Tuesday,
August 19, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military
announces another death, Iraqi forces raid the office of the governor
of Diyala Province and shoot dead his secretary but no one knows how?,
the issue of the oil-rich Kirkuk may have already been 'settled,' and
more.
Starting with war resistance. US war resister Jeremy Hinzman has been told he has until September 23rd to leave Canada. John Mackay (WSWS) explains,
"Hinzman joined the US Army in early 2001, partly out of a sense of
patriotism and adventure. However, he was primarily attracted by the
promise of financial support for a university education. He says that
more than a year after joining, he realized that he could not become a
killer. He felt he could not dehumanize the people he was supposed to
shoot. He applied for conscientious objector (CO) status in August
2002, but his command threw his application away. Hinzman subsequently
reapplied while serving in Afghanistan, only to have his application
turned down. In Afghanistan, while his CO application was being
processed, Hinzman played a non-combatant role as an assistant to
Haliburton employees serving meals to soldiers. Upon denial of his
application for CO status, Hinzman was ordered to return to active
duty. When his unit returned to the US with the understanding that
they would soon be sent to Iraq, Hinzman deserted, crossing the
Canadian border in January 2004 with his wife and young son and
claiming refugee status." Nga Nguyen, Jeremy's wife, just gave birth
to a daughter (Meghan) in July. We'll note again that the four are in
a video at the War Resisters Support Campaign where Jeremy speaks to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy
Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan.
We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a
specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and
served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to
Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which
Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the
international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau,
once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at
this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion
saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in
Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay
in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): www.resisters.ca
Courage to Resist alerts,
"Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War
also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or
email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and
ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign
is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00
pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action
(September 13th) where
"[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
A new documentary, The Path of Most Resistance,
addresses war resistance. Directed by Gareth Keogh, the film traces two
US service members attempts to receive CO status. One receives it, one
doesn't. Susannah Tarbush (Saudi Gazette) reports
on the film noting that Daniel Baker and Robert Weiss are the two CO
applicants. Anyone paying attention knows who was successful and who
wasn't:
Daniel Baker joined the US Navy
in 2004, but soon after being deployed in Qatar as a communications
officer in 2006 he made a successful application for CO status. He now
works for the Catholic Peace Fellowship, one of the organizations that
advise CO applicants. In contrast, soldier Robert Weiss's
application for CO status was turned down in December 2007. He said: "I
feel that at this point I have no legal avenue for pursuing recognition
of my beliefs, so therefore I have no choice but to leave the military
rather than do something I feel is immoral." On December 22 he was due
to fly back to Iraq, but saw no alternative but to go absent without
leave (AWOL) for 30 days, the minimum time necessary to be classified
as a deserter. He would then turn himself in and face the inevitable
court martial and imprisonment. During his period of being AWOL,
he was given refuge by a family with pacifist sympathies. In February
he turned himself in, and on May 13 was court martialled. He is serving
a seven-month sentence in a military prison in Mannheim, Germany.
.
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, Daniel Baker, 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, Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) sketches out
how oil-rich Kirkuk's fate already appears determined and how that took
place because the central government (puppet) in Baghdad didn't do
anything to mediate between Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans. Oppel writes,
"Kurdish authority is visible everywhere in the city. In addition to
the provincial government and command of the police, the Kurds control
the Asaish, the feared undercover security service that works with the
American military and, according to Asaish commanders, United States
intelligence agencies." Oppel doesn't pursue that aspect which is a
shame because the puppet government was controlled by the White House
so the stand-down on Kirkuk was no acident. And US Col David Paschal
can brag about how he made the call last month (as Turkmen and Kurds
battled) not to send in the Iraqi forces but that call came from higher
up. Mohammed Khalil ("leader of the Arab bloc on the provincial
council") explains, "There is much fear. The Asaish are saying they
will annex Kirkuk by force and that is terrifying people." For more
realities on Kirkuk, see Stephen Farrell's "As Iraqis Vie for Kirkuk's Oil, Refugee Kurds Becomes Pawns" (December 9, 2007). Meanwhile the United Nation's IRIN advises
today of how volatile the situation in Kirkuk remains and sites Baghdad
University's Amer Hassan al-Fayadh explaining, "I do believe the best
solution for Kirkk is that it be run as a separate region -- after
resolving all pending issues between its segments, conducting a census
and then letting its population determine its fate through a
referendum, instead of one party imposing a solution." IRIN notes that
the Iraqi Parliament attempts to impose a solution (in regular session
last July and in special session early this month) have resulted "in
daily demonstrations in favour of, or against, the new legislation."
Meanwhile the Associated Press has an article all over the place today (here at Los Angeles Times, here at Washington Post,
etc.) that is just rah-rah-rah about the US taking in Iraqi refugees
and how the State Dept might meet their announced quota ("for the first
time" is left unstated by Samantha Henry). But at Inside Iraq (McClatchy Newspapers) Sahar Issa explains,
"For the second time now in one month Iraqi newspapers have published
articles stating the U.S will not accept any more Iraqi refugees." And
before some idiot says, "Well it's the 2008 quota and it's been met!"
Fiscal year. Which ends September 30th. Meaning October 1st starts the
next (fiscal) year. Zaineb Naji (Baghdad Life, Wall St. Journal) examines the changing policies on Iraqi refugees for surrounding countries:
Last
year, Syria announced new rules for Iraqis coming to Syria and for the
first time, required us to get visas. But only academics, merchants,
and taxi and truck drivers would qualify for visas. You can also get
permission to travel to Syria if you are going there for medical
treatment.
[. . .]
This
time as we went through customs, two Iraqi soldiers came up to us and
used a scanning device to check us. Then American soldiers took our
biometrics information, including an eye scan. The people who passed
got an "OK" written on their right hand with a black marker.
"Just
like sheep" a young woman said to the American soldier when she got the
"OK" mark on her hand. The soldier said "sorry" several times and
explained that this was the procedure.
Two
hours later, we were on the Syrian side of the border and again we had
to line up to get our passports checked. In the arrival hall, people
were shouting and pushing each other to reach the immigration desk. I
was told to step aside by one of the customs officers, who said I was
blocking his view of the television set.
In
the hall, there was an extra "fee" for each kind of visa. Merchants
were asked to pay $10, while for the sick, the price was $5. For our
transit visas, the fee was $4 each. Everyone got a stamp that allowed
them to stay in Syria for one month and then we were on the bus
again.
At the end of the trip, I realized that Iraqis are always suffering, whether it's inside their country or outside of it.
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
a Baghdad attack in which 1 police officer was shot dead and three were
left wounded and, in Kirkuk, a police shooting is under examination as
a result of the deaths of a man and his father. Reuters notes
a raid conducted by "Iraqi security forces" in Baquba on "the office of
the governor of Diyala province" which resulted in the death of "his
secetary". Reuters notes
the name of the dead is Abbas Ali Hmoud and that Raad Rasheed Mulla
Jawad (the governor of the province) has stated, "The body of the
martyr [Abbas Ali Hmoud] will stay in the building until the iillers
are captured." Though the US military admits at least 1 US helicopter
was present they deny that the US military had any knowledge or
participation in the raid. Maybe they were just jumping the gun on the
August 22nd National Airborne Day? Also playing dumb is the puppet government in Baghdad which is ordering an investigation. AFP reports
that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, "ordered the formation
of a committee to find out how Iraqi forces came to fight each other in
Baquba" and notes that, in addition to the secretary being murdered, a
bodyguard was also shot dead. CNN notes,
"Hussein al-Zubaidi, a provincial council member, and Nazar al-Khafaji,
the Diyala University dean, were arrested during the raid, the official
said."
Today the US military announced:
"A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier was killed as a result of a
rocket attack on a forward operating base near Amarah Aug. 19." ICCC's
count is 4144 for the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war and 17 for the month.
Turning to the US presidential race. The Democratic Party holds its convention in Denver shortly. AP notes,
"Independent Ralph Nader planned to attend a rally at Denver University
on Aug. 27, the night before Obama accepts his party's nomination. And
Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney was scheduled to address
supporters after an anti-war march through downtown Denver on Sunday,
the day before the convention opens." Christopher Keating (Hartford Courant) notes
that independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's campaign was set
to turn in petitions today in New York and Alabama making them the 31st
and 32nd states the Ralph Nader - Matt Gonzalez ticket will be on the
ballots of. Foon Rhee (Boston Globe) adds that the Nader campaign is set to submit their signatures to be on the Massachusetts ballot. The Nader campaign states
it has around 17,000 signatures gathered, that Massachusetts would be
the 34th state they'd be on the ballot of and that "Michael Richardson,
Massachusetts Nader/Gonzalez 2008 Coordinator, will hold a Weds. Aug.
20, 10 a.m. news conference at the Elections Division office, McCormack
Bulding, Room 1705, One Ashburton Place, Boston, Mass. 02108"..
This
is Ralph Nader. Just how different are the two major parties? Well
I've often said that the towering similarities between the two parties
are far greater than the dwindling differences they're really willing
to fight over. It's clear that the Democrats are better than
Republicans on Social Security, civil justice, the right to go to court
if you're wrongfully injured, civil rights and a number of other
issues. But consider the similarities. As I've said when it comes to
the overriding issue of the corporate takeover of our federal
government department by department, agency by agency, the two parties
differ in the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when
corporations pound on their door.
The
two parties are pretty similar on foreign and military policy. In
recent weeks the leading foreign affairs reporters for the Washington Post and the New York Times
said that Obama would be similar in his foreign and military policy to
the second term of George W. Bush. They're both pushing for more
military budget. They haven't singled out a single weapons system that
they think is obsolete, redundant or not needed.
They
both are not doing anything about cracking down on corporate crimes
commensurate with the violations of health and safety laws by the
corporations in the looting and draining of trillions of dollars of
mutual fund savings and pension funds they both are furthering the
perforation of the tax code corporate loopholes and offshore
havens. They both have put the regulatory agencies under anesthesia.
