The Common Ills

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Iraq snapshot

Tuesday, July 22, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, another journalist is announced dead, Barack sucks up all the time with his Gidget Goes To Europe and the MidEast, John McCain calls it out, and more.

Starting with war resistance, July 15th Robin Long's case was noted on CNN's The Situation Room (here for transcript):

Wolf Blitzer: Americans seeking to dodge the Vietnam War have found a have in Canada. Many began new lives there. But, now, right now, times have changed. Brian Todd is working the story for us. Brian, it's a different situation for what we're calling the Iraq War generation.

Brian Todd: It certainly is, Wolf. This one case of an American deserter being handed over turning this theory on its ear, the idea that Canada is an unqualified haven for American deserters. It's the kind of history Robin Long probably wishes he wasn't making. He is believed to be the first American deserter during the Iraq War handed back to the U.S. military by the Canadian government. During the Vietnam War, Canada was haven for US draft dodgers and deserters. In this case, a Canadian judge ruled that Long didn't adequately prove he would suffer irreparable harm if he returned to the United States. The leader of a Canadian war resisters group that had supported Long is frustrated.

Unidentified Male: I don't think there's any doubt that someone who has been up in Canada and a vocal opponent of the war will be treated harsly by the American military.

Brian Todd: Long, who had trained as a tank commander, took off from Fort Carson, Colorado, to avoid serving in Iraq. Even though he had volunteered for the army, his attorney told the court that Long became disillusioned over the mistratment of Iraqi detainees and by the fact that no weapons of mass destruction had been found. In nearly three years in Canada, he fathered a child, was turned down for refugee status last year, and was arrested recently for not checking in as required with border officials. Commanders at Fort Carson will now decide his fate. They can court-martial him, give him a less than honorable discharge, or even reassign him. A former military lawyer who has defended and prosecuted deserters says the first option is the most likely.

Unidentified male: I do believe that he is going to be most likely court-martialed in this instance. The fact that he has been vocal, not to say that they would infringe on his First Amendment right to state his case or his objections, but rather his stated reason for leaving, to avoid service in Iraq, is going to be sort of the threshold issue for the legal authorities.

Brian Todd: But experts say US military officials may also be thinking about deterrence here, sending a signal to others thinking of deserting that prison time could await them and Canada may not be so receptive to harboring them in the future. If he's court-martialed and convicted, Robin Long could get up to five years in prison. Wolf?

Wolf Blitzer: Do we have any idea how many deserters are in Canada?

Brian Todd: The leader of this war resistance group in Canada who we talked to today about this says that there are about 50 who they know of. But they say there are hundreds more they think who are living underground in Canada. You can believe this case is probably going to keep them underground.

Wolf Blitzer: I believe it. Brian, thank you.

Hasan Arif (Telegraph Journal) notes the above report and it's a shame more in Canada didn't catch it because they might have learned something. Take the laughable editorial board of Kamplops This Week: "Every one of these American citizens voluntarily joined the military. Not one was drafted. . . . These are not the draft dodgers of the Vietnam War era, the young men who had no choice in whether they wished to fight the Vietcong." Happy to flaunt their ignorance of Canadian history. The draft wasn't an issue in the decision during Vietnam and Canada welcomed dodgers and deserters. Deserters were not required to swear they had been drafted and not enlisted on their own. It wasn't an issue. And little Billy Bulter is eager to flaunt his ignorance to The Orillia Packet & Times insisting that (a) the term "war resister" (a historical and well used in the last century by the MSM) is not accurate, that anyone can become a CO very easily (Willie Boy, tell them your stupidity is here) and that the war resisters "joined the military"! We don't normally provide links to trash but the 'movement' needs to take some damn accountablity. These are the arguments that should never have been made but too many in the 'movement' didn't know their own facts or didn't want to tell it. They have created this straw-man argument that has no basis in today's reality by refusing to point out that deserters were welcomed in Canada during Vietnam. There was never a need for any of this nonsense.

No one in the world needed to hear Tom Hayden yack on and on endlessly in interviews about his 'invasive' physical. (Tom Hayden never served in the US military. He was not a draft dodger. He was not a deserter. He had no 'war story' so he went to town on a physical and, as Rebecca noted, Tom needs to put his feet in some stirrups before he next whines about 'invasive' physicals.) Tom-Tom couldn't shut up about the draft. Even though it has nothing to do with today's illegal war. He was 'helping' war resisters today . . . by throwing out crap from his past that had no bearing on reality. No one needed it. All it did was let some who barely pay attention fixate on "Draft Dodgers! You hear him, Ma! But there's no draft today!" Tom-Tom, the patron saint of the yokels. Across the border a number need to take accountability and start working on addressing reality. Unless they're goal is for the 'movement' to repeatedly be undermined with meaningless cries of "There is no draft!" Someone in Canada speaking truth is University of British Columbia's Canadian Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, Dr. Michael Byers, who explains to Am Johal (IPS), "Canada also extradited Robin Long, a U.S. war resister, who did not want to take part in possible war crimes. This is a very different role than Canada played during Vietnam." Extradition is the only term to describe what Judge Anne Mctavish oversaw and ordered for Robin Long.

To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki was in Berlin today where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Deutsche Welle reports al-Maliki declared, "Iraq is able to take the security situation into its own hands. We have achieved great success." It's an assertion that Patrick Donahue (Bloomberg News) notes and quotes him futher stating in the press conference with Merkel, "Iraq has the foundation and is capable of taking the security situation into its own hands. We can say with some pride that we're in the position and capable -- with our police and army and with our professional level -- to achieve that." However, Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that, in Baghdad Monday, Ali Dabbagh, al-Maliki's spokesperson, "announced that Iraq wants American combat troops to leave by the end of 2010." That would be 24 months after the next US president takes office. 24 months? Did al-Maliki say they were ready to takeover or not? AFP ignores the nonsense claims to focus on what the meeting was really about quoting Merkel declaring, "We are pleased that the security situation in Iraq has improved little by little and that is of course a pre-condition for economic and political reconstruction to move forward. Iraq is a country rich in raw materials and Germany has broad technological and industrial know-how. We are pleased that some German companies have already expressed interested in helping to rebuild Iraq."

Meanwhile there were dueling Nancy Youssefs over the weekend. First she filed on the simmering tensions among supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr and quoted residents such as Nadhil al Sudani stating, "There is anger inside our people. There is a volcano that wants to erupts. But we are obedient to Sayed Muqtada." Implication being that al-Sadr is the only thing that's keeping a volcano from erupting. One day later, Youssef was offering: "In a shift toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism, Iraq's largest Sunni bloc ended a nearly yearlong boycott Saturday and rejoined the cabinet, retaking six ministry spots." Well one boycott ends and another begins. Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) reports today on "a walkout by Kurdish lawmakers over how to deal with the disputed oil city of Kirkuk" with regards to the supposedly upcoming provincial elections and quotes Khalid al-Attiya (Deputy Parliamentary Speaker) stating, "We cannot have a vote with an absence of a whole faction. The vote is useless. It will be rejected by the represenatives of this bloc and by the presidency council." CNN notes the makeup of the presidency council: Jalal Talabani (President, Kurd), Tariq al-Hsahimi (Vice President, Sunni) and Adel Abdul Mahdi (Vice President, Shi'ite) and adds, "Many observers believe Talabani would stand with his Kurdish compatriots and vote against the measure, bringing it back to square one." Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman is quoted by AP stating, "The draft of the provinical elections law will be referred to the presidential council, which will definitely not approve it. So the elections will be postponed until next year."

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Kirkuk roadside bombing Monday night in which 2 police officers were killed with five more wounded. Reuters notes a Mosul roadside bombing that left eleven people wounded.

Reuters notes "an Iraqi journalist working for a Kudrish magazine" was shot dead in Kirkuk Monday and 5 people wounded in shootings in Haswa while Tirkit was the site of an attack today "on the convoy of Khalid Burhan, head of health office of Salahudding province" that left his guards wounded. The journalist was Soran Mamhama. He was 23-years-old and AP states he worked for the "magazine Leven and often covered government corruption." Reporters Without Borders issued a statement condeming the murder and stated, "We call on the Kudristan authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Hama's murder. He wrote hard-hitting articles about local politicians and security officials and had received threats from people telling him to stop his investigative reporting. The authorities should therefore give priority to the theory that he was killed because of his work." Xinhua notes Soran was shot dead outside his home and quotes Journalist Freedoms Observatory's Ziyad al-Ajili stating, "The first step to halt the assassinations against journalists is to capture those culprits." Iran's Press TV quotes Latif Satih Faraj (Kurdish Journalists Union in Kirkuk) stating, "If the government can't protect Kurdish journalists in Kirkuk, we might adviste them to withdraw from this city." Iraq's The Window reports Leveen is calling for an investigation and that "Leveen, which is an independent Kurdish magazine founded 6 years ago in Sulaimani, is known as a muckraking journal in Kurdistan and Iraq."

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 1 corpse discovered in Dibis.

Not much Iraq news? Of course, not Barack's sucking up all the limited coverage with his photo-ops passed off as news. It's like he's gone to Europe and the MidEast to FaceBook in real. Said Rifai and Saif Rasheed (Los Angeles Times) were among the few brave enough to report the realities:

During his brief visit to Iraq, Barack Obama has been greeted by busloads of Iraqi cameramen vying for shots of his arrivals and departures at meetings with government officials.

But on government-sponsored Al Iraqiya television Monday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee received second billing to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's departure for Europe. Only Al Hurra, the U.S.-sponsored channel, led with the story.

