About
50 anti-war activists targeted the video game maker Ubisoft today to
"help stop the Army’s child recruitment program" in the form of the
free "America's Army" game. Organizers noted that the game "targets
children as young as 13" while South Park game companies Ubisoft,
Gameloft, and Secret Level were profiting from the illegal recruitment
program. After a brief rally in South Park, near
2nd and Bryant Streets, protesters marched a short distance to the
Ubisoft office. Speakers included San Francisco Board of Education
members and community activists working hard to end the military’s
recruiting program JROTC in The City's public high schools, writer and
poet Rebecca Solnit, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, and a call to support
Robin Long and all GI resisters by Courage to Resist. "America's
Army" -- available since 2002 as a free download -- is a game developed
by the U.S. military to instruct players in "Army values," portray the
army in a positive light, and increase potential recruits. The "game"
is the property and brainchild of the US Army, which admit freely, and
with pride, that it is one of their principal recruitment tools.
The above, noted by Zach, is from Jeff Paterson's "Community rallies to end "America's Army" recruitment program" (Indybay IMC).
We'll note Robin Long in more detail tomorrow. There is so much to
cover on war resistance since June that a lot of things get placed on
hold. Ehren Watada is the perfect example of someone who's falling through the cracks here (he was noted in Thursday's snapshot), August 17th (ten days from now) will be the two year anniversary since his Article 32 hearing was held.
That was the hearing to determine whether or not the military would
attempt to court-martial him. Despite his service contract expiring at
the end of December 2006, despite the military already attempting one
court-martial, he will most likely still be in limbo on the second
anniversary of his Article 32 hearing. It is past time the US military
released him. They had their shot at court-martialing him. The
prosecution blew it (their witnesses actaully ended up making the case
for Watada indirectly) and Judge Toilet (aka John Head) took it upon
himself to stop the court-martial (as the defense was about to present
their case) and rule a mistrial over defense objection. Double-jeopardy
had already attached to the proceedings. I'm real sorry (but not
surprised) that Judge Toilet is such an idiot that he doesn't grasp the
Constitution. But you don't get "do overs."
When Watada's
court-martial moved to mistrial (as Toilet's suggestion and the
prosecution's request), that was it. That's why Judge Benjamin Settle
ruled the way he did in November. But the military thinks they don't
have to obey the Constitution. Unless I'm mistaken, Judge Toilet took
an oath to uphold the Constitution. I'm sure it's embarrassing to him
to grasp that his attempt to give the prosecution another shot actually
resulted in Watada not being eligible for another court-martial but
that's reality and if his oath meant anything, if he valued the
Constitution even a little, he'd be announcing that there would be no
other court-martial, that there could be no other court-martial because
the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land.
Even those who
don't like Watada and think he was wrong to refuse to deploy to Iraq
should grasp that the Constitution overrides their personal feelings.
Either the law is the law or it isn't. Either the Constitution matters
or it doesn't. You can't claim it matters and then ignore it. The
double-jeopardy clause is very clear and it was put in precisely so
that the government couldn't launch one prosecution after another until
they could finally work out their strategy.
You get one shot,
that's it. Judge Toilet guessed that the prosecution had blown it (I
believe he guessed right). He could have continued with the
court-martial. He made the decision not to. Not only did he make the
ruling but he's the one who first 'suggested' in court to the
prosecution. It's really sad that someone could sit on any bench
without grasping the basics of the Constitution but that's the US
military's problem.
Ehren needs to be released immediately.
Nearly two years ago, they held a hearing to determine whether or not
Ehren should be charged for refusing to deploy. Because he was a high
profile case (the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to the
illegal war), the decision was made to court-martial him. From August
until February, a prosecution had plenty of time to gather their
evidence, choose their witnesses and plan their strategy. It's too bad
they didn't do that. Even with Judge Toilet refusing to allow Watada to
explain why he had refused, even with him disallowing multiple
witnesses, Watada's defense (as Judge Toilet sensed) was strong. And
Watada wisely asked for a jury. If he hadn't, the 'jury' would have
been Judge Toilet and we can all tell Toilet would have railroaded
Watada.
Ehren won in February 2007. It's time to release him.
It's
easy for him and others who came before and after to get lost. Partly
because so few bother to even cover war resisters. Also because there
actually has been a great deal of news on war resistance and war
resisters.
But Ehren played by the rules even when they changed.
To change the Constitution, you need to pass an Amendment. Last time I
checked, not only was none passed, none was even being proposed. The
Constitution stands and it says "NO!" to double-jeopardy.
Ehren needs to be released.
The
double-jeopardy principle also rests on the fact that the state has
tremendous resources while the defendant may not. Carolyn Ho, Ehren's
mother, had to take time off from her job repeatedly to be there for
her son. She doesn't live on the mainland. It's not as if she lives in
Tacoma. She lives in Hawaii and had to repeatedly take time off. Bob
Watada, Ehren's father, had to do the same. They had to take time off
and they did so because they love their son. They went around the
country speaking out for their son. Bob Watada spoke at the last big
demonstration against the illegal war (in January 2007, in DC). Carolyn
Ho lobbied Congress for her son. They made a lot of sacrifices (and so
did Ehren's step-mother Rosa). That's what happens for the defendant.
The state? They just bill it to the tax payers.
And on the issue
of tax payers, those who are ticked off by Ehren's brave stand should
be outraged that he continues to be paid by the US military. That's
because he reports for duty. (He did not 'desert' as too many wrongly
claim. He still reports for duty on base.) So if you think Ehren's
actions were just so awful, why are you putting up with the fact that
he's on the payroll still?
How much money did the government
waste on his Article 32 and his court-martial? How much more are they
continuing to waste as they attempt to get around the double-jeopardy
clause?
And they are spending tax payer monies to subvert the Constitution.
That's really not their role and someone should have explained that to them a long time ago.
Though
the media coverage moved on, Ehren remains in limbo. His contract
expired in December 2006, the court-martial in Feb. 2007 was declared a
mistrial by the presiding judge. It's time to do the right thing (and
the smart thing with tax payer monies) and discharge Ehren. Every
member of this community supports him but we do get drive-by readers
and if you're one of those and one who thinks Ehren should have been
sentenced, you need to be asking yourself if that desire is greater
than the Constitution? If it is, you need to ask yourself if it should
be?
Peace activists should support Ehren's immediate release. So
should law and order types because the Constitution is the Supreme Law
of the Land. Those concerned with government waste should be on board
because the US miliary has wasted a great deal of money trying to put
Ehren away and they're still wasting money. It's past time to let him
go and that is an opinion most should be able to agree on regardless of
their opinion of his actions.
Ehren is an officer and he was
trained to refuse any order he found illegal. You can agree with his
call or not (I agree with it 100%). But those who wanted to see him
court-martialed repeatedly insisted that, "A soldier can't pick and
choose his orders!" Well the US military can't pick and choose which
parts of the Constitution they're going to swear an oath to or which
parts they're going to follow.
Those wanting Ehren prosecuted
like to talk about the message his actions would send. What message is
sent when the military is repeatedly allowed to ignore the Constitution?
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love There's a war going on So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove And I'm writing a song about war And it goes Na na na na na na na I hate the war Na na na na na na na I hate the war Na na na na na na na I hate the war Oh oh oh oh -- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4127. Tonight? 4134.
That's seven more and, yes, M-NF only released four death announcements
(they let DoD 'make the announcements' for the others). Just Foreign Policy lists 1,251,944 as the number of Iraqis killed the same as last week.
Thursday,
August 7, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, no provincial elections
for Iraq, excuses for the puppet government's lack of spending, media
coverage for Nader, and more.
Starting with war resisters. Agustin Aguayo
served in Iraq and refused to load his weapon. Aguayo learned quickly
upon arriving in Iraq that 'rules' were out the window as he and other
medics were instructed that they would not care for any Iraqi civilians
wounded. Seeing it first happened deepened Aguayo's spirituality and
his beliefs that the Iraq War was illegal and immoral. He attempted to
go through the process where the US military grants you Conscientious
Objector status. When the military refused to recognize that he was a
CO, Aguayo took it to the civilian courts. A hearing was scheduled in
the US Court of Appeals for November 2006; however, the US military
informed he would be in Iraq when that hearing took place. To explain
physically (he'd already done so verbally many times) that he was not
deploying for a second tour of Iraq, Aguayo self-checked out of the US
military on September 2nd and turned himself at Fort Irwin on September 26. Despite being AWOL less than thirty days, the US military decided to court-martial him for desertion. March 6, 2007,
Aguayo was court-martialed and Aguayo admited he was AWOL but refused
the charges of desertion. Col Peter Masteron sentenced Aguayo to 8
months in prison but did allow the 161 days Aguayo had already been
imprisoned to count towards time already served. In June, Agustin and
his wife Helga P. Aguayo provided updates to the current status.
Agustin had hoped to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court
(and had every right to -- as well as a strong case, the military's
refusal was based on the 'concept' that religion and spirituality are a
fixed point and cannot be deepened by life, time or experiences).
March 18th the Supreme Court refused the case. Agustin writes,
"This mean my case will never be heard by the Supreme Court and my
quest for justice failed and I will never be vindicated legally.
Although, I have come to accept this and knew of the possibility it has
been disheartening. I don't need outside sources to validate me. I
know who I am and I know what is in my heart." Helga explains the physical strain of the ordeal:
My
health which had been on a steady decline finally deteriorated to the
point where my condition of Psoriasis became life-threatening. The
stress of fighting the Army and being persecuted for opposing this war
had finally caught-up with me. There have been ups and downs to my
health but the situation when Augie got back was pretty grim. I think
I had been so strong for so long that I was finally able to let go and
fall; I knew Augie would be there to catch me. Aside from my condition
I didn't realize how badly hurt my family was. Our harshest battle has
come from trying to put our family back together, again. My panic
attacks were out of control and it almost seemed as if Augie and I
picked-up right where we left off the last time we were together:
having major panic and anxiety attacks while he jumped out the back
window and went AWOL. His PTSD kicked in full force and I was a basket
case. Throughout our ordeal, [their twin daughters] Raquel and Rebecca
had been strong and fought side by side with us, with poise and
courage. But they too, began showing signs of emotional crises. [. . .
] They saw their father be dragged away to prison, convicted and
labeled a felon. And then we had to start over from scratch. How were
we to begin healing?
Agustin stays busy in a number of ways as he waits for his discharge,
"Currently, I am involved in peace work and speak as much as I can to
at-risk youth. My wife and I also support many soldiers and their
families going through the CO process and/or deployment. For more
information on this program click here. To help fund this project click here. And although we still don't have a book deal we are actively working on a book project." At the Aguayos' website you can purchase the documentary A Man Of Conscience
about Agustin (by Sally Marr and Peter Dudar) on DVD for ten dollars
plus shipping and handling. Agustin had many things all war resisters
don't have. He had a mother and extended family willing to stand with
him. He had his daughters supporting him. And he had Helga who never
backed down no matter how the military attempted to intimidate her into
silence. Helga was fierce (and I mean that as the highest compliment)
and that's most likely the reason Agustin got credit for time served.
She dared one and all not to look at her during the court-martial and
not to grasp the way they were terrorizing her family as they attempted
to rail-road her husband. If they attempted to steer her husband's
case out of the press, she just spoke out louder.
Repeatedly,
we've seen that those with a support base tend to fare better in legal
proceedings than those without. Of those with, a support base that is
highly vocal and does not go away tends to result in lesser sentence.
War
resisters in Canada often don't have that built-in support because
they've restarted their lives in a new country. But anyone can send
the message that the world is watching. 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 Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, 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.