They both are in a race to get more and more private special interest
money into elections corrupting our election process. You ever hear
them mention in any specifics what they're going to do about consumer
protection or what they're going to do about repealing anti-worker,
anti-union laws like Taft-Hartley? No way. Similarly silent.
The
Democrats took over the Congress in January 2007, they haven't rolled
back any of the legislation or even made a major college try to roll
back the bad legislation that Bush and his Congressional Republicans
have passed So we can go and on but just think about it, how necessary
it is to have somewhere else on the ballot line to cast your vote.
Nader-Gonzalez. Thank you.
Wednesday,
August 20th McKinney will make 3 stops in Memphis. That evening she
will be in Jackson, Tennessee for a fundraiser hosted by the Madison
County Green Party. Thursday, August 21st McKinney's first stop is
in Dickson to meet with representatives of the community who have been
affected by the dumping of toxic waste in their community. Then to
Nashville for an 11:00 AM Press Conference in Room 31, Legislative
Plaza speaking to the press about her campaign. This event is open to
the public. Following the press conference Ms McKinney will speak
directly to the public and take questions. This will also be in
Legislative Plaza, Room 31. That morning Greens will turn in their
nominating petitions to secure her position on the general election
ballot in Tennessee. "Due to Tennessee's oppressive election access
laws Ms McKinney will be listed on the ballot as an independent
candidate which we can achieve with 275 valid signatures. It would take
over 45,000 valid signatures to get her listed with the "Green"
affiliation. The Green Party is currently a litigant against the state
seeking ballot access laws that are fair", said John Miglietta a
delegate to the Green Party of the US and a Green Candidate for US
House District 5. Following the Press Conference she is scheduled to
visit Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Carver Food Park
where Sizwe Herring of EarthMatters Tennessee teaches children and
community members about the value of composting and principles of
ecology.
Those appearances start tomorrow and the Geen Party website still has nothing up.
Long
and Key have much in common. Both joined the U.S. Army looking to
better their lives; both deserted their posts and fled to Canada; both
sought refugee status. But
Long, currently in custody at Fort Carlson military base in Colorado,
is the first U.S. conscientious objector to be sent back from Canada,
while Key sits at home in Saskatchewan, awaiting a new hearing on his
claim for refugee status. "It didn't sit right in my stomach," Long told the Boise Weekly in May 2006, about going to Iraq. "I morally couldn't do it." Long,
25, fled to Canada in June 2005 after being ordered to Iraq earlier
that year. He told the media and Canada's Federal Court that despite
joining the Army at age 19 and planning on a career in the military, he
decided, based on conversations with soldiers returning from Iraq, that
"when these people came back and were telling these horrific stories
and our superiors were egging people on, some people were actually
volunteering to go over there and it just seemed like justified
homicide. It didn't seem right to me." Long
argued that if Canada returned him to the United States, he would be
subjected to cruel and unusual punishment and be denied justice.
Hinzman
was handed a deportation order after a Citizenship and Immigration
officer decided his application, filed under the pre-removal risk
assessment program, didn’t qualify. The program evaluates the risk a
claimant will face if he or she is sent back to the country of origin.
Hinzman's final appeal of the rejection of his application for refugee
status had previously been denied. It
was deemed that the US had a fair justice system and Hinzman's First
Amendment right to free speech was protected. Citizenship and
Immigration also judged that President Bush's "no child left behind"
program assured that his son would be able to get a good education. Upon
returning to the US, Hinzman will likely be detained and face court
martial and a similar fate to that of Robin Long, which could include a
five-year prison term for desertion. While his attorneys plan to appeal
the deportation order, Hinzman is not hopeful. In an interview with the
"Democracy Now" program, Hinzman said, "This turns our lives upside
down."
ACT NOW! Tell Stephen Harper: don't deport Hinzman family! U.S. Iraq War resister Jeremy Hinzman and his wife and two children have been ordered to leave Canada by September 23rd.
In
spite of Hinzman’s four and a half years living, working and raising a
family in Canada, the Harper government plans to deport him to the
United States where he will likely face a court martial and a potential
military jail sentence and felony conviction. This flies in the face of
democracy and the will of Canadians: Parliament passed a motion in
support of war resisters June 3rd, 82% of Canadians oppose the Iraq war
(Strategic Counsel poll), and 64% of Canadians support war resisters
(Angus Reid poll).
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW: IN TORONTO: Attend the Emergency Meeting to Stop the Deportation of Jeremy Hinzman and his family, Wednesday August 20th at 7 p.m. at the Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street – Read the War Resisters Support Campaign press release and circulate it widely http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2008/13/c3830.html –
Tell Immigration Minister Diane Finley to use her power to stop
deportation of war resisters and allow them to stay in Canada. Tell
Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Let the War Resisters Stay!
The Right Hon. Stephen Harper Phone: (613) 992-4211 E-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca
Make these points when you contact them – - respect Parliament and implement the June 3rd motion in support of war resisters staying in Canada - 82% of Canadians oppose the Iraq war - 64% of Canadians in an Angus Reid national poll want war resisters to stay in Canada -
Jeremy Hinzman and his family have lived and worked here for over 4
years and made a real contribution; they should not be deported because
they oppose the Iraq war.
A CALL TO ACTION ON SEPTEMBER 13: Get involved!!!
September
13th is a pan-Canadian Day of Action to support war resisters and to
demand that the Harper government stop the deportations. Actions,
demonstrations, and pickets will take place in cities and towns all
across Canada.
Organize a local action for September 13th. Let the War Resisters Support Campaign know what you are planning. http://www.resisters.ca Phone: (416) 598-1222 E-mail: resisters@sympatico.ca
Daniel
Baker joined the US Navy in 2004, but soon after being deployed in
Qatar as a communications officer in 2006 he made a successful
application for CO status. He now works for the Catholic Peace
Fellowship, one of the organizations that advise CO applicants. In
contrast, soldier Robert Weiss's application for CO status was turned
down in December 2007. He said: "I feel that at this point I have no
legal avenue for pursuing recognition of my beliefs, so therefore I
have no choice but to leave the military rather than do something I
feel is immoral." On December 22 he was due to fly back to Iraq, but
saw no alternative but to go absent without leave (AWOL) for 30 days,
the minimum time necessary to be classified as a deserter. He would
then turn himself in and face the inevitable court martial and
imprisonment. During his
period of being AWOL, he was given refuge by a family with pacifist
sympathies. In February he turned himself in, and on May 13 was court
martialled. He is serving a seven-month sentence in a military prison
in Mannheim, Germany. [. . .] In
the process of applying for CO status, applicants have to identify the
moment of the "crystallization" of conscience. A member of a CO support
organization says: "For many it is when they're pointing a weapon at
someone and seeing the person, or being confronted with taking the
lives of very innocent people" When
Daniel Baker joined the Navy, he saw it as "a chance to make something
out of myself -- a chance to really succeed in life and have an
honorable profession to help those in need." But
his career did not provide the hoped-for sense of meaning and purpose
in his life. He started to look at philosophy and stumbled across the
writings of Buddhist philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh. "This was my first
introduction to the theory and practice of non-violence." A
main point of "crystallization" came when he was flying at 300 feet
over the Gulf on a reconnaissance mission tracking an Iranian
submarine. "I heard over the radio set an Iranian voice saying
'Coalition aircraft, maintain five nautical miles' and as we kept
making passes over this submarine the voice got more and more nervous." Baker
realized that "this man, human being, in the submarine, Iranian or not,
was just a human being like me who's my brother." This was to be his
final mission: before his next mission Baker told his instructor that
he was a CO. Weiss describes
the circumstances that at the age of 16 led him to enlist. "I had
nowhere to live, I had no money, I don't have a car, I don’t have a
driver’s license, so really the only possibility I had for having a
place to live and a means to get by would be to join the military." After
he joined up, his sister's boyfriend was stabbed to death at a New
Year's Eve party. "That was a huge turning point in my life, because it
really made me think I am not guaranteed another day. I thought that if
I did die right now I would have to stand before God and it wouldn't be
good enough for me to say, well hey I had fun, I got drunk, I went to
the strip club." He started taking religion seriously and brought God
back into his life.
Wednesday,
August 20th McKinney will make 3 stops in Memphis. That evening she
will be in Jackson, Tennessee for a fundraiser hosted by the Madison
County Green Party. Thursday, August 21st McKinney's first stop is
in Dickson to meet with representatives of the community who have been
affected by the dumping of toxic waste in their community. Then to
Nashville for an 11:00 AM Press Conference in Room 31, Legislative
Plaza speaking to the press about her campaign. This event is open to
the public. Following the press conference Ms McKinney will speak
directly to the public and take questions. This will also be in
Legislative Plaza, Room 31. That morning Greens will turn in their
nominating petitions to secure her position on the general election
ballot in Tennessee. "Due to Tennessee's oppressive election access
laws Ms McKinney will be listed on the ballot as an independent
candidate which we can achieve with 275 valid signatures. It would take
over 45,000 valid signatures to get her listed with the "Green"
affiliation. The Green Party is currently a litigant against the state
seeking ballot access laws that are fair", said John Miglietta a
delegate to the Green Party of the US and a Green Candidate for US
House District 5. Following the Press Conference she is scheduled to
visit Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Carver Food Park
where Sizwe Herring of EarthMatters Tennessee teaches children and
community members about the value of composting and principles of
ecology.
On the presidential issue, I haven't said who
I'm voting for and don't intend to. (I've said who I am not voting for:
Barack or John McCain.)***SEE NOTE AT END*** The community voted and the community is behind Ralph Nader. We're mainly including Cynthia's appearance today because the Green Party's website
doesn't. That should be THE LARGEST HEADLINE EVERY WEEK. Cynthia is
their nominee and they should be getting the word out. Instead, they're
still stuck in July (their convention). The first thing anyone coming
to a political party website needs to see (especially a third-party) is
any events that week with the candidate.
