There will be music and entertainment. Though the event is free, people can donate and Texans For Peace is encouraging everyone planning to attend to print up tickets online. The tickets will be used for a number count of those attending. No one will be turned away because they didn't have access to a computer to print up the ticket. A number of community members are in the D-FW area. If you're en route to the rally and see a friend, take them along. Texans For Peace are encouraging people to invite friends. This could be the biggest peace rally the area has seen. The event's theme is "Bring the troops home now and take care of them."
Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays.
[The last two paragraphs were noted yesterday and will be noted tomorrow and Friday. Texas members in that area, or able to get to that area, will hopefully be attending and getting the word out.]
Yesterday, Bully Boy gave another laughable speech. Cedric, Wally and I addressed it yesterday. Michael Abramowitz (Washington Post) observes the "upbeat" speech came as Bully Boy "is stepping up his case for keeping additional U.S. forces in the country. However, Democrats and Iraq experts say that Bush's proposals will face a steep hurdle because many of his predictions of success have not materialized." Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reports that the White House will be asking for another 50 billion dollars ($50,000,000,000.00) for the illegal war "which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" with the announcement most likely coming "after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the stat eof the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year."
Bully Boy's responsible for the illegal war. The puppet's responsible for his lousy performance. Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) interviews him and he declares that he did not arrive at "this postition from being a king or a prince but have reached here through a political process, democracy and national will." Each claim, in and of itself, laughable. He then tries to play himself off as an accident of history: "I never wished to be put in a position of responsibility, neither did I see for one minute to be here." Apparently, he was just sipping a soda at the counter of Schwaabs and Bully Boy liked the way al-Maliki filled out a sweater. In a report by Fadel on the interview, it's noted that: "Despite Maliki's confidence, the scene at his office made it clear that his survival isn't being debated only in Washington. Maliki's security guards were closely watching a talk show on a wide screen Panasonic television in the lobby. The topic was whether Maliki is the only choice for Iraq, and political pundits were debating whether the prime minister should step down. When Maliki entered, the guards turned down the volume, but kept the program on."
This week Erica Bouris (Foreign Policy in Focus) became the latest offer that criticism of al-Maliki is not helpful. Well sometimes the truth hurts. al-Maliki has done an awful job and doesn't represent Iraqis.
Let's deal with some basics before we get to specifics. Iraq is a war zone. Iraq is occupied. Leaders in those situations (in any country) have a limited number of options. They can lead a resistance to occupying forces. They can attempt to work with the occupation in a 'savy' manner that benefits the people of the country. Or they can become a collaborator in the occuaption. They can attempt to work between all the options listed -- ping-ponging back and forth -- but those are the options for leaders in any occupied country. Bouris declares, "Scolding Maliki, however tempting it is in the dog days of August, when heat, violence, and the 2008 election are all a little close for comfort, is a dangerous temptation to give in to. Especially when combined with the just released National Intelligence Estimate report that paints a grimp picture of Maliki's ability to lead Iraq towards effective governance." In other words, Bouris is aware of the NIE and its evaluation of the puppet so why is she bothered by criticisim of al-Maliki? She fears that al-Maliki might begin to "reach out to less moderate Shiites. Or he could broaden his horizons and respond to the overtures of the Iranians. The Iranians would likely be happy to lend a supportive hand to keep Maliki securely in power."
Nouri al-Maliki came into puppet office with ties to Iran (he lived there in exile). US intelligence notes those ties and when they became firmer is when al-Maliki started getting more public criticism. al-Maliki cannot be pushed closer to Iran, he's already there. That may or may not be a bad thing for Iraq or for the United States. But a claim that he might be pushed into the arms of Iran requires a lack of awareness of his firm ties prior to becoming prime minister and the strengthening of those ties since he has.
As to the concern that he might "reach out to less moderate Shiites" -- again, anyone paying attention will raise an eye brow over that 'fear' as well. Not only has al-Maliki backed the Shia death squads and refused to call out their attacks, calling his Interior Ministry "thugs" is being generous. On July 30th, Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) walked readers through the Interior Ministry building noting that Mahdi Gharrawi controls the second floor ("Last year, U.S. and Iraqi troops found 1,400 prisoners, mostly Sunnis, at a base he controlled in eastern Baghdad. Many showed signs of torture"), the sixth floor is "home to border enforcement and the major crimes unit, belongs to the Badr Organization militia. Its leader, Deputy Minister Ahmed Khfaji, is lauded by some Western officials as an efficient administrator and suspected by others of running secret prisons," the seventh floor is the location of "a turf war" betwen the Badhr Organization and Kurds . . .
That is not a new development, that is not a rarely reported development. al-Maliki would have a very difficult time getting closer with "less moderate Shiites" because they're already arm-in-arm.
"Maliki is the stupidest man alive (well, after Bush of course . . .) if he belives his arrogance and callous handling of the sitatuion will work to dismiss it from the minds of Iraqis. By doing what he is doing, he's making it more clear than ever that under his rule, under his government, vigilante justice is the only way to go. Why leave it to the security forces and police? Simply hire a militia or gang to get revenge." Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) wrote that on February 20th of this year. She was commenting specifically of the refusal to pursue justice for Sabrine Al Janabi. What does Riverbend think today? Her last post was in April and she noted that she and her family were going to attempt to make it to Syria or Jordan:
Riverbend is now a refugee and under the puppet's 'rule' a vast number of those have been created.
On Monday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explained, "Meanwhile the Iraqi Red Crescent reports the number of internally displaced Iraqis has also doubled over the course of the so-called U.S. troop surge. More than 1.1 million Iraqis are now internally-displaced, up from under four-hundred fifty thousand earlier this year." Today, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted that "the Iraqi refugee crisis worsens by the month. The United Nations says the monthly rate of displacement has reached 60,000 people -- an increase of 10,000 over previous estimates. Some 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S. invasion of Iraq." Do we want to talk orphans? Jonathan Finer (Washington Post) reported in 2006 that prior to the illegal war approximately 400 children were living in orphanages throughout Iraq but by the beginning of 2006, the number had already grown to 1,000.
Assuming the puppet was attempting to be 'savy' and not collaborating, he has failed. There are many things the US wants. Top of the list, the US wants to put into law the theft of Iraqi oil. If he was attempting to be 'savy,' he could have used the desires to leverage items that would make life under occupation a little better for Iraqis. He hasn't.