Turning to Iraq, Deborah Haynes (Times of London) sums it up,
"The chances of key local polls taking place in Iraq this year all but
vanished yesterday after Parliament failed to pass a law on elections
because of a row over the contested city of Kirkuk, which threatens to
heighten Arab-Kurdish tensions." As China's Xinhua notes,
"The Iraqi parliament speaker ended an emergency parliamentary session
Wednesday after the political blocs failed to reach an agreement over a
disputed provincial election bill. Parliament speaker Mahmoud
al-Mashhadani said by the end of the 44th session on Wednesday, the
parliament concluded its first legislative term and would resume
sessions on Sept. 9." (They also note that "supplementary budget of 21
billion US dollars" was ratified "roughly half of the 48-billion-dollar
budget of 2008 approved earlier by the parliament.") AFP quotes
Qassem al-Aboudi ("administrative director of Iraq's electoral
commission") stating, "I can confirm to you that we have lost the
chance to hold the elections in October." Ned Parker and Said Rifai (Los Angeles Times) point out,
"Iraqi politicians, officials and Western diplomats have speculated
that the political parties in government were never invested in holding
a vote this year out of fear they would lose seats and influence at the
provincial level. Senior politicians -- including President Jalal
Talabani, a Kurd, and Vice President Tariq Hashimi, a Sunni Arab --
have been absent from Baghdad during the round-the-clock negotiations,
citing medical reasons." Campbell Robertson and Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) remind, "The elections would be the first provincial balloting in almost four years." At McClatchy Newspapers' Inside Iraq, an Iraqi journalist reflects
on the sessions, "I listened to many of them. I noticed that most of
them talk about Kirkuk in a way as if its a prey for the greed and
abmitions of their parties. They never talk about it as a part of Iraq
because they don't care about Iraq. They care only about their limited
personal interests."
Meanwhile the socially
progressive but economically conservative (honest, that's how it was
explained to me a few years back) editorial board of the Dallas Morning News issues a strongly worded comment entitled "Iraq should cover more of its own expenses" notes the GAO and Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction's
recent findings about how rich Iraq is with oil money "however, the
Iraqi government and legislature continue to bicker about how to
disburse that money, while U.S. taxpayers are left to fund roughly $48
billion in reconstruction projects. If something in this picture seems
wrong to you, welcome to a growing club, which includes Republican and
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill who say Iraq should start paying
more of its own bills." The editorial suggest that "Iraq, flush with
oil cash, should seize the initiative" on reconstruction "without
waiting for this country to demand it." Mark Kukis (Time magazine) quotes
Ayad Al-Samariee ("head of the finance committee in the Iraqi
parliament") stating, "Yes it's true that the Iraqi government is
spending little on reconstruction. The weak Iraqi capability to do big
projects, maybe at the end of 2008, will improve." Kukis observes,
"Signs of Iraq's slowness to rebuild are everywhere in Baghdad.
Roughly 20% of the city is without proper sewage pipes. Published
statistics say the Baghdad is getting roughly 11 hours of electricity a
day on average, but many residents go days with only sporadic bursts of
power. Iraqi officials say fixing just this problem could take up to
10 years. Chronic electricity shortages for another decade mean little
energy for construction, making Iraqi hopes for a renewed capital seem
distant." Al Jazeera quotes
US Senator Carl Levin stating, "The Iraqi government now has tens of
billions of dollars at its disposal to fund large-scale reconstruction
projects. It is inexcusable for US taxpayers to continue to foot the
bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves."
CNN quotes Iraqi MP Haider al-Abadi stating,
"This is projected and not real money. We have many reconstruction
projects and as you know, most of the infrastruture of the country had
collapsed after the war and that needs a lot of money to rebuild the
country." It's really sad to see an adult so willing to cheapen
themselves on the national stage. First off, not all the oil money in
the GAO account is "projected." [As the GAO notes, "As of December 31,
2007, the Iraqi government had accumulated financial deposits of $29.4
billion, held in the Development Fund for Iraq and central government
deposits at the Central Bank of Iraq and Iraq's commerical banks." And,
"From 2005 through 2007, the Iraqi government generated an estimated
$96 billion in cumulative revenues, of which crude oil export sales
accounted for about $90.2 billion, or 94 percent."] Second of all, when
you refuse to repair and supply your country's hospitals and think
throwing a coat of paint on the outside qualifies as 'reconstruction,'
you ought to hop down from your high horse before you fall off. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board informs that "the source of this surplus is the high price of oil -- money that's added to the pot when we fill our family gas tank." iStockAnalyst observes,
"With oil prices at or near all-time highs, it has become increasingly
apparent that Iraq is closer than ever to financial independence. With
the extreme property damage caused by an invasion of questionable
legality, the need for security and reconstruction monies is great, but
who should be held accountable? Many US taxpayers are becoming
disenchanted, due to the fact that, with nearly $33 billion in oil
earnings in the first half of 2008, Iraq is now capable of shouldering
an increased share of the burden. Our own economy is floundering and
many simply feel that it is time for Iraq to step up and assume control
over its own destiny." The Orlando Sentinel's editorial board asks readers
to focus on "two numbers: $482 billion and $79 billion. The first is
next year's projected federal budget deficit, a record. The second is
the budget surplus that Iraq is expected to accumulate by the end of
the year. Is there any question which government -- whose taxpayers --
should be footing the bill for reconstruction projects in Iraq?" The
Delaware News Journal's editorial board points out
that the US government has spent $23.2 billion on Iraqi reconstruction
since 2003 while, since 2005, the puppet government in Baghdad has only
spent $3.9 billion: "Something is out of whack. Iraqis are very proud
to say that it's their country. And they are right. So they should
fix it." But as Robert H. Reid (AP) pointed out,
"Many Iraqis -- who lack adequate electricity, clean water and jobs --
find it unfathomable their country is awash in oil dollars. Last year,
it spent less than a third of the $12 billion budgeted for major
projects such as electricity, housing and water." And yet, get ready
to laugh, Gina Chon (Wall St. Journal) reports
on a press conference held by Dr. Tahseen al-Shaikhi (Baghdad Security
Plan) calling for foreign investment and contruction of "five-star
hotels, parking garages . . . a theater, restaurant, aquarium and
basketball courts . . . casino . . . and boat rides. But given the
lagging basic services, reporters questioned whether Baghdad's
priorities are appropriate and realistic. With temperatures hittign
130 degrees, many parts of Iraq don't have a steady electricity supply
and some areas only get two hours a day. Getting clean water and
adequate health care are also major issues." IRIN notes
that the puppet government in Baghdad is trumpeting that they will
spend $21 million (US figures) to build "simple houses for the poor" in
the eighteen provinces of Iraq -- a pittance in a fiscal year that is
supposed to bring in $70 billion. And isn't this similar to what Joe
Biden was proposing they do back in April? Didn't he speak of going
overseas in the 90s, encountering a peace keeping operation where a US
soldier defused a situation of refugees who wanted their home back by
steering them to new housing while the matter was settled? (Yes, Biden
did share that story. Four months later, Iraqis toy with implementing
it.) Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
a corpse bombing in Mosul that claimed the lives of 3 police officers
and a Mosul car bombing left eight police officers wounded. CNN notes
a Salaheddin roadside bombing attack on police chief Hamed Namis
al-Jabouri which left him wounded ("critically wounded") as well as
seven police officers injured. Reuters notes a Nassiriya mortar attack that claimed the lives of 8 members of one Iraqi family.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
2 men and 1 woman were shot dead at a Shirqat checkpoint with another
woman wounded and "Mahmoodd Younis Fathi was assassinated by gunmen in
the city of Mosul" with one of his bodyguards killed in the attack. CNN notes
Younis Fathi was "a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party" which
recently ended their boycott and rejoined the government "and the
director of religious schools for the Sunni Endowment".
Turning to the US presidential race. Ralph Nader is the independent candidate for president
The
two-party system -- a 220-year-old political prison, winner take all,
electoral college, duopoloy -- basically says to voters: "You got two
choices. You stay home and not vote. Or, if you want your vote to
mean something, and you want to be with the winner, you vote for one of
the two major party candidates. Otherwise, you are wasting your
vote." And you hear Matt [Gonzalez] say, "Were those voters in the
19th century who spun off from the Whigs and the Democrats and didn't
try to spin the difference between these two parties on slavery waste
their vote?" Aren't we glad that enough voters voted for the Liberty
Party at least to put it on the political map in 1840 and the Woman's
Suffrage Party, the Populist Party, the Labor Party, the Greenback
Party. All these parties and then Norman Thomas' Socilaist Party,
Progressive Party will follow it. Eugene Debbs. What did they
propose? A-ha. The blasphemy of their days is the common place of our
days. They proposed direct election of senators, 40-hour week,
progressive income tax, Social Security, Medicare. They proposed labor
standards. They proposed regulation of big business. So we have
three kind of voters in this country. One, the hereditary voters who
will vote Republican and Democrat no matter who the nominee is because
their grandparents did. That's a big chunk. [NYC] Mayor [Michael]
Bloomberg, when he was thinking of running for [presidential] office, I
had a telephone conversation with him -- actually, just before he was
going to announce that he wasn't, on that day. And he said "I've done
surveys and polls all over the country. Here's my conclusion. 15% of
the Republicans will vote for the Republican nominee if the Republican
nominee was Leon Trotsky. And 15% of the Democrats would vote for the
Democratic nominee if the nominee was Ayn Rand." That was a way of
saying, if he threw his hat in the ring, he starts with a
30% handicap. Maybe he's understimating it? But that's one, the
hereditary voter. The second is the tactical voter. The tactical voter
says, "Let's be realitistic. We don't care about how bad the
Democratic Party is in terms of our supporting it as long as we know
the Republican Party is worse. That's the tactical vote. "Be
realisitic." The tactical voters is one who spends three years moaning
and groaning about the Democratic Party. "They didn't roll back any of
President Bush's legislation when they took over in 2007! Not one.
Not even the disallowing Uncle Sam to negotiate for volume discounts
with the drug companies when the Drug Benefit Act -- a bonaza worth
tens of billions of dollars to the drug companies -- was enacted. They
didn't roll back anything. They keep funding the war. Their leader --
presumptive nominee -- wants more soldiers in Afghanistan. He doesn't
have an exit strategy. They don't do anything about strengthening the
corporate criminal crime laws. John Conyers has a single-payer bill,
HR 676, 85 members of the House have signed on but he can't get one
Democratic Senator to introduce it in the Senate. Not one. Not Obama,
not Clinton and not those two great, new progressive senators Bernie
Sanders and Senator Brown. Sherrod Brown from Ohio. Those are the
great hopes of the progressive wing. Now why don't they introduce it?
Senator Sanders who has come out against impeachment vigorously along
with Senator Brown "It's exactly what Karl Rove wants us to do -- is to
initiate impeachment." 'So he can turn the 26% of the people who
support Bush against us!' Is that what he really means? I'm putting
that word in his mouth. I mean this is the lowest popular president in
modern times and Cheney's at 16% which is almost happen-stance, you
know. Harry Truman proposed universal health care. 1945. Sent it to
Congress 1950. What are we talking about here? Isn't it about time
that we join the community of nations? Taiwan has universal health
care. Every western country has universal health care. A country we
give four billion dollars a year to, Israel, has universal health
care. Maybe they should have a foreign aid program? Reverse it back
to us? Now what does it mean when you don't have health
insurance? What is means is that 18,000 Americans die every year
according to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences,
that's six 9-11s every year. The Urban Institute just came out with an
estimate: 22,000. That means hundreds of, hundreds of thousands of
people get sick, stay sick, don't have their injuries treated cause
they can't afford health insurance. Why doesn't that get us angry?