The situation has been similar on the streets of Baghdad, where Obama's visit has been duly noted but is not the No. 1 thing on people's minds.Iraqis tend to be jaundiced about American politics and skeptical that the differences between the presidential candidates have anything to do with them.

"If either McCain or Obama visits Iraq, it would be for campaign purposes, and therefore at this point in time it won't have any effect on the situation in Iraq," said Khalil Ibrahim, 34, a perfume shop owner.

We're now on the US race for president. Susan (Random Notes) observes of self-loathing lesbian (which would make her a Barack supporter) Donna Brazile: "It was people like you who created the situation in the first place by not fully seating or stripping Clinton delegates from Florida and Michigan, by not apologizing for the filthy, race-baiting campaign 'Obama' ran, for not admitting 'Obama' didn't have the majority of the popular vote, for not allowing Clinton to take the contest all the way to the convention, and for not condemning the smears by the attack dogs from the media and the 'progressive' blogosphere for creating the rift." Susan's referring to closet case Donna's attempt to do a reach-around on female Hillary supporters. Back off Donna Brazile, you Bob Packwood-wanna-be, no one wants your greasy, filthy, corporatists hands on them. She really thinks after her infamous e-mail regarding Hillary supporters ("Message to the base: stay home") that any Hillary supporter gives a damn what she says? Donna, the loudmouth trash she was born as and will die as, is now penning such tough-talk as, "How many ways do these Hillary delegates, voters and supporters need to hear it before they get it?" LSekhmet (Alegre's Corner) calls out Donna's latest lies, "We're angry because the nomination was stolen from the rightful winner -- we're angry because the winner of the popular vote has been hindered, not helped -- we're angry that a man who truly isn't read to be President at this time has been propped up by the DNC and the Democratic Party as a whole. And most especially, we're angry at the supposition that we only have two choices in the fall election -- Obama or McCain, neither of whom are acceptable." That is offensive and someone might try explaining that to Philip Maldari who declared on KPFA's The Morning Show today of the next president, "whether it's McCain or Obama" . . . This was when KPFA brought on a Democratic Congress member to schill for Barack. That was really cute -- and so fair! It's really not Philip's role to decide who will be president. His role is co-host of a morning chat show. This was followed by a roundtable for the next segment where you had two Barack supporters and one that you didn't know. Didn't know because Aimee Allison (hopefully unintentionally) cut him off just as he started to reject the notion of voting "the lesser of two evils." Kevin Zeese thinks petitions will get Barack to change his views. He thinks if there's a mass exodus of support for Barack to Cynthia McKinney or Ralph Nader that it will force Barack to change. At which point, what? By Zeese's 'logic,' people go running back to Barack. Kevin Zeese is the perfect example of why third parties struggle. Zeese supports them and has done tremendous work on campaigns in the past. However, when it's time to talk, third party and independent candidates do not exist for their own qualifications and merits. In Zeese's world -- as stated on The Morning Show today -- they exist solely to blackmail the Democratic Party within the midst of an election. When you 'cast' them as supporting characters, it is very hard for third party and independent candidates to assume lead roles. People like Zeese need to start demonstrating some awareness that they keep the two-party system going. And KPFA needs to grasp that bringing on a Democratic member of Congress to try to assure the Bay Area that Barack's-plenty-liberal-not-everyone's-as-liberal-as-we-are is not only nonsense it's the sort of garbage we'd expect from Rush Limbaugh. And if that point is not clear, we then got the Barack delegate to the DNC, Norman Solomon. That is what he is now. He is not a media critic. And he does not belong on KPFA as an 'objective' observer. It was shameful that, well into the roundtable, Norman told listeners he was a Barack delegate ("like Barbara Lee!" he insisted hiding behind Lee's skirts). That disclosure was required to be made at the top of the roundtable and Aimee Allison should have made it. In no way did The Morning Show offer anything that justified their free use of the public airwaves. (While begging yet again for more money.)

If you're not grasping, that nonsense on KPFA (or take the crap Democracy Now! squeezed out this morning) is exactly why people see the media as in the tank for Barack. Gary Chapel Hill (The Confluence) writes of the recent Rasmussen poll which found that the number of voters who "believe most reporters will try to help Obama with their coverage" rose 5% since June to reach 49%. 49%? That figure is appalling. Journalists are not supposed to be seen as biased. That the figure has climbed to 49% should be a wake up call for those working in Real Media (there's no hope for Panhandle Media -- they're all in that because they couldn't get work in Real Media). Only 24% believe they can expect unbiased coverage. That is APPALLING and it is an indictment of the media. (14% belived the media "will try to help" McCain). Don't dismiss that 49% with, "That's all Republicans!" 27% of Democrats feel the media is attempting to put Barack into the White House. Those respondents not self-identifying with either of the two major parties? 50% of swing voters "see a pro-Obama bias". This is an indictment of the media. With Congress and the White House already polling so low, you'd think the usual gatekeepers would come out loudly insisting that the media at least pretend independence.

This takes place as they're lead around by their rings in their noses. Campsunk (Alegre's Corner) posts the video of NBC News's Andrea Mitchell on Hardball explaining of Barack's for-show campaign stops outside the US, "He didn't have reporters with him, he didn't have a press pool, he didn't have a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you're seeing is not reporters brought in, you're seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they're not interviews by a journalist. So there's a real press issue here." Indeed. AlwaysforHillary (which is now supporting McCain in the general) exclaims, "It seems practically every news person flew to be with 'the Holly One' to get interviews with the Messiah! Maybe Obama will replace LOURDES and people with disabilities and illnesses can get blessed and have their problems disappear by touching the ANOINTED ONE!! DISGUSTING!!" It truly is and Jeremy Pelofsky's little jabs at McCain's calling it out ("Is the media in love with Obama?" -- Reuters) don't make the media look independent. Elizabeth Rauber (San Francisco Business Times) reports that not only is McCain calling it out, the campaign has created a video entitled "Obama Love." Click here to see the videos at the McCain site -- two with different songs and you can vote for which you enjoy best. The one set to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is currently leading over "My Eyes Adored You."

Back to the Idiot Brazile with her "It's Barack or John!" nonsense. "The central issue of this election is not Barack Obama versus John McCain. The central issue is the future of the Democratic Party," Democrat Violet Socks (Reclusive Leftist) explains, "Young feminists, for example: they say things like, "but don't you know that Republicans are anti-choice?" Yes, dears; that's the point. Republicans are anti-choice, which is exactly why it's so important that Democrats continue be pro-choice -- and pro-women's rights, pro-Fourth Amendment, pro-separation of church and state, pro-health care, pro everything that the Republicans are against. That's why we're trying to keep Barack Obama from taking over the party. I'm willing to lose one election if it means ejecting him and getting our party back to its values."

Ralph Nader is the independent presidential candidate, his running mate is Matt Gonzalez. They are adding events to their busy schedule. Times given are the times in those areas. Friday at noon, Nader will be in Columbia, South Carolina for a lunch, at 5:30 on Friday (25th) a Nader for President rally will be held at the University of Georgia, at 8:00 p.m. (still Friday), in Atlanta there will be an "Evening with Ralph Nader." Saturday (26th) Ralph will be at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, MS for a book signing and speech, two hours later (still in Jackson) he'll be do another "Evening with Ralph Nader." Sunday (27th) he and Matt Gonzalez hit Texas. First up, Hilton University of Houston where they will speak at 2:00 p.m. Then they head to Austin for an event at the Trinity United Methodist Church. Information about those events and others can be found here. W. Gardner Selby (Postcards From The Ledge) reports on the upcoming Austin event. Meanwhile Richard Winger (Ballot Access News) reports that the Sixth Circuit hear arguments today in Nader v. Blackwell about the efforts of the then-Ohio state secretary Kenneth Blackwell to limit ballot access in 2004 and Winger points out, "Ralph Nader is unique in the history of U.S. ballot access, for trying to redress wrongs that were done to him and his voters. Other presidential candidates who were kept off ballots, such as Henry Wallace in 1948, Eugene McCarthy in 1976, and John Anderson in 1980, were content to fight to keep themselves on various ballots. But they never took legal action of their own after the election to redress harms they had suffered. Only Nader has done that, most notably in his lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee, plus his complaint against the DNC filed with the Federal Election Commission, and also this particular Ohio lawsuit." Meanwhile Dandelion Salad has posted video of Matt Gonzalez speaking to the National Lation Congresso on July 18th. Among the issues addressed at the national meetup was starting a five-million-dollar, non-partisan voting effort: "Bolstered by a recent study conducted by the William C. Velasquez Institute that found more than one million new Latino voters registered to vote during this primary season, convening organizations of the National Latino Congreso will use the third annual gathering to launch a massive voter registration and get-out-the-vote effort geared at adding an additional 1-2 million new Latino voters to the rolls in time to vote in November's election." Southwest Voter Registration Education Project president Antonio Gonzalez explained, "Latino leaders will use this gathering to organize and fund-raise to launch a massive nonpartisan voter mobilization campaign. Already more than 10 million Latinos are registered to vote in America, and our efforts will help drive that number up to between 11 and 12 million."

iraq

robin long
nancy a. youssef

said rifai
saif rasheed
the los angeles times

Posted at 03:41 pm by thecommonills
Permalink

Robin Long, Joshua Key

I use the summer to read books that usually require a rested brain! Very often they have been on my reading list for a year or more. This summer I am in the midst of three: Betrayed: The Assassination of Digna Ochoa by Linda Diebel; Race Against Time by Stephen Lewis; and The Deserter's Tale by Joshua Key with Lawrence Hill. Waiting close in line is Women Building Peace Between India and Pakistan by Shree Mulay and Jackie Kirk. Shree is a good friend whom I look forwarding to welcoming to St. John's later in the summer when she moves into a new position at MUN. Two other friends of mine, Winnie Ng and her late husband Eugene Yao, were part of Joshua Key's support group in Toronto. I've just purchased Ray Guy: The Smallwood Years and am looking forward to many a chuckle from Ray to lighten my summer of otherwise heavy reading.

