Tuesday, August 14, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, a US helicopter crashes, mass fatalities from bombings in northern Iraq, and more.

Starting with war resistance, Mary Wiltenburg (Christian Science Monitor) continues her coverage of Agustin Aguayo today addressing his court-martial, how Agustin's wife Helga cried (Helga: "It was the ugly crying, with snot and everything. I wanted them to see how much they were hurting us."), how Augustin's squad leader, Sgt. David Garcia, testifited ("I told him what he needed to do was stick by his gun, if that was how he felt.") and how, following the conviction, Capt. Jennifer Neuhauser talked about what really was going on (sending a message to others serving). (Click here for part one of Wiltenburg's coverage.) Aguayo's case for CO status is currently awaiting his decision as to whether or not he's going to continue to fight in civilian courts. In his court filed statement (August 10, 2006), Aguayo wrote, "As time progresses (it has been more than two and a half years since I became a CO) my beliefs have only become more firm and intense. I believe that participating in this (or any) deployment would be fundamentally wrong, and therefore I cannot and will not participate. I believe that to do so, I would be taking part in organized killing and condoning war missions and operations, even though I object, on the basis of my religious training and belief, to participating in any war. I have to take stand for my principles, values, and morals and I must let my conscience by my guide. After all, I and no one else has to bear the consequences of my decisions or burden of neglecting my conscience." He also addresses the fact that although he was supposed to be a non-combatant, per The Department of the Army, his "unit will not respect that arrangement."

Aguayo was punished by the military to send a message. As noted on October 20, 2006, "That is their biggest fear. That this will spread. Unfortunately for the military, it is already spreading. That's why it's important to get the word out. Each person who takes a brave stand against the war deserves support. They'll only get that if people are aware of their stand. And with increased awareness it's not just an issue of raising awareness on one person, it's an issue of raising awareness on an entire movement."

Kyle Snyder is another war resister and he self-checked out (April 2005) and moved to Canada. On October 31st, Snyder returned to the US and turned himself in at Fort Knox. Snyder turned himself in and quickly checked back out when the US military refused to honor the agreement they had come to and instead attempted to send him to Fort Leonard. Snyder then began speaking out in the United States, he did some volunteer construction work in New Orleans around Thanksgiving of last year and continued to speaking out (one of the places he spoke out at was Fort Benning). Despite the lie repeated by the media, the US military does attempt to track those who self-checkout. We certainly saw it last month in Denver, CO when a parent's home was searched. We saw with it Snyder who, in the midst of his West Coast speaking tour, suddenly had to worry about the police showing up at stops because the military investigation unit of Kentucky kept calling the California police and instructing them. Snyder returned to Canada after his speaking tour was over and was set to marry Maleah Frisen when Canadian police showed up at his door, drug him off in handcuffs (and in his boxers). Snyder was told the orders for the arrest came from the US military and that charge came, not from Snyder, but from Canada's Border Service Agency.

It was a last ditch attempt to screw with Snyder because, married to Frisen, he's out of the US military's reach. (He no longer needs to be granted asylum by the Canadian government.) Rochelle Baker (The Abbotsford News) reported last week that at last an investigation is taking place. The Nelson City Police -- and specifically Chief Dan Maluta, have repeatedly changed their public versions of events. At one point, Maulta was claiming the Border Service Agency ordered the arrest (the Border Service Agency consistently maintained that they did not, that they did not contact the Nelson City Police Dept., and that, after Snyder was arrested, the Nelson City Police Dept. contacted them). How much of an investigation it will be is unclear since Maluta has strong ties to the Abbotsford Police who will be conducting the investigation.

What happened to Snyder is not a one-time incident. Joshua Key is also a war resister who went to Canada (Key tells his story in The Deserter's Tale). Following the February orders to arrest Snyder, 2 members of the US military (still unidentified) went into Canada, paired up with a Canadian police officer and began inquiring as to where Key was. They showed up at peace activist Winnie Ng's door. The three men identified themselves as Canadian police and began questioning her -- very upsetting. Ng came forward with what happened and that she believed two of the men were US military. "Never happened!" cried the police. They hadn't gone to Ng's door. They hadn't been accompanied by the US military. Those were lies and slowly the police had to admit that, yes, a Canadian police officer did travel with two US military service members to assist their efforts to find Joshua Key. That is a violation of Canadian sovereignty. It is a big deal in Canada.

Back in May, Gregory Levey (Salon) became the first at a US news outlet
to explore this story. It was an explosive story but if you thought it got traction after Levey covered it, think again. No one in big or small media has picked up on the story (several other outlets ran Levey's groundbreaking story). Only surprising if you haven't noticed how very little attention is given war resistance period.



There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. IVAW and others will be joining Veterans For Peace's conference in St. Louis, Missouri August 15th to 19th.


Yesterday Sean McCormack, US State Dept. flack, declared the US government was working with al-Maliki and "not only with Prime Minister Maliki, but also with important political party leaders, some of whom are in the government or have representatives in the government, some of whom are not in the government." (Click here for text, click here for a/v.) "Some of whom are not in the government"? Needless to say, there was no follow up asking exactly what that meant. Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, has a cabinet that is falling down. Megan Greenwell (Washington Post) reported this morning that, apparently refreshed from his trips last week to Turkey and Iran, al-Maliki now says he wants to work with others and that he has big hopes that he can rebuild the cabinet. This after he he trashed those that walked out and entertained the kind of conspiracy theories that usually has the MSM using their index finger to make a circular motion while saying, "Koo, koo, koo, koo." Possibly due to the trashing, not all who were boycotting in the cabinet were forgiving. Reuters reports only three who had been boycotting showed up for a cabinet session today.

In other bad news, though northern Iraq keeps promoting itself as "The Other Iraq" (honestly, they should stop the check on the p.r. agency that dusted off the "other white meat" slogan and sold it to them) reality slaps back. Just last week, the push was on again for "The Other Iraq." C.J. Chivers (New York Times) reports that: "A European civil aviation authority said yesterday that it was reviewing security conditions at airports in northern Iraq after two pilots reported that their passenger airliner had been attacked by ground fire last week while taking off from Sulaimaniya." And Louise Nordstrom (AP) reports that Sweden has now suspended all their "commercial flights to and from Iraq". Chivers also notes the Brookings Institute's figure of "at least 34 helicopters" -- US -- shot down during the illegal war thus far.