Because the people who can do something about it, who can have their
calls returned, have health insurance. How many people here do not
have health insurance? That's pretty impressive. How many are under
twenty-five? See, that's what people out of school are now facing.
Trying to find affordable health insurance, or health insurance of any
kind, affordable housing, trying to deal with rapacious student loan
companies like Sallie Mae with all their fine print and their gouging
interest rates, wondering whether their jobs are going to be outsourced
abroad because anything with software, architect, engineer, accounting,
computer, all that can be outsourced. Law -- a lot of law jobs now are
starting to be outsourced. Even media jobs are starting to be
outsourced. I'm still looking for CEO jobs to be outsourced. I think
there are some very good bi-lingual Chinese executives, brilliant
skills, who for 10 percent of the pay would take care at General Motors
and Exxon and Pfizer. After all, they're outsourcing their own
employees jobs to keep up with the global competition. Well . . . let's
start at the top. Huh? So the tactical voter is a complicit voter --
wittingly or unwittingly -- because the moment you go you're so
terrified of the worst party you go to the next worst party -- on a
huge number of issues, a huge number of corporate power issues. Then
you're saying to the least worst nominee -- Obama, for example -- that
your vote can be taken for granted because you are so terrified of the
Republicans that you will not make any demands on Obama in the area of
women's rights and abolishing poverty and consumer protection and
environment and tax changes and the wars and all the rest of it. And
labor reforms and repeal of Taft-Hartley. So you don't make any
demands. Don't, don't disturb them! I mean, they gotta' be elected!
They've got a strategy for election. They sure have. Mondale.
Dukakis. Kerry. Gore -- who won but it was taken from him, but it was
a lot closer than it should be. Clinton who had Bob Dole as his
opponent, who would campaign in Missouri and look at his watch and say,
"I think I got to go to the airport so I can get home." Washington,
DC. He really wasn't that serious. It is not a winning strategy. It
is a losing strategy. Clinton, as Matt just said, benefitted greatly
from those 19 million votes [referring to the 19 million who voted for
H. Ross Perot, the third-party candidate]. Then there's the third
class of voter. The third class of voter reflects what Eugene V. Debbs
once said. He said, "Better to vote for someone you believe in and
lose than someone you don't believe in and win." What did he mean by
that? He meant if you vote for someone you don't believe in and win
that someone is going to betray you, that someone is not going to look
back on what your support is supposed to mean. And the Democrats have
betrayed this country in ways that some chroniclers will fill many
books in the coming future. So the important thing here is to measure
these parties by what the American people need, want, deserve, are
entitled to. That's way over do. Those are the yardsticks. The
Democrats could have stopped Bush on the war. They had the votes to
block almost everything he did. You know the Senate can, when you've
got over 40 seats you can almost block anything. Ask the Republicans.
That's
Ralph Nader speaking at Sebastopol Sunday. Did you miss it? You can
hear it online. Bonnie Faulkner -- apparently the last working
journalist in broadcast media -- thinks you have a right to know about
all the candidates, not just the front runners. Wednesday on KPFA, her
program, Guns and Butter, featured Matt Gonzales and Ralph Nader speaking at the Sebastopol Community Center. [Here for KPFA archive.] Maria Recio (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
that, "Nader accuses the news media of being in a 'cultural rut' by
ignoring him. He said he'd been on national television only 10 seconds
this election cycle. 'Put me in all the debates and we'll have a
three-way race'." And Ralph's right about that. David Cook (Christian Science Monitor) offers
a more complete quote of Nader, "The media is in a cultural rut. I am
not talking about their private, incisive, skeptical conversations with
one another. I am talking about the questions they don't ask, the
questions they ask. Give me a bunch of 10-year-olds instead of the
White House press corps, and the president would be far, far more upset
and anxious. . . . Don't be so cynical about small starts. If nature
was like you, seeds would never have a chance to sprout."
It was a breakthrough day with the mainstream media.
Yesterday morning, Ralph Nader met with a group of reporters at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
The meeting resulted in a slew of articles - including those that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Miami Herald, the National Journal and US News and World Report.
One
of the points that Ralph made at the meeting yesterday was that if he
is given the opportunity to debate the two corporate candidates -
McCain and Obama - it will become a three-way race.
Yes it will.
But
right now, the debates are controlled by the Commission on Presidential
Debates (CPD) - which is controlled by the two major parties and the
corporations that fund them.
But fear not.
We'll
be campaigning over the next couple of weeks to bust up the corporate
hammerlock on free speech in this election year and to get Ralph and
Matt into the debates.
To first step is to create a viable candidacy.
And the candidacy can't be viable if we're not on enough state ballots.
As the Miami Herald headline put it today: Nader Sets Goal to be on Most Ballots.
Our goal: 45 states.
And thanks to you, we're on track - on in 28 now, 30 by Sunday, 45 by September 20.
But right now, we need your help to fund this massive, nationwide ballot access drive.
We need your help to meet our target of $100,000 by Sunday, August 10.
And in return, we'll ship you No Debate, the classic expose of the Commission on Presidential Debates.
And we'll also send you an autographed copy of Ralph Nader's 49-page political manifesto - Civic Arousal.
To
help us bust open the debates this year, you'll need these two books -
No Debate for the rock solid expose and criticism of the
corporate-controlled debates.
And Civic Arousal for a healthy dose of homegrown Ralph inspiration.
(In
Civic Arousal, Ralph reports the following: When we were youngsters,
our father would ask us provocative questions. One day he asked - What
is the most powerful, event-producing force in the world? We guessed
and guessed. His answer: Apathy. What? Yes, he said. Apathy. Because
huge numbers of apathetic citizens, or victims, allow bad guys to
create all kinds of problems on the ground - from dictatorial regimes,
to repressed economic conditions, to health and safety hazards, to
corruption, to wars.)
More
than 200 activists picketed the Army Recruitment Center Aug. 2 in
downtown Bostonin an action jointly organized as a Counter-Recruitment
Day called by the UMass/Boston Antiwar Coalition and Boston Stop War on
Iran Campaign. Shouting "We
support war resisters, they're our brothers. They're our sisters," the
picket line stretched an entire block and was joined by activists from
TONC, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Greater Boston Stop the Wars
Coalition, Workers World Party, International Socialist Organization,
Vets for Peace, Smedley Butler Brigade, Women's Fightback Network,
Stonewall Warriors and Boston School Bus Drivers Union, Steelworkers
Local 8751. Mike Spinnato
from IVAW told WW, "Reading Howard Zinn's 'People's History of the
United States' opened my eyes to the reality of what armed forces
recruitment was really about." FIST
organizer Miya spoke on the connection between the military recruiting
oppressed youth to fight and die abroad and the need for jobs for
youth, not jails and war.
The above is from Monica Moorehead's "Activists demand: 'Hands Off Iran!'" (Workers World)
and there are stories of more protests in the article from across the
country. We zoomed in on that one due to war resistance.
Now we're moving over to the US presidential race. Ralph Nader
is the independent candidate for president, Matt Gonzalez is his
running mate. Yesterday another state was added. From Jon Lender's "Nader Likely To Be On Presidential Ballot In State" (Hartford Courant):
Ralph
Nader's supporters submitted nearly 17,000 petition signatures to state
officials Wednesday, saying they have assured the longtime consumer
activist from Winsted a spot on the November presidential ballot's
Connecticut Independent Party line. By
law, they needed only 7,500 signatures of registered voters, so state
officials said their total is probably sufficient to survive a two-week
verification process and place Nader on Connecticut voting machines
with the two major-party nominees. Nader's running mate is Matt
Gonzalez of San Francisco. Petitions
also were submitted by Wednesday's 4 p.m. deadline on behalf of
presidential candidates for the Green and Libertarian parties.
As
the Nader campaign continues to gather momentum, more and more in the
mainstream media begin paying attention to the campaign. This is from
Maria Recio's "Just when you thought it was safe, Nader's coming back" (McClatchy Newspapers):
Nader
accuses the news media of being in a "cultural rut" by ignoring him. He
said he'd been on national television only 10 seconds this election
cycle. "Put me in all the
debates and we'll have a three-way race," Nader said of likely
Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain. An
AP-Ipsos poll released Tuesday shows Obama with a 6-point lead over
McCain and Nader at 3 percent among registered voters. Recent
CNN/Opinion Research polls scored Nader's support at 6 percent. His critics worry about a repeat of 2000. Nader,
who's called Bush a "raging pit bull," hates the spoiler label that's
been hung on him since that election, saying it's "a contemptuous word
of political bigotry." As
for Obama, Nader said he "lost all respect for him" when the Illinois
senator spoke out against impeaching Bush. Nader supports impeachment
because of how Bush handled the lead-up to the war in Iraq.
The
longtime consumer advocate spoke the day after the release of an
Associated Press-Ipsos national poll showing him with support from 3
percent of likely voters. Senator Obama led with 47 percent, while the
GOP’s Sen. John McCain was favored by 41 percent. Support for his
fifth bid for president "will be much greater than" in 2004, Nader
predicted. In the last presidential election, "the Democrats filed 24
lawsuits in 18 states in 12 weeks to get us off the ballot and harassed
our petitioners. So we didn’t get on a lot of ballots." The ticket of
Nader and vice-presidential candidate Matt Gonzales, a civil rights
attorney from San Francisco, will be on 45 state ballots this November,
he said. Earlier this year, Nader called Obama "a person of
substance" and "the first liberal evangelist in a long time." But
Wednesday morning, his assessment of the first-term senator from
Illinois was critical. "All these candidates of the major parties
know far more than they act on. And that gap is the fortitude gap. Do
they want to demonstrate political courage? Do they want to spend their
capital?" Nader said. "Obama has demonstrated a decreasing level of
fortitude, a decreasing willingness to spend his capital. I think for
the bottom 100 million Americans -- low-income whites, blacks, and
Latinos -- he is not really associated in this town with any
comprehensive proposal -- economic, political, social. And we expect
more of him." Nader added, "People who have fought the civil rights
battle economically, politically, legally, as we have since the '50s,
would often talk about - would happen if we had an African-American
president or chairpersons of major congressional committees. It doesn’t
look like it is going to be what we all thought it would be."
I am thoroughly upset with the media's attention to the election candidates. I
wonder how many people know that there are six candidates for the
presidency; yet all we ever hear about are the Republican and the
Democrat. We also have former Congressman Bob Barr of the Libertarian
Party; pastor and radio talk-show host Chuck Baldwin of the
Constitution Party; former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of the Green
Party; and Ralph Nader who is running as an independent. I
thought the money the candidates raised for their campaigns was for the
paid media coverage as well as the traveling they do. This makes me
wonder if they also pay to have normal news coverage. Why
is there never any mention of the other candidates? Anyone who wants to
know about the other candidates can go online to sites such as
Wikipedia.com. - Sheila Lyda,Phoenix
And Julie notes the Nader campaign video below.
Meanwhile Skip notes "DVD: Stop-Loss" (Third) about Kimberly Peirce's excellent Stop-Loss. And he suggests everyone check out his country's At the Movies which has text (transcript of the discussion as well as Margaret Pomeranz' review of the film) and video.