As
the United States activated Navy ships and the Air Force to begin an
airlift of non-specified goods into the former Soviet state of Georgia,
and military exercises began in the Persian Gulf near Iran, I received
communications from certain individuals among the Colorado Greens who
were organizing campaign support events there, suggesting that I not
participate in an anti-war program being organized by other individuals
in Colorado.
Perplexed, I began to do my research to understand
the nature of the fissure that I seemed to be placing myself in the
middle of. The communications to me about not participating in one of
the scheduled events became more and more shrill. The events ran
through August 26th. When the lineup of speakers, including Rosa and
me, was announced for the events in question, I received multiple
communications stating in various ways that the sender from the Green
Party of Colorado, was on the verge of desperation over the latter.
Within
a few hours, I was reading messages stating that the Green Party of
Colorado would be ruined if I participated in the End the
Occupations/End the War march and rally slated to take place on the
morning of August 24th on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol, or
if Rosa participated in a Freedom March and Rally for Human Rights and
Political Prisoners at Civic Center Park the following day.
An
article appeared in a local Colorado newspaper stating that Rosa and I
would not appear at the events for which we had been scheduled. Rosa
responded to our Colorado Green Party contact that yes, indeed, we were
appearing at the two events. Both Rosa and I then received messages
demanding to know by a time certain what our plans were, and asserting
that the Green Party of Colorado would be totally ruined if we
associated with the group sponsoring the events. In addition, we were
told that at least one resignation and sustaining membership would be
tendered to the Party, and that Rosa and I could expect no support on
the ground in Denver from the Green Party of Colorado, including a
planned fundraiser and a place to stay.
Without receiving any
additional response or information from either Rosa or I, the
correspondent sent a message informing us that all Green Party of
Colorado events previously scheduled for us had been canceled. Further,
the message stated that ballot access petitioning by Green Party of
Colorado would cease in neighboring Wyoming and that all efforts would
be made to remove Rosa’s and my names from the ballot in Colorado. The
message also noted that the Colorado delegation overwhelmingly
supported Elaine Brown at the Green Party Convention.
With the
e-mail messages flying “fast and furious,” I hope I have mentioned the
highlights of this episode in somewhat chronological order. What Rosa
and I would like to address now, is the ideological and rational order
that produced this outcome. At the very first Green Party debate held
in San Francisco earlier this year, I pleaded for unity of action and
purpose as we face the challenges that confront us as a country. Rosa
and I are proud to join with others who are sick and tired of war,
occupation, human rights abuses, and the continued incarceration of our
political prisoners. We are proud to join with others who are willing
to do something about it. In the context of activities in Denver, that
means cooperating with some organizations new to us and others with
which Rosa and I have had a long-standing relationship. Let me explain
some of those relationships.
I am proud to have received a
Backbone Award from the Backbone Campaign, one of the co-participants
of the anti-war, anti-occupation events in question, according to the
organizers.
Rosa and I are pleased to have received the
endorsement of M-1 of Dead Prez, who put out a video of endorsement and
is rallying other conscious Hip Hop, Generation X voters to the Green
Party with Rosa and I as its nominees. Rebel Diaz was on the stage with
Rosa as she accepted her Green Party nomination for Vice President.
Both Dead Prez and Rebel Diaz are participating in the events in
question, according to the organizers.
Fred Hampton, Jr.’s
mother, a victim of COINTELPRO, came to Georgia in the mid-1990s to
help me gain reelection after a malicious redistricting case that went
all the way up to the Supreme Court. Ward Churchill has traveled to my
Congressional district to educate my former constituents on the
COINTELPRO of yesterday and the COINTELPRO of today. Natsu Saito
introduced me to other victims of COINTELPRO. I asked Kathleen Cleaver
to co-author a report that was submitted to Mary Robinson, the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time of the World
Conference Against Racism, on the unsolved murders of Black Panther
Party members who were victims of COINTELPRO. Fred Hampton, Jr., Ward
Churchill, Natsu Saito, and Kathleen Cleaver are all participating in
the events in question, according to the organizers.
As a Member
of Congress, I supported the release of all political prisoners and
welcomed information from the American Indian Movement about Leonard
Peltier. I have at many times in my political career been allied with
the ACLU, and have always supported Pam and Ramona Africa and the MOVE
Organization. The American Indian Movement of Colorado, King Downing of
the ACLU, and Pam and Ramona Africa of MOVE are all participating in
the events in question, according to the organizers.
Mumia Abu
Jamal has endorsed the Power to the People Campaign and my Green Party
candidacy. According to the organizers, Mumia will transmit a message
to all of us participating in the events in question.
Finally, I
have appeared on various stages with many Palestinians; I have proudly
spoken at rallies organized by Larry Holmes. Debra Sweet with World
Can’t Wait was among the very first to my knowledge to organize around
impeachment as an imperative and I support hers and all other
impeachment groups in their efforts. And finally, I have known Ben
Manski for a long time as a socially conscious activist who is also a
member of the Green Party. According to the organizers, a Palestinian
refugee is slated to speak at the events in question, as well as Larry
Holmes, Debra Sweet, and Ben Manski.
Rosa and I have not been
given any rational, ideological, or strategically-acceptable reason by
the Green Party of Colorado to dissociate ourselves from the movement
that this country so desperately needs and that these individuals and
organizations participating represent, as we all attempt to hold the
Democratic Party accountable for its complicity in all of the crimes of
the Bush Administration. Therefore Rosa and I will keep our
appointments in Denver and we hope that the members of the Green Party
of Colorado will attend our sessions and listen to what we have to say.
I have faith that by taking principled stands against war and
occupation, human rights abuse, the prison-industrial complex, and in
support of freedom for political prisoners, the Green party will emerge
stronger.
Cynthia McKinney Green Party Nominee for President of the United States
Rosa Clemente Green Party Nominee for Vice President of the United States
Nader's
supporters will deliver the petitions to the New York State Board of
Elections in Albany on Tuesday and will hold a press conference to
announce the submission. Also on Tuesday, another group of supporters
will submit petitions in Washington, D.C. - pushing the overall ballot
access to 31 states and D.C.
After
running for President every four years since 1996, Nader is one of the
nation's best-known figures. But his runningmate, Matt Gonzalez, is
little known on the national stage. A graduate of Columbia University
and Stanford Law School, Gonzalez is the former president of the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors and is currently a partner in a
seven-attorney firm in San Francisco.
31 out of the planned 45 states. The campaign continues meeting its ballot access goals. Billie notes this from Team Nader:
Batman, Huey Long and the Anti-Pelosi
Posted by The Nader Team on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 08:16:00 AM
PS: If you donate $100
or more by tomorrow night, we will send you the best argument yet made
for single payer Medicare for all health insurance -- the DVD Sicko. Plus, we’ll send Awake from Your Slumber -- the DVD starring Ralph Nader and Patti Smith -- autographed by Ralph.
This
is Ralph Nader. Remember reading or hearing the farewell address of
President Dwight Eisenhower? 1960, when he warned Americans about what
he called "the military industrial complex"? Well, just a few words
about where we are in the military budget. It's
now 1/2 of the entire federal government's operating expenditures. It's
way over $700 billion and that's not counting the money for helping our
veterans. Both Obama and McCain want to increase the military budget.
The Government Accountability Office yearly describes the gigantic
Pentagon contracting budget unauditable. Just imagine, half of what the federal government spends in operating expenditures can't even be audited. For
example, people inside the Defense Department think that the F-22
should never have been contract for, built wasn't necessary. The Osprey
helicopter -- defective, killed quite a few marines in test flights,
shouldn't have been built in their judgment. Hundreds of billions of
dollars are in the pipeline for weapons systems that were designed for
the Soviet Union-era of hostility. They no longer have any strategic
value and many of them are redundant. We've
got to cut the waste out of the huge military budget and put that money
back into repairing America's public works and cities, towns and rural
areas all over the country. If we cut out the expenditures of keeping
our soldiers out of Japan and Western Europe -- 60-plus years after
WWII -- a portion of that money could give free education to all
students in public universities in the United States. Think about it. Think
about who stands for a lean defense -- not a wasteful defense; who
stands for respecting your tax payer dollar and returning it to you to
improve the public facilities, schools and clinics, libraries, drinking
water systems, sewage stream and plant upgrades among some of the
deferred maintenance that's reducing the facilities that are necessary
for a thriving community.
---------- Added:
****NOTE**** Jim
adding this to C.I.'s piece above. The point of that comment, already
resulting in e-mails (I'm working the public account) is to make clear,
The Common Ills
will cover Ralph. It is not C.I.'s job to cover all campaigns. This
isn't a campaign site. My guess is C.I. will promote Cynthia's two days
of events in the snapshot because the Green Party isn't. But the point
is, "This isn't McKinney central. Don't come here for that and don't
swamp the public account with your e-mails asking for this and that.
The community voted on Ralph." (I did vote in that poll. As far as I
know, Ava
and C.I. were the only ones who did not in the community. Check with
Gina and Krista though because it was their poll.) C.I. would be
covering Nader regardless and that was noted all the way back in 2004.
(One reason TCI was the site Jess
and I could both agree on!) But the focus is Iraq. Those notes are to
make clear, "Don't expect me to start providing where Cynthia's going,
what she's doing, who's covering her, etc." There's not enough time.
Ralph was going to get a fair shake regardless. The fact that the
community (back in April) voted to support him (some, like me, were
supporting Hillary and made Ralph our choice if the nomination was
stolen) means he gets noticed even more. But there's not time to do
Iraq and Ralph and everything else.