Helicopter crashes? Megan Greenwell (Washington Post) is reporting that a US helicopter crashed today in Anbar resulting in the deaths of 5 US soldiers. (This is web, not print. By Wednesday am, the link may or may not go to the story.) CBS and AP note the "emergency response crews had sealed off the site" and that it "is about 45 miles west of Baghdad in restive Anbar province". And for those fretting, it's okay to use "crash" -- even the US military is using it in their press release noting the five deaths ("Helicopter crashes in Al Anbar Province").


Turning to other violence today . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing targeting Thira'a Dijla bridge claimed 10 lives and left six wounded. Reuters reports "three civilian cars" were sent into the Tigris. Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) notes that that the "bomber detonated a truckload of explosives on a key bridge north of the Iraqi capital today, plunging the concrete span and at least three vans packed with passengers into the murky waters of a wide canal linking the Tigris and Euphrates rivers." Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) also notes a Baghdad bombing that left two people wounded, a Baghdad mortar attack left three people wounded, 3 Kirkuk bombings left eight police officers and five civilians wounded, and, dropping back to yesterday, 2 people lost their lives (a third was wounded) in a Basra rocket attack on a residence. CBS and AP note an attack in "northwester Iraq" where Yazidi members were targeted by a bombing that claimed 9 lives (fourteen wounded). But Reueters has an update: "At least 175 people were killed when three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers attacked residential compounds home to the ancienty minority Yazidi sect".

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two people were wounded while the Iraqi army and unknown assailants had a shoot out "in Shorja market neighborhood downtown Baghdad" and a civilian was shot dead in the capital (four more wounded).

Kidnappings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Abdul Jabbar Al Wagga'a and 2 of his body guards "and 4 general directors" were kidnapped by unknown men who "were wearing a military uniform" when they invaded the marketing building of the Baghdad Oil Ministry (five people were wounded during the kidnapping).


Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 15 corpses were discovered in Baghdad.


In addition to the five dead from the helicopter crash, today the US military announced: "Three Task Force Lightning Soldiers died as a result of injuriessustained from an explosion near their vehicle while conducting operations in Ninewah Province, Monday." And they announced: "One Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and three others wounded during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 14." ICCC's total for the month thus far is 41 with 3699 US service members being the total killed in the illegal war since it started. The 3700 mark looms closer. It will be passed, as will other marks, before this illegal war is ended.
[CBS and AP report the 3700 mark has been passed: "The deaths raised to at least 3,700 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count." Before the 5 deaths from the helicopter crash, Reuters reported: "United States 3,694." Adding five to that, you have 3,699.]

Sticking with reality, Leila Fadel (Baghdad Observer, McClatchy Newspapers) addresses the charges and counter-charges being exchanged between Sunni and Shia leaders in Iraq and weighs in with this: "People are fighting to be the bigger victim. Shiite politicians don't openly condemn the situation, instead they ask 'who picked the fight?' and talk about the higher number of Shiites killed in Iraq. Shiite and Sunni groups compete for the anonymous bodies at the morgue. Each side wants to raise the body count of their population by burying them in their graveyards. A question was raised to me during interviews this week. There is an assumption that the Shiite-led government will try to solve the crisis. But no one official asked 'What if the intent is to continue the purge?' No American officials ever asks this question publicly. No one ever asks whether the true intentions of the current government may be to solidify power by ridding themselves of a restive minority. Are American officials banking on a government that was born under U.S. supervision but may not be the best thing for the future of Iraq?"

The chosen ones, by the US government, were the Shi'ites. They now toy with backing the Sunnis. Whether they will or not remains to be seen but it does, a government run counter-insurgency is supposed to, keep everyone off balance with the hopes of fostering a dependence upon the occupying power (US).

It was really 'cute' at the start of the month when the Iraqi Air Force Commander, Lt. General Kamal Araznji declared, "As everybody knows, the Iraqi air force is basically one of the oldest air force in the region and it was established since 1931. But now, we've started a new beginning since 2004 on a new basis with support and from the abilities and experience by the international air force, particularly by the western countries." He continues but search in that statement, bragging about Iraqi Air Force's long history for any indication that 1931 doesn't matter at all. That's because the US disbanded the military. That's because when it was built back up certain groups weren't allowed back in. This is part of the who got put in control story that Fadel's asking about. It's equally true that when someone tosses out "1931" and starts rambling about the history of the Iraqi Air Force, they're just gas bagging. The military was disbanded. There is no history to speak of. Of course, when asked if the Iraqi military was "working with people who are essentially war criminals?", Fox responded, "I wouldn't necessarily jump or characterize, you know, that we're embracing any particular segment or sect or group of people" but that is what happened and what has happened. So to return to the question Fadel notes American officials don't want to ask in public, "What if the intent" of those currently in charge "is to continue the purge?"

iraq
agustin aguayo

joshua key
kyle snyder
gregory levey
mary wiltenburg
the christian science monitor
the new york times
megan greenwell
the washington post
the los angeles times