The above is from Stephanie Porter's "By the book: What to read while you flake out by the pond or curl up at the cabin" (The Independent News) which asks various people what they are reading this summer? The above response is from the NDP's Lorraine Michael. July 4th, Judge Robert Barnes' decision in US war resister Joshua Key's case was released and found that Canada's Immigration and Refugee 'Board' had not examined the issues in Key's case fairly and fully. Tamam Ahmed Jama reports on Key this week in "Let them stay, eh" (Al-Ahram Weekly):

Key, a native of Oklahoma, enlisted in the US army in 2002 to provide for his family. When President George W Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq the following year, he was sent to Ramadi. The 30-year-old father of four says he participated in more than 200 house-raids in six and half months. During those raids, he says the soldiers found, time after time, terrified families and no trace of terrorist activity.
"Children cry, women scream at you; we were tormenting these people," Key told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We never found anything -- no potential terrorists, no cache of weapons, nothing. After a while, you start to ask yourself: 'Why are we continuing to do this?'"
Key says he witnessed civilians being beaten, maimed or shot with little or no provocation. Among the haunting memories of the short period he spent in Iraq are watching his comrades kicking around the severed heads of dead Iraqis "like a soccer ball" and witnessing the killing of a seven-year-old girl whom he used to give leftovers of army rations. "She was coming across the street as she used to and, suddenly, her head exploded like a mushroom," he says. "I had a feeling someone in my platoon did that."
Key says he was shocked by the extent of lack of accountability for what the soldiers did. "You could make up any excuse you wanted to kill an Iraqi and no one would questions," he says.
Key says he reported to his superiors some of the incidents that he found outrageous. "I was told it was none of my business," he says. "You're not supposed to have sympathy; you're not supposed to have a conscience. You're supposed to be the 'perfect' American soldier -- a killing machine who does as he is told. But I realised that it was my concern and it was my business, that I did have my conscience."
When he came home on leave in late 2003, Key knew he did not want to return to Iraq. He sought legal advice and was told that he had two options: go back to Iraq or go to jail. He decided to go underground and, after 14 months of hiding in the US, crossed the border into Canada with his wife and children.

Charlie notes Am Johal's "CANADA: Gov't Slow to Defend Guantanamo's 'Child Soldier'" (IPS) from last night which addresses Omar Kadhr, a prisoner at Gutanamo Bay who was imprisoned -- without trial or justice -- at Guantamo beginning when he was 15-years-old and remains there today and whom his own government (he's Canadian) has refused to rally for. Charlie notes this section of the article:

Dr. Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, told IPS, "The release of these interrogation tapes confirms that the authorities are talking to someone who was a child who was subject to sleep deprivation and other tactics by the U.S. military. I sincerely hope that the tapes will resonate with the Canadian public in a way that will push the government to change their approach to this issue." Byers added that the Canadian government's refusal to intervene follows with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's willingness to prioritise a relationship with U.S. President George W. Bush over fundamental human rights and Canada's historic role in championing the rights of its own citizens in jurisdictional matters.

"The Harper government has shown a consistent pattern of placing its faith in the Bush administration over human rights issues such as this one and others including the refusal to push for clemency of Canadians on death row. Canada also extradited Robin Long, a U.S. war resister, who did not want to take part in possible war crimes. This is a very different role than Canada played during Vietnam," said Byers.

Byers is very much correct, Robin was extradited (he was not deported -- noted here Saturday and at Third on Sunday). And, still on Robin Long, this is from Hassan Arif's "An embarrassment to Canada" (Telegraph Journal):

The second story on Wolf Blitzer's broadcast was about an American war deserter, who was seeking refuge in this country but is now being returned to American authorities to face prosecution. This is the first time in Canadian history that such a thing has happened.
During the Vietnam War, many Americans dodging the draft or deserting the army to escape a bloody and unnecessary war found refuge in Canada. It should only make sense for this tradition to continue for another bloody and unnecessary war, this one in Iraq. However, the Conservative government doesn't think so. It seems that making George W. Bush happy is more important.

Democracy Now! is a never-ending crap-fest of lies. It's not journalism. Ava and I covered a number of things last week here. Pru was hoping we'd note Naomi Klein's idiotic statement that Barack's good on foreign policy. So, for Pru, here's Mike Gonzalez' "Obama's 'backyard' politics for Latin America are very much like George Bush's" (Great Britian's Socialist Worker) here's the reality that too many are scared to speak (and Klein should worry because -- barring an earlier death -- she's going to be an important voice for the next five decades, nonsense about Barack will haunt her, especially if he were to become president):

A few weeks ago US presidential hopeful Barack Obama travelled to Miami to speak to the Cuban American Foundation, a right wing organisation much loved by George Bush.

Obama promised to maintain the 50 year old embargo on Cuba. He also used the speech to let the world know that he was not going to go soft on Latin America.

He delighted his audience by calling Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez a "demagogue" and supporting the Merida Initative, a plan launched last year by Bush to fund Central America’s police and military in a "new war on drugs".

It is all too familiar. When former US president Bill Clinton signed the Plan Colombia agreement in 2000, it delivered billions of dollars of financial and military assistance to help Colombia’s “war on drugs”.

That became a "war on terror" after 9/11 and today has reverted to its original title. But in reality it is the same continuous policy. Then as now, Colombia is the launching pad for US strategy in Latin America.

A highly militarised state, it borders on Venezuela, Ecuador, Central America and Brazil and overlooks the Caribbean. Its president, Alvaro Uribe, has long worked hand in glove with the drug barons and has been complicit in the systematic murder and repression of political opponents, peasant leaders and trade unionists.

Obama, like others across the spectrum of US politics, has complained that the war on Iraq has not only consumed resources, but has also distracted the US from its own backyard.

Over the last ten years, new governments have come to power across Latin America with mass support and at least a language of change and reform.

Allies

Despite the constant demonising of Chavez, the reality is that his arguments for Latin American integration and unity have found allies across the political spectrum.

Late last year, a majority of Latin American states voted against the creation of a Latin American Free Trade Area which would have locked the region into the global arrangements proposed by Bush.

The US right began to shout that the US had "lost Latin America". Their strategy for getting it back would soon become clear.

Very broadly, Latin America is divided. On the one hand, the governments of Michelle Bachelet in Chile, Cristina Kirchner in Argentina and President Lula in Brazil work within the global system as it is, combining social reform with neoliberal economic policies.

On the other hand, Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador have argued for a more radical vision -- seeking alliances and trade relations with China and the Middle East and breaking the dependence on the US.

In Ecuador, Correa has already announced the closure of the US military base at Manta when its lease runs out.

US tactics are reasonably clear. Brazil, the most powerful member of the “reformist” bloc, is happy to work with the US. The presence of Brazilian troops in Haiti supporting a US-backed state against a mass protest movement is hugely symbolic.

Much more significant is Lula's close relationship with Brazilian commercial agricultural interests, particularly in the development of bioethanol as an alternative fuel. This has brought him into direct confrontation with the MST -- the landless workers’ movement that enthusiastically supported his presidential campaign six years ago.

Capital

Lula, the radical workers’ leader of yesterday, is today forging a powerful capitalist state that works closely with multinational capital to win dominance in the region.

On the other hand, Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador are under a permanent and increasing assault veiled as the "war on drugs". In Bolivia, the US government has been actively supporting the so-called Half Moon, the group of wealthy provinces claiming autonomy from central government.

This is not, of course, about regional government -- but about winning control over Bolivia's gas and oil, nationalised under Morales and the key to his government’s social programme. Today, and for the last two years, Morales has been effectively paralysed.

Three months ago, Colombian troops crossed the border with Ecuador and attacked a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), murdering their second in command in his tent.

It was a serious blow for an organisation that has been fighting successive governments since the 1950s, especially when its historic leader, Tirofijo (meaning "Sureshot"), died a few weeks later.

The current campaign against the Farc -- the claim that they are "narcoterrorists" for example -- goes beyond Colombia.

Uribe claims that the Farc has been financed by Venezuela. Clearly this is a justification for crossing frontiers and attacking the enemies of empire.

The new “war on drugs” in Central America is obviously part of a strategy that attempts to isolate Venezuela and its radical allies.

One of the issues behind all this, as ever, is oil. Venezuela’s actual and potential oil reserves give it real power in the world economy, especially when it develops joint strategies with Bolivia and Ecuador, also important oil-producing countries.

The US-led attempt to isolate Venezuela, attack Ecuador and dismember Bolivia are objectives which Barack Obama obviously shares. Oil talks!

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That's reality. It may be unpleasant, but reality can be unpleasant. Ask War Hawk Sammy Power what it's like to wake up next to a man with a chili bowl haircut despite the fact that his hairline is in 'retreat' by many, many inches. You can catch him making nice with Trashy Goodman today. You will not catch Goody correcting her lie that McKinney-Clemente are the first woman of color ticket. See Cedric's "Goodman can't stop pimping 'dat man" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! AND SHE PIMPS AGAIN!" joint-post.

Mia notes this from Team Nader:

The AT&T Convention in Denver

Posted by The Nader Team on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 03:40:00 PM

Well, you did it.

We needed to raise $60,000 by midnight yesterday.

And you blew by that early in the weekend and almost hit $70,000 by last night.