The front page of this morning's New York Times features Richard A. Oppel Jr.'s "Kurdish Control of City Creates Political Powderkeg in North Iraq" which, along with Stephen Farrell's "As Iraqis Vie for Kirkuk's Oil, Refugee Kurds Becomes Pawns"
(December 9, 2007) stands as the best domestic coverage of Kirkuk by
any US outlet. Oppel sketches out how Kirkuk's fate already appears
determined and how that took place because the central government
(puppet) in Baghdad didn't do anything. Oppel writes, "Kurdish
authority is visible everywhere in the city. In addition to the
provincial government and command of the police, the Kurds control the
Asaish, the feared undercover security service that works with the
American military and, according to Asaish commanders, United States
intelligence agencies." Oppel doesn't pursue that aspect which is a
shame because the puppet government was controlled by the White House
so the stand-down on Kirkuk was no acident. And US Col David Paschal
can brag about how he made the call last month (as Turkmen and Kurds
battled) not to send in the Iraqi forces but that call came from higher
up. Mohammed Khalil ("leader of the Arab bloc on the provincial
council") explains, "There is much fear. The Asaish are saying they
will annex Kirkuk by force and that is terrifying people."
Leila Fadel's "He Paid the Price" (Bagdad Observer, McClatchy Newspapers) covers the death of "Awakening" Council member Farouk Abd al Sattar al Obeidi who died in Sunday's Baghdad bombing:
I
could see that Al Obeidi was proud of the small office the group rented
in a strip mall in Adhamiyah. He sat behind a large desk and pulled out
the pictures of the men they had helped catch. He helped pay for the
uniforms his men wore, military uniforms although they were not in the
army. On the floor green and red lights danced from a light projector
attached to the wall to jazz up the drab room. But
he also lamented that the government was sectarian and would not take
in the young men who fought for the neighborhood into their forces.
They had no respect for the movement, he said. This was a movement that
brought down violence in Iraq when U.S. forces and the Iraqi government
could not, he said. "We are an oppressed people," he said. "Our leaders are oppressors." Personally
he had no interest in joining the security forces. He rolled up his
pant leg to show me why. He had a scarred pink whole in his leg. It was
a reminder of the day he'd survived a grenade attack, he said. He'd
helped a Shiite man leave the neighborhood of Adhamiyah after he was
threatened by Sunni extremists in the once insurgent-dominated
neighborhood. He took the
man out of Sunni Adhamiyah and returned home, he knew what it was to be
displaced. He'd been displaced by Shiite militants.
AP has an article all over the place (here at Los Angeles Times, here at Washington Post,
etc.) just rah-rah-rah about the US taking in Iraqi refugees and how
the State Dept might meet their announced quota ("for the first time"
is left unstated by Samantha Henry). Now go to Inside Iraq (McClatchy Newspapers)
where you'll find an Iraqi journalist, "For the second time now in one
month Iraqi newspapers have published articles stating the U.S will not
accept any more Iraqi refugees." And before some idiot says, "Well it's
the 2008 quota and it's been met!" Fiscal year. Which ends September
30th. Meaning October 1st starts the next (fiscal) year.
Thousands of you have already donated very generously to Nader/Gonzalez.
Thank you.
But tens of thousands of you have not.
So, today is your day.
Our Nader/Gonzalez team in Denver (pictured here) needs your help.
If you haven't given to Nader/Gonzalez yet, please donate $5 now.
We are a grassroots campaign in need of some serious grassroots support.
And
we are busting it in Denver preparing for our first Super Rally --
August 27 at the Magness Arena at the University of Denver.
We
have a lineup of national figures on board to stand with us and demand
open debates during the DNC in Denver (watch for speaker/performer
announcement this week).
This will be a powerful start to our Open the Debates campaign and will mark the end of our drive for ballot access.
After
spending over 90 days and 90 nights on the road collecting signatures
to get Ralph on the ballot in New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming,
Alaska, and California, a dedicated road tripper, Junue Millan, is in
Colorado helping prepare for Ralph's first Super Rally of the season.
He
worked with a road trip team that collected more than 30,000 signatures
in 10 states, and after doing a couple of back of the napkin
calculations, we figure that means our team has spoken with over
300,000 people about Ralph Nader and his candidacy.
Multiply
those by the number of dedicated road tripping teams across the
country, and our supporters have spoken to nearly 3 million people
across the country.
Talk about a grassroots campaign!
Without
the help of those of you who can’t be on the road but who are in a
position to provide us with much needed resources, this would have been
impossible.
Thank you so much for your support during the last five months.
Although
we have talked to our first three million people, we still have 297
million people to still reach before the election on November 4th.
We all know that mainstream media isn't helping our cause, so we have decided to take matters into our own hands.
We
have printed 7,000 tickets, 100,000 flyers, secured an office, have a
strong volunteer movement, and we are ready to appeal directly to
people really ready for some change.
Many dedicated volunteers are putting in 70 hour weeks to make this event an awesome kick-off to the campaign season.
We
need to print more fliers to get the word out from Ft. Collins to
Colorado Springs, from Denver to Boulder, and all over Colorado.
We
need tape for the posters, we need office supplies to keep things
running smoothly, gas money to get around Colorado. We need lighting
equipment, sound equipment, and so much more to get this Super Rally
together.
We have amazing volunteers dedicating every hour of their weekend spreading the word.
We just finished handing out fliers at the New West Fest in Ft. Collins and at the Farmer's Markets in Boulder and Littleton.
We'll put in the hours and the miles - but we need your contributions to help fuel this rally effort.
Monday,
August 18, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Jeffry House still
doesn't grasp what Justice Robert Barnes wrote in his ruling,
Blackwater mercenaries are made to sweat, Ralph Nader fights for
democracy and open debates and Cynthia McKinney makes it clear that she
will not be intimidated by some 'supporters' who wanted her to cancel
an appearance.
Starting with war resistance. Last Wednesday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman
was informed he had to leave Canada by September 32rd. He and his
family (wife Nga Nguyen, son Liam and daughter Meghan) have taped a
video at the War Resisters Support Campaign where Jeremy speaks to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy
Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan.
We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a
specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and
served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to
Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which
Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the
international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau,
once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at
this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion
saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in
Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay
in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): www.resisters.ca
In These Times has an article by Peter Kavanagh
and I'm going to take huge exception with a viewpoint offered by Jeffry
House who really needs to start getting to know the facts. Facts are
your friend, Jeffry. House represents Joshua Key (and many others) and
maybe he thinks making ridiculous statements about the Barnes decision
is to Josh's benefit? I don't know. But he was wrong when the
decision was released and he's STILL wrong. He tells Kavanagh, "The
Key decision is of use to soldiers who have their boots on the ground
and are ordered to commit acts [that] violate their consciences, and
also violate international norms." House is wrong. Alyssa makes
similar statements and I let it slide. I cringe but let it slide. She
didn't live through the time period, House did. Judge Barnes, PAY
ATTENTION, found the Board to be in error by proclaiming "that refugee
protection for military deserters and evaders is only available where
the conduct objected to amounts to a war crime, a crime against peace
or a crime against humanity."
Let me explain
what NOT noting that is akin to: Finding out that your dream house has
a closet painted the wrong color and saying, "Oh, forget it." That
sentence -- which escapes Allyson, shouldn't escape House. Key words:
MILITARY DESERTERS AND EVADERS. Same words from Vietnam. Barnes is
using those terms today. Who's what? Deserters are those who served
in Iraq and then checked out. Evaders would be those ordered to go to
Iraq who checked out before deploying. Barnes knows his terminology
and he knows his history. His decision is a very carefully constructed
finding. By mentioning the category of military evaders he means who?
Jeremy Hinzman, Brandon Hughey and all others who checked out instead
of deploying to Iraq. Kyle Snyder, Joshua Key, Patrick Hart, etc would
qualify as military deserters in the eyes of the court.
This
isn't the first time Jeffry House has made public statements that have
missed the boat (and, worse, damaged the cases of others). I'm not
going to sit here and smile and pretend it didn't just happen again.
He is WRONG. Justice Robert Barnes' decision is a long one. House was
commenting on it without even reading it earlier. It was obvious from
the press that he hadn't even bothered to read it. He may have read a
summary but he didn't read the 23 pages. Barnes is careful, considered
and meticulous in his ruling. He is specifically addressing Joshua
Key's case but what he ruled provides openings for many war resisters
-- regardless of whether they fall into the category of "military
deserter" or "military evader." The latter term, during Vietnam, was
used to described those who were evading the draft. The "evader" has
always been the one who has not been on the battlefield. Barnes is
using that term today and Jeffry House should have caught that and
should have understood its significance. It's been over a month since
that ruling was issued. There's no longer an excuse for not being
familiar with it. We'll try to note Kavanagh's article again later in
the week -- really note it -- but this is exactly the nonsense (House's
-- I'm not referring to Kavanagh) that keeps hurting war resistance.
It is exactly why Mactavish was able to dismiss concerns as
"speculation." (And, hello, we pointed the dangers of that 'strategy'
out here at the start of July. Long before Mactavish offered that
ruling. And noted it would be dismissed as "speculation." As it
was.) I'm sure House and others are overworked but there are too many
basic points of law that are repeatedly being missed. The ruling is 23
pages long. All representing war resisters in Canada need to read over
the ruling (read it again if they already have). Don't take House's
summary as gospel because this is the second time he's spoken of it
publicly and been wrong. Not only do you need to read it for what it
says (such as "military deserters and evaders"), you need to read it
while thinking how it directly effects your client's case and how YOU
CAN TRY TO EXPAND IT to do so. That is building on the ruling. And,
one more thing, Barnes mentions Jeremy Hinzman in his ruling. He
didn't have to. The fact that Hinzman is mentioned in the ruling makes
the ruling especially significant to Jeremy's case. More so than any
other war resister except Josh. Equally true, Barnes' statement that,
"Officially condoned military misconduct falling well short of a war
crime may a support a claim to refugee protection" is a statement that
applies to all, not just those who had their boots on the ground. If
only those whose boots were on the ground could make that assessment,
Barnes couldn't make it himself. He's dependent upon testimony and
findings (including the International Red Cross). The same testimony
and findings he depended upon to make his ruling may have had impact on
the decision of a US war resister currently in Canada who did not go to
Iraq.