After
the provincial elections law passed last month, thousands of Kurds
protested in Kirkuk, and the demonstration turned bloody when a bomb
killed at least 25 people. Kurdish
lawmakers and their allies stormed out of the session when the law
passed, calling it unconstitutional. Arabs have long been weary of
Kurdish desires to annex oil-rich Tamim province, which is home to
Kirkuk, into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north. The presidency council rejected the law after President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, criticized it. Then
the United States and United Nations got involved, scurrying for a
solution so that the elections could proceed. After a plethora of
United Nations proposals to amend the article in question, they finally
suggested that legislators pass the law while postponing elections in
Tamim province until December 2009. During the delay, the parliament
would pass a separate elections law for Tamim. Even
that couldn't be agreed on, however. First the Kurds opposed it, and
when they later agreed, the Turkomen and some Arab parties -- including
the opposition Sadr movement -- flipped their positions. "We
haven't taken one step forward, not one step," said Bassem Sharif al
Hajeemi, a Shiite Muslim legislator from the Fadhila party who opposed
the recent U.N. proposal. Some
legislators charged that the Kirkuk issue was being used to mask
political blocs' opposition to the bill, because new elections might
dethrone them in the provinces.
The above is from Leila Fadel's "Iraqi parliament adjourns without setting elections" (McClatchy Newspapers) and we noted it in yesterday's snapshot
but it's really the place to start this morning because it digs much
deeper than "Law not pass." A great deal of coverage has reduced the
story to just that, a headline which provides no understanding or
meaning. We'll note this from Ned Parker and Said Rifai's "Iraq parliament fails to pass elections bill" (Los Angeles Times):
Iraq's
electoral commission had said the measure needed to be passed before
lawmakers adjourned for the month in order to hold elections by the end
of December. Lawmakers had
been set to adjourn last week when they scheduled the special session.
But differences between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens over Kirkuk
ultimately could not be resolved. Iraqi
politicians, officials and Western diplomats have speculated that the
political parties in government were never invested in holding a vote
this year out of fear they would lose seats and influence at the
provincial level. Senior politicians -- including President Jalal
Talabani, a Kurd, and Vice President Tariq Hashimi, a Sunni Arab --
have been absent from Baghdad during the round-the-clock negotiations,
citing medical reasons.
Not yesterday but Wednesday last
week, Iraq's Parliament did adjourn. Special sessions are not regular
sessions. It appears a number of reporters feel the need to work
overtime in order to twist reality for the benefit of the White House.
Why bother? Mainly because who pays attention to Iraq in the US these
days? Not a whole lot of people. The Parliament adjourned. That
happened last week. Think of your own state assembly and most likely it
has held special sessions. Those are "special sessions" and not the
regular legislative cycle. Pretending that the Parliament didn't
adjourn (and wasn't in special session) did allow it to appear
something might happen. Nothing did. There's a budget issue as well
that most work overtime to avoid mentioning was left hanging as well.
Campbell Robertson and Richard A. Oppel Jr.'s "Iraqis Fail to Agree on Provincial Election Law" (New York Times)
notes that US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker was heavily involved over
the weekend attempting to help/force some resolution. From their
article:
The decision to go on
vacation rather than settle the issue underscored how little progress
had been made on the most important recent political question to
confront Iraqi leaders, in contrast to the military strides in making
Iraq safer than it had been in years. The law was seen as so important
to prevent new outbreaks of violence that President Bush, eager to
leave office claiming lasting progress in Iraq, had called several
Iraqi lawmakers urging them to pass it. The elections would be the first provincial balloting in almost four years.
At Inside Iraq, one of McClatchy's Iraqi journalists shares her/his feelings in "Thank You, Kirkuk:"
I
listened to many of them. I noticed that most of them talk about Kirkuk
in a way as if its a prey for the greed and ambitions of their parties.
They never talk about it as a part of Iraq because they dont care about
Iraq. They care only about their limited personal interests. I
remember the first year when the same politicians were fighting on TV
showing when their high patriotism trying to convince us that the
united happy Iraq is their only aim. They could deceive us. We went to
the election not for their sake but for the sake of Iraq.
Doug Henwood will be on KPFA's The Morning Show today (7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. PST, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. to noon EST).
Michigan Greens Nominate Rev. Pinkney at State Convention ========================================================= Benton Harbor Activist, Jailed for Quoting Bible at Judge, Among 10 Congressional Candidates Picked in Marshall July 26-27
Mentioned in Presidential Candidate McKinney's Acceptance Speech at National Green Convention July 12 in Chicago
Also: First office for McKinney-Clemente Green Party presidential campaign to be located in Detroit
The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) evoked the memory of Eugene V. Debs by nominating jailed Benton Harbor community activist Rev. Edward Pinkney for Congress at the party's 2008 Nominating Convention last weekend in Marshall.
Pinkney is one of ten GPMI candidates so far who will run for Congress, and seventeen in total nominated at the convention. They will all join the Green Presidential ticket of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, founder of the National Hip-Hop Convention, on the November 4 general-election ballot. And more Green candidates will be nominated at local caucuses this weekend.
McKinney has met with Pinkney and the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO) in Benton Harbor in the past. And she mentioned Pinkney and Benton Harbor in her Chicago acceptance speech July 12.
McKinney-Clemente campaign manager SKCM Curry attended the GPMI convention, rousing the members to join her in a chant of "Paint the White House Green!" Curry also announced that the McKinney-Clemente campaign will soon be opening its first office -- in Detroit.
Pinkney Paying a Heavy Price for His Beliefs; Will Now Get to Express Them by Running for Office -------------------------------------------------- Pinkney will run for the 6th District seat now held by Fred Upton, scion of the family that founded Whirlpool. Pinkney has opposed the corporation's influence on local government and the plans of Whirlpool-led institutions to take Jean Klock Park away from the people of Benton Harbor for a golf course priced for the wealthy.
He is now sitting in state prison in Jackson awaiting appeal on a 3- to 10-year sentence for alleged mishandling of four absent-voter ballots in a 2005 recall election of a city commissioner who supported Whirlpool's plans. That verdict came after one mistrial with a deadlocked jury, and despite an affidavit by one former prosecution witness saying the recalled commissioner had offered him $10 to say Pinkney had paid $5 for his vote.
The Berrien County courts also overturned the recall, even though it had passed by over 50 votes.
Pinkney's sentence was imposed last month, and a pre-sentence probation order which came with an elaborate set of prohibitions (including bans on any kind of political involvement -- and making him pay the rental on his own electronic tether) was revoked last month, because of an article he wrote last fall.
In the article, he used a slightly paraphrased quote from Deuteronomy that a Berrien County judge ruled was not protected by the First Amendment because it constituted a believable threat of the wrath of God against a fellow judge and the judge's family.
The article appeared last November in _The People's Tribune_, a political newspaper published in Chicago.
-end Pinkney information
More news and background from the Green Party of Michigan:
More Greens at All Levels Will Be On the Michigan Ballot November 4 --------------------------------- Greens will have at least nine other Congressional candidates joining McKinney, Clemente, and Pinkney on Michigan's general election ballot November 4.
The convention also nominated one candidate for the State Board of Education and one for each of the three state university boards (U of M, MSU, and Wayne State).
And candidates for county and local office include Korine Bachleda, who won election in 2006 as a write-in for clerk of Newberg Township. Soon after, Bachleda asked the county clerk to officially list her as a Green -- and this year she will be running for re-election in the Green Party's column on the ballot.
A list showing all the candidates nominated in Marshall is presented below, along with information on how to contact the campaigns for more details.
Caucuses Will Nominate More Green Candidates for November General Election ---------------------------------------- The list also includes Matt Erard, who was nominated July 14 by Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor City Greens for the 53rd District seat in Michigan's State House.
Greens from Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties will hold a joint caucus 2-4pm this Saturday, August 2 at the International Institute; 111 E. Kirby (between John R. and Woodward, across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts); Detroit, MI 48202. For more information, contact
The Four Pillars of the Green Party are: Ecological Wisdom; Social Justice; Grassroots Democracy and Non-Violence.
Green Party of Michigan 548 South Main Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-663-3555
GPMI
was formed in 1987 to address environmental issues in Michigan
politics. Greens are organized in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia. Each state Green Party sets its own goals and creates its own
structure, but US Greens agree on Ten Key Values:
Ecological Wisdom Grassroots Democracy Social Justice Non-Violence Community Economics Decentralization Feminism Respect for Diversity Personal/Global Responsibility Future Focus/Sustainability
======================================================= list of GPMI candidates nominated to date =======================================================
Green Party of Michigan ======================= 2008 Candidates Contact Information (as of 7/31/08)
Ken Mathenia -- US House/5th Congressional District 232 High Street Grand Blanc, MI 48439 KMatheni@gfn.org
Rev. Edward Pinkney -- US House/6th Congressional District 1940 Union Street Benton Harbor, MI 49022 BANCO9342@sbcglobal.net alternate address: Rev. Edward Pinkney #294671 Charles E. Egeler Reception & Guidance Center 3855 Cooper Street Jackson, MI 49201-7517
Lynn Meadows -- US House/7th Congressional District 150 Island Lake Road Chelsea, MI 48118 LynnMeadows@provide.net
Erik Shelley -- US House/11th Congressional District 19311 Seminole Redford, MI 48240 eol1@aol.com
Bill Opalicky -- US House/12th Congressional District 23631 Philip Southfield, MI 48075 urizen2355@aol.com
Aimee Smith -- US House/15th Congressional District 1321 Wisteria Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48104 ALSmith@HVGreens.org
Matt Erard -- MI House/53rd District * Committee to Elect Matt Erard for State Representative 641 Prentis Street #G3 Detroit, MI 48204 http://www.erard2008.org/ VoteErard@yahoo.com
Wednesday August 6, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, a war resistance anniversary approaches, 6 US service members have died in Iraq since Saturday, the Iraqi provincial elections seem unlikely this year, the puppet al-Maliki sits on millions and spends very little, and more.
Starting with war resistance. In June 2006, Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. That decision followed much research on his part and the decision at the end of 2005 that he could not participate in an illegal war. For months prior to going public, Watada attempted to work with the US military which gave him every indication that they wanted to work with him on this issue. But no alternative was ever accepted. Instead he was repeatedly told that something would happen, some decision would be reached. His command was attempting to run out the clock because June 22, 2006 would be when he would deploy to Iraq and they thought if they strung him along he would have no choice but to deploy. Instead, Watada went public. Almost two years ago, his Article 32 hearing was held (August 17, 2006). The Article 32 hearing allowed Watada to call witnesses such as retired Army Col Ann Wright and former UN under-secretary Denis Halliday. Lt Col Mark Keith oversaw the Article 32 hearing. In February 2007, Judge Toilet (aka John Head) presided over the court-martial. Judge Toilet had his own idea of 'justice' which included refusing to allow Watada's defense to explain why he decided to refuse to deploy. He could admit (or not) that he refused to deploy, but Judge Toilet wouldn't allow his reasons to be explained to the military jury. Judge Toilet also refused to allow Watada's attorney to call various witnesses. It was 'justice' in name-only. Despite that, Watada's case was presented strongly. So strongly that, on the third day, when Watada was due to take the witness stand, Judge Toilet suddenly found fault with a stipulation that he himself had explained to the jury and that he himself had overseen. Judge Toilet 'suggested' the prosecution move for a mistrial and the prosecution did not immediately take the hint or grasp that Toilet was handing them a do-over. When they did grasp it, they made the motion and Judge Toilet ruled the court-martial a mistrial over defense objection. The Constitution prohibits double-jeopardy -- one of those pesky laws Judge Toilet never grasped. Toilet said the second court-martial would take place in March of 2007. It did not. It has not taken place. Last November US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that the Constitutional issue had to be resolved. It still hasn't been resolved.