Thank you.

Your generous support helped fund stage two of our ballot access drive – fifteen states by July 20.

As promised, we have now collected enough signatures to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in 15 states. Click here to see our current ballot access map.

Last month, we laid out our ambitious ballot access timetable:

Ten states by July 6.

Fifteen states by July 20.

Thirty states by August 8.

Forty states by September 1.

Forty-five states by September 15.

Thanks to you, we have met the goals of stage one and stage two on time.

In Arkasas, our road trip team along with many volunteers collected more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.

In New Jersey, a dedicated group of volunteers helped us collect more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.

And in Massachusetts, we’ve collected more than 19,000 signatures--10,000 valid are required--and are now in the midst of turning in our petitions to hundreds of towns across the state to get them verified.

We are now entering our most difficult phase--the third phase, where we are facing deadlines in an additional 15 states by August 10.

If you have been thinking of dropping what you’re doing this summer and hitting the road for Nader/Gonzalez, the next three weeks are when we need you most.

Please contact mark@votenader.org today to find out what states you can help in now.

And click here to see our day-by-day live interactive map of how our road teams are doing.

Tomorrow we will be launching a contest to build our e-mail list.

There will be a whole lot of prizes -- including the grand prize of dinner with Ralph Nader.

Keep an eye on tomorrow’s e-mail for all the details.

And finally, when people ask you -- why is Ralph Nader running for President?

Here’s one way to answer:

Just show them the new Democratic Party Convention bag.

And Glenn Greenwald’s most recent article -- The AT&T Convention in Denver – here.

The two parties have been taken over by the corporations.

And the people need a candidacy to counter that of the two corporate parties.

That candidacy is Nader/Gonzalez.

Once again, thank you for your generous donations this week.

You helped power us over the finish line for stage two.

Onward to stage three.

The Nader Team

PS: Last week, we offered the DVD An Unreasonable Man--autographed by Ralph Nader--to anyone who donated $100 or more by yesterday midnight. Well, 242 of you came through. That offer is now closed. We will be shipping those DVDs out later this week.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

iraq
robin long
joshua key
stephanie porter
tamam ahmed jama
the socialist worker
mike gonzalez

Posted at 03:40 pm by thecommonills
Permalink

High Flying Adore Barack

During his brief visit to Iraq, Barack Obama has been greeted by busloads of Iraqi cameramen vying for shots of his arrivals and departures at meetings with government officials.

The above is from Said Rifai and Saif Rasheed's "Among Iraqis, Obama is not Topic No. 1" (Los Angeles Times). Barack's doing staged photo-ops and the bulk of the press is refusing to do anything but say ga-ga as they drool.

Which is one reason why the New York Times' refusal to run John McCain's submitted column is so embarrassing. Kate Phillips writes an idiotic dithering where she attempts to justify her employers. Earn that bonus, Kate! Nowhere in it does she grasp that the paper should be running any column by any presidential candidate (that's Barack, McCain, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader) or that the rejection of the column is a rejection of McCain's campaign style by the paper (which has never been as high-road as Kate wants people to believe -- apparently, we're not only supposed to forget Bob Herbert's foaming at the mouth throughout the Democratic primaries but also the work of William Safire among others). If you missed it -- and apparently the whole world did -- yesterday the New York Times got outed by a major publication (newspaper) on their giddy-love for Barack and their belief (in 2006) that he would be the next president (a belief they shared with others in the press, which is how they got outed). It wasn't a good day for the McCain story to break. Before some drive-by yet again falsey accuses me of supporting McCain (I'm not voting for either Barack or McCain), I'll say hunt for it yourself -- but here's a clue, the reporter just a won an award recently.

(And don't e-mail: "They endorsed Hillary in the primary!" They had to. She is the state senator and NYT is not done with its plans for physical expansion. Shortly after endorsing her, you may remember, they began trashing her in their editorials. It's called having it both ways and hoping Hillary has a short memory.)

In the meantime, you can ask yourself why these less-than-cermonial trips (so much less than what Barack sneered at when speaking of Hillary) are being greeted by supposedly intelligent people who sneered at the same stunts by the Bully Boy for the last seven years? (Answer: Because there are no standards and no grown ups, just a lot of little whining brats looking for a father figure.) Strike up Rice and Lloyd Weber!

Now I don't like to spoil a wonderful story
But the news from Rome isn't quite as good
She hasn't gone down like we thought she would
Italy's unconvinced by Argentine glory
They equate Peron with Mussolini
Can't think why

What people should be thinking is why a first-term US senator who has already racked up a lousy voting record (missed votes) is now off playing Gidget Goes To Europe and the MidEast. In this installment of the Gidget movie franchise, Barack's a "stew" and doing a quick series of stop-overs. And people treat it as if news. The backlash will probably be Americans asking, "Why the hell isn't he competing for my vote instead of going on a world tour?"

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

iraq

Said Rifai and Saif Rasheed
iraq
said rifai
saif rasheed
the los angeles times
kate phillips
the new york times

Posted at 03:39 pm by thecommonills
Permalink

Monday, July 21, 2008

Iraq snapshot

Monday, July 21, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Amy Goodman can't stop lying, Barack blusters like a Bush, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Oregon Public Radio (OPB) has been reporting on US war resisters. Two reports they filed on Friday include this by Rachael McDonald (link has text and audio):

Rachel McDonald: James Burmeister was injured by a roadside bomb. He went AWOL while recuperating in Germany. Besides being given six months in jail, Burmeister was denied pay, reduced in rank to private and given a bad conduct discharge that will deny him veterans' benefits. Burmeister's mother Helen says the sentence was unfair.

Helen Burmeister: I'm very disappointed in the way they feel they can treat veterans of war. I think the reason that my son went AWOL was for a good reason and I don't think he deserves the punishment that he got.

Rachel McDonald: Helen Burmeister says she's unsure whether to appeal the ruling because it could prolong James' stay in jail. James Burmeister says he left because of military bait and switch tactics. Soldiers would plant equipment to lure Iraqis whom American snipers would then kill. I'm Rachel McDonald in Eugene.

Dee Knight (Workers World) clearly grasped what was done to Burmeister and why, hence the title "Army court-martials resister for blowing whistle on 'bait-and-kill'." Knight speaks to Erich Burmeister (James' father) who reveals the military attempted an deal where a guilty plea by Burmeister would result in 1 "year in military prison and a dishonorable discharge" which means -- looking at the sentence Burmeister received last week -- it was very smart to turn down that proffer. Knight also reports, "His parents have waged an unceasing struggle for the Army to release him. They called on their representative, Peter DeFazio, to launch a congressional inquiry into James's case, but have so far heard nothing." No surprise there. US House Rep DeFazio doesn't do a damn thing. Suzanne Swift was the victim of rape, abuse and harassment. DeFazio grabbed a lot of feel-good headlines before the 2006 elections and then refused to do a damn thing. As Sara Rich, Swift's mother, explained of DeFazio to Jennifer Zahn Spieler (Women's eNews) in December 2006, "His office gave us a lot of red tape. And he basically laughed at our petition. I walked away feeling rather humiliated by him."

Retired army Col and US diplomat Ann Wright (reposted at Securing America Community) reports, "The prosecution brought up the public statements and interviews Burmeister gave on 'bait and kill.' . . . He was taken from the court directly to jail."

Turning to US war resister Robin Long, Tom Banse (OPB, link has text and audio) filed this report on Friday:

Tom Banse: A spokesman for the army's Desertion Information Center says the punishment for the Boise native could fall within a wide ranger. At the light end: reprimand and return to duty; at the severe end: court-martial and jail time -- according to the army's Ryan Bruce.

Ryan Bruce: It would be treated more seriously if a soldier did desert his or her unit during a time of war, especially if that unit was at war or going to war, as opposed to a soldier who just deserted from initial entry training, for instance.

Tom Banse: Private Long fled to Canada to avoid deployment to Iraq. His unit went to war and has since returned to Fort Carson, Colorado. Instructive perhaps is the sentence handed down this week to a soldier from Eugene. Private 1st Class James Burmeister fled to Canada while on leave from his unit in Iraq. He got six months in jail after returning voluntarily to face punishment. I'm Tom Banse in Olympia.

Citing Fort Carson spokespersons Gregory Dorman and Karen Linne, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported Robin was in El Paso County Jail as of Friday night and "is being held on a military confinement order, jail records show." (The Denver Channel credited the paper for breaking the news, AP 'forgot' to give credit.) Jim Fox (St. Petersburg Times) 'reported' on Long Sunday without mentioning his name ("A U.S. Army deserter who fled to Canada was ordered deported from British Columbia . . .") and without getting his facts right (he was not "returned to his unit in Fort Knox, Ky." -- his unit at Fort Carson, CO). KBS Radio notes, "According to Bob Ages who is the chairman of the Vancouver war resisters campaign Robin Long was in Buckley which is South East of Seattle as of Friday, and was moved once again to a location that is unknown to the group." Ann Wright observes, "Ironically, war resister Long was handed over to US officials at the Peace Arch on the US-Canadian border, just north of Seattle, Washington." As noted here Saturday and at Third on Sunday, Robin Long was not deported, he was extradited. Deportation would be expelling him from the country, turning him over to the US government is extradition. Judge Anne Mctavish will have a lot of questions to answer if anyone's paying attention. W.E. (Bill) Belliveau (Times and Transcript) points out that Robin being expelled was "the first time a resister to the U.S. war effort in Iraq has been removed from this country by Canadian authorities." Workers World quotes Gerry Condon explaining, "This is a gift from [Canadian Prime Minister] Stephen Harper to George Bush. And it is a gift to the headline writers, who will trumpet that Canada is no longer a safe haven for AWOL GIs. But it is an illusion because this is not the first of many deportations. It may be the first and the last. A minority government that ignores the will of its people and its Parliament will not be allowed to rule much longer." Vietnam war resister Michael Hendricks informs the Toronto Star that the Haper government's decision to ignore the motion passed by Parliament and the huge support for war resisters means Canadians have to ask themselves a few things: "The questions we have to ask before the next federal election are: What is the government doing to the Canada that we treasure? Do we really want to live in a Canada built in the image of the present government?" Harris MacLeed (Hill Times) quotes War Resister Support Campaign's Lee Zaslofsky stating, "We've been trying to get a meeting with [Immigration Minister] Diane Finley and we've basically been told she'll be busy until she dies." Meanwhile apparent bar fly Karin Wilson (Kelowna Capital News) explains "one of those bar conversations I'll probably remember for a lifetime" and declares that the expulsion of Robin should have everyone "hanging our heads in shame. Here was someone willing to stand up for what he believed in and leave his country rather than fight in a war he believed was illegal." Wilson goes on to repeat the myth that leaves deserters out of the group Canada received during Vietnam hinting that it's best not to confine your research to bar room coversations.