Schweinfurt, Germany -- The US Army sergeants waited on the couch, studying the floor. Family dogs skirted the sofa, growling. From time to time, one of the soldiers extended a conciliatory hand to them.
On the floor, sixth-grader Rebecca Aguayo played a video game; her twin rollerbladed outside. Just one voice fed the tension in the living room: Their mother, Helga, sat in an armchair, bawling. "It was the ugly crying, with the snot and everything," Mrs. Aguayo recalls, "I wanted them to see how much they were hurting us."
Her husband, Army Spc. Agustín Aguayo, hurried around their military base apartment in central Germany that afternoon, under orders to assemble his battle gear. Two-and-a-half years earlier, in February 2004, the medic had applied to leave the Army as a conscientious objector (CO), someone whose beliefs forbid him to participate in war. While his claim was being evaluated, Aguayo served a year in Iraq with an unloaded weapon; when the claim was rejected, he sued for another review.
That legal process was under way on Sept. 1, 2006, the afternoon Aguayo's unit assembled to begin its second Iraq tour. Unwilling to deploy, Aguayo took an officer's advice and stayed home so as not to "make people very upset on a very stressful day." That evening, his commander, Capt. R.J. Torres, called Helga, saying Aguayo would be punished unless he appeared.
Aguayo did not show up before his comrades left that night. The next morning he turned himself in to the military police, prepared to serve prison time for "missing movement." Instead, Captain Torres ordered him taken to Iraq by force. The two sergeants drove him home to get his gear.
"I needed to show that I was ready to do anything except hurt people" rather than return to war, Aguayo says. So, as the men sat in his living room, he stuffed jeans and a T-shirt into a plastic shopping bag, opened a first-floor bedroom window, took out the screen, and jumped.
Aguayo, a military court would later decide, deserted. It's something nearly 37,000 active duty US troops did between October 2001 and October 2006. But the medic's situation was more complex than that. In his mind -- and in the minds of superiors who attested that he was "absolutely sincere" -- he was a conscientious objector, a hardworking soldier who'd grown opposed to all wars and should have been honorably discharged.

The above is from part two of Mary Wiltenburg's look at Agustin Aguayo and is entitled "US Army struggles with soldier who won't pull the trigger" (Christian Science Monitor). Again, you should be asking why the mainstream can and has covered this issue while the print edition of The Nation has elected to sit it out for all of 2006 and 2007 thus far. In news of other suck ups, John F. Burns (New York Times) sold his integrity enough to get face time (or at least trail behind time) with David Petraeus and contributes a feature story so bad even People would turn it down. Read at your own risk. No doubt Burnsie has many interesting anecdotes he will be peddling when he next takes to the right-wing radio circuit.

In Iraq today, there's been another bombing of a bridge. Reuters reports 10 people lost their lives and "three civilian cars" were sent into the Tigris. Martha notes Megan Greenwell's "Iraqi Summit Set to Begin: Factions in Divided Government Agree on Outline for Talks" (Washington Post) which addresses puppet al-Maliki's hopes that he can rebuild, he can make it better (reality is Reuters reports only three who had been boycotting showed up for a cabinet session today). From Greenwell's article:

Meanwhile, police in the northern city of Kirkuk said that a tribal sheik, Muhsin al-Jabouri, was gunned down as revenge for his work with the U.S. military. Two other religious leaders were killed over the weekend; both had taken part in an expanding American strategy of paying Sunnis to fight insurgents in their neighborhoods.


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

agustin aguayo
mary wiltenburg
the christian science monitor
the new york times
megan greenwell
the washington post

Today the US military announced: "Three Task Force Lightning Soldiers died as a result of injuriessustained from an explosion near their vehicle while conducting operations in Ninewah Province, Monday." ICCC's total for the month thus far is 35 with 3693 US service members being the total killed in the illegal war since it started.

In other news of 'progress' (the liars in the administration and many of their MSM flunkies claim a 'turned corner'), Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) addresses the realities of the issue of electricity in Iraq:

When the power fails and there is no gas for the generator, Mohammed Azzawi has a plan to make it through the stifling summer nights. He collects the fans from old computer hard drives and powers them with backup batteries.
Faced with their fifth summer without a regular supply of electricity, Baghdad residents have come up with some novel ways to cool off.
Decades of corruption, neglect and war have left Iraq's electricity grid on the verge of collapse. Iraq is generating enough power to meet only half the nationwide demand, and most Baghdad residents are down to an hour or two of electricity a day. The shortfalls are the worst since U.S.-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, Electricity Ministry spokesman Aziz Shimari said.

When you consider how many worthless writers the Times of New York has, it may be a distant memory but once upon a time they did (briefly) address the issue of potable water. (For any confused, our transition was papers with "Times" in them, Zavis was not insulted in the previous sentence.) C.J. Chivers at least appears to be functioning today. From "Pilots Say Missile Was Fired at Airliner in Northern Iraq:"

A European civil aviation authority said yesterday that it was reviewing security conditions at airports in northern Iraq after two pilots reported that their passenger airliner had been attacked by ground fire last week while taking off from Sulaimaniya.

This would be the heavily spun "Other Iraq." The 'safe' region, the area promoting tourism. Chivers also cites the centrist Brookings Institute to note that during the illegal war "at least 34 helicopters have been shot down".

Now remember little Stevie yesterday deciding that a real reporter was one that repeated military lingo and avoided serious issues? Ross Colvin (Reuters) notes some realities, not many mind you, but a few, such as this about Fatima:


After receiving adoption inquiries, the hospital's chief doctor made enquiries at the U.S. embassy, staff said. They replied that "Iraqi law does not currently permit full adoptions as they are currently understood in the United States".

So there has been interest in adopting Fatima but the decision was made to keep her as a US military base pet. If that's not clear, note that she has five siblings and, apparently not qualifiying for 'cute' and 'small,' they're at an orphanage. Colvin writes, "Her presence is a welcome distraction for staff." Well, as long as the US gets to have a pet. This is disgraceful, we noted so yesterday. It shows a complete breakdown in the chain of command and it endangers Fatima. It's not a 'pretty' story, no matter how hard they try to spin it.

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

alexandra zavis
the los angeles times
c.j. chivers
the new york times

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Karl Rove Leaves the Administration." Karl Rove is wobbling off while a man cries, "But it's his brain!" Condi replies, "Nonsense. Our Bully Boy will be just fine. It'll be a cakewalk. Another cakewalk." Bully Boy, seated on the floor in his diaper, says, "Condi, I made pooh-pooh in my pants."

the world today just nuts
bully boy
karl rove leaves the administration
karl rove
condi rice
comic
the common ills

*Sean Penn, for replying, when asked if he wants the United States to win the war in Iraq, "I think we’re past that point in human evolution where there’s such a thing as winning wars."