He told Fadel, "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept -- because we do not agree to support either Sunnis or Shiites. I have made a pledge to deal with matters according to state law and citizens regardless of their affiliations. Our responsibility is to break down the barriers that have been erected recently". The first eleven words are probably the closest to the truth al-Maliki got: "The support for the Sunnis is something we do not accept". That would explain creating an 'alliance' this month without Sunnis and trashing the US White House's 'benchmarks' two and sixteen.
He is a miserable failure and with regards to the Sunni population, he is a menace by whom he appoints and what he chooses to recognize and what he chooses to ignore.
Over a week before the NIE was made public, Peter W. Galbraith (The New York Review of Books) was already laying reality out: "Provincial elections will make Iraq less governable while the process of constitutional revision could break the country apart. . . . Iraq's mainstream Shiite leaders resist holding new provincial elections because they know what such elections are likely to bring. Because the Sunnis boycotted the January 2005 elections, they do not control the northern governorate, or province, of Nineveh, in which there is a Sunni majority, and they are not represented in governorates with mixed populations, such as Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. New elections would, it is argued, give Sunnis a greater voice in the places where they live, and the Shiites say they do not have a problem with this, although just how they would treat the militant Sunnis who would be elected is far from clear."
Reality is reality and calling al-Maliki out for his failures is reality. Reality check: Baghad went under 'crackdown' when? June 2006. Over a year later and nothing to show for it. No improvement. On September 2, 2006 -- almost a year ago -- AFP reported the effects of the 'crackdown' -- the only real effects: "Several of Iraq's leading booksellers and writers have burnt a pyre of books to denounce a curfew which they said has turned the centre of Baghdad's intellectual life into 'a street of ghosts'." The curfews only inflame the tensions, they do not solve anything. The 'crackdown' has been an extreme curfew. It has had resulted in the destruction of many of the last remaining cosmopolitan aspects of Baghdad.
al-Maliki was not swept in by 'national will' as he claims to McClatchy Newspapers. He got the job when Ibrahim al-Jaafari didn't have the support needed. April 22, 2006 was when al-Maliki became the prime mnister. From the May 17, 2006 snapshot: "CNN, the Associated Press and BBC note that Iraqi prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki will, apparently, announce his cabinet nominations this Saturday. As the rah-rah-rah-put-on-Etta-James'-"At Last!"-mood builds, it's left to AFP to note the obvious: the parliment meets Saturday because the constitutional deadline is Monday, the 22nd. al-Maliki has already missed his own imposed deadline. The Monday deadline is not optional." On May 22nd, he had a cabinet -- if you were willing to ignore Iraq's Constitution and al-Maliki was. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, the 'cabinet' wasn't full: "Several key cabinet positions remain unfilled including Minister of Defense and Minister of the Interior." Of course, the Constitutional deadline of May 22nd was about the full cabinet, not partial.
That should have been the first clue that he was ineffective. How about that fabeled 24-point plan al-Maliki was talking up in May? In May of 2006, it should be noted. That 'peace plan' didn't amount to anything. After the Green Zone barricades were stormed in June 2006 (the reason for the crackdown), al-Maliki suddenly had a new 'plan' and it was another 'peace plan'. Lot of praise for an awful plan and one that never worked but let's drop back to October 3, 2006's snapshot:
Operation Happy Talkers are on the move and telling you that Nouri al-Maliki offers a 'four-point' peace plan. You may have trouble reading of the 'four-point' plan because the third point isn't about "peace" or "democracy" so reports tend to ignore it. The first step has already been (rightly) dismissed by Andrew North (BBC) of the "local security committees": "In fact, most neighourhoods of Baghdad set up their own local security bodies some time ago to protect themselves -- because they do not trust the authorities to look after them." AP reports that the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the 'peace' plan (reality title: "continued carnage plan").
As we went on to note (and noted repeatedly), it was difficult to hear about the plan because so much of the press made a point of ignoring one point. The third plank of the 'peace plan' was the attack on a free press. The war on the press. It was the war on the press that created the problems in Falluja in April 2004 when Paul Bremer's itsy-bitsy feelings were hurt over a political cartoon. It was the war on the press that led al-Maliki to shut down al-Arabiya in September 2006.The 'peace plan' pushed in the fall of 2006 only enshrined the assault on a free press though most media outlets avoided noting that. The assault continues. Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reported yesterday on the "fascist behavior" in Falluja where even the journalists live in fear "after a few of them were arrested and held for several days. One of the detained journalists spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity. Visible shaken, he said that a major in the Fallujah police force had told him that freedom of the media had been missued and the police would not allow it anymore. He said the major told him that 'the news you transmit to the world will be what we tell you, not what you pick up from the street'."
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. When he was in Egypt, the US decided to install permanent barricades in Baghdad. al-Maliki declared, "I oppse the building of the wall, and its construction will stop," as Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) noted before adding that the US "military did not say whether the wall's construction would be halted." And the following day, as CNN reported, Iraq's Brig. General Qassim Atta held a press conference in Baghdad where he declared, "We will continue to set up these barries in Adhamiya and other areas." And, FYI, the construction continued.
al-Maliki is a puppet. There's no question of that. But he wanted to have the title of "prime minister" and be seen as a leader. The Iraqi people have nothing to show from his 'leadership'. If this was al-Maliki being 'savy' for 15 months, he's an idiot. More likely, he decided to be a collaborator in an illegal occupation. Regardless, he has not used the limited power he does hold to leverage better conditions for Iraqis. He has allowed Shi'ite death squads to run free, he has allowed his Interior Ministry to target Sunnis when they coveted their homes. The statements being made by people holding office in the US government, mild as they are, are not really that different from what was being stated publicly by October 2006. The difference is that the jury is no longer out on al-Maliki. September 30, 2006, Amit R. Paley and Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that then US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said of al-Maliki, "He has a window of a couple months. If the perception is that this unity government is not able to deal with this issue [the death toll and threat of civil war], then a big opportunity would have been lost and it would take a long time to address this issue." In their opening sentence, Paley and Raghavan wrote, "The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned on Friday that time is running out for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to contain the burgeoning sectarian bloodshed that threatens to plunge the country into a civil war." That was almost a year ago. The statements or threats are the same today as they were then except for the fact that there's no talk of "if" -- the jury is in, the puppet failed. By the US government's standards he has failed. By measures of daily life for Iraqis he has failed.