Harris MacLeed (Hill Times) tells the story of Canadian citizen Andrei Hurancyk who decided (2005) to become an American citizen and enlist in the Iraq War. He began serving in Iraq in March 2007, then self-checked out and returned to Canada. He states "I just realized we're not fighting terrorists there, it's just the occupation of the country and a lot things go unreported there, things that are not supposed to be happening in a war zone, things being covered up." July 4th, Judge Robert Barnes' decision in US war resister Joshua Key's case was released. Tamam Ahmed Jama (Al-Ahram Weekly) quotes Josh's attorney Jeffry House explaining, "It's a huge victory for numerous soldiers who are here and maybe others who are thinking of coming here" and quotes Joshua remembering his time in Iraq, "Children cry, women scream at you; we were tormenting these people. We never found anything -- no potential terrorists, no cache of weapons, nothing. After a while, you start to ask yourself: 'Why are we continuing to do this?' . . . You're not supposed to have sympathy, you're not supposed to have a conscience. You're supposed to be the 'perfect' American soldier -- a killing machine who does as he is told. But I realised that it was my concern and it was my business, that I did have my conscience." Key tells his story in The Deserter's Tale (written with Lawrence Hill).

We've focused largely on US war resisters in Canada of late due to so much news in that region. There are a number of things that have been held. One was about IVAW's chair and US war resister Camilo Mejia. Earlier this month, Federico Martinez (The Muskegon Chronicle) reported on the popularity of State Radio and "Camilo" at Michigan's music festival and noted, "State Radio's song is about Sgt. Camilo Mejia, who in 2003 spent six months in combat in Iraq, but then refused to return from a two-week furlough because he objected to a war that was 'illegal' and 'immoral.' Chad Stokes, lead guitarist and vocalist for State Radio, tried to explain the song's popularity during a pre-festival interview. 'It's just a human story,' said Stokes. 'It's about a human connection. It's symbolic, but it's still his individual story. I think that's why people connect to it." The video can be found on YouTube here. A portion of the lyrics directed to the White House:

Your words just a bloody fallacy

A house of cards you painted white

You tried to recreate Normandy

But you made up the reason to fight

And now red oil is spillin' down on the street

And your eyes so big for the belly is weak

Will you not refuse this currency

Or is blood money just money to you

Is blood money just money to you

News of an event that Camilo Mejia will be appearing at, "A faith-based nonprofit organization hopes to inspire attendees at the annual convention of a major religious denomination to make ending the war in Iraq their major focus for the rest of the 2008 political year. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), an international human rights organization based in Cambridge, Mass., will be hosting a series of training sessions and workshops at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association to be held from Wednesday, June 24 to Sunday, June 29, at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida." Mejia will be a speaker on June 25th as well as on June 28th. More information can be found here.

Turning to Iraq, Sabrina Tavernise and Jeff Zeleny (New York Times) report on puppet of the occupation Nouria al-Maliki attempting to play a 'do-over' as he "tried to step back Sunday from comments in an interview" with Der Spiegel published on Saturday where al-Maliki appeared to voice support for Barack Obama's limited non-promise that he might withdraw US combat troops (only combat troops -- leaving behind an estimated 50,000 other US troops) in 16 months were he to be elected president. Tavernise and Zeleny tell you that al-Maliki's surrogates insist he was misquoted; however "the interpreter for the interview works for Mr. Maliki's office, not the magazine." From Der Spiegel's interview:

SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?
Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.
SPIEGEL: Is this an endorsement for the US presidential election in November? Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?
Maliki: Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.

The New York Times listened to tape of the interview and had it translated:

Nouri al-Maliki: Obama's remarks that -- if he takes office -- in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq. . . . Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.

Der Spiegel notes the controversy over the story and that "SPIEGEL stands by its version of the conversation." Nobody bothers to note that al-Maliki is either more stupid than anyone thought or joining in the lie passed off as truth that Barack's talking withdrawal. Combat troops only. And his 'promise' isn't a promise -- he told CNN on June 5th he'd decide what to do after he became president (such an ego) which echoes what War Hawk Sammy Power told the BBC in March. Bambi spoke to CBS' Lara Logan (Face The Nation) yesterday -- transcript here, video here -- and declared, "There's starting to be a broad consensus that it's time for us to withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq, deploy them here in Afghanistan. And I think we have to seize that opportunity. Now's the time for us to do it." Barack wants to fight a war that should never have started and will be seven years shortly. He wants to "withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq" and send them to Bully Boy's other misbegotten war. He's not a dove, he's not a peacenik and he's not anti-war. Despite the false claims by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Tom Hayden, Laura Flanders, Jeremey Scahill and oh-so-many others, Barack again demonstrated that he has no respect for any other country's national soveriegnty: "What I've said is that if we had actionable intelligence against high-value al-Qaeda targets, and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets, that we should. My hope is that it doesn't come to that - that in fact, the Pakistan government would recognize that if we had Osama bin Laden in our sights that we should fire or we should capture him." Translation, if Pakistan doesn't act on US intelligence (whether it's valid or not or -- remember the start of the Afghanistan War -- whether or not it's shared with Pakistan), Barack's happy to bully his fat belly to the bar and go-it-alone. (For those who do not remember, the US asked the Taliban -- then in control of Afghanistan -- to turn over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban asked for proof. Then US Secretary of State Colin Powell stated they would get the proof after they turned over bin Laden. They refused to, the bombing began.) Check the interview and wonder if the real reason Barack Obama won't produce his birth certificate is because, under father, it reads "George W. Bush"? He sounds exaclty like the Bully Boy when Logan asks him to define what would be 'success' for him in Afghanistan: "Well, a 'mission accomplished' would be that we had stabilized Afghanistan, that the Afghan people are experiencing rising standards of living, that we have made sure that we are disabling al-Qaeda and the Taliban so that they can longer attack Afghanistan, they can no longer engage in attacks against targets of Pakistan, and they can't target the United States or its allies." Terrorism is a crime and best addressed through the courts. Everything else our once-again-lip-glossed Senator is speaking of (sounding just like the current White House occupant) is not why the military exits and has nothing to do with a legal war.

Yesterday Hala Jaber (Times of London link has text and video) reported that the 5 contractors kidnapped in May 29, 2007 was allegedy down to four according to a videotape released by those holding the five men which asserts that "Jason" killed himself -- the group holding the men have called themselves The Shi'ite Islamic Resistance in Iraq and they state: "This proscrastination and foot-dragging and lack of seriousness on the part of the British government has prolonged their psychological deterioration, pushing one of them, Jason, to commit suicide on 15/5/2008. He surprised our brethren, who were taking care of him, with his suicide." AFP reports UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown used the opportunity to grandstand by declaring, "This abhorrent film will only add to the anguish of families who have suffered a great deal over a year for their loved ones who have been kept in captivity."

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad house bombing (the home belonged to "the mother of Mithal al Alosi, a lawmaking in the Iraqi parliament"), a Baghdad car bombing that left five people wounded, a Diyala Province tractor bombing that claimed 5 lives and left eight more wounded, a Falluja residential bombing at the home "of the father of Falluja police deputy chief Lieutenant Colonel Esa Sayer" which left five wounded and another Falljua residential bombing at the home of "Asif Ghazi, an officerin Falljua police" with no reported wounded or dead but an addition two bombs were discovered "near the house and . . . detonated under control." Reuters notes a Mosul car bombing that killed the driver of the car and 2 bodyguards outside of the car.

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 "Awakening" Council member shot dead in Diyala Province, sheikh Abdul Ghaffar Abdullah shot dead in Diyala Province. Reuters notes 2 people shot dead as they traveled in the car in Mosul and 2 brothers and 1 cousin shot dead while driving in their car in Mosul.

Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 1 corpses discovered in Mosul.