In December 2006, Watada's service contract expired. The first court-martial took place despite that fact. All this time later, Watada remains in the service and reports for duty on base while he waits for the US military to figure out their next move. The military had their chance to court-martial him but when Judge Toilet realized Watada might walk, he threw the justice system out the window and declared a mistrial. As a result, the military really has no 'follow up' at this point. They need to release Watada from the army immediately. His service contract expired nearly two years ago and his Article 32 took place almost two years ago.
War resisters in Canada need support as well. 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 Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, 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.
In Iraq, there is still no movement on provincial elections. Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, " After weeks of late-night negotiations and under intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi lawmakers failed to pass a much-debated provincial elections law Wednesday before adjourning for the month. The failure to pass the law, which would govern elections in provinces across the country, may push the elections into next year. If elections don't happen by the end of this year, it could be July before the balloting could be carried out, U.N. spokesman Said Arikat said." UPI reports that, citing Kurdish MP Fouad Massoum, there is the possibility of "a special session of Parliament sometime during the recess, which ends Sept. 9," to again try to address the issue of elections. Gina Chon (Wall St. Journal) notes the "days of intense negotiations and heavy pressure from the U.S., the United Nations and Britain" and how Kirkuk continued to be a stalling issue. Most reports do. Leila Fadel offers another theory among Iraqis, that those currently holding office aren't willing to risk losing office if new elections are called. Walter Ibrahim (Reuters) gets a non-official US response, quoting someone at the US embassy in Iraq who refused to be named but did declare, "The United States regrets that the Iraqi parliament today adjourned without finishing its work on a local elections law."
On the other big news of Iraq today, a new report finds that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, is refusing to spend the many millions on reconstruction still. White House press secretary Dana Perino declared, "It's interesting -- what I find interesting about this report, as well, is when you're looking at these two countries, Iraq and Afghanistan, seeing how vastly different Iraq is from Afghanistan in terms of the natural resources that they have. Afghanistan is a very poor country, one of the poorest in the world. Iraq will come back much faster, given that they had some semblance of infrastructure, as crumbling as it was, but something to work from. Afghanistan is being built from scratch. And so I thought that was something worth taking away." What's interesting is that someone tasked with speaking to the press on behalf of the White House appears to have only just realized the differences between Afghanistan and oil-rich Iraq. It does not speak well of Perino -- even as spin, it should produce laughter. Perino was speaking on board Air Force One as the Bully Boy traveled to Thailand and repeatedly referred reporters' questions to the US State Dept implying that she hadn't seen the latest report. Later, after Air Force One landed in Thailand, Bully Boy would hold a public event with Thailand's Prime Minister Samak but took no questions. Apparently, like Perino, he was unfamiliar with the report. Perino: "I saw the report -- I saw the reports about the report -- so I'd refer you back to the State Department, just to -- as they wake up this moring -- just to make sure that they've looked at it, because I don't know all the details." A rather shocking admission for someone tasked with being the public face of the White House. Plenty of egg on the face to go around because, in DC this afternoon, the State Dept's Gonzalo R. Gallegos (Acting Deputy Spokesperson) held the daily press briefing and was asked about Iraq . . . never. Not once. Macedonia, Mexico and many other topics. Gallegos didn't arrive with a prepared statement and tossed immediately to questions. Not one reporter asked about Iraq. How very sad and very telling.
If you're feeling a sense of deja vu, you may be thinking back to last Wednesday when the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstuction issued a report. Stuart Bowen Jr. issued a note to the report [PDF format warning] explaining, "The United States has now appropriated more than $50 billion in taxpayer dollars for Iraq's reconstruction." The report notes its basis is "seven new audit products" between May 1st and June 30th of this year. You may be thinking of the silence that greeted that report as the press focused instead on the gossip and whispers that the White House was putting out declaring Bully Boy would speak Thursday morning and deliver a 'major' statement on Iraq that everyone just knew was going to be about the treaty between the White House and the puppet. The treaty, the White House had promised, would be wrapped up by July 31st. Bully Boy gave his statement, no word about a treaty. The dealine passed. And the government report on reconstruction was lost and forgotten.
For some context on the latest report, let's drop back to April when Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker did their song and dance before the US Congress. From the April 8th snapshot, where US Senator Barbara Boxer is questioning Crocker:
She wanted to know about the training, all the training, that had gone on and then on again. "We've done a lot for the Iraqis just in terms of the numbers themselves," Boxer declared. "I'll tell you what concerns me and most of my constituents, you said -- many times -- the gains in Iraq are fragile and reversable. . . . So my constituents and I believe that" after all the deaths, all the money, "you have to wonder why the best that you can say is that the gains are fragile and reversable." Noting the lack of military success and Hagel's points, Boxer pointed out that nothing was being done diplomatically "and I listened carefully to Senator Hagel and Ambassador Crocker -- from the answer you gave him, I don't get the" feeling that the White House has given anything, it's still "the status quo. She then turned to the issue of monies and the militias, "You are asking us for millions more to pay off the militias and, by the way, I have an article here that says Maliki recently told a London paper that he was concerned about half of them" and wouldn't put them into the forces because he doubts their loyalty. She noted that $182 million a year was being paid, $18 million a month, to these "Awakening" Council members and "why don't you ask the Iraqis to pay the entire cost of that progam" because as Senator Lugar pointed out, "It could be an opportunity" for the Iraqi government "to turn it into something more long term." This is a point, she declared, that she intends to bring up when it's time to vote on the next spending supplamental. Crocker tried to split hairs.
Boxer: I asked you why they couldn't pay for it. . . . I don't want to argue a point. . . I'm just asking you why we would object to asking them to pay for that entire program giving all that we are giving them in blood and everything else?
Today Karen De Young (Washington Post) reports that the US Government Accountability Office has found that while "Iraq's oil income will more than double this year . . . Baghdad continues to spend only a small percentage of its own money on reconstruction and services while it banks billions in surplus funds" and that, "Between 2005 and 2007, only 10 percent of Iraq's expenditures went toward reconstruction, with just 1 percent spent on maintaining U.S. and Iraqi-funded investments in roads, water, electricity and weapons, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office. Even when Baghdad has allocated larger sums, the report said, it has spent only a small portion of the budgeted money." Kevin Hall (McClatchy Newspapers) points out that the report "left little doubt that Iraq, which racked up $32.9 billion in oil earnings from January through June, can afford to pay more for its own reconstruction." Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers' Baghdad Observer) takes the topic from the abstract to the concrete: "Driving through Iraq you feel the neglect here. In Basra the city is rivers of sewage, destroyed buildings and bridges from war after war after war. Every day I pass by the same buildings destroyed years ago during the U.S. led invasion in my neighborhood in Baghdad. Every day they look exactly the same, a pile of rubble. The electricity problem seems to be getting worse; Iraqis have an average of about four hours of electricity a day. While there is talk of reconstruction, a bridge here, flowers planted there the people don't feel a change."
In her brief remarks on Air Force One, Dana Perino offered a laughable example of how the puppet al-Maliki is helping Iraqis declaring that, "One thing that's very important is how they are spending their money, which is distributing it evenly amongst the --- around the country, but amongst the different sects as well, so Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds. It's something that they're going to have to continue to work out. We want them to take on more of their own responsibilities just from a security standpoint, but also reconstruction.
Also, if you remember, Prime Minister Maliki went into Sadr City, Basra and Mosul, he offered immediate financial assistance to people who were living there under those terrible conditions." The assaults on the people in those areas? The turn-over-your-guns-and-I'll-toss-a-few-coins-your-way is 'relief'? In what world?
Reality came via Sunday's press conference in Baghdad: hospitals that hide bed shortages, lack of supplies and more via a paint job. And we saw that justified by the Deputy Minister of Health for Grants and Loans who declared, "It is good for their psychological health . . . it is good to take care of the appearance, to see the building a new, clean." Spoiled blood, lack of medicine, lack of beds, lack of prosthetics, etc. are just minor details, after all, what matters is the hospital slapped on a new coat of paint outside. Or that's what matters to the Ministry of Health. Reality comes via Dalia al-Achi and Carole Laleve's UNHCR report Sunday on how the UNHCR and Syrian Arab Red Crescent was aiding Iraqi refugees in Syria by distributing "school kits to Iraqi refugee children . . . distribution of uniforms, shoes and school materials . . . and is expected to outfit 30,000 children from Damascus and Rural Damascus before the start of the Syrian School year on Sept. 7. Last year, UNHCR's distribution reached 20,000 Iraqi children." And what's al-Maliki done besides sit on millions? Not a damn thing.
But there was Perino on Air Force One this morning delcaring, " It's really important that they figure out a way to quickly get that money to those people directly. I think they've made a lot of progress on that, but they needed to do more." al-Maliki's done nothing for the people. But he has managed to go on spending sprees for items he wants. From last Friday's snapshot:
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left two police officers wounded, a Baghdad bombing ("targeting . . . one of the Iraqi security companies") left four people injured, a Ninevah car bombing that killed the driver, 1 civilian, 1 Iraqi service member and left nine other people wounded and a Basra roadside bombing that wounded one civilian. Reuters notes a Mosul car bombing that claimed 3 lives (plus driver of the car) and left fourteen injured.
Last Thursday morning, the Bully Boy held court at the White House and said nothing. The press corps acted as though something had been said. "This has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq," he spun and the press took their marching orders. They're still following those 'turned corner' marching orders despite the fact that there is no treaty, despite the fact that there will most likely be no October provincial elections, despite the fact that al-Maliki is spending next to nothing on reconstruction and despite the fact that violence is again up in Iraq. Much was made all last week of "Only 13 US soldiers dead in Iraq for the month of July!" As if 'only 13' dead from an illegal war was something to go wild over.
All six US service members have died since Saturday morning. Somehow that hasn't resulted in the 'coverage' that 13 for the month of July resulted in coverage last week.
Turning to the US presidential race. Ron Jacobs (Dissident Voice) notes just how much it is costing the peace movement (and how willing 'leaders' are to table objection to the illegal war):
Just look at the major national antiwar organization United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ) and their public stance regarding the desire of organizers of the protests at the upcoming Democratic convention to stage a large antiwar march at the convention. According to a recent press release from some organizers of the march, Leslie Cagan of UFPJ told some Denver organizers, "We don't think it makes sense to plan for a mass march that might not end up being all that mass!" In other words, UFPJ is refusing to help build support for the march.
There can only be one reason for UFPJ's stance. That reason is UFPJ's allegiance to the Democratic Party. This allegiance is not an allegiance found among the grassroots of UFPJ but at the top. It involves a political misunderstanding of the Democrats' role in maintaining the US empire and a fear of losing funding from elements of UFPJ that are tied to the Democratic Party. Ignoring the fact that it is the Democratic Congress that has kept the Empire's wars going, UFPJ continues to call the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "Bush's Wars." Besides the attempts to silence the antiwar voice in the streets, there are also ongoing attempts by Democratic Party manipulators to keep antiwar language out of the Party's platform. This is in spite of a statement signed by the progressive wing of the party demanding that the language be included. If 2004 is any indication, there will be no antiwar language in the 2008 Democratic Party platform.