US forces arrested Iranians in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reports, "An Iranian Energy Ministry delegation was arrested by American troops at a hotel in central Baghdad during an official visit to Iraq" while the US military "did not mention the hotel" and asserted the arrests took place "near the checkpoint on the east bank of the Tigris" but staff at the hotel say "the members were eating dinner in the ground floor restaurant" of the hotel when they were arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded. Robin Stringer (Bloomberg News) notes they were released and that the US military's latest version of the ever changing story is that they waived the Iranians through a checkpoint and then changed their minds which is how they ended up arrested at the hotel.
In other violence.
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life (three wounded). Reuters reports a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives (seven people wounded), a Kirkuk mortar attack claimed 2 lives (one more wounded), a Diwaniyah roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 "bodyguards of a government official",
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Hawija shooting that left an Iraqi soldier dead and 1 person shot dead in Kirkuk. Reuters reports a police officer shot dead in Najaf.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 11 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
Today the US military announced: "One Multi-National Corps – Iraq Soldier died of wounds suffered during combat operations in the vicinity of Kirkuk Aug. 28." The announcement brings the ICCC total for the number of US service members killed in Iraq this month to 75 with 3733 being the total number killed in the illegal war since it started.
Another thing we'll be noting through the end of the week -- events for Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This Thursday there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
iraq
eli israel
iraq veterans against the war
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnitdemocracy nowamy goodman
ali al-fadhily
leila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
the socialist worker
the new york timesalissa j. rubin
stephen farrell
the washington postamit r. paleysudarsan raghavan
the los angeles times
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Ashley Smith, Democracy Now!
For an analysis of Bully Boy's speech to the American Legion, see C.I.'s "More lies from the Bully Boy," Cedric's "Bully Boy wins the Liar! Liar! competition again" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY CAN'T STOP LYING!" from earlier this evening. Also let me put in Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Bully Boy Funds Terrorists" from Monday (below).
The US has paid huge amounts to Iraqi contractors -- all the while knowing they were paying 'protection money' from the sums handed over by the US to the fighters fighting the US forces.
He hit on the tired 'fight them there so we don't have to fight them here' line. Isaiah's comic sends up that line by adding the payment issue.
"Without Struggle There is No Progress" (Ashley Smith, CounterPunch):
Forty years ago this year, Martin Luther broke his silence and spoke out against the war in Vietnam. He denounced its atrocities and condemned the US government as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."
Just last week, our liar in chief, George Bush himself invoked Vietnam in an attempt to justify the occupation of Iraq. In an absurd revision of history, he claimed, "Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps,' and 'killing fields.'"
Bush's lies know no end. The US intervention was the cause of the problems of Vietnam. It would never have provided a solution. Nowhere is that more clear than in Iraq today. Bush has created his own boat people, the 4 million Iraqi refugees. He has created his own re-education camps from Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib to the secret detention centers all around the world. He has created his own killing fields in Iraq, where over 1 million have lost their lives since the invasion. King, not Bush, was right; the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in our world today.
The US pursues its so-called War on Terror today for oil, profit and empire in the Middle East. The entire US establishment endorses these aims. Save for a handful, the Democrats voted for the war; they refuse to cut funding; they refuse to demand an immediate withdrawal of all US forces and corporations; they refuse even to impeach the war criminals in the Whitehouse.
Our rulers have used the so-called war on terror as a cover to assert US dominion over the Middle East from Iraq to Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iran. By controlling Middle-eastern oil, the US aims to dominate the world. They treat each war and occupation as part of their overall strategy. We in the anti-war movement must therefore oppose not just one of them, but all of them together. It is all one imperial war.
That's a speech. Bully Boy should study it. Repeatedly. He could learn a lot. Smith gave that speech Saturday in Kennebunkport, Maine.
"Renowned Psychologist, Author Returns APA Award over Interrogation Policy" (Democracy Now!):
AMY GOODMAN: The American Psychological Association has come under public criticism once again over its endorsement of professional involvement in CIA and military interrogations.
At its annual convention just over a week ago, the APA's policymaking council voted overwhelmingly to reject a measure that would have banned its members from participating in interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and other US detention centers. In the days since the convention ended, the Houston Chronicle, one of the nation’s most widely read newspapers, criticized the move in an editorial, writing, "Psychologists have no place assisting interrogations at places such as Guantanamo Bay."
Then in an even more dramatic development, renowned psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Mary Pipher decided to return her Presidential Citation award from the APA in protest. In a letter to the group's president, she wrote, "I have struggled for many months with this decision and I make it with pain and sorrow...I do not want an award from an organization that sanctions its members' participation in the enhanced interrogations at CIA 'black sites' and at Guantanamo."
Mary Pipher is author of a number of books, including Reviving Ophelia, which has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 154 weeks. She joins us now from Lincoln, Nebraska, where she lives. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Mary Pipher.
MARY PIPHER: Hello. Thank you very much, Amy. I'm honored to be on your show.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about this decision you have come to and how you came to it, to return your Presidential Citation to the American Psychological Association?
MARY PIPHER: You know, it's a life decision. There's childhood aspects, there's my adult life as a person who's worked with traumatized people. And then there's the last week.
Speaking first of the last week, Amy, I heard your show last Monday. And I was aware of this issue. I had read the Jane Mayer article in The New Yorker. I read the Vanity Fair article. But when I heard your show and then looked up the Substitute Motion Three, that basically allowed psychologists to continue participating in interrogations, I really felt that I had a moral choice to make. And I no longer wanted to be associated with APA.
I also have been in the public eye enough that I realized if I just wrote a letter to APA, it would fall in a black hole, which in fact it did -- I've never had a response from them -- that I also wanted to make a few calls to people and let them know I was doing this, so that my fervent hope by my action is two things: one, that American Psychological Association will rapidly rethink what I consider a terrible mistake and regain its position as a helping organization and regain its respect among other helping organizations, such as the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, who do not permit their members to work in many of the places psychologists are now working; the other thing is, psychologists at this point are the only people who are giving the CIA and President Bush legitimacy for the kinds of behaviors that are occurring in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, the black sites, and so on, because when he's asked about those things, why is this different, say, than Egypt or the Congo, his answer is, "We have a medical supervisors who are overseeing the interrogations." In fact, psychologists are those medical supervisors.
So if we can rapidly change Substitute Motion Three, if we can take a very strong stand on banning participation of members at these places, it will be all over.