Turning to the US race for president. Presumptive GOP nominee John McCain has been turned down by the New York Times. Reuters reports McCain wrote a column and the Times (which just published Barack's ditherings last week) turned it down and turned it down with this nonsense "that a new draft should articulate how McCain defines victory in Iraq." Excuse me, McCain delcared victory in Iraq last week. Considering the bulk of the garbage that stinks up the NYT op-ed pages, it's never been apparent that anyone was turned down for any reasons other than political (such as when Alice Walker's column against the impending Iraq War was rejected). McCain's the presumptive GOP nominee. That means you run his column. In a real democracy, that would also mean you run columns by Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. The paper appears to think it's not well written. If so, let him embarrass himself but, again, the paper's only real reason for turning down columns is political. McCain should post the rejected column at his website, I'm sure many sites would be happy to repost it in full. And the New York Times should be called out loudly for that nonsense. (Before any drive-by e-mails, I have said since this site started in 2004, I will not vote for John McCain. This is not about my vote, this is about an informed society needed for a real democracy.) Meanwhile, in his addition to this morning's entry, Jim steered everyone to the July 14th snapshot for this point: "Leave it to Aileen Alfandary to bring in 'uninformed' which, for the record, she did on the first news break of KPFA's The Morning Show where she declared of the Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente ticket, 'This year's Green ticket marks the first time a US has nominated women of color for both president and vice-president.' Uh, no, Alfandary, it's not. From Friday's snapshot: "What About Our Daughters? explains that, if McKinney is the nominee, this is the third time two women of color would be on the ticket with the first being Lenora Fulani and Maria Elizabeth Munoz in 1992 (New Alliance Party) and Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva (Workers World Party) in 1996." Dumb ass Amy Goodman (or maybe just liar) declared today that McKinney and Clemente (aka "Don't call me a Latina!") were "the first all-women-of-color presidential ticket in US history." During the interview, Goody couldn't stop lying: "What do you make of Senator Obama's trip to Iraq and Afghanistan to talking about a timetable for pullout, Nouri al-Maliki saying he shares his view, though he was castigated, it looks like, by the President, and Senator McCain saying Barack Obama has the most extreme record in the Senate, suggesting perhaps he's a socialist?" Amy Goodman needs to meet the truth one day. The recap of Dave Helling (Kansas City Star) interviewing McCain via Jake Tapper (ABC News):

At a town hall meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said that rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, had the "most extreme" record in the Senate.

Kansas City Star reporter Dave Helling later asked McCain about that comment.

"Extreme?" Helling asked. "You really think he's an extremist? I mean, he's clearly a liberal."

"That's his voting record," responded McCain. "All I said was his voting record, and that is more to the left than the announced Socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont."

Asked Helling: "Do you think he's a socialist, Barack Obama?"

"I don't know," McCain said with a shrug. "All I know is his voting record, and that's what people usually judge their elected representatives by.'"

No, LIAR Amy Goodman, McCain didn't suggest Barack was a socialist. He was asked it by Helling (who brought the issue up) and McCain said he didn't know. "Most extreme voting record"? McCain's referring to the National Journal labeling "Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007" at the end of January based on their examination of his record.

February 8th on CounterSpin, Janine Jackson demolished the claim. However, that was the same February 8th that Goodman allowed Robert Kuttner to cite that same study as reason to support Barack: ""I think it was National Journal recently came out with a rating that showed that Obama has the most left-of-center record." So when Kuttner cites it, Goodman raises no objection. McCain cites it and she's ripping him apart with lies. Get your act together. What a disgrace. [Jackson's demolishing of the National Journal and Kuttner's idiocy on Democracy Now! were covered Feb. 10th at Third.] Repeating, McCain referred to the National Journal 'finding' that Goody accepted on her show from Kuttner. He was then asked if he thought Barack was a Socialist. He didn't raise that issue, he was asked. When asked, he stated he didn't know. This is exactly the garbage Ava and I were talking about Sunday: gossip -- uninformed gossip -- passed off as news intended to make you enraged. In headlines today, Goodman pimped the same gossip: "In campaign news, Senator John McCain has accused Barack Obama of having the most extreme record in the Senate and suggested Obama might be a socialist. McCain was asked about his views in an interview with the Kansas City Star." No, McCain didn't ACCUSE Barack of having the most exterme record, he was referring to the National Journal study -- one Goody allowed to be cited Feb. 8th on her show without objection or question. And McCain NEVER suggested Barack was a Socialist. Get your damn facts right, Pravda on the Hudson.

Ralph Nader is running for president and Team Nader notes:

Well, you did it.

We needed to raise $60,000 by midnight yesterday.

And you blew by that early in the weekend and almost hit $70,000 by last night.

Thank you.

Your generous support helped fund stage two of our ballot access drive – fifteen states by July 20.

As promised, we have now collected enough signatures to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in 15 states. Click here to see our current ballot access map.

Last month, we laid out our ambitious ballot access timetable:

Ten states by July 6.

Fifteen states by July 20.

Thirty states by August 8.

Forty states by September 1.

Forty-five states by September 15.

Thanks to you, we have met the goals of stage one and stage two on time.

In Arkasas, our road trip team along with many volunteers collected more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.

In New Jersey, a dedicated group of volunteers helped us collect more than 2,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.

And in Massachusetts, we've collected more than 19,000 signatures--10,000 valid are required--and are now in the midst of turning in our petitions to hundreds of towns across the state to get them verified.

We are now entering our most difficult phase--the third phase, where we are facing deadlines in an additional 15 states by August 10.

If you have been thinking of dropping what you're doing this summer and hitting the road for Nader/Gonzalez, the next three weeks are when we need you most.

Please contact mark@votenader.org today to find out what states you can help in now.

And click here to see our day-by-day live interactive map of how our road teams are doing.

Tomorrow we will be launching a contest to build our e-mail list.

There will be a whole lot of prizes -- including the grand prize of dinner with Ralph Nader.

Keep an eye on tomorrow's e-mail for all the details.

And finally, when people ask you -- why is Ralph Nader running for President?

Here's one way to answer:

Just show them the new Democratic Party Convention bag.

And Glenn Greenwald's most recent article -- The AT&T Convention in Denver -- here.

The two parties have been taken over by the corporations.

And the people need a candidacy to counter that of the two corporate parties.

That candidacy is Nader/Gonzalez.

Once again, thank you for your generous donations this week.

You helped power us over the finish line for stage two.

Onward to stage three.

The Nader Team

iraq
james burmeister

tom bansee
dee knight

robin long
opb
workers world
w.e. (bill)belliveau

jim fox

andrei hurancyk
harris macleed

joshua key

the new york times
sabrina tavernise

jeff zeleny

jake tapper

Posted at 03:29 pm by thecommonills
Permalink

War resistance

Harris MacLeed's "Canadian Iraq War deserter who fought under U.S. Forces, says war is wrong" (Hill Times) tells the story of Canadian citizen Andrei Hurancyk who decided (2005) to become an American citizen and enlist in the Iraq War. He began serving in Iraq in March 2007, then self-checked out and returned to Canada. He states "I just realized we're not fighting terrorists there, it's just the occupation of the country and a lot things go unreported there, things that are not supposed to be happening in a war zone, things being covered up." Talk turns to the deportation of US war resister Robin Long last week and Hurancyk notes how Parliament's resolution was ignored. From the article:

Lee Zaslofsky, of the War Resisters Support Campaign, an organization that lobbies for and gives support to Iraq war deserters, said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) government today is a lot different from the Trudeau-era government that allowed him to stay in Canada when he came here as a Vietnam draft dodger in 1970. He said the Conservative government should heed the non-binding opposition motion, passed in the House on June 3, calling for a freeze on deportations of U.S. Army deserters, and for them to be allowed to apply for permanent resident status.
"The Canadians government has basically taken a hands-off attitude. Their tactic is to try to keep this as a refugee question, now Parliament's motion says nothing about refugees but the government chooses to ignore that because they want to say that it's the refugee process," said Mr. Zaslofsky.
"If they decide they're not [refugees], well then of course we just automatically throw them out of the country." Mr. Zaslofsky, who said there are about 200 Iraq war deserters living in Canada, said that while he has met with members of all three opposition parties, the government has ignored his organization. "We've been trying to get a meeting with [Immigration Minister] Diane Finley and we've basically been told she'll be busy until she dies."

Two things, in the paragraph right after Lee speaks of a Canadian MP who is Conservative but shows support of some form and doesn't name him. He's apparently unaware that the man has already been named (by a US war resister in Canada) in other Canadian press (that was at the end of last week). Second, Lee, which is it? You were avoiding the draft or you deserted. There's a huge difference and by not being clear, you've brought the topic by the myth of what the Canada did for 'draft deserters' during Vietnam and stayed silent on what they did for deserters. Maybe it's the reporter who can't grasp it but this myth keeps going around and considering that Lee has recently identified as a deserter (which press in real time during Vietnam and press in this country during the current illegal war has repeated), it makes a BIG difference.

Meanwhile a Vietnam era war resister writes a letter to the Toronto Star:

As an American war resister who has lived a happy and productive life for the last 40 years in Canada, I have been encouraged by the positive support that the new wave of resisters to the Iraq war found among Canadians.
In fact, our Parliament has demonstrated that support in voting to offer refuge to these young men and women. Polls show that about two-thirds of the Canadian population, with a majority in every province, support them. But the Harper government rejects this simple humanitarian gesture. Why? The questions we have to ask before the next federal election are: What is this government doing to the Canada that we treasure? Do we really want to live in a Canada built in the image of the present government?
Michael Hendricks, Montreal, Que.

Michael, from New Jersey originally, went to Canada as a war resister who was avoiding the draft. We last noted Michael June 25th. On Robin Long, KBS Radio notes, "U.S. Iraq war resister Robin Long received word on July 14th, in Vancouver that his appeal to have his deportation order stayed was denied and he was deported the next day. That has left some people wondering...what happened next? According to Bob Ages who is the chairman of the Vancouver war resisters campaign Robin Long was in Buckley which is South East of Seattle as of Friday, and was moved once again to a location that is unknown to the group."