The above is from Paul Krassner's "Ass----- of the Week" (CounterPunch). On the title, we can say "ass" but the other word would cause problems for some members accessing at work computers. I'll note that right off because there's an e-mail about Rebecca's comment at The Third Estate Sunday Review that uses "*" instead of letters and says I've taken "your puritan ways" over to The Third Estate Sunday Review. I type "-" (dashes). So I clearly did not type up that piece. In terms of the language they use their, it can be whatever is wanted. But I have to be given time to do a mass e-mail to members who would get in trouble for using work computers to access sites with certain language so that they have a heads up. I'm not a puritan and my own language is far worse than even Rebecca's. The Common Ills is a work safe environment in terms of language. It's been that way since it started. There are a limited number of words we can use when it comes to foul language. Which is probably a good thing or most entries (and titles) here would repeatedly include the f-word (although, truth be told the word I use most often is the s-word).



Both the f-word and the s-word have popped up in the TV pieces Ava and I write for The Third Estate Sunday Review. When they have gone up in full, it's been because I was already going to have to do a mass e-mailing about another feature that would be going up so we figured, what the hell? While I certainly have input at that site, I have no input at Rebecca's site. The visitor thinks Rebecca's "cleaned up her act" for me. Were I to ever call Rebecca about her language, she would laugh in my face. She is now using "*" and so is Mike. I would assume that's because people have e-mailed them saying they enjoy the sites but can't read if the language is in there. Not because they are puritans but because they'll get written up at work. When that issue was first raised here, in the early days of this site, I understood completely because I had a friend who'd already been written up for going to a site with the f-word. The site? Washington Post. Their story on Dick Cheney's use of the word. I couldn't believe it (that it would happen, a write up for a news site) but it does happen. I have no idea what word I used here (that was so long ago -- it wasn't the f-word or the s-word) but it did raise concerns/worries for some members and as a result we worked on a policy based on various members work place guidelines.



It's a small number of words that are allowed (or, to someone with my cursing vocabulary, it is a small number) and we operate under it due to the fact that I don't want anyone to get written up for the 'crime' of reading. I didn't even realize Rebecca was doing that, I read it without noticing it, I did notice on Mike's because he was using "crap" all the time lately (he uses the s-word as much as I do in conversations -- and previously used it at his site freely). I may owe Rebecca an apology because I don't know how the long policy has been in place but right after she had her baby, I did a guest post at her site and may have used some foul language (I may not have, that was a last minute thing). (And I didn't promote it here or link to it or say, "Check out my post!")



But no one's trying to be a prude at any site. As to why something goes up there, if it's not The Common Ills, I'm not responsible. If it's not The Third Estate Sunday Review, I'm not responsible even in part.



Lyle noted Sean Penn's quote last night and e-mailed this morning to note where he'd seen it, Krassner is 'awarding' 'honors' to various people and at the end of the piece, note some people who really do deserve credit for last week, among them Penn. The quote is from the Esquire cover story on sale this month. Here's the magazine's website but they don't have the Penn article up currently (they've still got last month's issue up with the John Edwards cover).



Martha notes Megan Greenwell's "Maliki Aims To Reconcile With Cabinet" (Washington Post):



Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday expressed optimism about the chances of reconciliation within Iraq's fractured government, even as a political rival accused him of protecting militias with ties to Iran.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that five soldiers were killed Saturday when a sniper shot one, then lured the others to a house rigged to explode. It was the single deadliest attack against American forces this month.
[. . .]
Maliki announced Sunday that a meeting of Iraq's leaders would begin this week, possibly on Monday, in an attempt to resolve the growing political crisis. His primary goal will be to reconcile with nearly half of his cabinet members, who have stopped attending meetings in three separate protests against his leadership.



For those who are still waking up, al-Maliki most recently referred to those opponents as obstructionists. It's a sure sign of how shaky the ground he stands on is that now he wants to make public overtures after his repeated public snit-fits and talk of the conspiracies (within the Iraqi Parliament) to destroy him. Reuters reports that Adnan al-Dulaimi ("a senior figure in the main Sunni Arab political bloc in Baghdad") has declared (in an open statement to al-Maliki), "Your brothers in Baghdad are suffering in genocide carried out by militias and the death squads with Iranian planning, instructions and weapons. If you think what is happening to us will end at Baghdad then you are wrong. By God, this war that started in Baghdad will not stop here. It will extend to every Arab spot where the Arabic tongue is spoken. It is a war of history."

He is not the only Sunni sounding alarms. Suleiman al-Khalidi (Reuters) reports Sheikh Harith al-Dari ("the top Sunni cleric") stated, "If the Americans remain with this policy and rely on the same men who proved their failure again and again then they will leave Iraq in failure. . . . The U.S. administration should rectify its position in Iraq and stop depending on puppets . . . who have proven their failure."

Tim Reid (Times of London) reports the Bully Boy thinks he can continue the escalation "well into next year" and cites a "a string of positive reports" on Iraq that Reid maintains have "left Democrats increasinly powerless to end the war." String of reports? Congress receives no reports until next month (they're currently on vacation). Reid's referring to the waves of Operation Happy Talk. So if you're one of the ones who engaged in that ('from the left') and repeated lies at the start of this month instead of challenging them, Congratulation! Consider the blood on your hands as well. If you used your position (big or small) to repeat talking points that quickly imploded, you've earned the blood. Now maybe you conceeded the lies because you had a bigger point to get to. Well when you don't call out the lies, they spread and spread. So next time, hold your big point until after you address reality.

Or wallow in the blood of the dead because it's yours now, it's all yours.

It was never a surprise that they'd push the rollout to August. Bully Boy needs this month while Congress vacations to sell the illegal war. He can't do it in the midst of reports coming in (and the independent report is thought to be more damning than what Patreaus will deliver, although Joe Biden has stated he will be very clear in his questioning of Patreaus).

Also planned is stationing US troops in southern Iraq. Sean Rayment and Philip Sherwell (Telegraph of London) report: "America is preparing to pour thousands of extra troops into southern Iraq amid fears that Gordon Brown is committed to withdrawing British troops from the region early next year." And they note:

The Sunday Telegraph has also learnt that neither the British nor the Americans have a "Plan B" for sending troops back into Iraq if the country descends into chaos when the coalition finally withdraws. One senior source said: "Whether or not we go back in if it all goes horribly wrong is the strategic question to which neither the US nor the British government has an answer.