I meant to note an item on that from yesterday's headlines but ran out of time. It's a brave stand and one that needs to be noted. It's also worth noting that Mary Pipher learned about it from Democracy Now! (Disclosure, I belong to the APA.) One thing to clear up, however, it's not just psychologists. Behavioral studies are taking place, methods to trick Iraqis, via work done by anthropologists. C.I. may be the only non-anthropologist to write seriously about that. It's a huge issue among anthropologists (as it should be) but it's really not covered by the press (unless it's to praise them -- as George Packer did in The New Yorker). Meanwhile, most of the country remains unaware of what's going on.
The attention this is getting, the psychologists issue, is a good thing because it's exposing what's gone on and is ongoing. It is making waves. Friends in the profession who've managed to ignore it are now being forced to contemplate it. The vote to continue succeeded but the exposure since is really making the vote and the continued cooperation a topic.
My take, and only my take, a lot of people ignored it and a lot of people went into the meeting thinking that the vote would settle it and every thing would calm down. That hasn't happened. It's become a public embarrassment (it also opens those in the field taking part in these actions to War Crimes).
At some point, the issue of behavioral anthroplogists will need to be brought in.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, August 28, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, mass deaths rock Karbala, US 'business people' can't account for weapons sent to Iraq, this weekend Texas sees a major rally against the illegal war, and more.
Starting with war resistance. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) issued a statement in support of Iraq war resister Ehren Watada this month. Watada is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq (June 2006). In February of this year he was court-martialed and when it was obvious he stood a good chance of winning support of the jury, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) called a mistrial over defense objection. As the National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn has noted, double-jeopardy had already attached the case. Judge Toilet immediately scheduled a new court-martial -- yet another power he actually did not have which is why that March court-martial never took place. Currently, Watada's court-martial is on the October docket; however, due to the appeals process and the issues of double-jeopardy and whether or not the incompetent Judge Toilet will again be allowed to preside, Watada's attorneys have stated their belief that it is unlikely the court-martial will take place in October and, of course, the double-jeopardy issue could toss the court-martial completely (the Constitution of the United States forbids double-jeopardy).
The JACL began in 1929 and, at that time, its focus was on "the civil rights of Americans of Japanese ancestry, [but] today we are committed to protecting the rights of all segments of the Asian Pacific American community." Ben Hamamoto (Nichi Bei Times) reports that August 18th was when the JACL's "National Board voted to pass a resolution in support of the civil rights of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the Sansei U.S. Army lieutenant who refused deployment to Iraq on the grounds that he believes the war is illegal. The vote occurred at the organization's regular board meeting at its San Francisco headquarters." Hamamoto goes on to trace the long (and overly cautious) process the JACL took en route to that resolution (including watering down the resolution) which now includes "the National JACL Board believes that all American citizens have the right to a fair and impartial trial, which includes the right to have a trial presided over by an impartial judge and to be protected from double jeopardy." The watering down process stripped key portions from the statement. Hamamoto explains, "It does not, however, offer an explicit position on whether or not Head would be an impartial judge for a retrial, whether Watada's first hearing was fair, or whether trying him again would constitute double jeopardy." A number of people worked very hard to get even that passed and they deserve congratulations for what they accomplished.
Aimee Allison and David Solnit's Army Of None notes Watada's speech at last years Veterans for Peace conference in Seattle and excerpts this part, "I speak with you about a radical idea . . . The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it . . . Those wearing the uniform must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that by refusing immoral and illegal orders they will be supported by the people not with mere words but by action . . . To support the troops who resist, you must make your voices heard. If they see thousands supporting me, they will know. I have seen this support with my own eyes . . . For me it was a leap of faith. For other soldiers, they do not have that luxury. They must know it and you must show it to them. Convince them that no matter how long they site in prison, no matter how long this country takes to right itself, their families will have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, opportunities and education."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Back in June, Evan Knappenberger staged an eight day vigil on a tower in Washington state. He explained to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!), ""I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to do something to affect a positive change in all these kind of negative things going on. I figured the best way to do that would be to draw some attention to these policies that the military is using to fight this war without actually -- you know, a war without conscription, basically. So in the middle of the night I had this great idea, just as a symbol of something kind of similar to what Operation First Casualty is, you know, to bring the war to the American people, because there is a big disconnect between the civilian population and those of us who were in Iraq. We can see -- as veterans of Iraq -- we understand kind of the way that these policies get perpetrated, and the American people need to be made aware of that. So I had this great idea to bring that home and ended up on a tower for eight days." Sunday, August 26th, began another vigil, this one in DC at the Mall on Washington where he has constructed a scaffold.
Knappenberger is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and IVAW's Adam Kokesh and Tassi McKee as well as Tina Richards and Washington Peace Center's Jay Marx are among the ones showing their support in DC. More information can be found at Tower Guard Vigil.
Kokesh will be in Fort Worth, Texas on September 1st for American People's Poll on Iraq Texas Townhall. Texans for Peace explains that "Presidential candidates, members of Congress and the world media will be in Fort Worth attending the Texas Republican Straw Poll" which makes it the perfect time for thos in the area to register their opposition to the illegal war. Along with Kokesh, also speaking will be Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright, and IVAW's Leonard Shetlon and CO (and Rev.) Hart Viges. A full list can be found here. Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.
Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays.
The book noted earlier for the Watada quote was Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This Thursday there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.
Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;
Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;
Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;
Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;
Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;
Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;
Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;
Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;
Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;
Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;
Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;
Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;
Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;
Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;
Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;
and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
Yesterday Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) revealed that the US government was funding the people fighting US forces in Iraq by ignoring the fact that Iraqi contractors were paying those people off to to do business in Al Anbar Province. Today James Glanz and Eric Schmitt (New York Times) report US is arming them as well and "federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchasing and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces" -- "the largest ring of fruad and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here". Among those under investigation is "a senior American officer [Lt. Com. Levonda Joey Selph] who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005". The reporters cite an August 18th interview with Petraeus where he explained "he made a decision not to wait for formal tracking systems to be put in place before distributing weapons". There is no tracking system for the tax payer dollars and no tracking system within Iraq where the weapons were apparently passed around like candy. (US arms already glut the blackmarket in Iraq.) Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted that the "investigation includes the Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Department of Justice, the FBI and others. The senior officer, Lt. Col. Levonda Joey Selph, worked closely with General Petraeus to set up logistic services for Iraqi forces." And in response to that, Pauline Jelinek (AP) reports, "The Pentagon is sending a team of investigators to Iraq because of the growing number of cases of fraud and other irregularities in contracts involving weapons and supplies for Iraqi forces."