Yesterday, Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Take Two," Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Take Three" and Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The approved cover" went up addressing the faux outrage over The New Yorker cover last week. For those who missed it, the First Amendement Specialists at NOW are calling for the destruction of the illustration (online and outside the US). Apparently having destroyed their own reputation for peace ("Peace is a feminist issue" was vanished from the website in 2007), they're now attempting to telegraph to the world that they also oppose free speech. Next on the agenda: Burkas for all!

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

Jim adding for C.I. Amy Goodman lies, Rosa Clemente plays the idiot and upcoming Nader events:

First, Elaine, C.I. was so pressed for time that it was "pull an Elaine" this morning (with hair).

Second, Rosa Clemente's trying real hard to walk it back on Democracy Now! as I type -- and pretend like she gives a damn about Latinos. Keep lying Rosa. That shaky voice of her's recalls Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond ("Norman, the loons!") and it's hard to tell whether it's that voice or if she honestly said "Iran" when she meant Iraq. Funniest moment is when Clemente's asked to list the most important issues to young people around America. She starts with? "Prison-industrial complex." She's so touch in with the youth of America! She's too old to be the youth and should honestly not be asked to speak for them. She's closing in on middle-age at 36 -- which is a good thing since the age requirement is 35. Rosa Clemente, the prison-industrial complex is a real issue and one that a number of Americans care about. It is not the most pressing issue of any age demographic. "Go Big Red!"

The whole thing plays out like a damage control response to Ava and C.I.'s TV commentary yesterday.

"The first all women of color ticket" in "presidential history." Goody tells some lie like that this morning. From C.I.'s July 14th snapshot:

Leave it to Aileen Alfandary to bring in "uninformed" which, for the record, she did on the first news break of KPFA's The Morning Show where she declared of the Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente ticket, "This year's Green ticket marks the first time a US has nominated women of color for both president and vice-president." Uh, no, Alfandary, it's not. From Friday's snapshot: "What About Our Daughters? explains that, if McKinney is the nominee, this is the third time two women of color would be on the ticket with the first being Lenora Fulani and Maria Elizabeth Munoz in 1992 (New Alliance Party) and Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva (Workers World Party) in 1996."

Cynthia McKinney's worth listening to in the interview, just FYI. Ava and C.I. may have to tackle this because Goody's spinning like crazy.

From Team Nader:

Nader to Campaign in Mississippi, Sat., July 26

Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM

News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org (national); Susan Stonecypher, 601-842-6769 (local).

NADER TO CAMPAIGN IN MISSISSIPPI, SAT., JULY 26

Who: Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader
What: Nader/Gonzalez News Conference and Book Signing/Speech
When: Sat., July 26, 5:30 p.m. News Conference and 6 p.m. Book Signing/ Speech
Where: Lemuria Bookstore, 202 Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 North, Jackson, MS 39206

Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will campaign in Mississippi, Sat. July 26, hosting a news conference and book signing/speech at the Lemuria Bookstore, 202 Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 North, Jackson. The News Conference starts at 5:30 p.m. and the speech and book signing is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Mr. Nader will address issues major party candidates have taken "off the table" that the Nader/Gonzalez campaign has put on the table, including:

a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;

a single-payer, Canadian-style, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all;

a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;

a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources;

a carbon tax to deter global warming;

an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,

more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."

For more "on the table" topics see: VoteNader.org

Nader to Campaign in Georgia Friday July 25

Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM

News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org (national); Xaiver Kim 404-446-7093 (local) .

NADER TO CAMPAIGN IN GEORGIA FRIDAY JULY 25

Who: Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader
What: Nader/Gonzalez News Conference and Campaign Rally
When: Friday July 25, 5 p.m. News Conference and 5:30 p.m. Campaign Rally
Where: University of Georgia, Master's Hall, 1127 South Lumpkin St., Athens, Ga. 30602

Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will make a campaign stop in Athens, Ga. Friday July 25 with a news conference scheduled for 5 p.m. and a campaign rally at 5:30 p.m., both to be held at the University of Georgia, Master's Hall, 1127 South Lumpkin St., Athens, Ga. 30602. Rally general admission will be a suggested contribution of $10/$5 student.

Mr. Nader will address issues major party candidates have taken "off the table" that the Nader/Gonzalez campaign has put on the table, including:

a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;

a single-payer, Canadian-style, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all;

a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;

a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources;

a carbon tax to deter global warming;

an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,

more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."

For more "on the table" topics see: VoteNader.org

- End -

iraq
robin long

andrei hurancyk

harris macleed

Posted at 06:46 am by thecommonills
Permalink

Having it both ways

In a shift toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism, Iraq's largest Sunni bloc ended a nearly yearlong boycott Saturday and rejoined the cabinet, retaking six ministry spots.
Until now, some Iraqis questioned how well Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's Shiite-led government represented the nation's Sunnis, who were part of the ruling class under Saddam Hussein. Only two of the 38 ministries were given to Sunnis even though they make up 20 percent of Iraq's population. Many hope that new posts will symbolize that the government is committed to much-needed reconciliation.
Reconciliation could lead the Iraqi government to find the economic and political means to maintain the recent security gains. While Iraqis nationwide celebrate the improvements, they believe their government is too divided to compromise across sectarian lines.
The largest Sunni bloc, the Iraqi National Accord, said they rejoined the government because the schism between the party and Maliki had diminished and that many of their demands had been met.

The above is from Nancy A. Youssef's "Sunnis rejoin Iraqi government, raising reconciliation hopes" (McClatchy Newspapers) and, golly, let the good times roll. She filed that on Sturady and, of course, the day before she offered "Sadr backers seethe over Iraqi army but avoid violence" which noted:

The Friday sermon is the key to keeping the peace. After prayers, hundreds of young men began demonstrating Friday in front of nearby government forces. Some men began lunging at the Iraqi troops; most held them back.
"Go on! Go on! Keep walking. Head home to your families," a woman told the men, who sheepishly followed her orders.
"There is anger inside our people. There is a volcano that wants to erupt. But we are obedient to Sayed Muqtada," said Nadhil al Sudani, a Sadr City resident and the chief of security for the women's section of Friday prayers, referring to Sadr with an honorific.
"We respect the army if they respect themselves. Many don't. They push the doors and enter homes without due respect to our privacy. Through these confrontations, they try to trigger some violent reaction from the Sadrist trend."
Sadr's order not to fight fellow Iraqis, no matter what, has prevailed so far over hotheaded youths seeking revenge. But residents said they were always fighting the urge to lash out at what they describe as abusive soldiers.
"It is only Muqtada's orders that are stopping us. The Iraqi army knows that they would become hostages within hours," one worshipper told a McClatchy reporter after Friday's sermon.
At stake is not just the future of Sadr City but also security nationwide.

Meanwhile in the New York Times this morning, Sabrina Tavernise and Jeff Zeleny report on puppet of the occupation Nouria al-Maliki attempting to play a 'do-over' as he "tried to step back Sunday from comments in an interview" with Der Spiegel published on Saturday where al-Maliki appeared to voice support for Barack Obama's limited non-promise that he might withdraw US combat troops (only combat troops -- leaving behind an estimated 50,000 other US troops) in 16 months were he to be elected president. Tavernise and Zeleny tell you that al-Maliki's surrogates insist he was misquoted; however "the interpreter for the interview works for Mr. Maliki's office, not the magazine."

Der Spiegel's interview is here and from the interview:

SPIEGEL: Would you hazard a prediction as to when most of the US troops will finally leave Iraq?
Maliki: As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.
SPIEGEL: Is this an endorsement for the US presidential election in November? Does Obama, who has no military background, ultimately have a better understanding of Iraq than war hero John McCain?
Maliki: Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic. Artificially prolonging the tenure of US troops in Iraq would cause problems. Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they choose as their president is the Americans' business. But it's the business of Iraqis to say what they want. And that's where the people and the government are in general agreement: The tenure of the coalition troops in Iraq should be limited.

"Talks of" is the right phrase to use (Barack revealed on CNN June 5th that it wasn't a promise -- something Samantha Power had revealed to the BBC back in March). It is also not withdrawal.

The New York Times listened to tape of the interview and had it translated:

Nouri al-Maliki: Obama's remarks that -- if he takes office -- in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq. . . . Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.

Here, Der Spiegel notes the controversy over the story and that "SPIEGEL stands by its version of the conversation."

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

Jim adding for C.I.

Nader to Campaign in Mississippi, Sat., July 26

Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM

a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;

a single-payer, Canadian-style, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all;

a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;

a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources;

a carbon tax to deter global warming;

an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,

more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."

For more "on the table" topics see: VoteNader.org

From Team Nader:

Nader to Campaign in Mississippi, Sat., July 26

Sunday, July 20, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM

a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;

a single-payer, Canadian-style, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all;

a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;

a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources;

a carbon tax to deter global warming;

an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,

more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."

For more "on the table" topics see: VoteNader.org

Posted at 06:45 am by thecommonills
Permalink

Sunday, July 20, 2008

And the war drags on . . .

It was one of those bar conversations I'll probably remember for a lifetime.
We were sitting around talking about work, when my always articulate friend Robert waxed poetic about how Canada has taken an abrupt turn that we may never be able to recover from. That turn came when, this week, we deported war resister Robin Long.
We should all be hanging our heads in shame. Here was someone willing to stand up for what he believed in and leave his country rather than fight in a war he believed was illegal. In other words--he is a conscientious objector. He has a right to say "no," and if he needs to leave his country so he can avoid taking part in a war that Canadians too refused to take part in, then we should support him in that.
During the Vietnam War thousands of American soldiers fled the country, many of them landing in B.C. One of the more famous ones--Corky Evans--ended up in politics. This year he’s retiring, and the B.C. legislature won’t be the same without his colourful comments.
And there are many more who have given to this country in ways we may never even realize. Don Gayton, a local ecologist and author, is another member of that select crowd. Over the years he's offered up a perspective on our land that we are only now in our “greening” period truly coming to appreciate.