We saw this happen in 2004 and the peace movement was in disarray until the summer of 2005 (Cindy Sheehan resparked the movement). That cannot happen again but it is happening as too many see their 'peace' role as "cheerleader for Barack." Presumed Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama continues to run the most embarrassing campaign in recent memory. Today's big news is that another campaign staffer (volunteer!) has been outed. Perry Bacon Jr. (Washington Post) reports that the volunteer was Chicago's own Mazen Asbahi who held the title of "Muslim outreach coordinator" until the Wall St. Journal did the job the campaign should have and found ties to Jamal Said and the North American Islamic Trust. True or false doesn't matter and will not be known for some time. In a campaign perception matters. The Obama campaign has already telegraphed that they see Asbahi as someone to wash their hands of and it's one more sign of how inept that campaign is that they didn't do the vetting that a paper did. Though Asbahi will most likely be found to have no links or ties to terrorists and be nothing but a dedicated volunteer who believed in a candidate and wanted to work for the candidate's election, the campaign continues to demonstrate just how unskilled and unknowledgable they are. This is the campaign that drummed up over a week's worth of mock outrage over a satirical cover of The New Yorker which lampooned the notion that, among other things, some may see Barack as a terrorist. If they put half that energy into vetting their staff, they wouldn't be in the news on this today. Asbahi joined the campaign July 25th, after the mock outrage. The campaign damn well took offense at satire but apparently lacked the intelligence to do the basic vetting of any high-profile spot. Asbahi joined the campaign with a high-minded/self-serving statement and now leaves the campaign with a cloud over himself and one over the campaign. He does so with the usual nonsense statement about how his departure is "to avoid distracting from Barack Obama's message of change" but the real message the campaign has again sent is that they do not know how to run a campaign including the most basic procedure of vetting anyone in a profile role.
Nader/Gonzalez Campaign and the Iowa Peace and Freedom Party Wednesday Will Submit more than Double the Required Signatures for Ballot Qualification
Supporters of Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and the Iowa Peace and Freedom Party will submit petitions to place Mr. Nader and running-mate Matt Gonzalez on the November 2008 election ballot, Thursday, Aug. 7, to the Iowa Secretary of State's Office. Mr. Nader will be on the ballot as the Iowa Peace and Freedom Party nominee, and if he gains more than 2 percent of the vote in the state, the party will become a ballot-qualified political group.
Iowa will be the 26th state in which the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign has filed for a ballot line since the celebrated consumer advocate announced his intent to run during a February 24 appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." To qualify to appear on Iowa's ballot, state law requires submission of the signatures of 1,500 registered voters.
The Nader/Gonzalez campaign will submit more than 3,000 signatures.
Scott Knight, the Nader/Gonzalez Iowa State coordinator, will be joined by Iowa supporters of Nader/Gonzalez 2008 and the Peace and Freedom Party at 9:30 a.m. for a news conference at Capitol West Steps, West Mall area, Capitol Building, Des Moines, IA.
Iowans have been hit recently with massive floods and with the greed of large corporations, like Whirlpool Corp., which in July filed a federal lawsuit aiming to slash the medical benefits of thousands of retired Maytag workers after having bought out that company. The Nader/Gonzalez Campaign offers solutions instead of excuses. Mr. Nader would rein in corporate greed, waste and abuse and respond to natural emergencies with preventative public investments and rapid response to those disasters. As president, Mr. Nader would rebuild the Mid-West instead of tearing down the Mid-East.
WHO: Iowa Supporters of Nader/Gonzalez 2008 Campaign and the Peace and Freedom Party WHAT: News Conference and turn-in of nominating petitions WHEN: Thursday, Aug 7, 2008, 9:30 a.m. WHERE: Capitol West Steps, West Mall area, Capitol Building, Des Moines, IA
About Ralph Nader Celebrated attorney, author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and enact the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.
About Matt Gonzalez Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally, higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans," a Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.
The White House ordered the CIA to forge a hand-written letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein fabricating a visit by an al-Qa'eda operative two months before the September 11th attacks, according to a new book.
Ron Suskind claimed in "The Way of the World" that the letter was designed to portray a fictitious link between the dictator's regime and al'Qa'eda as a justification for the Iraq war. Branding Mr Suskind's book "gutter journalism", the White House flatly denied as "absurd" any notion that it had ordered any forgery. Suskind writes that the letter's author, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, had been in contact with the Bush administration and MI6 before the March 2003 invasion. "The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001," Suskind writes.
The above if from the Telegraph of London's "Letter linking Iraq and al-Qa'eda was forged by US spies says new book" and it is not just a US story. Gareth, Polly and Pru are among the British community members e-mailing to share their outrage over the Guardian of London's policy of carrying New Labour's water instead of reporting the news. The Guardian is not a news outlet, it is a club newsletter for New Labour. And Americans should be paying attention to this because Gordon Brown has gotten away with carrying out a hugely unpopular and illegal war as a result of enablers. Tony Blair made the call and England hope they would have "change" with Blair out. There's a lesson in there for the US and there's a lesson in the refusal of Democratic Party organs refusing to hold Barack accountable for any pledge he breaks. The Nation and Guardian have a little partnership and that goes a long way towards explaining why neither outlet is worth the paper it's printed on. Neither outlet defines their role as providing information. Both see their role as turning out the votes for their respective parties. It's not journalism, not even advocacy journalism. It's the worship and repeating of spin.
While we're on the topic of those not doing their job, M-NF. ICCC reports the death toll for US service members so far this month has already reaced 6. Four of those died on Saturday. On Sunday, M-NF was announcing two. Here are the names of the dead:
We've noted repeatedly for years that the Defense Department's job is only to release the names. Before the name is released, M-NF is supposed to have already made the announcement of a death. That is how it is supposed to work and for any who still can't grasp that, for some reason M-NF included the policy in a death announcement Monday:
Multi-National Division – Baghdad is not the release authority for the names of U.S. service members who have died while serving in Iraq. The names of the servicemembers are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense Official Website at http://www.defenselink.mil/ . The announcements are made on the Website no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member’s primary next of kin.
They know the policy . . . they just don't follow it.
A lot of people not doing their jobs. That's the alleged 'alternative' press, that's M-NF and, as Ron Jacobs points out, that the peace 'movement.' From Ron Jacobs' "Jerry Garcia Meets Barack Obama" (Dissident Voice):
Just look at the major national antiwar organization United For Peace and Justice (UFPJ) and their public stance regarding the desire of organizers of the protests at the upcoming Democratic convention to stage a large antiwar march at the convention. According to a recent press release from some organizers of the march, Leslie Cagan of UFPJ told some Denver organizers, "We don't think it makes sense to plan for a mass march that might not end up being all that mass!" In other words, UFPJ is refusing to help build support for the march.
There can only be one reason for UFPJ's stance. That reason is UFPJ's allegiance to the Democratic Party. This allegiance is not an allegiance found among the grassroots of UFPJ but at the top. It involves a political misunderstanding of the Democrats' role in maintaining the US empire and a fear of losing funding from elements of UFPJ that are tied to the Democratic Party. Ignoring the fact that it is the Democratic Congress that has kept the Empire's wars going, UFPJ continues to call the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "Bush’s Wars." Besides the attempts to silence the antiwar voice in the streets, there are also ongoing attempts by Democratic Party manipulators to keep antiwar language out of the Party's platform. This is in spite of a statement signed by the progressive wing of the party demanding that the language be included. If 2004 is any indication, there will be no antiwar language in the 2008 Democratic Party platform.
Margo notes this from Team Nader -- and this is from yesterday so there's only 1 day left in the contest (it ends at midnight tonight):
Only Two Days Left in Contest
Posted by The Nader Team on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 03:20:00 PM
Iraq's oil income will more than double this year, even as Baghdad continues to spend only a small percentage of its own money on reconstruction and services while it banks billions in surplus funds, according to projections by U.S. government auditors. Between 2005 and 2007, only 10 percent of Iraq's expenditures went toward reconstruction, with just 1 percent spent on maintaining U.S. and Iraqi-funded investments in roads, water, electricity and weapons, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office. Even when Baghdad has allocated larger sums, the report said, it has spent only a small portion of the budgeted money. Those trends, which the report said have continued during the first half of this year, are likely to fuel further congressional discontent over ongoing U.S. payments to rebuild Iraq. "It is inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said in a statement yesterday.
In its report on efforts to stabilize and reconstruct Iraq, the Government Accountability Office steered clear of the politics of who pays for what. But it left little doubt that Iraq, which racked up $32.9 billion in oil earnings from January through June, can afford to pay more for its own reconstruction. The GAO estimates that Iraq will earn $67 billion to $79 billion in oil sales this year, twice the average annual amount of revenue that it generated from oil sales from 2005 through 2007.
Driving through Iraq you feel the neglect here. In Basra the city is rivers of sewage, destroyed buildings and bridges from war after war after war. Every day I pass by the same buildings destroyed years ago during the U.S. led invasion in my neighborhood in Baghdad. Every day they look exactly the same, a pile of rubble. The electricity problem seems to be getting worse; Iraqis have an average of about four hours of electricity a day. While there is talk of reconstruction, a bridge here, flowers planted there the people don't feel a change.
Or how about, as revealed in the press conference Sunday, hospitals that hide bed shortages, lack of supplies and more via a paint job. And we saw that justified by the Deputy Minister of Health for Grants and Loans who declared, "It is good for their psychological health . . . it is good to take care of the appearance, to see the building a new, clean." Spoiled blood, lack of medicine, lack of beds, lack of prosthetics, etc. are just minor details, after all, what matters is the hospital slapped on a new coat of paint outside. Or that's what matters to the Ministry of Health.
James Glanz and Campbell Robertson cover the report for the New York Times. But let's remember something NOT being noted in the coverage. While Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, refuses to use the vast sums of money to help Iraqis, he went on a spending spree last week. From last Friday's snapshot:
Iraq's oil income will more than double this year, even as Baghdad continues to spend only a small percentage of its own money on reconstruction and services while it banks billions in surplus funds, according to projections by U.S. government auditors. Between 2005 and 2007, only 10 percent of Iraq's expenditures went toward reconstruction, with just 1 percent spent on maintaining U.S. and Iraqi-funded investments in roads, water, electricity and weapons, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office. Even when Baghdad has allocated larger sums, the report said, it has spent only a small portion of the budgeted money. Those trends, which the report said have continued during the first half of this year, are likely to fuel further congressional discontent over ongoing U.S. payments to rebuild Iraq. "It is inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said in a statement yesterday.
In its report on efforts to stabilize and reconstruct Iraq, the Government Accountability Office steered clear of the politics of who pays for what. But it left little doubt that Iraq, which racked up $32.9 billion in oil earnings from January through June, can afford to pay more for its own reconstruction. The GAO estimates that Iraq will earn $67 billion to $79 billion in oil sales this year, twice the average annual amount of revenue that it generated from oil sales from 2005 through 2007.
Driving through Iraq you feel the neglect here. In Basra the city is rivers of sewage, destroyed buildings and bridges from war after war after war. Every day I pass by the same buildings destroyed years ago during the U.S. led invasion in my neighborhood in Baghdad. Every day they look exactly the same, a pile of rubble. The electricity problem seems to be getting worse; Iraqis have an average of about four hours of electricity a day. While there is talk of reconstruction, a bridge here, flowers planted there the people don't feel a change.
Or how about, as revealed in the press conference Sunday, hospitals that hide bed shortages, lack of supplies and more via a paint job. And we saw that justified by the Deputy Minister of Health for Grants and Loans who declared, "It is good for their psychological health . . . it is good to take care of the appearance, to see the building a new, clean." Spoiled blood, lack of medicine, lack of beds, lack of prosthetics, etc. are just minor details, after all, what matters is the hospital slapped on a new coat of paint outside. Or that's what matters to the Ministry of Health.