While arms flow (unchecked and untracked) from the US to Iraq like milk and honey, what's the effect within the United States? From July 25th: "Billie passes on this from DFW's NBC 5, it's a video clip. You'll learn that law enforcement in North Texas has a bullet shortage -- law enforcement has a bullet shortage -- and they're being told that maybe they just shouldn't plan to buy any bullets until the illegal war is over? (Ellen Goldberg's the reporter, by the way.)" From the report:
Ellen Goldberg: The situation overseas has created a battle for bullets here at home . . . Law enforcement agencies across North Texas are waiting six months, even a year, on ammunition orders. That's the case for the Fort Worth P.D. They are still waiting on ammunition orders that they placed last year. The Dallas County Sheriff's department says that when it comes to 9 milimeter and Ball ammo they were told to call back quote: "when the war was over." The Denton County Sheriff's Dept. and Plano P.D. tell us they too are experiencing similar delays.
Sgt. Brian Stevens (Fort Worth Police Department): It's definitaly the war Everything they make bullet wise is headed that direction and we're fighting to get whatever we have to fight to get the scraps that are left over.
That is not just one area of the United States. Today Candace Rondeaux (Washington Post) reports: "The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, police officials said.To varying degrees, officials in Montgomery, Loudoun and Anne Arundel counties said, they have begun rationing or making other adjustments to accommodate delivery schedules that have changed markedly since the military campaigns began in Iraq and Afghanistan."
While police ration in this country, bullets fly freely in Karbala. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "52 people were killed and 206 injured in clashes between gunmen and security forces near the shrine of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas". Martin Fletcher (Times of London) explains that "police ordered hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to leave Kerbala and imposed a nightime curfew. Addition security forces were rushed to the city from Baghdad and neighbouring provinces. US jets flew overhead in a show of force requested by the Iraqi government. The injured were rushed to hospitals on handcarts because vehicles had been banned." Carol J. Williams and Saad Fakhrildeen (Los Angeles Times) estimate that the amount of pilgrims ordered to leave was "more than 1 million". The BBC reports the eye witness account of one pligrim in a "hotel opposite the shrine of Imam Hussain": "Shots are being fired everywhere including at hotels. We have recently seen hotels going up in flames due to rockets being fired at them by militants. We cannot tell who is behind this. If we try to look down to see what is going on from our hotel rooms they tell us to close the curtains. We are not allowed to leave the hotel and the shrines have been closed down." AFP notes that many who were not able to evacuate are still "locked in their hotels" and that the battle "erupted in the early afternoon and grew fiercer after darkness fell". Williams and Fakhrildeen cite witnesses maintaining that the battle started with the throwing of "rocks, bricks and knives at police" -- thrown by the Mahdi Army -- "but quickly escalated into an exchange of rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 fire". CNN notes that "fighting reportedly spread to Baghdad after the Karbala clashes" and that in Baghdad "Mehdi Army fighters torched six offices belonging to the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq." Laith Hammoudi notes four people were kidnapped before the torching. Fletcher explains the two different narratives: police (and Iraq's Interior Ministry) are stating that Moqtada al-Sadr's militia started the battle "in an attempt to seize control of the area" and al-Sadr's people are stating it was starting by the "police linked to the Badr Brigade of beating pilgrims who were chanting their support for al-Sadr." Reuters observes, "The fighting is likely to be seen as embarrassing for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who wants to show that his security forces can take control of security from U.S.-led forces."
Turning to other violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life (three people were also wounded). Reuters notes 33 Iraqis killed by the US "in an airborne assault" (credited to US and Iraqi forces but anyone who's followed the briefings on Iraqi air force should laugh at such an assertion), a Baquba roadside bombing that injured ten peopleCNN reports an "air assault" on Monday by US forces ("and Iraqi troops") in Diyala province that left 33 suspected 'insurgents' dead following issues with the city's water supply.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two incidents where a total of 10 pilgrims were wounded in attacks (one in Baghdad, one to the south of Baghdad in Mahmudiya), a Baghdad attack on Haj Ismaiil mosque that left 3 people dead and 3 more kidnapped and Kirkuk shooting that claimed the life of 1 police officer who was traveling with his wife in their car. Reuters notes the wife was wounded and they note another Kirkuk shooting that left two police officers wounded.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 13 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
In release news, CNN reports the "deputy oil minister and four other kidnapped employees were freed Tuesday after two weeks of captivity". The kidnapping took place on August 14th and the five released were not all that was kidnapped. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported then that Abdul Jabbar Al Wagga'a and 2 of his body guards "and 4 general directors" were kidnapped by unknown men who "were wearing a military uniform" when they invaded the marketing building of the Baghdad Oil Ministry (five people were wounded during the kidnapping).
Turning to nonsense news, AP reports Bully Boy spoke to American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada attempting to drum up support for his illegal (and lost) war. How bad was it? Even the official White House transcript uses "[sic]" to note Bully Boy's mistakes.
In legal news, Reuters reports Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan's court-martial has ended and he was found "not responsible for abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, but was guilty of disobeying an order not to discuss an investigation into the case." Sam Provance, an NCO stationed at Abu Ghraib from September 2003 to February 2004, shares his thought (prior to the verdict) at Consortium News noting he wasn't asked to testify, but had he been, he could take apart "the myth that Jordan was not really all that much involved in interrogations. One of the soldiers who worked very closely with Jordan verified that he was fully familiar with the infamous 'hard site,' where much of the torture took place. Jordan had been seen there on more than one occasion, hanging out laid back with his feet propped up. My soldier informant also bragged that he had joined Jordan in beating up a prisoner."
iraq
ehren watada
ben hamamoto
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnitdemocracy nowamy goodmanthe washington postthe new york timesmcclatchy newspapersthe los angeles timescarol j. williams
The US has paid huge amounts to Iraqi contractors -- all the while knowing they were paying 'protection money' from the sums handed over by the US to the fighters fighting the US forces.
He hit on the tired 'fight them there so we don't have to fight them here' line. Isaiah's comic sends up that line by adding the payment issue.
"Without Struggle There is No Progress" (Ashley Smith, CounterPunch):
Forty years ago this year, Martin Luther broke his silence and spoke out against the war in Vietnam. He denounced its atrocities and condemned the US government as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."
Just last week, our liar in chief, George Bush himself invoked Vietnam in an attempt to justify the occupation of Iraq. In an absurd revision of history, he claimed, "Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps,' and 'killing fields.'"