Irwin Loy (24 Hours Vancouver) reported over the weekend on Michael Beyers
who is running for the Canadian Parliament and declared, "I believe in
a Canada that grants asylum to principled young Americans that said no
to an illegal war." Byers is an NDP
candidate and the NDP has a long history of supporting war resisters.
Just as Oliva Chow is among those leading the charge today, NDP-ers
like Ed Broadbent led it during Vietnam. Back then, Broadbent was
regularly pointing out Canada's long history as a place for sanctuary
such as when he noted, "Our tradition of welcoming those who are
essentially political refugees goes back to the United Empire
Loyalists." Broadbent would go on to take the NDP to new heights in
the immediate post-Vietnam period. There is no political fallout for
Canadian office holders on this issue. [Click here for CBC coverage of Broadbent.] This is the press release issued by Oliva Chow's office on the decision to deport Jeremy:
The
August 13 decision by Harper's Conservative government to deport war
resister Jeremy Hinzman is mean-spirited and anti-democratic.
"Harper's
mean-spirited decision to allow this deportation is sad," said NDP
Citizenship and Immigration Critic MP Olivia Chow. "Jeremy has called
Canada his home for the past five years and has just recently
celebrated the birth of his second child. If there was ever a case to
grant refugee status on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, this is
it."
With today's negative ruling on
Jeremy Hinzman's Pre-removal Risk Assessment and Humanitarian and
Compassionate consideration, there is an urgent need for the people of
Canada to express their outrage against the Conservative government's
refusal to act on the will of Parliament.
On
June 3rd, Olivia Chow saw her motion to halt all deporations against US
Iraq war resisters passed by Parliament by a vote of 137-110.
"Ordinary
Canadians have already said 'yes' to Jeremy Hinzman and to his family,"
said Chow. "They have spoken through their Parliament, they want to
let Mr. Hinzman and other U.S. Iraq War Resisters stay in Canada."
Jeremy
Hinzman is schedule to be deported on Tuesday, September 23. Hinzman
is the first war resister who filed a refugee claim to stay in Canada.
Courage to Resist alerts,
"Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War
also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or
email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and
ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign
is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00
pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action
(September 13th) where "[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take
place in cities and towns all across Canada."
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 where Shi'ite pilgrims became the focus of attacks last week and it continued over the weekend. AFP reports
that from Thursday through Saturday "at least 36" lost their lives (and
notes that Thursday's Iskandariyah attack claimed 22 lives with
seventy-three injured). Sunday, Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reported
on the 6 deaths of pilgrims in a bombing and that, "Three hours after
the early-morning blast, shopkeepers, residents and survivors were
still pulling charred goods and debris from damaged roadside stores,
and sweeping ashes and wreckage into the gutter." [Friday's bombing attack on pilgrims claimed 9 lives.] Yesterday Hussein Kadhim (McCatchy Newspapers) reports
a Sunday Baghdad bomber on bicylce that claimed his/her own life as
well as 5 other people (thirteen wounded). As the death toll
increased, Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that 7 were dead from the "suicide bomber on a bicycle" with thirteen injured. Erica Goode and Ali Hameed (New York Times) report
the bombing took place "in front of Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa
mosque," claimed 15 lives (twenty-nine injured) and: "Witnesses said
that the bomber, a man, may have been riding a motorcycle that was
parked about 65 feet from a traffic light on the street." Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) explain,
"There were contradictory accounts of the incident. One police officer
said the bomber was disguised as a woman and arrived on foot; another
said the attacker was not disguised and arrived on a bike." The US military maintains
it was a man and that he walked up to "an SOI control check point near
the Abu Hamifa Mosque wearing a personal borne improvised-explosive
device and self-detonated." "SOI" is "Sons of Iraq" aka "Awakening"
Councils (or Sahwa). AP disagrees
on the gender of the bomber (they say it was a woman) but do agree that
6 "bodyguards of Farooq al-Obeidi, deputy leader of the 'awakening
council' in Baghdad's Azamiyah district, also died in the blast, which
occurred as they were seated on chairs near a checkpoint near the
Abu Hanifa mosque".
Sunday Del Quentin Wilber and Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported
that six mercenaries working for Blackwater who had been in Iraq
"working as security contractors for the State Department, assigned to
protect U.S. diplomats and other non-military officials in Iraq" that
they are targets in a criminal investigation. If it seems familiar you
may be remembering the real-time article by Sabrina Tavernise and James
Glanz ("Security Firm Faces Criminal Charges in Iraq," New York Times). Dropping back to the September 17th snapshot:
Turning to the issue of violence, Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reported
Sunday [Sept. 16th] that a Baghdad shooting (by private
contractors) killed 9 Iraqi civilians and left fifteen more wounded.
Later on Sunday, CNN reported,
"In the Baghdad gun battle, which was between security forces and
unidentified gunmen, eight people were killed and 14 wounded, most of
them civilians, an Interior Ministry official said. Details were
sketchy, but the official said witnesses told police that the security
forces involved appeared to be Westerners driving sport utility
vehicles, which are usually used by Western companies. The clash
occurred near Nisoor square, in western Baghdad. CBS and AP report
that Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry,
announced "it was pulling the license of an American security firm
allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack
on a U.S. State Department motorcade in Baghdad," that "it would
prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force"
in the slaughter (eight dead, 13 wounded) and they "have canceled the
liscense of Blcakwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi
territory."
The number killed continued to mount. James Bone (Times of London) notes
today that 17 Iraqi civilians were slaughtered in that incident and
reminds that, "In negotiations on a new bilateral security agreement,
the Iraqi government has pressed for all foreign personnel to be
subject to Iraqi law." Meanwhile, the US military has good news
yesterday! "Attacks down except roadside bombs, rigged houses"!
So attacks are down . . . if you eliminate some of the attacks. The
opening sentence: "The numbers of houses rigged with explosives and
roadside bombs have increased since the beginning of the Iraqi
offensive in Diyala, while other attack trends have been decreasing."
Guess this wave of Operation Happy Talk should be dubbed "win some,
lose some." M-NF also announced 37 women "attended the first day of a four-week course at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk city" Saturday. Reuters reported the Turkish military says they bombed northern Iraq on Sunday ("no details of casualties"). And that "police fired on demonstrators" Sunday in Arbil killing one.
In news of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
a Baghdad roadside bombing that left five people wounded, while another
Baghdad roadside bombing left three people wounded and a Baghdad IED
bombing left nine people wounded. Reuters notes
a Ramadi car bombing that claimed the lives of 5 police officers dead
(seven wounded) and a Mosul roadside bombing that resulted in three
being injured.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
that Faris Jabir Thair ("a member in Shaheed al Mihrab organization")
was shot dead (machine gunned while in his car) in a Baghdad attack
that left his wife wounded, while 2 people were shot dead in Basra
("director of an election center and his deputy") with another wounded
and "Awakening" Council leader Raheem Thyab al Bayati was shot dead in
Kirkuk. On the Basra shooting of election officials, Reuters notes Ma'ath Wahab was the name of the director who was shot dead (the other killed and the one wounded are not named).
Turning to the US presidential race. Last Monday, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader was in Toronto. Hentry Martinuk (Rabble News) reports today that Ralph attracted a crowd of 200 and: "There are several other issues where Nader differs from Obama and McCain:
impeachment of Bush and Cheney; withdrawal from Iraq; restoring civil
liberties; repealing anti-union laws; supporting industrial hemp; and
cutting the wasteful military budget. According to Nader, Obama and
McCain 'never met a weapons system they didn't like'." Third Party Watch notes,
"Zogby International reports that more than half of likely voters
nationwide -- 55% -- want Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr
to participate in the presidential debates this fall, while nearly half
-- 46% -- also said they think Ralph Nader should be allowed into the
debates." Which is a good time to note, from Ralph's Daily Audio, "Join Our Super Rallies for Open Debates:"
Good
morning, this is Ralph Nader. As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being
blocked from the presidential debates. The corporate controlled
so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will not let any
independent candidate in unless they show 15% in a series of polls in
September. That's no surprise. What is surprising is the failure of
other debates to fill the vacuum. Part of this is due to Senator
Obama's reluctance to engage his opponents. On May 4th, 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 earlier this month, Obama's
campaign manager backed off, saying that Obama would debate only
Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates that's sponsored by
the two parties and paid for by corporations. Senator
Obama's also refused to participate in a number of other debates
including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Texas Ft. Hood debate
that is being organized by veterans groups and the series of ten
townhall meetings proposed by Senator McCain. Senator Obama's refusal
to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls. Just
yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44%
each. If Obama doesn't agree to more debates he could end up at the end
of a sentence that starts out "Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry. With
only McCain and Obama on the stage , there will be no debate of key
issues and redirections important to the American people . Just go down
the partial list. Single-payer Medicare for all healthcare, supported
by the majority of the American people, the majority of doctors and
nurses, and just recently, unanimously, by the US conference of mayors?
Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Reversing US policy in the Middle
East? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Cut the bloated, wasteful,
redundant military budget? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." They want
a bigger military budget. Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill
'em up with corporate criminals? Obama says "no," McCain says "no."
Nader-Gonzalez says "yes" to each. The
only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans
to become engaged now. If you can, please join with us at our two Super
Rallies-- on August 27th in Denver at the University of Denver Magness
Arena or September 4th in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall. And help us
raise the banner for all to see: "OPEN THE DEBATES." If
you are not able to attend, please go to VoteNader.org and donate now
whatever you can up to the legal maximum of $4,600 to help fund our
Open The Debates Campaign. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by Wednesday
night. Last night, we were close to $14,000 in less than three days,
but we have a ways to go. So join with us in Denver and Minneapolis if
you can. We're planning to have some prominent activists and musicians
with us. Stay tuned for more information on that. And we have some
surprise, giant, inflatable visuals that should be a lot of fun, that
will travel with us as we move from Denver to Minneapolis and then,
hopefully, will bring attention to our Super Rallies from the press. Thank
you for your ongoing and considered support to our campaign. Together
we are making a difference. Onward to November. I'm Ralph Nader.
Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader
are presidential candidates. There is no need for "presumptive" to be
used as a preface. They are presidential candidates. They get very
little coverage. The debates need to be opened and click here for Third addressing that yesterday and this was left out in the rush to type (Jim added it this morning -- thank you to community member Lynda), wo we'll include that section in full here:
The campaign is keeping issues on the table. Thursday, Jess spoke with Junue Millan at the newly opened Nader-Gonzalez Denver Headquarters. The
headquarters intends to be open not just business hours Monday through
Friday, but from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That's due to the fact that not
only are they a campaign headquarters with all that entails, they're
also gearing up for the Denver Super Rally August 27th. They are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. And they need volunteers. If you're in the Denver area and interested in helping, you can e-mail Junue Millan at junue@votenader.org as well as call the office (303) 832-2509 or walk in. The
Denver Super Rally will feature Ralph and running mate Matt Gonzalez as
well as many guest speakers such as artist, activist and rocker Jello Biafra.
Junue Millan described the mood to Jess as very up and noted that five
outlets (including Univision) had sent reporters Thursday to cover the
opening of the Denver headquarters. Millan was able to quickly --
without pausing -- tick off the issues that the Nader-Gonzalez campaign
were raising and intended to keep on the table. None of that, "Check
Saint Barack's website for issues, I am just here to talk about how
groovy Barack is and how, when he cries, the heavens rain. I first came
to Barack . . . a street junkie who had run away from home and was
turning tricks on the side, selling a little blow and scamming this old
lady at the homeless shelter, but Saint Barack has changed my life and
cured my irritable bowel syndrome. Praise be, St. Barack." Instead,
Millan was informed and a total pro which says a great deal the
Nader-Gonzalez campaign.
Steven Argue (Dissident Voice) reports
that Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney (and running mate Rosa
Clemente) will be participating in Recreate '68 in Denver in spite of
the fact that "the Green Party of Colorado has issued false statements
to the press and all over the internet claiming that Green Party
presidential candidate Cynthia MiKinney will not be participating in
the Recreate '68 events." We don't have room in the snapshot for
Cynthia's statement in full (it'll go in one of tomorrow's morning
entries) but here is the opening (and for space, paragraphs are going
to run together):
As the United States
activated Navy ships and the Air Force to begin an airlift of
non-specified goods into the former Soviet state of Georgia, and
military exercises began in the Persian Gulf near Iran, I received
communications from certain individuals among the Colorado Greens who
were organizing campaign support events there, suggesting that I not
participate in an anti-war program being organized by other individuals
in Colorado. Perplexed, I began to do my research to understand the
nature of the fissure that I seemed to be placing myself in the middle
of. The communications to me about not participating in one of the
scheduled events became more and more shrill. The events ran through
August 26th. When the lineup of speakers, including Rosa and me, was
announced for the events in question, I received multiple
communications stating in various ways that the sender from the Green
Party of Colorado, was on the verge of desperation over the latter.
At
this point Cynthia states that some Colorado Greens threatened her with
stopping the ballot access efforts in Wyoming if she didn't agree not
to appear and she was told, basically, 'We supported Elaine Brown and
not you anyway, nah-nah-nah.' She then lists some of the people
participating who have stood up regularly for what was needed before
concluding:
Rosa and I have not been
given any rational, ideological, or strategically-acceptable reason by
the Green Party of Colorado to dissociate ourselves from the movement
that this country so desperately needs and that these individuals and
organizations participating represent, as we all attempt to hold the
Democratic Party accountable for its complicity in all of the crimes of
the Bush Administration. Therefore Rosa and I will keep our
appointments in Denver and we hope that the members of the Green Party
of Colorado will attend our sessions and listen to what we have to
say. I have faith that by taking principled stands against war and
occupation, human rights abuse, the prison-industrial complex, and in
support of freedom for political prisoners, the Green Party will emerge
stronger.
Finally, from Ralph's Daily Audio, here's today's "The Bloated Defense Budget:"
This
is Ralph Nader. Remember reading or hearing the farewell address of
President Dwight Eisenhower? 1960, when he warned Americans about what
he called "the military industrial complex." Well, just a few words
about where we are in the military budget. It's now 1/2 of the entire
federal government's operating expenditures. It's way over $700
billion and that's not counting the money for helping our veterans.
Both Obama and McCain want to increase the military budget. The
Government Accountability Office yearly describes the gigantic Pentagon
contracting budget unaduitable. Just imagine, half of what the federal
government spends in operating expenditures can't even be audited. For
example, people inside the Defense Department think that the F-22
should never have been contract for, built wasn't necessary. The Osprey
helicopter -- defective, killed quite a few marines in test flights,
shouldn't have been built in their judgment. Hundreds of billions of
dollars are in the pipeline for weapons systems that were designed for
the Soviet Union-era of hostility. They no longer have any strategic
value and many of them are redundant. We've got to cut the waste out
of the huge military budget and put that money back into repairing
America's public works and cities, towns and rural areas all over the
country. If we cut out the expenditures of keeping our soldiers out of
Japan and Western Europe -- 60-plus years after WWII -- a portion of
that money could give free education to all students in public
universities in the United States. Think about it. Think about who
stands for a lean defense -- not a wasteful defense; who stands for
respecting your tax payer dollar and returning it to you to improve the
public facilities, schools and clinics, libraries, drinking water
systems, sewage stream and plant upgrades among some of the deferred
maintenance that's reducing the facilities that are necessary for a
thriving community.
The above is a video from the War Resisters Support Campaign and it is Jeremy Hinzman, with his wife Nga Nguyen and their children Liam and Meghan, delivering a request to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Last Wednesday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed he had to leave Canada by September 32rd. Courage to Resist alerts,
"Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War
also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or
email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and
ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign
is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00
pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action
(September 13th) where "[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take
place in cities and towns all across Canada."
In Iraq today, violence is already registering. Reuters notes
a Baghdad roadside bombing which left four people (three are police
officers) wounded, a Baghdad roadside bombing that left five people
injured (three are police officers), a third Baghdad roadside bomb that
left nine injured, a Mosul roadside bomb that left injured "three
prison guards," 2 people shot dead outside Abul Khasib, 3 "militants"
killed by Iraqi forces in Baghdad, and 1 Shi'ite cleric shot dead in
Baghdad (his wife was left injured in the shooting).
Good
morning, this is Ralph Nader. As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being
blocked from the presidential debates. The corporate controlled
so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will not let any
independent candidate in unless they show 15% in a series of polls in
September. That's no surprise. What is surprising is the failure of
other debates to fill the vacuum. Part of this is due to Senator
Obama's reluctance to engage his opponents. On May 4th, 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 earlier this month, Obama's
campaign manager backed off, saying that Obama would debate only
Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates that's sponsored by
the two parties and paid for by corporations. Senator
Obama's also refused to participate in a number of other debates
including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Texas Ft. Hood debate
that is being organized by veterans groups and the series of ten
townhall meetings proposed by Senator McCain. Senator Obama's refusal
to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls. Just
yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44%
each. If Obama doesn't agree to more debates he could end up at the end
of a sentence that starts out "Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry. With
only McCain and Obama on the stage , there will be no debate of key
issues and redirections important to the American people . Just go down
the partial list. Single-payer Medicare for all healthcare, supported
by the majority of the American people, the majority of doctors and
nurses, and just recently, unanimously, by the US conference of mayors?
Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Reversing US policy in the Middle
East? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Cut the bloated, wasteful,
redundant military budget? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." They want
a bigger military budget. Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill
'em up with corporate criminals? Obama says "no," McCain says "no."
Nader-Gonzalez says "yes" to each. The
only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans
to become engaged now. If you can, please join with us at our two Super
Rallies-- on August 27th in Denver at the University of Denver Magness
Arena or September 4th in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall. And help us
raise the banner for all to see: "OPEN THE DEBATES." If
you are not able to attend, please go to VoteNader.org and donate now
whatever you can up to the legal maximum of $4,600 to help fund our
Open The Debates Campaign. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by Wednesday
night. Last night, we were close to $14,000 in less than three days,
but we have a ways to go. So join with us in Denver and Minneapolis if
you can. We're planning to have some prominent activists and musicians
with us. Stay tuned for more information on that. And we have some
surprise, giant, inflatable visuals that should be a lot of fun, that
will travel with us as we move from Denver to Minneapolis and then,
hopefully, will bring attention to our Super Rallies from the press. Thank
you for your ongoing and considered support to our campaign. Together
we are making a difference. Onward to November. I'm Ralph Nader.
Lynda had a few questions and they're good ones so let me answer quickly. 1) What's covered each week at Third and in Hilda's Mix
in terms of the daily audio? In both, I will do transcripts through
Friday and Friday only. Anything after, I'm happy to grab the following
week. And anyone else can transcribe it (members without sites or
members with websites) and it can go up on the weekend. Saturday's
flying back home and then comes the nightmare writing edition for Third. For me, Friday's the cut-off date. 2) Jess spoke with Nader's Denver campaign office and nothing on that went up at Third?