That "senior source" is apparently US and they go continue to quote him. Of interest, his first concern is the oil ("the world's second-largest oil reserve") before getting to the talking point of chaos! Chaos!

Chaos came knocking at Iraq's door in March of 2003 when the illegal war started.

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


paul krassner
megan greenwell
the washington post
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
mikey likes it
the third estate sunday review

Abbotsford Police are heading up an investigation into a series of complaints against the Nelson City Police Department and its chief, but some complainants are skeptical about a process that sees police investigating police.
Nelson Police Chief Dan Maluta asked Abbotsford Police to do an external investigation into complaints filed around the arrest of military deserter Kyle Snyder.
Snyder -- who fled to Canada after deserting his Army unit on mid-tour while on leave from Iraq in 2005 -- was arrested without a warrant by Nelson Police in February.
He was released when Immigration Canada informed police they had no legal basis for arresting him.
It's still unclear as to why and under what authority Snyder was arrested. Maluta has refused to reveal the source of the allegations against Snyder which led to his arrest.
Snyder has alleged the US Army initiated the arrest.

The above, noted by Vic, is from Rochelle Baker's "APD investigates Nelson deserter issue" (The Abbotsford News). Kyle Snyder has alleged that? I believe that charge came from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. If we're going to talk allegations, we might talk about all the allegations Dan Maluta has made which have been exposed as lies such as when he claimed the order came from the Canada Border Service Agency and that agency made very clear that not only did they not give any such order, Maluta called them (after Snyder had been arrested).

They had no right to arrest him. The orders came from somewhere. Snyder turned himself in October of 2006 and the US military went back on their agreement. Snyder checked himself back out. He then went around the US publicly speaking (and doing some volunteer construction work in New Orleans. He spoke out at Fort Benning and you know that really ticked the military off. As he continued speaking out, the military began phoning in tips to local police. Snyder went back to Canada when he was done speaking in the US. The police show up to arrest him when he's about to marry Maleah Friesen, a Canadian citizen. You can be sure the 'tipsters' were especially troubled by that since, once married to Friesen, Snyder didn't need the (non-existant) refugee status from the Canadian government.

They were probably high fiving over that. Thrilled that the US military has issued orders to the Canadian police and that the Canadian police had obeyed despite the fact that there was no jurisdicition and despite the fact that it is not a crime in Canada to leave the US military.

The US military would follow their Snyder 'sweep' by sending two members into Canada to pose as Canadian police and look for war resister Joshua Key. They would be accompanied on their rounds by a Canadian police officer. They would LIE to Winnie Ng that they were all Canadian police and they would ask of Key's where abouts. The Canadian police officer in question stayed silent when Ng was called a liar. He stayed silent for a reason, he had no reason to accompany two US military members on a search for Joshua Key. In fact, the real question, if anyone wants to dig too deep, is whether or not he was on duty or not. If he was on duty, then he had orders from high up. Winnie Ng told the truth and eventually the Canadian police was forced to admit that one of their officers did take two US military members to her house. They want to insist that there was no effort to pass the two off as Canadian police.

Winnie Ng has consistently maintained otherwise. While the Canadian police has altered their story at least three times, Ng has remained consistent. Ng is telling the truth.

This is a big issue in Canada (and should be in the US as well) because it goes to issues of borders and to issues of who is in charge in Canada.

Over at the New York Times this morning, they're in happy mode because they've got an
illegal war to sell (the whole point of the domestic story that ran on the front page of yesterday's paper). Stephen Farrell offers Operation Happy Talk, if not reporting, in "Troops Shelter an Unlikely Survivor in Baghdad:"

Nine months old, underweight, malnourished, fatherless and half Sunni, half Shiite, she already had enough deadly handicaps growing up in Saydia, a battlefield suburb that has become one of the worst sectarian killing zones in Baghdad.
On July 25, a death squad shot her mother and uncle -- each three times in the head -- in their dilapidated half-finished squat. E.J.K.'s, in American military shorthand: extrajudicial killings.
Fatima’s 7-year-old brother fled and flagged down a joint patrol of the Iraqi National Police and American soldiers. The Iraqis found the bodies and collected up Fatima’s siblings from neighboring houses. But the 7-year-old kept asking, "What about my sister?"

First off, there's no point in the "E.J.K." being in the article except to show that Farrell can hang with the US military. Second of all the death squads didn't exist until after the illegal war. The Salvadoran option as the US administration termed it. Third of all, who armed them? Credit to the US, cries Farrell, forgetting that's a bit like congratulating an arsonist who rescues one victim of a burning building.

And here's the thing. Fatima, the child, is not a dog. She's a human being. She is not a pet for the US military. Farrell's so kind that he repeats the claim by the US military that in the past, when 'insurgents' (Major Andy Yerkes uses that term) were turned over to the hospitals, they were killed. How he, Yerkes, knows that isn't in the story or why, if he knows people are being killed, no one was brought up on charges, isn't in the story. What is in the story is Yerkes' claim that 'insurgents' turned over to Iraqi hospitals have been killed.

Are we supposed to believe 9-month-old Fatima would be seen as 'insurgent' by Iraqi hospital workers? It's as though the Times decided today to print the racist lyrics to Disney's Pocahontes (FYI, Disney has increased the insult and offense by allowing "Savages" to be made available as a "ring tone").

There are aid agenices within Iraq and outside of Iraq. There are also probably members of Fatima's family who could step forward were an illegal war not going on. A child is not a pet and a home is not a military base in the midst of a war zone. It shows a tremendous breakdown in leadership that the US military has been allowed to 'keep' a child as a pet.

This isn't a 'happy' story and only a foolish scribe would attempt to sell it as such. The US will be leaving. Do those serving on the base intend to take Fatima with them and raise her under some extended, multi-partied, joint custody agreement?

Fatima is a child, not a pet. She's not there to look cute or to play with. The chain of command has completely broken down and, it needs to be noted, in many outfits they wouldn't even be allowed to have a dog. That the superiors are fine with denying a child a life goes to either their own stupidity or their desire to get another wave of Operation Happy Talk going.