Bush's lies know no end. The US intervention was the cause of the problems of Vietnam. It would never have provided a solution. Nowhere is that more clear than in Iraq today. Bush has created his own boat people, the 4 million Iraqi refugees. He has created his own re-education camps from Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib to the secret detention centers all around the world. He has created his own killing fields in Iraq, where over 1 million have lost their lives since the invasion. King, not Bush, was right; the US government is the greatest purveyor of violence in our world today.
The US pursues its so-called War on Terror today for oil, profit and empire in the Middle East. The entire US establishment endorses these aims. Save for a handful, the Democrats voted for the war; they refuse to cut funding; they refuse to demand an immediate withdrawal of all US forces and corporations; they refuse even to impeach the war criminals in the Whitehouse.
Our rulers have used the so-called war on terror as a cover to assert US dominion over the Middle East from Iraq to Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iran. By controlling Middle-eastern oil, the US aims to dominate the world. They treat each war and occupation as part of their overall strategy. We in the anti-war movement must therefore oppose not just one of them, but all of them together. It is all one imperial war.
That's a speech. Bully Boy should study it. Repeatedly. He could learn a lot. Smith gave that speech Saturday in Kennebunkport, Maine.
"Renowned Psychologist, Author Returns APA Award over Interrogation Policy" (Democracy Now!):
AMY GOODMAN: The American Psychological Association has come under public criticism once again over its endorsement of professional involvement in CIA and military interrogations.
At its annual convention just over a week ago, the APA's policymaking council voted overwhelmingly to reject a measure that would have banned its members from participating in interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and other US detention centers. In the days since the convention ended, the Houston Chronicle, one of the nation’s most widely read newspapers, criticized the move in an editorial, writing, "Psychologists have no place assisting interrogations at places such as Guantanamo Bay."
Then in an even more dramatic development, renowned psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Mary Pipher decided to return her Presidential Citation award from the APA in protest. In a letter to the group's president, she wrote, "I have struggled for many months with this decision and I make it with pain and sorrow...I do not want an award from an organization that sanctions its members' participation in the enhanced interrogations at CIA 'black sites' and at Guantanamo."
Mary Pipher is author of a number of books, including Reviving Ophelia, which has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 154 weeks. She joins us now from Lincoln, Nebraska, where she lives. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Mary Pipher.
MARY PIPHER: Hello. Thank you very much, Amy. I'm honored to be on your show.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about this decision you have come to and how you came to it, to return your Presidential Citation to the American Psychological Association?
MARY PIPHER: You know, it's a life decision. There's childhood aspects, there's my adult life as a person who's worked with traumatized people. And then there's the last week.
Speaking first of the last week, Amy, I heard your show last Monday. And I was aware of this issue. I had read the Jane Mayer article in The New Yorker. I read the Vanity Fair article. But when I heard your show and then looked up the Substitute Motion Three, that basically allowed psychologists to continue participating in interrogations, I really felt that I had a moral choice to make. And I no longer wanted to be associated with APA.
I also have been in the public eye enough that I realized if I just wrote a letter to APA, it would fall in a black hole, which in fact it did -- I've never had a response from them -- that I also wanted to make a few calls to people and let them know I was doing this, so that my fervent hope by my action is two things: one, that American Psychological Association will rapidly rethink what I consider a terrible mistake and regain its position as a helping organization and regain its respect among other helping organizations, such as the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, who do not permit their members to work in many of the places psychologists are now working; the other thing is, psychologists at this point are the only people who are giving the CIA and President Bush legitimacy for the kinds of behaviors that are occurring in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, the black sites, and so on, because when he's asked about those things, why is this different, say, than Egypt or the Congo, his answer is, "We have a medical supervisors who are overseeing the interrogations." In fact, psychologists are those medical supervisors.
So if we can rapidly change Substitute Motion Three, if we can take a very strong stand on banning participation of members at these places, it will be all over.
I meant to note an item on that from yesterday's headlines but ran out of time. It's a brave stand and one that needs to be noted. It's also worth noting that Mary Pipher learned about it from Democracy Now! (Disclosure, I belong to the APA.) One thing to clear up, however, it's not just psychologists. Behavioral studies are taking place, methods to trick Iraqis, via work done by anthropologists. C.I. may be the only non-anthropologist to write seriously about that. It's a huge issue among anthropologists (as it should be) but it's really not covered by the press (unless it's to praise them -- as George Packer did in The New Yorker). Meanwhile, most of the country remains unaware of what's going on.
The attention this is getting, the psychologists issue, is a good thing because it's exposing what's gone on and is ongoing. It is making waves. Friends in the profession who've managed to ignore it are now being forced to contemplate it. The vote to continue succeeded but the exposure since is really making the vote and the continued cooperation a topic.
My take, and only my take, a lot of people ignored it and a lot of people went into the meeting thinking that the vote would settle it and every thing would calm down. That hasn't happened. It's become a public embarrassment (it also opens those in the field taking part in these actions to War Crimes).
At some point, the issue of behavioral anthroplogists will need to be brought in.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, August 28, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, mass deaths rock Karbala, US 'business people' can't account for weapons sent to Iraq, this weekend Texas sees a major rally against the illegal war, and more.
Starting with war resistance. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) issued a statement in support of Iraq war resister Ehren Watada this month. Watada is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq (June 2006). In February of this year he was court-martialed and when it was obvious he stood a good chance of winning support of the jury, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) called a mistrial over defense objection. As the National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn has noted, double-jeopardy had already attached the case. Judge Toilet immediately scheduled a new court-martial -- yet another power he actually did not have which is why that March court-martial never took place. Currently, Watada's court-martial is on the October docket; however, due to the appeals process and the issues of double-jeopardy and whether or not the incompetent Judge Toilet will again be allowed to preside, Watada's attorneys have stated their belief that it is unlikely the court-martial will take place in October and, of course, the double-jeopardy issue could toss the court-martial completely (the Constitution of the United States forbids double-jeopardy).
The JACL began in 1929 and, at that time, its focus was on "the civil rights of Americans of Japanese ancestry, [but] today we are committed to protecting the rights of all segments of the Asian Pacific American community." Ben Hamamoto (Nichi Bei Times) reports that August 18th was when the JACL's "National Board voted to pass a resolution in support of the civil rights of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, the Sansei U.S. Army lieutenant who refused deployment to Iraq on the grounds that he believes the war is illegal. The vote occurred at the organization's regular board meeting at its San Francisco headquarters." Hamamoto goes on to trace the long (and overly cautious) process the JACL took en route to that resolution (including watering down the resolution) which now includes "the National JACL Board believes that all American citizens have the right to a fair and impartial trial, which includes the right to have a trial presided over by an impartial judge and to be protected from double jeopardy." The watering down process stripped key portions from the statement. Hamamoto explains, "It does not, however, offer an explicit position on whether or not Head would be an impartial judge for a retrial, whether Watada's first hearing was fair, or whether trying him again would constitute double jeopardy." A number of people worked very hard to get even that passed and they deserve congratulations for what they accomplished.