James Glanz and Campbell Robertson cover the report for the New York Times. But let's remember something NOT being noted in the coverage. While Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, refuses to use the vast sums of money to help Iraqis, he went on a spending spree last week. From last Friday's snapshot:
Tuesday, August
5, 2008. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, the stalemate in
Parliament continues, Turkey continues to be worried, the Guardian
of London continues to reveal that a political party's newsletter (New
Labour) doesn't make for journalism, news of Robin Long, Ralph Nader
and -- gasp -- the Undead Speaks -- meaning we should all keep a close
eye on Yorba Linda.
James
Branum: What's happening in Robin's case, Robin Long was an American
soldier. And when he was recruited to join the US military, his
recruiter and him were talking and Robin told the recruiter, said, "I'm
okay with being in the army but I don't want to go to Iraq. I don't
believe in it." Recruiter said, "Don't worry about it. You won't have
to go to Iraq. I can make sure you won't. In fact, you'll be
stationed at Fort Knox here in Kentucky. So Robin thought, "Okay, I
can live with that." So he did that, he joined. Turned out the
recruiter was honest about one point. Yes, he was stationed at Fort
Knox [. . .] however he was told very quickly, "Yes, you're going to
Iraq and you're going to be sent to Fort Carson, trained to go to Iraq
and then, after that, you're going to be sent there." So Robin, what
he ended up doing was, he ended up going to Canada and there's a lot
there that I can't go into about his story but to make a real long
story short it was an issue of conscience at the end of the day. He
had to do what he felt was right. He couldn't do something that he
felt wasn't right. And he couldn't go. That's what it comes down to.
So when he got to Canada, he was living his life. He applied for
aslyum status so he could stay there. And he was working. And as an
asylum seeker, he was able to get a work permit and what-not. He also
had a son while he was there who's now about two-years-old. And he had
his life very well established. He did a lot of different jobs. All
kinds of different stuff. For awhile, he was a fruit picker. He
worked in different orchards. In fact, that's kind of what got him
into trouble cause when he was working as a fruit picker, he was a
seasonal migrant worker, you know? And so he was, for awhile, out in
British Columbia. And he was previously in Ontario and there was a
misunderstanding [. . .] from Canadian immigration about where he was
supposed to check in to. And Robin thought he had checked in like he
was supposed to. The immigration authorities say he didn't. There's a
misunderstanding there. But to make a really long story short, even
though Robin was fighting this in the Canadian courts, the Canadian
officials pulled a sneaky manuever -- basically, they were able to
fast-track him through deportation within four days so that he or his
lawyer did not have time to respond appropriately in the Canadian
system. And so he was trapped and he was sent to the US.
And
what happened was he was held in jail for a few days in Canada and then
he was handed over to US officials at the border. And actually, the
Canadian officials even told the US officials, "Here's your deserter."
Handed him off. And so from there, the immigration officials
transferred him to a local jail and he was held in two different local
jails for awhile before the military came and picked him up and
transferred him to Fort Carson, Colorado. And at that point, at 11:30
at night, they had a hearing to decide whether he would remain in what
is called pre-trial confinement. Because in the military, you don't
get bail. Basically, you either are released before your trial or
you wait in pre-trial confinement.
So
they had a hearing late at night. Robin was put into jail. And since
that point, he has been held here in Colarado Springs in the Criminal
Justice Center in El Paso County -- basically just a regular old county
jail with all kinds of people, dangerous criminals many of them, and
it's a difficult place to be. But Robin's in good spirits and we're
now dealing with the consequences of his action in the military courts
here.
Robin Long was extradited.
He was not deported. If that wasn't obvious before, it should be from
the description above. Judge Anne Mctavish needs to be held
accountable for her actions. The extradition process in Canada would
have immediately opened up other avenues of appeal for Robin. That's
why she didn't want to call it "extradition." Calling it "deportation"
allowed her to act with NO OVERSIGHT. It wasn't deportation and --
repeating again -- as the father of a young Canadian child, the
immigration laws in Canada are very clear about Robin's rights to stay
in the country. It would be politically beneficial to the New
Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and Bloc Quebecois to call for
Parliament to hold an investigation into how Haper's government and
Mctavish allowed Long to be extradited while telling the people of
Canada he was being deported.
I
would like to thank Mr. Moore for his letter of July 18 in response to
my earlier letter on conscientious objectors. Although I disagree with
Moore's opinion on the legality of the Iraq war, I truly welcome honest
public debate on important matters such as this one. The
unsanctioned invasion of Iraq occurred March 18, 2003, a full seven
months before the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1511 to ensure
the "restoration of stability and security" in response to the chaos
caused by the invasion. The resolution does not and could not provide
retroactive exoneration. The fact remains, Stephen Harper would have
committed Canada to this illegal war if he were Prime Minister at the
time. As for Afghanistan, I would much prefer that Canada was
there with our original intention of peace-keeping and reconstruction.
However, our troops deserve our full support in this new, combative
role, which is sanctioned by the UN. The point of my letter was
that the Conservative government must respect the motion on
conscientious objectors passed by Parliament. Harper himself said the
government has a moral responsibility to respect such motions. This
motion is based on an issue of fundamental human rights, and it is
downright callous to ignore it. According to an Angus Reid poll
conducted June 6 and 7, 2008, after Parliament passed the motion
calling on the government to make a provision to allow war resisters to
stay in Canada and to cease all deportation and removal proceedings,
two-thirds of Canadians want Canada to grant permanent residence status
to U. S. Iraq war resisters. The Harper Conservatives are afraid
of raising the ire of their ideological cousins in the Republican
administration but, ignoring the democratic will of Parliament and the
views of the large majority of Canadians will only raise the fury of
Canadian voters who want a more progressive government that reflects
Canadian values. Steve Clarke, Federal Liberal candidate for Simcoe North
War resisters in Canada need your help. 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 Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, 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.
Yesterday
at the US State Dept, Gonzalo R. Gallegos (the department's "acting
deputy" spokesperson) declared, "My understanding -- that the Iraiq
parliament did not convene on Sunday. However, it has not yet recessed
and lawmakers remain ready to reconvene once a new bill is ready for
them to consider. The Iraqi political leaders are continuing to
discuss the elections law. Ambassador Crocker and [US] Embassy
officials continue to encourage Iraqis to work towards compromise and
consensus, and to develop an elections law that will allow for
provincial elections this year." Provincial elections. Long
postponed. Long said to take place in 2008. Said for most of the year
to take place in October. Fell apart last month as the Kirkuk issue
split Parliament and led the Kurdish bloc to walk out. Campbell Robertson (New York Times) notes
the United Nations is yet again proposing that the issue of oil-rich
Kirkuk be tabled. As Robertson appears to explain it, not only would
the issue of whether Kirkuk remained with the central government or
split off into the Kurdish region be tabled, also tabled would be
Kirkuk participating in provincial elections. Conspiracy! That's what
AFP reports
the Kurdish region's president, Massud Barzani, has called some efforts
and quotes him stating, "After the long talks we held it was clear for
us that what happened on July 22 was a big conspiracy and very
dangerous for the democratic and constitutional process of Iraq, in
particular against the Kurds." From the July 22nd snapshot:
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."
If
the president of the Kurdish region is upset, you can take that to mean
the issue is far from resolved. So it should come as no surprise that
today's meeting resulted in nothing. The Iraqi Parliament closed
session for the summer last Wednesday (yes, they did Campbell
Roberston). They scheduled one special session for Sunday. At that
session, nothing was accomplished. Nothing was accomplished yesterday
and nothing was accomplished today. Hurriyet notes
of Sunday: "A vote had been planned for Sunday but it was scrapped when
lawmakers failed to agree on how the elections would affect Kirkuk,
which minority Kurds want to make part of their semi-autonomous
northern region. Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader
Devlet Bahceli called on the country's ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) in a written statement to warn Iraqi Kurdish groups in
Kirkuk more openly and take the necessary measures in order to protect
Turkmen's rights. Turkey, who has historical ties with Kirkuk, has
been monitoring the situation very closely and calls on all parties to
reach consensus for a solution." At the US State Dept yesterday,
Gallegos was asked about Recep Erdogan (Turkey's Prime Minister)
speaking to Jalal Talabani (Iraq's President) to express concern over
Kirkuk being annexed into the Kurdish region and Gallegos responded, "I
think we said something about that last week, I believe. And our
position is that we believe that this -- now is not the time to be
making such a decision. We believe that the parties need to leave
themselves open to all appropriate or -- all options in order to come
to an understanding so that they can proceed with provincial elections
this fall."
Strange wasn't it? How the United
Nations pitched to Iraq just what the US favored? As Hurriyet noted,
"Iraqi political leaders reached a tentative compromise on Monday" and
were due to debate it again today. UPI explains,
"The Iraqi Parliament adjourned its Tuesday session without reaching an
agreement on provisions in the election law regarding the status of the
city of Kirkuk. Shahied al-Jaberi with the Shiite United Iraqi
Alliance said lawmakers opted to postpone the issue until the Wednesday
session because lawmakers could not agree on the Kirkuk issue, Voices
of Iraq reported." They also note Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Parliamentary
Speaker, even arranged for the time alloted for debate to be extended
but that resulted in nothing as well. Iran's Press TV reveals that, should the measure pass, "Elections in Kirkuk would also be postponed until no later than December 2009." BBC reports that "a Turkmen representative, said a delay [in Kirkuk voting] was unacceptable." China's Xinhua quotes
Parliament's Deputy Speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, "The parliament session
to approve the provincial election law has been delayed until
tomorrow." Ned Parker Said Riifai (Los Angeles Times) point out,
"The deadlock also prevented a vote by parliament on a $21-billion
supplemental budget. The crisis has marked the first time that
elements of one of the most prominent Shiite Muslim parties, the
Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, have broken with the Kurds, their
traditional allies."
*
British intelligence (specifically M16) was informed that Iraq had no
WMD in January 2003, that then Prime Minister Tony Blair was informed
of that and that Poodle Blair passed it on to Bully Boy.
*That
the CIA was ordered by the White House to create a forgery "from the
head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Huseein" in order to falsely tie
Iraq to 9-11.
Bill Plante (CBS News -- link has text and video) reports:
"The book alleges that Habbush, Saddam's intelligence chief, was in CIA
protective custody after the 2003 invasion, that the White House
ordered CIA officials to have [Tahir Jalil] Habbush [al-Tikriti] write
and backdate the letter, and paid him $5 million. The author quotes two
former CIA officials who claim to have seen a draft of the letter on
White House stationery." Interestingly (but not surprisingly) the Guardian of London is AVOIDING this story. That's only a surprise for anyone that confuses that RAT-TRAP with actual journalism. The Guardian sold the illegal war in England. When the Times of London exposed the Downing Street Memos, the Guardian refused to cover it. The Guardian is
the DLC party organ in England. It is not journalism, it is not a
newspaper. You have MPs in England saying that there needs to be an
investigation and you have . . . silence from the Guardian. Never confuse that outlet with journalism.