News to me. (Lynda's right.) That was included in every draft. I don't
know who typed it up and don't need to because I know no one objected
to that section. What most likely happened is that whomever got stuck
typing that was tired and missed that section. I'll see if Jim can take a look at it, find that passage and add it today. [How tired was everyone? When I was doing "And the war drags on" last night and going through the e-mails, I saw Jonah's suggesting I "take a look at 'Truest statement of the Week I' and 'Truest statement of the Week II'"
and I saw why he suggested that: they were the same statement. We'd
posted John Walsh twice and not even noticed.] 3) Lynda thought it was
strange we didn't include Ralph's commentary above in "Open Up The Debates!" yesterday. I don't know that anyone saw it/heard it. Ava, Kat, Wally and I hadn't. "Open Up The Debates!"
is three features cobbled together (which may explain why Jess' section
got dropped). The first is about John Edwards' 'advanced' views. Marcia
especially wanted that as an article. The second was about opening the
debates. The third was Ralph's audio commentaries. Everyone was tired
and the three were forced together from various drafts. Opening the
debates contained several paragraphs and I believe that's where the
section on what Jess learned from calling the Denver headquarters was.
The thing on Edwards' 'advanced' and 'evolving' views just wasn't
working. Marcia worked like crazy (she wasn't the only one but she was
the only one with the persistence to rally everyone for another try). Dona's
the one who said, "_____ is the strongest point in this and it's about
the debates, so how about we pair it with the open the debates
feature." Everyone was fine with that and then Ty
suggested we bring the week's audio commentaries in so that they were
part of that article and not a stand-alone. Again, I'll let Jim know
that the section on the Denver headquarters isn't in the article and
he'll try to locate those paragraphs. Thank you, Lynda. (And thank you,
Jonah.)
Friday morning, this was noted: "Kimberly Wilder encourages people to check out this video
of Asa Gordon 'explaining his electoral college lawsuits' which is
about 'proportional apportionment of presidential electors'." Fridays
until Monday morning, we avoid videos here because it takes the site
longer to load for many (who aren't checking in on work computers the
way they do during the week). If you saw the link and were interested
Friday but forgot to check it out, the video is below.
The
plaza in front of Baghdad’s famous Abu Hanifa mosque in the Adhamiya
district has lately been a place of joyous celebration and worship. On
Sunday evening it was a scene of terror, as a suicide bomber struck a
crowded street in front of the mosque. The
police and witnesses said the blast killed 15 people and wounded 29
others. Among the dead was Faruq Abdul Sattar, a deputy commander of
Adhamiya’s Sunni Awakening council, the American-backed local force
that guards the neighborhood, which is a Sunni stronghold.
A
suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked a checkpoint in northern Baghdad
on Sunday, killing seven and wounding 13, police said. Among the dead
was a well-known leader of a U.S.-backed program to protect
neighborhoods.
Last night's entry included this: "They do have an article by Erica Goode and Ali Hameed ('Suicide Bomber Kills 15 at a Sunni Mosque in Baghdad')
on violence that's not covered elsewhere -- violence today unless the
motor cyclist they describe is the bicyclist described by McClatchy. In
which case the death count has risen from 6 to 15 (with 29 more
wounded)." Is it the same incident? Ned Parker and Saif Hameed's "Iraq bombing kills 15" (Los Angeles Times) attempts to clarify:
There
were contradictory accounts of the incident. One police officer said
the bomber was disguised as a woman and arrived on foot; another said
the attacker was not disguised and arrived on a bike.
Last Wednesday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed he had to leave Canada by September 32rd. Courage to Resist alerts,
"Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War
also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or
email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and
ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign
is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00
pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action
(September 13th) where "[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take
place in cities and towns all across Canada." Below is a video from the
War Resisters Support Campaign.
Click here to listen to Ralph's Saturday morning audio blog.
Good morning.
This is Ralph Nader.
As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being blocked from the Presidential debates.
The
corporate controlled, so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will
not let any independent candidate in unless they show 15 percent in a
series of polls in September.
That's no surprise.
What is surprising is the failure of other debates to fill the vacuum.
Part of this is due to Senator Obama's reluctance to engage his opponents.
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 earlier
this month, Obama's campaign manager 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.
Senator
Obama has also refused to participate in a number of other debates --
including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Ft. Hood, Texas debate
that is being organized by veterans groups, and the series of ten town
hall meetings proposed by Senator McCain.
Senator Obama's refusal to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls.
Just yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44 percent each.
If
Obama doesn't agree to more debates, he could end up at the end of a
sentence that starts with Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry.
With
only McCain and Obama on the stage, there will be no debate of key
issues and re-directions important to the majority of the American
people.
Just go down the partial list:
Single
payer Medicare for all health care -- supported by the majority of the
American people, the majority of doctors and nurses, and just recently,
unanimously, by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Obama says no. McCain says no.
Reversing U.S. policy in the Middle East -- Obama says no. McCain says no.
Cut the bloated, wasteful, redundant military budget -- Obama says no, McCain says no. They want a bigger military budget.
Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill them up with corporate criminals -- Obama says no, McCain says no.
Nader/Gonzalez says yes -- to each.
The only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans to become engaged now.
If
you can, please join with us at our two Super Rallies -- on August 27th
in Denver at the University of Denver's Magness Arena or September 4th
in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall.
And help us raise the banner for all to see -- Open the Debates.
If you are not able attend, please go to votenader.org and donate now whatever you can -- up to the legal maximum of $4,600 -- to help fund our Open the Debates campaign.
Our goal is to raise $50,000 by Wednesday night.
Last night, we were close to $15,000 in less than three days.
But we have a ways to go.
So, join with us in Denver and Minneapolis, if you can.
We're planning to have some prominent activists and musicians with us -- stay tuned for more information on that.
And
we have some surprise giant inflatable visuals that should will be a
lot of fun, that will travel with us as we move from Denver to
Minneapolis -- and that hopefully will bring attention to our Super
Rallies from the press.
Thank you for your ongoing and considered support to our campaign.
Last Wednesday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed he had to leave Canada by September 32rd. Careful readers of Jay Price's "Deserter may fare worse because of flight" (News Observer) will grasp why we ignored the bulk of Price's Iraqi 'reporting' when he was there. Those not paying attention will think Price did his job. They'll probably the include the visitors who used whine over and over that we're not this or that by Price. He knows how to take dictation (especially from the US military -- check out the last section but it's true of the entire article) very well. He just doesn't care about the details. (Does the name Agustin Aguayo mean anything? Not to Price. Which is how you get such a useless article.) Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where "[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada." Irwin Loy (24 Hours Vancouver) reports: An outspoken university professor who hopes to flip years in academia into a career in politics says he will push to protect deserting U.S. soldiers in Canada if elected with the left-of-centre NDP. “I believe in a Canada that grants asylum to principled young Americans that said no to an illegal war,” UBC political science professor Michael Byers said yesterday after being acclaimed as the federal NDP candidate in the Vancouver-Centre riding. U.S. soldier Jeremy Hinzman is believed to be the first Iraq war deserter to have sought sanctuary in Canada. He was ordered to leave the country last week after three years of court battles appealing an unsuccessful refugee claim.
They're just there to try and make the people free, But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me. Just more blood-letting and misery and tears That this poor country's known for the last twenty years, And the war drags on. -- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)
Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war hit the 4,138 mark. And tonight? ICCC reads: "Site Under Maintenance." I'm seeing no announcements by M-NF at their site, there were no annoucments yesterday so we will assume the death toll is what it was after Friday's announcements, 4143 since the start of the illegal war (16 for the month). Just Foreign Policy's counter estimates the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war to be 1,252,595 . . . the same number they were using last week. No, they haven't updated. Yes, they are apparently off today as well.
Meanwhile today at Aging Socialite's Cat Litter Box, Greg Mitchell types, "When the U.S. military death toll in Iraq dropped to 13 last month it received wide attention. But now, midway through August, the toll this month has already topped the July rate." Thanks Greggy, welcome to the room, Sara. From Wednesday's "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, August 13, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Miss Iraq calls out the sex trade, Jeremy Hinzman is told he's leaving, the US military announces another death leading August's death toll so far to surpass July's, and more. [. . .] Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an improvised-explosive device in northwest Baghdad at approximately 10:10 a.m. Aug. 13." With that announced death, the month of August (not even half over) has already passed the month of July for most US fatalities. The monthly toll thus far is 14 with 4141 the number killed since the start of the illegal war.
As July wound down and August began, you couldn't get away from the waves of Operation Happy Talk: Only 13 US service members killed in Iraq! August isn't at the half-way point. It is now August 14th and, not only have 14 US service members been announced dead thus far, it has now surpassed July's death toll. But no one's got time to cover that or to notice it apparently. It's really embarrassing and pathetic. So is the absence of coverage on Iraq in today's papers.
Not everyone is on some unnannounced vacation. Turning to some of the reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McCatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad grenade attack on a TV crew that wounded "[a] reporter, cameraman and driver," a Baghdad bomber on bicylce that claimed his/her own life as well as 5 other people (thirteen wounded) and a Salahuddin Province roadside bombing that left six people wounded. Saturday Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy) reported a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 6 lives and left ten people wounded and a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded five people.
A10 of today's New York Times is where Stephen Farrell's "6 Die in Bombing in Iraq, Third in 3 Days on Shiites" on Saturday. Farrell notes:
Three hours after the early-morning blast, shopkeepers, resident and survivors were still pulling charred goods and debris from damaged roadside stores, and sweeping ashes and wreckage into the gutter. The attack followed a suicide bombing by a woman in Iskandariya on Thursday in which at least 18 were killed, and a car bombing that killed pilgrims at a bus garage in the northern city of Balad on Friday.
If you can find that online, great. I can't and I've looked around the site forever. It's 15 paragraphs long and Marko Georgiev's photo runs with it ("People tried to salvage goods from a store that was destroyed Saturday by a bombing in the Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad.") They do have an article by Erica Goode and Ali Hameed ("Suicide Bomber Kills 15 at a Sunni Mosque in Baghdad") on violence that's not covered elsewhere -- violence today unless the motor cyclist they describe is the bicyclist described by McClatchy. In which case the death count has risen from 6 to 15 (with 29 more wounded).