Aimee Allison and David Solnit's Army Of None notes Watada's speech at last years Veterans for Peace conference in Seattle and excerpts this part, "I speak with you about a radical idea . . . The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it . . . Those wearing the uniform must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that by refusing immoral and illegal orders they will be supported by the people not with mere words but by action . . . To support the troops who resist, you must make your voices heard. If they see thousands supporting me, they will know. I have seen this support with my own eyes . . . For me it was a leap of faith. For other soldiers, they do not have that luxury. They must know it and you must show it to them. Convince them that no matter how long they site in prison, no matter how long this country takes to right itself, their families will have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, opportunities and education."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko,Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.
Back in June, Evan Knappenberger staged an eight day vigil on a tower in Washington state. He explained to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!), ""I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to do something to affect a positive change in all these kind of negative things going on. I figured the best way to do that would be to draw some attention to these policies that the military is using to fight this war without actually -- you know, a war without conscription, basically. So in the middle of the night I had this great idea, just as a symbol of something kind of similar to what Operation First Casualty is, you know, to bring the war to the American people, because there is a big disconnect between the civilian population and those of us who were in Iraq. We can see -- as veterans of Iraq -- we understand kind of the way that these policies get perpetrated, and the American people need to be made aware of that. So I had this great idea to bring that home and ended up on a tower for eight days." Sunday, August 26th, began another vigil, this one in DC at the Mall on Washington where he has constructed a scaffold.
Knappenberger is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and IVAW's Adam Kokesh and Tassi McKee as well as Tina Richards and Washington Peace Center's Jay Marx are among the ones showing their support in DC. More information can be found at Tower Guard Vigil.
Kokesh will be in Fort Worth, Texas on September 1st for American People's Poll on Iraq Texas Townhall. Texans for Peace explains that "Presidential candidates, members of Congress and the world media will be in Fort Worth attending the Texas Republican Straw Poll" which makes it the perfect time for thos in the area to register their opposition to the illegal war. Along with Kokesh, also speaking will be Diane Wilson, Tina Richards, Ann Wright, and IVAW's Leonard Shetlon and CO (and Rev.) Hart Viges. A full list can be found here. Throughout the day (nine to five, this is a Saturday) there will be canvassing and straw polls, the pre-rally entertainment starts at one p.m. and the peace rally begins at 1:30 and lasts until 3:30. Fort Worth is a city in Texas, part of the Dallas and Fort Worth region known there as "DFW." Suburbs, towns and cities in the area include Denton, Plano, Arlington, Irvining, Bach Springs, Desoto, Duncanville, Lewisville, Addison, Grand Prairie and a host of others. There is a point. Texans for Peace notes that you can catch the Trinity Railway Express to Fort Worth and that at 12:30 pm volunteers will be helping transport people to the rally.
Community member Diana and her family took part in the April 2006 immigrants rally in downtown Dallas that had at least a half million participants making it the largest protest in Dallas' history. She noted the traffic issue when she shared her experiences from that rally. Today, she explained over the phone that the easiest thing for people to the north, east or south of Fort Worth wanting to attend Saturday's events but unsure of how to get there is to utilize the Trinity train. She suggests grabbing a Dart Express Train and taking it to Union Station (in downtown Dallas). You can pick up the TRE there. ("It's the big, brown -- same brown as UPS uses --train that runs right next to the two light rails," says Diana.) ADDED: Dallas and Billie both note that there is also a solid white train. Billie: "Brown or white, they are real trains that look like trains, not the light rail." Texans for Peace notes that the TRE (Trinity Railway Express) runs from eight in the morning until eleven at night on Saturdays.
The book noted earlier for the Watada quote was Army of None, published by Seven Stories Press, available at Courage to Resist and many other places, which is written by Aimee Allison and David Solnit. This Thursday there will be a release celebration for the event at Club Oasis (135 12th St., btwen. Madison and Oak Sts., Oakland 6 blocks E. of Broadway/12th St. -- click here for East Bay express' map of Club Oasis' location). The event is free and open to all. The authors will be there, Jeff Paterson will have a slide show, there will be a puppet show, poets, snakcs, a dj . . . The event starts at 6:30 pm. More information can be found [Warning: MySpace page] by clicking here.
Aug 29, at 12:00P, Aimee and David on KPFA Radio! @ KPFA Radio 94.1;
Aug 30, at 6:00P Army of None Book Release Party & Tour Kick-Off @ Oasis Restaurant & Bar - Oakland, CA;
Sep 14 at 4:00P Army of None Workshop - San Jose, CA @ Californians for Justice, San Jose, CA;
Sep 14 at 7:30P Army of None Book Release/Signing - San Jose, CA @ Dowtown San Jose - Location TBA; Sep 15 at 12:00P Army of None Tour in Pittsburgh, PA;
Sep 19 at 7:00P Army of None Tour in Cleveland, OH;
Sep 20 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Kent, OH;
Sep 23 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Milwaukee, WI;
Sep 24 at 6:00P Army of None Tour in Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee, WI;
Sep 25 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;
Sep 26 at 6:00P Army of None Tour @ Madison, WI;
Sep 27 at 6:30P Army of None Tour @ May Day Books, Minneapolis MN;
Sep 28 at 10:00A Army of None Tour @ High Schools in Minneapolis, MN;
Sep 28 at 7:30P Army of None Tour @ Lyndale United Church of Christ, Minneapolis MN;
Sep 29 at 1:00P Army of None Tour @ Rondo Community Outreach Library - St. Paul, MN;
Oct 12 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Bluestockings Bookstore - New York City;
and Oct 17 at 7:00P Army of None Tour @ Sanctuary for Independent Media - Troy, NY
Yesterday Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) revealed that the US government was funding the people fighting US forces in Iraq by ignoring the fact that Iraqi contractors were paying those people off to to do business in Al Anbar Province. Today James Glanz and Eric Schmitt (New York Times) report US is arming them as well and "federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchasing and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces" -- "the largest ring of fruad and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here". Among those under investigation is "a senior American officer [Lt. Com. Levonda Joey Selph] who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005". The reporters cite an August 18th interview with Petraeus where he explained "he made a decision not to wait for formal tracking systems to be put in place before distributing weapons". There is no tracking system for the tax payer dollars and no tracking system within Iraq where the weapons were apparently passed around like candy. (US arms already glut the blackmarket in Iraq.) Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted that the "investigation includes the Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Department of Justice, the FBI and others. The senior officer, Lt. Col. Levonda Joey Selph, worked closely with General Petraeus to set up logistic services for Iraqi forces." And in response to that, Pauline Jelinek (AP) reports, "The Pentagon is sending a team of investigators to Iraq because of the growing number of cases of fraud and other irregularities in contracts involving weapons and supplies for Iraqi forces."