If the US leaves in two years or five, Fatima "pet of the US military base" is not going to be welcomed in Iraq. The longer they are allowed to 'keep' her, the more damage they do to her life. Relief agencies exist and should have been contacted some time ago. It's not a cute story, it is a story of the willful pride and arrogance of the US military. And the stupidity of leadership. You could add in, it's also the tale of really bad reporting since none of these issues were raised by Farrell though he did have time to toss around some military lingo. Macho head butt for Farrell, all the way home . . . from his extended childhood. Are there no American adults in the Green Zone?


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

kyle snyder
the new york times
stephen farrell

WÜRZBURG, GERMANY - No one looked comfortable at the sentencing hearing. Not family and friends who packed the US military courtroom's straight-backed benches. Not the rookie Army prosecutor in stiff dress greens who flushed with every "Your Honor." Not Judge R. Peter Masterton, whose usually animated face was now grave.
And not the convicted deserter -- Army medic Agustín Aguayo -- on the stand in a US military court in central Germany last March, pleading for understanding.
"I'm sorry for the trouble my conscience has caused my unit," Private 1st Class Aguayo said, his voice thick with emotion. "I tried to obey the rules, but in the end [the problem] was at the very core of my being."
Colonel Masterton, a veteran military judge, stared down at his bench. The defense wanted him to free this man of conscience. The prosecution asked that he put the coward away for two years to show other soldiers that "they are not fools for fulfilling their obligation."
Aguayo craned to face the judge. "When I hear my sergeants talking about slashing people's throats," he said, crying openly, "if I'm not a conscientious objector, what am I when I'm feeling all this pain when people talk about violence?"
Next door in the press room, where reporters crowded to watch the proceedings on bleached, closed-circuit TVs, a soldier guarding the door wiped tears from his face.

The above is from Mary Wiltenburg's "When a US soldier in Iraq won't soldier" (Christian Science Monitor). Despite the 30 day guideline, Agustin Aguayo (Aguayo was gone from September 2nd through September 26th), and despite turning himself in, the US military made the decision to prosecute Aguayo as a deserter. Aguayo repeatedly attempted to receive CO status (even taking his case to the civilian courts and he will be making a decision shortly as to whether or not to appeal to the Supreme Court). His family includes his twin daughters and his wife Helga who deserves special note for repeatedly speaking out when the military would have preferred that the whole thing vanish from memory. "The investigating officer said that it was in the best interest of the military to discharge him and that he believed that Agustin was sincere. However, higher ups in the chain of command -- that never met with my husband -- decided that he wasn't sincere and just didn't really give a reason, just said that he didn't qualify as a conscientious objector," Helga Aguayo speaking to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) Arpil 20, 2007. Aidan Delgado, who was designated a CO, tells his story in The Sutras Of Abu Ghraib: Notes From A Conscientious Objector In Iraq and recounts the pressures placed on him to withdraw his CO application. Camilo Mejia, who was denied CO status, tells his story in
Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia. Robert Zabala was granted CO status, but by the federal courts last spring, not by the US military. You can read about the early part of his story in Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq -- and that link also provides you with audio samples of the interviews Laufer did with Zabala and other war resisters. Another war resister, Joshua Key, has told his story in Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale. In light of false claims that the peace movement is a "White" movement, it should probably be noted that only Key qualifies as Anglo. And that, as Mejia, Delgado and Pablo Paredes have often noted, there is significant opposition among Latinos and Latinas to the illegal war. (We'll also note that Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son was killed in Iraq, has been a very integral part of the movement to end the illegal war.) Carl Webb and Terri Johnson are among the war resisters who are African-American -- Terri Johnson, a brave young woman, who got no where the attention her actions deserved. Kimberly Rivera, Ehren Watada, Carla Gomez, Abdullah Webster . . . If you're only seeing one skin color shade, you aren't looking very closely. And if you're repeating the myth that movement to end the illegal war is all one skin color shade, you're not only repeating a falsehood, you're also disrespecting a huge number of people. Maybe you're suffering MSM damage but if, at this late date, you're expecting the New York Times to cover the peace movement you're either self-delusional or one of the optimistic people to walk the face of the planet. We've listed book titles, with links. Which of the above books has been reviewed in the New York Times? Or to shift to 'big' little media, which got reviewed in The Nation? (Answer: Zero.)

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 was 3669. Tonight? They've announced 3689. The dying's not stopping. The dying's not stopping. Join Iraq Veterans Against the War, Tina Richards and Military Families Speak Out in speaking the truth: Fuding the war is killing the troops. It's not saving them, it's not saving Iraqis. We may or may not highlight an article about this month's war games. The military has 'found' that leaving Iraq will cause chaos.

Oh, cause chaos? As opposed to what's on the ground now? War games are not predictors of the future. They are games. You may win everytime you play Monopoly but that's not going to help you pay the bills in the real world. The reality is that what happens when the US troops leave is not known. (We won't get Rummy on that term.) What is known is that the illegal war and occupation has caused and bred the violence, the chaos and the hostility.

For some of today's reported violence, we turn to Mohammed Al Dulaimy(McClatchy Newspapers) who reports 17 corpses discovered in Baghdad, two Baghdad roadside bombings that left seven wounded,Hussein Aziz shot dead outside Al Samaka Al Ulia on Saturday, Hiwa Hweiz, Mahmoud Sabir and Muhsin Ali (all police officers) shot dead outside Arif Koie with Lelia Ali killing herself after she learned of her husband's death, an Iraqi soldier shot dead in Hawija, 2 corpses discovered outside Koza Raqa.

That's it for the violence. We usually go into greater depth. But a number of members are complaining (rightly) about a piece. Abhilasha complains very rarely so even if Marcia hadn't noted the same bit of nonsense (and that "that screwball has chapped my radical lesbian ass for the last time), Joan, Susan, Amanda, Kayla and Bonnie hadn't also complained, we'd be addressing it. It is a big issue in the e-mails (and those are only a few of the people who've complained) and it does go to how the useless prolong the illegal war by ignoring it but love to use their platforms to play Professional Suckup.