The above is from Karin Wilson's "Canada: She ain’t what she used to be" (Kelowna Capital News) and Vic noted and asked that we give "the half-assed helper a history lesson." He's referring to the next paragraph after the excerpt when helper Karin decides knowledge and facts don't really matter. That's when she repeats the LIE that the only ones going to Canada during Vietnam were "draft dodgers." Everybody sing, "Karin, Karin, Karin, does it hurt to be so stupid, Karin, Karin, Karin, does it hurt to be so dumb, Karin, Karin, Karin . . ."

We noted several articles two Thursdays ago, but we'll again note Robert Trumbull's "Evaders In Canada Call Action A Sham: Exclusion of Deserters Is a Source of Bitterness to Exiles Who Say Pardon Will Affect Only 2,000" (New York Times, January 22, 1977):

Jack Colhoun, co-editor of a magazine for the self-exiled Americans in Canada who is a deserter from the Army, branded Mr. Carter's plan "a real sham, sinsiter, almost Nixonesque."
[. . .]
There is no official figure, since the Canadian Government omits reference to military status in its immigration procedures, but Mr. Colhoun's group estimates that the number is from 20,000 to 25,000 of whom 6,000 to 7,500 are believed to hae become Canadian citizens.
After counting out the deserters and those who have taken Canadian citizenship, only about 2,000 of the exiles in Canada, or one of every 10 or 17, will benefit by Mr. Carter's pardon, Mr. Colhoun declared.

Oh my! Yes, Canada took in draft evaders and deserters during Vietnam. Note the "and." And guess what? The deserters? Some of them were never drafted, they enlisted. Real time studies in the seventies showed that deserters tended to come from poorer backgrounds and they tended to include a higher percentage of non-Whites. The reason for that? Draft evaders tended to be college students, from middle class families, and they already knew about alternatives. Deserters were more likely to be the working class and they were the soldiers who saw what was really happening on the ground in Vietnam. The war itself turned them against that illegal war. And Canada welcomed them all. There was no issue of, "Okay, you are a deserter so we need to first make sure that you were drafted because if you enlisted, you're on your own!" To the contrary, those who enlisted and turned against the war were seen as more effective to tell the story by the press at that time. They'd believed in the war believed Johnson or Nixon's spin and lies, enlisted, gone over to Vietnam and seen reality. Their awakening (and this is true of the press and of the peace movement) was seen as something big. (By the press because they love stories where a person starts off one way and completely transforms. By the peace movement because they thought such stories really drove home the illegal and brutal nature of that war.)

But someone wanted to help and didn't think to do her homework. "Karin, Karin, Karin, do you have to be so stupid, Karin, Karin, Karin, do you have to be so dumb?" I'm reminded of the drama student back in college, who was suddenly 'awakened' to the horror of Vietnam and went around screaming "Bananas!" That's all she could handle. She quickly became the joke of the campus and did far more damage than anyone would have thought. A peace activist (who was the head of the campus' College Democrats) decided to explain the truth about Vietnam to her (let's be honest, he was hot for her) so he started explaining US imperialism to her one day in the liberal arts building. Everything was over her head except "bananas." That she latched onto and went around repeating, over and over. With no other context. She helped no one. A lot like Karin Bananas. Hopefully Karin won't also decide that the way to really get the message across is to show up at the student union topless and with smashed bananas covering her chest and face while screaming, "End the war on bananas!" (f she should, don't worry. You may grimace while it's happening, but months later you will be able to laugh at it -- along with everyone else. For years and years to come.)

Jim Fox' "In Canada, high gas prices help economy" includes this (St. Petersburg Times):

A U.S. Army deserter who fled to Canada three years ago was ordered deported from British Columbia by the Federal Court of Canada. He was returned to his unit in Fort Knox, Ky., where the company commander will decide his punishment. He is the first Iraq war resister to be deported. Fifty other deserters are seeking refugee status to remain in Canada.

He is also Robin Long and it's strange that a brief would forget to mention that.

They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)

Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war hit the 4,118 mark. And tonight? It's down. I've waited and waited for it to come back up, finished this entry, worked on other things and it's still down. Thursday's number was 4122 and Friday one more death was reported for a total of 4123. Looking at MNF announcements, I'm not seeing any announcements so, unless DoD got stuck announcing deaths (they're only supposed to identify the dead), the number should be 4123. Just Foreign Policy's counter estimates the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war to be 1,245,538 up from 1,236,604.

In some of the reported violence by McClatchy (starting with Sunday) . . .

Bombings?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing ("adhesive IED stuck to a civilian car") claimed 1 life (driver), a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed 1 life (three more wounded), a second Baghdad roadside bombing resulted in five police officers being wounded, another Baghdad car bombing claimed 1 life and left "seven people including one policeman and one baby girl" wounded, a grenade wounded four people in Baghdad, a roadside bombing just outside of Baghdad left three injured ("including a little girl), a Diyala roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 police officers, a Nineveh Province car bombing claimed the life of 1 driver, and 2 "foreign private security contractors" and a Kirkuk roadside bombing wounded one police officer. Dropping back to Saturday, Hussein Kadhim reported 2 Baghdad roadside bombings with four people wounded and Salahuddin Province roadside bombing on Friday that wounded four people.

Shootings?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 people were shot dead in a Mosul drive-by, 1 person was shot dead outside his home in Mosul, 1 police officer was shot dead in Mosul and "An American Special Force raided the residence of Khalaf Issa Turk in al-Asri neighbourhood, Baiji at dawn, Sunday and opened fire upon Husam Hamed Hmoud al-Qaissi, son of the Governor of Salahuddin Province while he was asleep in the guest room and also opened fire upon Auday Khalaf Issa al-Qaissi, his cousin killing them both, and detained two others without giving any explanation, said a security source in Salahuddin Province. The American military said its forces shot two armed men during a raid because they felt they had 'hostile intent'. The statement added that the forces also injured and captured an al-Qaida financer during the operation. " On Saturday Hussein Kadhim reported 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul.

Corpses?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad and 1 female corpse was discovered in Basra. Saturday Hussein Kadhim reported 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad, 2 corpses (mother and daughter) discovered in Sulaimanlyah Province, and, in Diyala Province, "two heads for two shephers who were kidnapped last Wednesday" were discovered.

New content at Third:

Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the week II
A note to our readers
Editorial: Faux outrage drowns out actual news
TV: Gossip Girls and Barack's Bitches
Extradition passed off as 'deportation'
Punishing the wounded whistle-blower
No, you're not safe
Mailbag
Robin Long and James Burmeister coverage
Nader-Gonzalez goes for 15 states
Highlights

Pru notes that most people have already seen "Barack Obama is already moving to the right" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker) but that with "all the apologists for Obama in the States, it might be wise to run it." Here it is:

US presidential candidate Barack Obama arrives in London to meet Gordon Brown next week. It’s part of his tour of key US allies, including France, Germany, Israel and Jordan.
This comes amid growing concern among his supporters that he is moving closer to the neoconservative agenda.
Obama has made great play of the fact he opposed the Iraq war. He had promised to pull US troops out of Iraq. But after meeting military commanders Obama now says he would retain a “residual” US presence there and “redeploy” any spare troops to Afghanistan.
After the Republicans attacked his pledge to negotiate with Iran he said that the country represents a “grave threat” and called for “aggressive diplomacy”.
Veteran black Democrat Jessie Jackson has also criticised Obama for blaming black fathers for not taking “personal responsibility” for their children. Jackson pointed to the high levels of unemployment and poverty among black people as the main problem that Obama is ignoring.
Across the globe there are hopes that if Obama is elected he might halt the endless war agenda of George Bush’s years. Now these hopes seem set to be dashed even before the presidential election gets seriously underway.
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iraq
and the war drags on
donovan
iraq
jim fox
robert trumbull
mcclatchy newspapers
the socialist worker
the third estate sunday review

Posted at 11:44 pm by thecommonills
Permalink

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The approved cover"

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The approved cover" continues the critique of the non-story of The New Yorker cover. In this one Barack's dressed as Superman and Michelle as the Statue of Liberty. Barack says, "Michelle's bitter and saying she's been forced to wear blue-face. But I like it. Remember, I must be drawn White!"

the world today just nuts
barack obama
michelle obama
the new yorker
comic
the common ills

Posted at 06:44 am by thecommonills
Permalink

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Take Three"

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Take Three" continues the critique of the non-story of The New Yorker cover. In this one, Barack and Michelle are in beach wear and Barack says, "Now I like us Frankie and Anette but Michelle refuses to approve any cartoon featuring my man-boobs." That's Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello from their beach party movies.

the world today just nuts
barack obama
michelle obama
the new yorker
comic
the common ills

Posted at 06:43 am by thecommonills
Permalink

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Take Two"

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Take Two." If you were in a coma last week, you missed the non-story of The New Yorker cover. Isaiah's offering three comics today. In this one, Michelle Obama holds her head and screams, "Oh, the voices!" While Barack, dressed as Jesus, explains, "As anyone who has caught my speeches attacking African fathers knows, I don't like Black people. So I and my cult demans that Michelle and I be drawn White. I suggested Jesus Christ for myself but I don't think Mary Todd Lincoln's going to work for Michelle."

the world today just nuts
barack obama
michelle obama
the new yorker
comic
the common ills

Posted at 06:41 am by thecommonills
Permalink

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