U.S.
military authorities should present charges against a Reuters cameraman
detained since last Tuesday, or they should release him immediately,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. [. . .] A
spokeswoman for the Multi-National Forces-Iraq told CPJ that
al-Mashhadani was detained because he posed a security risk and that
his case would be reviewed within a seven-day period that began on July
29. "This is the third
time U.S. forces have detained Ali al-Mashhadani without charge," said
CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "The military has never
substantiated any wrongdoing by him. The authorities must make evidence
against him public or release him immediately."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Turning to the Undead -- it's got to be the only reason he's still around. Aging boy-toy Hank Kissinger shows up in the Khaleej Timesto dish
-- and with nary a starlet around. Kissinger who sold and re-sold an
earlier illegal war sometimes makes sense -- sometimes that's insane
sense, sometimes . . . Today he declares of withdrawals from Iraq, "Under
the fixed withdrawal scheme, combat troops are to be withdrawn, but
sufficient forces are to remain to protect the American Embassy, fight
a resumption of Al Qaeda and contribute to the defence against outside
intervention. But such tasks require combat, not support forces, and
the foreseeable controversy about the elusive distinction will distract
from the overall diplomatic goal." Yes, he has noted the
problem. Those are combat troops whether you call them "combat" or
something else. Where he's wrong is when he claims that there's no
need for a fixed withdrawal. (Mass killings are and have always been
Viagra for Hank.) But that's the reality of Barack's plan that
supposed 'peace' 'leaders' don't want to face. It's not withdrawal.
It was never withdrawal. Maybe with Kissinger pointing it out, it will
finally register. In other news of presumed Democratic presidential
nominee and presumed narcissist Barack Obama, US News & World Reports offers an exhuastive round-up of the reaction to his latest cave
A widely-distributed AP
story also says Obama's proposal "includes two significant reversals of
positions he has taken in the past," noting that "as recently as last
month" he "argued against tapping into the petroleum reserve," while USA Today reports Obama's proposals include "two reversals of positions he has taken in the past." A widely-syndicated McClatchy
pieces is titled, "In Another Switch, Obama Calls For Tapping U.S. Oil
Reserve," and says "Obama's revised position on a key energy issue was
his second shift in three days." Likewise, the New York Timestitles its piece, "Obama, In Shift, Urges Tapping Oil From U.S. Reserve." However, the Wall Street Journal
reports that Obama aides defended the move, saying Obama "had met with
economic advisers and business leaders in Washington last week, and
they had advised him to call for tapping the government reserve." The New York Daily News
adds, "Team Obama cast the proposal as a 'refinement,' rather than a
flip-flop, on Obama's previous opposition to tapping the 770-million
barrel reserve." In an editorial, the San Francisco Chronicle says that Sen. Obama's "energy policy is offering more flip flops than a Lake Tahoe souvenir stand." The New York Post
editorializes, "One more week, one more Barack Obama reversal on a key
issue. Actually, make that two reversals. ... So much for principles."
Turning to independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. As Ruth pointed out yesterday, "AP reports today that Mr. Nader's campaign will turn in signatures tomorrow to qualify for South Dakota's ballot. Lebanon Daily News reports
that Mr. Nader should be on Pennsylvania's ballot because the campaign
has collected 24,666 signatures (the deadline is Friday). Jesse A. Hamilton (Hartford Courant) reports
that the Nader-Gonzalez ticket picked up the nomination of California's
Peace and Freedom Party ('carrying with it an automatic slot on the
California election ballot') and contains this statement from the Nader
campaign, 'There can no longer be any justification -- if there ever
was -- for Ralph Nader not being included in every national poll'." Foon Rhee (Boston Globe) noted the Nader campaign's plans for the week includes garnering "the November ballots of seven states". Tim Carpenter (Capitol-Journal) reports that "Kansas is the 22nd state in which Nader's forces filed papers since his campaign began in February." Richard Winger (Ballot Access News) reports Nader is now on the ballot in Michigan. AP notes the campaign plans to file for the ballot today in South Dakota. Meanwhile John Geluardi (San Francisco Weekly) covers
the College of Marin campaign stop Sunday by Nader and running
mate Matt Gonzalez with Gonzalez asking the large crowd assembled, "How
is he [Barack] going to 'change' the culture of Washington if he can't
stand up to those corporations?" Nader's remarks included, "We now
grow up corporate. When you start looking at ads when you're two,
three, four years old, pretty soon the world is Madison Avenue. Then
in college it's computer skills, computer skill, computer skills. What
about civic skills? Young people think they live in a Democracy
because they can vote for American Idol."
Meanwhile, AP reports that journalist Ali al-Mashhadani is being held by the US military at Camp Cropper. al-Mashhadani works for Reuters, BBC and NPR. Dean Yates (Reuters) reports
that (as usual) no charges have been brought against Ali and quotes
David Schlesinger (Reuters Editor-in-Chief) explaining, "Any
accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt
with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to
counsel and present a defense."
U.S.
military authorities should present charges against a Reuters cameraman
detained since last Tuesday, or they should release him immediately,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. [. . .] A
spokeswoman for the Multi-National Forces-Iraq told CPJ that
al-Mashhadani was detained because he posed a security risk and that
his case would be reviewed within a seven-day period that began on July
29. "This is the third time
U.S. forces have detained Ali al-Mashhadani without charge," said CPJ
Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "The military has never substantiated
any wrongdoing by him. The authorities must make evidence against him
public or release him immediately."
Reuters violence wrap up this morning includes
violence today and yesterday: Sheikh Ibrahim al-Karbouli ("Awakening"
Council leader) was killed last night in a home invasion in Baghdad, 1
Baghdad roadside bombing today left six people wounded, 3 people were
shot dead in Kirkuk by "Awakening" Council members, 1 corpse was found
in Mosul (today) and a child's corpse was found in Mosul yesterday
while 2 corpses were fished out a river ("handcuffed") and a third was
"near the river."
Moving over to the US presidential race, and we'll start with a reminder, Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" went up Sunday and notes yet another cave from St. Barack.
US News and World Reports' "CAMPAIGN NEWS" focuses on some of the media reactions to Barack's latest cave:
A widely-distributed AP
story also says Obama's proposal "includes two significant reversals of
positions he has taken in the past," noting that "as recently as last
month" he "argued against tapping into the petroleum reserve," while USA Today reports Obama's proposals include "two reversals of positions he has taken in the past." A widely-syndicated McClatchy
pieces is titled, "In Another Switch, Obama Calls For Tapping U.S. Oil
Reserve," and says "Obama's revised position on a key energy issue was
his second shift in three days." Likewise, the New York Times titles its piece, "Obama, In Shift, Urges Tapping Oil From U.S. Reserve." However, the Wall Street Journal
reports that Obama aides defended the move, saying Obama "had met with
economic advisers and business leaders in Washington last week, and
they had advised him to call for tapping the government reserve." The New York Daily News
adds, "Team Obama cast the proposal as a 'refinement,' rather than a
flip-flop, on Obama's previous opposition to tapping the 770-million
barrel reserve." In an editorial, the San Francisco Chronicle says that Sen. Obama's "energy policy is offering more flip flops than a Lake Tahoe souvenir stand." The New York Post
editorializes, "One more week, one more Barack Obama reversal on a key
issue. Actually, make that two reversals. ... So much for principles."
Free Speech Radio News
had an audio report on the issue (don't go by their text which makes
the story seem much weaker than it actually was). Turning to
independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Tim Carpenter (Capitol-Journal) reports on Nader's filing to be on the ballot in Kansas:
Kansas is the 22nd state in which Nader's forces filed papers since his campaign began in February. "Today's
turn-in takes the campaign one step closer to reaching its goal," said
Matthew Bruenig, a University of Oklahoma student who helped coordinate
the signature drive. To
qualify for Kansas' ballot, state law mandates signatures from 5,000
registered voters. About 10,050 signatures were submitted to the Kansas
secretary of state's office, said David Peyton, a Milwaukee high school
teacher and Nader volunteer.
At
a Sunday night campaign rally at the College of Marin, Gonzalez warmed
up the crowd of 200, which included actor Sean Penn, by bashing Barrack Obama's voting record
on the re-authorization of the Patriot Act, immunity for
telecommunications companies that spy on American citizens and class
action reform that has made it harder for workers to bring wage-an-hour
suits against mega companies like Wal-Mart. Gonzalez
challenged Obama's vote to turn over public lands to multinational
mining companies who make millions while paying next to nothing for
mineral rights. "How is he going to 'change' the culture of Washington
if he can’t stand up to these corporations," Gonzalez says taking a jab
at Obama's campaign theme. Nader
took the podium to a standing applause and broadened out the attack to
include the entire Democratic Party, media pundits and, of course,
corporations. He took aim at pervasive corporate influence that is
spread through advertising and the American education system. "We
now grow up corporate. When you start looking at ads when you're two,
three, four years old, pretty soon the world is Madison Avenue," Nader
says. "Then in college it's computer skills, computer skill, computer
skills. What about civic skills? Young people think they live in a
Democracy because they can vote for American Idol."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: (Washington) Chris Driscoll, 202,360,3273, chris@votenader.org (Alaska) Sam Dunham, Alaska Campaign Chair, 907-720-6446
NADER/GONZALEZ CAMPAIGN TO SUBMIT MORE THAN 5,000 SIGNATURES TO SECURE ALASKA BALLOT LINE
WHO: Alaska Supporters of Ralph Nader WHAT: Turn in of ballot petitions WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 5 WHERE:
Alaska Division of Elections, 2525 Gambell St. Suite 100, Anchorage, AK
99503 (across from the Fireweed Theater). A news conference will follow
the petition turn-in.
Alaskan supporters of Independent
Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will turn in more than 5,000
petition signatures to the Division of Elections Tuesday. The required
number of signatures is 3,128.
In 2000 the celebrated consumer
advocate won three precincts in Alaska (Haines, Girdwood, and
Talkeetna) and earned over 10 percent the vote. In this historic and
pivotal election, Alaskans can now vote for a candidate who continues
to fight against the special interest groups and multi-national
corporations.
Mr. Nader is at 6 percent in the latest CNN poll.
There can no longer be any justification -- if there ever was -- for
Mr. Nader not being included in every national poll.
This is a biggest ballot access week of the campaign to date for Nader/Gonzalez.
With the addition of California on Saturday, we're currently at 23
states with seven to go to meet our goal of 30 states by the end of the
week -- on our way to 45 states by September 20.
This is what we need today:
We need more roadtrippers to collect signatures to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot.
Optimum
profile for a Roadtripper for Ralph -- energetic, youthful spirit,
personable, fun loving, adventure seeking, democracy warrior.
If
you can commit a week or more to get Ralph on the ballot in the
Mountain West, the South, the Midwest, and the East Coast, contact mark@votenader.org.
This week, we'll be turning in signatures in Maryland, Kansas, South
Dakota, Alaska, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Iowa -- to put us at 30
by the end of the week.
We're halfway to our goal of $100,000 by August 10 to fund this 30 state drive.
So, please, donate now whatever you can afford $20, $50, $100 -- let's get it done this week.
Finally, two more installments to the Obama Flip Flop Watch:
Number one:
On
May 4, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that he was willing to
debate with "any of my opponents about what this country means, what
makes it great."
But on Saturday, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe backed off, saying that Obama would debate only Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates sponsored by the two parties and paid for by major corporations.
Number two:
Prior to last week, Obama said he was opposed to offshore oil drilling.
As
we move toward November, and as Obama reveals himself to be the
corporate candidate that he is, a significant portion of the American
electorate will demand an alternative.
That's why it is so important to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in as many states as possible.
And that is the important ground work we are completing now.
Come September, we will be in a position to demand open debates.
And
present the American people with a viable candidacy that will shift the
power from the corporations back into the hands of the American people.
said rifai
the los angeles times
ned parker
campbell robertson
the new york times
richard a. oppel jr.
deborah haynes
john pilger
now on pbs
pbs
maria recio
david cook
monica moorehead
margaret pomeranz
kimberly wilder
doug henwood
kpfa
the morning show
the washington post
sudarsan raghavan
tim carpenter
john geluardi
richard winger
u.s. news & world reports
free speech radio news