Over at The Nation, Katha Pollitt scribbles in the useless way that's become her hallmark for this century. Pollitt, who in 2006, took the time to call out CODEPINK when she could have been writing about Abeer (a story that feminists especially should have been writing about), enlists in the "Cindy Don't Run" campaign. In fairness to Pollitt, it should be noted that she finally wrote about Abeer late this year, after Alexander Cockburn's column had finally gotten the name "Abeer" into print at The Nation. Pollitt did a shout out in one sentence while drooling, prolonged adolesecent she now writes as, over Romeo & Juliet possibilities. Let's be real clear on that damn story, a couple gets married from two tribes, the wife is stoned to death. Save your drama about the great love story because the man didn't sacrifice s__. This wasn't Romeo & Juliet and many believe this wasn't a marriage of choice. But the MSM put out the spin and damned if all the saps didn't buy into it even though the tribe in question was repeatedly under assault and women from it were being kidnapped and "married" into forced marriages. Pollitt wrote like a fool singing the score to Seven Brides For Seven Brothers who stares at you blankly when you bring up the rape of the Sabine women.

Pollitt declares that she has "a lot of respect for Sheehan" but, strangely, that never translated into "coverage." She's bored the world with her babbles and her annual "column" that's nothing but a "donate here, donate there" list (neither Sheehan nor any Iraq related issue made Pollott's last list) and now she shows up to do what she does best, write like an idiot. "Should impeachment really be a litmus test?" ponders Pollitt. Should knowledge be a requirement for writing, Pollitt?

Cindy Sheehan made clear in May her disgust with the Democrats in Congress who refused to use their power to end the illegal war. Were you watching reruns of Sex in the City again and thinking that was your life before your marriage? Pollitt's not for impeachment due to the "numbers" which again goes to the decay of a once sharp mind (overly praised, but she did have talent once). As has been repeatedly noted by people who lived through it, there weren't thought to be votes against Nixon. The hearings changed the way a large number of the public and a large number of the Senate looked at the issue. So for Pollitt to declare that there are not the numbers there for impeachment (removal of office comes from the Senate and the reserved body is not going to signal before they conduct a trial) would be the height of stupidity were we discussing another columnist.

But this is Katha Pollitt. The White woman who knows better than the NAACP what the NAACP should focus on. It takes a lot of nerve (and a lot of ignorance) to tell the NAACP what the real problems for African-Americans are but Pollitt infamously did that. New Yorker Pollitt says it is "futile" for Sheehan to run in the San Francisco district (the eight Congressional distric). It's always cute when an outsider attempts to interject themselves into a local race, isn't it?

New Yorker Pollitt then brings up Ned Lamont's Senate run and notes that wasn't frivolous because "first he won the primary." Cindy Sheehan's not lost any primary, Pollitt. It was the fall of 2006 when Lamont won the primary, not 2005. (A fact New Yorker Pollitt should be very familiar with because she bragged of carpet bagging into Conn. to vote for Lamont.) What the 2008 race looks like in 2007 has no bearing on 2008.

Pollitt then brings up Stanley Aronowitz because she always hated Ellen Willis (though she pretended different at obit time, but it all evens out because Willis hated, HATED Pollitt).

Then Our Lady of Useless Gab wants to offer up some advice to Sheehan, she "already has a cruical role in our politics: an an activist. More than any other single person, she changed the discourse about the war." Well, she certainly changed it more than Pollitt who writes at an alleged political weekly but appears to require a globe and presentation to stumble across Iraq judging by her useless columns since the illegal war began. (And if Sheehan was, to Pollitt, such a "crucial" part of the movement, might Pollitt have needed to write about her?)

Polllitt babbles on endlessly -- as only a racist can and, yes, telling the NAACP what they need to focus on, dismissing their very real criticism is racism -- and stumbles across this, "Maybe Sheehan got tired of being a symbol, a catalyst. I didn't really understand the somewhat murky blog post she wrote in May, announcing her resignation from the antiwar movement, but her frustration and impatience was clear enough." You sort of picture Pollitt scarfing down Sara Lee in front of her computer and remarking, "What's this?" as she comes across Sheehan's two columns (one on the Democratic Party, one on the movement). After a few seconds, she realizes one of her 'stories' is on BBC America, shuts off the computer and goes back to her daze.

Sheehan was very clear in both columns that Memorial Day weekend. The Democrats were not trying to end the illegal war. That was the point of the first one. The second column was about several things including the fact that if you say Bully Boy is prolonging the illegal war, you get cheers. If you point out the very obvious fact that the Democrats aren't ending it, you get boos. "Play dumb, Cindy, and we'll egg you on to go after Bully Boy because all we really care about is that there be enough blood in the water for Dems to win big in 2008!" In addition, the column was clearly about those in the movement who are selling out the war -- the war they beg for donations to help end -- in order to get cozy with politicians.

I think Pollitt's dishonest throughout her column (and chuckled when she went after Stanley because it was such an obvious move on her part) but I do believe that she honestly didn't get the columns, if I really think about it. (And it was "columns," Cindy Sheehan wrote two.) She's not tried to end the illegal war. She's not covered the peace movement. She's bored readers with boring columns. She probably wishes there was another sex scandal for her to crack semi-wise about as she did in the 90s when she first began to wallow and burrow into the clouds of fluff. So she isn't playing stupid, she truly is that stupid.

 

No feminist, no real feminist, would ever tell any woman campaigning for an office to 'sit it out.' But Pollitt's not really a feminist. A feminist does not tell a woman 'know your place, you are an activist.' A feminist does not make it her point to be the hit woman for Sheehan's campaign (just declared last week though Pollitt already can tell the world it is doomed).

When Pollitt attacked CODEPINK, she was defending Hillary Clinton. Now she says "Don't Run Cindy!" while defending (with heavy heart, you understand) Nancy Pelosi. Feminism is about equality it is not about bowing to those in power. But that's what Pollitt does. She's the eternal hand maiden of the court, protecting her mistress' interest by tearing down other women. It's as though Pollitt's plugging a new book, Our Betters Ourselves.

Here's a feminism breakdown for poser Pollitt: women should run for any office they want. Voters having the choice between more than one woman candidate is not a liability, it is a testament to the power of feminism and the accomplishments the movement has made.