While arms flow (unchecked and untracked) from the US to Iraq like milk and honey, what's the effect within the United States? From July 25th: "Billie passes on this from DFW's NBC 5, it's a video clip. You'll learn that law enforcement in North Texas has a bullet shortage -- law enforcement has a bullet shortage -- and they're being told that maybe they just shouldn't plan to buy any bullets until the illegal war is over? (Ellen Goldberg's the reporter, by the way.)" From the report:
Ellen Goldberg: The situation overseas has created a battle for bullets here at home . . . Law enforcement agencies across North Texas are waiting six months, even a year, on ammunition orders. That's the case for the Fort Worth P.D. They are still waiting on ammunition orders that they placed last year. The Dallas County Sheriff's department says that when it comes to 9 milimeter and Ball ammo they were told to call back quote: "when the war was over." The Denton County Sheriff's Dept. and Plano P.D. tell us they too are experiencing similar delays.
Sgt. Brian Stevens (Fort Worth Police Department): It's definitaly the war Everything they make bullet wise is headed that direction and we're fighting to get whatever we have to fight to get the scraps that are left over.
That is not just one area of the United States. Today Candace Rondeaux (Washington Post) reports: "The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, police officials said.To varying degrees, officials in Montgomery, Loudoun and Anne Arundel counties said, they have begun rationing or making other adjustments to accommodate delivery schedules that have changed markedly since the military campaigns began in Iraq and Afghanistan."
While police ration in this country, bullets fly freely in Karbala. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "52 people were killed and 206 injured in clashes between gunmen and security forces near the shrine of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas". Martin Fletcher (Times of London) explains that "police ordered hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to leave Kerbala and imposed a nightime curfew. Addition security forces were rushed to the city from Baghdad and neighbouring provinces. US jets flew overhead in a show of force requested by the Iraqi government. The injured were rushed to hospitals on handcarts because vehicles had been banned." Carol J. Williams and Saad Fakhrildeen (Los Angeles Times) estimate that the amount of pilgrims ordered to leave was "more than 1 million". The BBC reports the eye witness account of one pligrim in a "hotel opposite the shrine of Imam Hussain": "Shots are being fired everywhere including at hotels. We have recently seen hotels going up in flames due to rockets being fired at them by militants. We cannot tell who is behind this. If we try to look down to see what is going on from our hotel rooms they tell us to close the curtains. We are not allowed to leave the hotel and the shrines have been closed down." AFP notes that many who were not able to evacuate are still "locked in their hotels" and that the battle "erupted in the early afternoon and grew fiercer after darkness fell". Williams and Fakhrildeen cite witnesses maintaining that the battle started with the throwing of "rocks, bricks and knives at police" -- thrown by the Mahdi Army -- "but quickly escalated into an exchange of rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 fire". CNN notes that "fighting reportedly spread to Baghdad after the Karbala clashes" and that in Baghdad "Mehdi Army fighters torched six offices belonging to the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq." Laith Hammoudi notes four people were kidnapped before the torching. Fletcher explains the two different narratives: police (and Iraq's Interior Ministry) are stating that Moqtada al-Sadr's militia started the battle "in an attempt to seize control of the area" and al-Sadr's people are stating it was starting by the "police linked to the Badr Brigade of beating pilgrims who were chanting their support for al-Sadr." Reuters observes, "The fighting is likely to be seen as embarrassing for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who wants to show that his security forces can take control of security from U.S.-led forces."
Turning to other violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life (three people were also wounded). Reuters notes 33 Iraqis killed by the US "in an airborne assault" (credited to US and Iraqi forces but anyone who's followed the briefings on Iraqi air force should laugh at such an assertion), a Baquba roadside bombing that injured ten peopleCNN reports an "air assault" on Monday by US forces ("and Iraqi troops") in Diyala province that left 33 suspected 'insurgents' dead following issues with the city's water supply.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two incidents where a total of 10 pilgrims were wounded in attacks (one in Baghdad, one to the south of Baghdad in Mahmudiya), a Baghdad attack on Haj Ismaiil mosque that left 3 people dead and 3 more kidnapped and Kirkuk shooting that claimed the life of 1 police officer who was traveling with his wife in their car. Reuters notes the wife was wounded and they note another Kirkuk shooting that left two police officers wounded.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 13 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
In release news, CNN reports the "deputy oil minister and four other kidnapped employees were freed Tuesday after two weeks of captivity". The kidnapping took place on August 14th and the five released were not all that was kidnapped. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported then that Abdul Jabbar Al Wagga'a and 2 of his body guards "and 4 general directors" were kidnapped by unknown men who "were wearing a military uniform" when they invaded the marketing building of the Baghdad Oil Ministry (five people were wounded during the kidnapping).
Turning to nonsense news, AP reports Bully Boy spoke to American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada attempting to drum up support for his illegal (and lost) war. How bad was it? Even the official White House transcript uses "[sic]" to note Bully Boy's mistakes.
In legal news, Reuters reports Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan's court-martial has ended and he was found "not responsible for abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, but was guilty of disobeying an order not to discuss an investigation into the case." Sam Provance, an NCO stationed at Abu Ghraib from September 2003 to February 2004, shares his thought (prior to the verdict) at Consortium News noting he wasn't asked to testify, but had he been, he could take apart "the myth that Jordan was not really all that much involved in interrogations. One of the soldiers who worked very closely with Jordan verified that he was fully familiar with the infamous 'hard site,' where much of the torture took place. Jordan had been seen there on more than one occasion, hanging out laid back with his feet propped up. My soldier informant also bragged that he had joined Jordan in beating up a prisoner."
iraq
ehren watada
ben hamamoto
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnitdemocracy nowamy goodmanthe washington postthe new york timesmcclatchy newspapersthe los angeles timescarol j. williams