Here's a not feminism breakdown for poser Pollitt: Telling a woman she shouldn't run for office is not feminism.

Pollitt wants you to believe she really, really likes Sheehan. Yeah, those of us old enough to remember that LYING CROWD in the 90s remember that same garbage being used in the "Don't Run Liz!" campaign. Elizabeth Holtzman thought she had a right to run. Another crowd didn't thinks so. They thought the seat belonged to Gerri. Our beloved Gerri who had been useless since her failed 1984 run as vice president and who has, of course, been useless while the country was engaged in an illegal war. "For sisterhood," they counseled, Elizabeth Holtzman should drop out of the race. They spent so much time tearing her down (with 'kindness') that they destroyed the only real candidate in the race. Ferrarro lost, to no one's surprise. Of course she lost, true or false, the rumors of mafia connections were known. They were known in 1984. To get behind her in the 90s while attacking Holtzman was stupidity. Whether they were valid rumors or smears, they had nearly a decade to take hold and Ferraro honestly did little to dispel them. Had she been elected, she would have been one more weak Democrat because she couldn't even defend her family vocally from those rumors.

I'm really tired of these 'feminists' who make a buck off feminism but never give back. What they do is take up the space (the very rare space) that a true feminist could occupy and, as many note of Pollitt, end up sullying the movement. The point of reference for Sheehan's race is not what some man did or didn't do. The point of reference is the primary where Ferraro got cheerleading and Holtzman got spat upon. Pollitt's not going to go there because it's exactly the tactic she's deploying today.

And, for the record, the men she names? She never wrote that they shouldn't run. She never said they were better as activists than as politicians. It's only out of 'sisterhood,' you understand, that she counsels Sheehan. She who's done nothing with her monthly space to end the illegal war now is Sheehan's biggest fan and wants Sheehan to continue working to end the illegal war!

I'm sick to death of these backstabbers who make a buck on feminism and then use their tiny names (and Pollitt's is a tiny name) to tell any woman she shouldn't go for what she wants. Feminism is not about elevating a select few, it is about an equal playing field. It is not about applauding Queen Bees while attacking regular women. Pollitt clings to those in power because she has nothing to else offer. She's the Queen Bee at the mag, the token 'feminist,' wasting everyone's time and sending out the message that feminism is 'frivolous.' Instead of worrying about how Cindy Sheehan's going to live her life, Pollitt might try some sorely needed adult education classes.

Pru's on vacation. If someone else sees something to highlight from The Socialist Worker, we'll note it later this week. Lyle, the quote from Sean Penn appears in the Esquire cover story on sale now. Mention the article you saw in it and we'll give it link.

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

iraq
and the war drags on
donovan
cindy sheehan
agustin aguayo
democracy now
amy goodman
aidan delgado
camilo mejia
robert zabala
peter laufer
joshua key
iraq veterans against the war
tina richards
the los angeles times
alexandra zavis
the socialist worker

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "The Casual Lunch." Bully Boy says to French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, "Sarkozy-rosey, quit arguing with me. Rocky IV was your best film." Sarkozy responds, "Fine. Fine. And you were magnificent in all those Chucky movies. It's like talking to an imbecile."

the world today just nuts
bully boy
the casual lunch
nicolas sarkozy
comic
the common ills

Today the US military announced: "A Task Force Marne Soldier was killed by small arms fire while conducting a dismounted patrol southeast of Baghdad August 11." And they announced: "Four Task Force Marne Soldiers were killed and four others were wounded by an explosion during combat operations south of Baghdad Aug. 11." ICCC's total for the month thus far of US service members killed in Iraq is 31.

The Los Angeles Times offers a strong article by Tina Susman, "Sectarian 'cleansing' in Baghdad:"

The expressway skirting the Amil neighborhood in Baghdad is only a couple of miles from Mahmoud Mekki's home, but it might as well be a hundred.
To reach it, Mekki must pass checkpoints guarded by Iraqi police commandos who he says are really Shiite Muslim militiamen trying to drive Sunni Muslims out of Amil.
So Mekki, a Sunni, remains holed up in his home, dependent on sympathetic Shiite neighbors to pick up his groceries and run other errands.
"I ask you to help us!" Mekki sobbed on the phone late one hot July night. "I don't want democracy! I just want security."
Iraqi and American military officials say incidents of sectarian "cleansing" in Baghdad have decreased since a U.S. military clampdown began in February, but what is happening in Amil and neighboring Bayaa belies the claim.
Since May, Iraqi police say, more than 160 bodies have been found in Amil and Bayaa -- men without identification, usually shot and bearing signs of torture, hallmarks of sectarian death squads.

Meanwhile Richard A. Oppel Jr. has roundup duties at the New York Times and is left with making sense of the US military's claim that they did kill "six men" "within the vicinity" of where 8 electric workers were killed when a US helicopter fired a rocket last week, but the six weren't any of the eight because they were killing 'insurgents' who do what 'insurgents' do -- hang out "in the back of a truck". We noted it as an attack that took place on Saturday but Oppel reports that it took place Thursday. The only military press release on a helicopter firing is about a Thursday incident (press release went out today) and notes August 9th (Thursday) "eight insurgents" were killed. Eight is the number of electrical workers reported killed from the rocket fired by a US helicopter. This would appear to be the same incident. (And for the record, the press release was sent out after Oppel filed. He was told it was six -- by the military -- and later they released that it was eight.) Oppel also explores the death of Khalil Jalil Hamza and police chief Khalid Hassan (as well as three of their body guards) yesterday. Khalil Jalil Hamza had been the governor of the Qadisiya Province. He'd also been the target of "rage" leading to various graffiti throughout the area (such as "Death to the Traitor Governor!").


New content at The Third Estate Sunday Review:


Truest statement of the week
A Note to Our Readers
Editorial: The way it was/is
TV: P(ure)BS
2 Books, 20 minutes
Roundtable
She's a celebrity, get her out of here!
Weeks load of crap in one morning
Iraq
David Bacon's "Living Under Trees" now showing
Highlights

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


the new york times
richard a. oppel jr.
the los angeles times
tina susman
the new york times
the third estate sunday review