But the US military has good news! "Attacks down except roadside bombs, rigged houses"! So attacks are down . . . if you eliminate some of the attacks. The opening sentence: "The numbers of houses rigged with explosives and roadside bombs have increased since the beginning of the Iraqi offensive in Diyala, while other attack trends have been decreasing." Guess this wave of Operation Happy Talk should be dubbed "win some, lose some." M-NF also announces 37 women "attended the first day of a four-week course at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk city" Saturday. Reuters reports the Turkish military says they bombed northern Iraq on Sunday ("no details of casualties"). Reuters also notes that six Blackwater mercenaries have been informed that their actions are under investigation. And that "police fired on demonstrators" today in Arbil killing one.
Isaiah had today off and Kat hoped to finish her CD review (just needs editing, she finished writing it on the plane Saturday) but Third took forever. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
US citizen Jeremy Hinzman who fled to Canada to avoid military service in Iraq will appeal a deportation warrant from Canada’s Border Services Agency (CBSA). Thestar.com web site quotes defense team member Alyssa Manning who warned of the shattering results for the wife and two children for if court martialled Hinzmans he may get five years in jail.
An Article 32 pretrial investigation for Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner, original scheduled for Aug.15 will begin Sept. 5 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, near Tikrit. Warner has been charged with pre-meditated murder, accessory after the fact, assault, making a false official statement and obstruction of justice. He is assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry at Forward Operating Base Summerall, near Bayji. The charges followed a criminal investigation into the death of Ali Mansur Mohamed, a detainee initially believed to have been released by Coalition forces on or about May 16, 2008.
Bully Boy is on yet another vacation and back in Crawford. Dana Perino said in the Thursday White House breifing that he would be working on his speech for the GOP convention (told those wanting to know what was in it to "hold their horses") but he won't be rehearsing it, according to Perino. (Translation, he's not working on it all.) Condi Rice is supposed to arrive this morning in Crawford for an NSC meeting with Bully Boy, Robert Gates (Sec of Defense) and Stephen Hadley (NSA). (Some of whom will be 'present' via video-link.) Iraq fell off the radar last week and if you're surprised by that, you missed all the press conferences and briefings where things such as convention speeches could be the topics of question but Iraq wasn't judged (by the press itself) worth asking about.
Jeremy Hinzman ordered deported from Canada By Courage to Resist and War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada). August 13, 2008The first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada has been ordered deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children. This decision flies in the face of the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3, 2008 which calls on the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada. Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca
Jeremy Hinzman ordered deported The first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada has been ordered deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children. This decision flies in the face of the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3, 2008 which calls on the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada. It also rejects the will of Canadians who have demonstrated in various polls that they want war resisters to stay. The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on the federal government and the Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene to prevent the Hinzman family from being sent to the U.S. to be punished.
US Iraq War resister ordered deported from Canada US Iraq War resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed on August 13th that his application to stay in Canada has been rejected. Jeremy served a tour in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious objector status. When his unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, was to be deployed to Iraq Jeremy and his family decided to come to Canada. Jeremy is the first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada. He has been ordered to be deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children. The decision to deport Hinzman comes just two months after the Canadian Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada. To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca.Read more of this item--> Click here for more IVAW Updates
Since yesterday morning, the following community websites have updated:
[Mike note: C.I. wrote these this morning and held them for after everyone posted in the community. I'm posting this for C.I. Cedric says he and Wally post in a few hours.]
A pickup truck exploded near the central bus station at Balad, a largely Shiite town in the overwhelmingly Sunni province of Salahuddin. Witnesses speculated that the bomber had exploited a recent relaxation in security. “It is an attempt to blow up the atmosphere of reconciliation between the people of Balad and the other cities of Salahuddin and to make another wave of sectarian anger,” Col. Ali Saleh, a Salahuddin police spokesman, said.
Community Member X (community members will know his name) asked that something be noted here. I'm calling him CMX because he usually sticks to the newsletter. As someone stationed in Korea who has only recently learned he deploys to Iraq next year, CMX wants it made very clear that he believes the press is doing "a s**t poor job and acting like the Iraq War ended." He notes that they are still on high alert (in Korea, over the perceived 'threat' of Iran) and that it's just started to sink in with others he's serving with that Barack's not just gotten a free pass, he's not going to do a damn thing to end the illegal war.
CMX is digsuted with the after-thought nature of the Iraq War and wants it noted "Katrina vanden Heuvel and all the beggars in indymedia and all the liars in corporate media are ensuring that a lot more people are going to die in that illegal war by their silences, their lies and their refusal to make ending this illegal war their top agenda. They have blood on their hands. They need to be called out and confronted. And the lies that Barack is planning to end the war need to be called out every damn day."
50 Dollars for 50 States Posted by The Nader Team on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:04:00 AM ShareThisShareThis Ralph Nader is the only Presidential candidate who has promised to campaign in all 50 states this year. In the age of the Internet, Ralph is a believer in taking it directly to the people. State by state. And whatever Ralph says goes. So, we’ve put together a grueling fifty state schedule for him. But the gas bill is starting to bite. So, please, help us out. Drop $50 now on Nader/Gonzalez, the only campaign that will take it to all fifty states. Already, Ralph has campaigned in 27 states -- Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine. And coming up in the next couple of weeks, Ralph will be traveling to: Colorado -- for our Open the Debates Super Rally August 27 at the University of Denver Magness Arena. Minnesota -- for our Open the Debates Super Rally September 4 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. And before and after those rallies to New Mexico, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. (That will put us at 34 states by September 8.) Check the complete schedule here. And come out and see and hear Ralph lay out the Nader/Gonzalez platform of shifting the power from the corporations back into the hands of the people. Remember, if you donate $100 or more now, we will ship to you two DVDs -- a copy of the Patti Smith and Ralph Nader DVD -- Awake from Your Slumber -- autographed by Ralph -- and a copy of the best argument for a single payer health care plan -- Michael Moore’s Sicko. (Deadline for this offer: Wednesday August 20 at 11:59 p.m.) So, give to your heart’s content -- up to the legal limit of $4,600. Help power Ralph on his 50 state tour of the United States. And help us reach our new fundraising goal of $50,000 by Wednesday August 20. Nothing could be sweeter than investing in Nader/Gonzalez. For a bright and just future. Onward to November. The Nader Team ShareThisShareThis
JEREMY
HINZMAN: Well, essentially, it turns our lives upside down. We, as you
said, just had a baby [daughter Megahn]. Our son [Liam] knows nothing
else aside from Canada. And if we do go back, which it's looking like,
I will undoubtedly be court-martialed and serve some time in jail.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Is there any appeal process left to you yet that might delay the September 23rd deadline?
JEREMY
HINZMAN: There is. It's not guaranteed that we'll be granted leave to
appeal, but if my lawyer can find errors in the compassionate and
humanitarian decision that the Canadian Border Services rendered, then
we can--we can appeal. But there's no guarantee that the court will
grant us leave.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And what were the arguments the court used in rejecting your appeal?
JEREMY
HINZMAN: Well, in a compassionate and humanitarian case, you need to
show that there would be undue hardship if you returned to your country
of origin, and we--and you also need to show that you've been
established in Canada and can live independently. And we did that. In
the decision, the officer said we've established ourselves well in
Canada. We haven't been a hindrance to the social assistance programs.
But he said that wasn't enough for us to stay. He said the US has a
fair justice system. My First Amendment right to free speech is
protected. And they also mentioned that--for whatever reason, I don't
know--they mentioned George Bush's No School Left Behind program to say
that our son would be able to get a good education. I found that kind
of humorous.
[. . .]
JUAN GONZALEZ: Have you maintained ties with other US war resisters who are in Canada, who have gone there in recent years?
JEREMY
HINZMAN: There are a number of us in Toronto, and I am acquainted with
them. There's a movement called the War Resisters Support Campaign
that's been active pretty much since we got here, and we have meetings,
and there's been a lot of lobbying in support of us. And on June 3rd,
the Canadian parliament passed a nonbinding motion by a vote of
137-to-110 saying that US war resisters should be able to remain in
Canada. However, the conservative government is refusing to enact the
legislation.
JUAN
GONZALEZ: Now, Canada, of course, has a long history of giving refugee
status to resisters from American wars. Obviously, during the Vietnam
War, there were many who went there. How would you characterize the
difference between this government's treatment of war resisters and
what you know of past times?
JEREMY
HINZMAN: Well, during the Vietnam era, of course, Pierre Trudeau, who
was a liberal, was in power, and he famously stated--at least up
here--that Canada should be a haven from militarism, and that kind of
opened the floodgates for American soldiers to come to Canada. I think
50,000 eventually settled here. Right now, there's a conservative
minority government. Canada has a parliamentary system, and they hold
the balance of power. And I wouldn't say they're lapdogs to the US, but
they share many of the same values of the Bush administration and
aren't really sympathetic to what we're doing.
AP files another story where they quote Jeremy stating,
"I went through all the training. I served honorably in my unit. I
used army provisions to try become a noncombatant and remain in the
army as a medic or something, but I still would be subject to going on
combat missions as a medic. I can't bring myself to shoot another
person. If people want to criticize me for that, then I'm honored to
be criticized because I'm not a killer."
Jeremy Hinzman and other war resisters in Canada need support and 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." The War Resisters Support Campaign has
called an "Emergency Meeting to Stop the Deportation of Jeremy Hinzman
and his family, Wednesday August 20 at 7 p.m. at the Steelworkers Hall,
25, Cecil Street" (Toronto) and encourages everyone to "Read the War Resisters Support Campaign press release and circulate it widely
James
Burmeister is a US war resister. He is the whistle blower who went to
Canada and told the world (or those who would listen) about the kill
teams. Last month, Dee Knight's "Army court-martials resister for blowing whistle on 'bait-and-kill'" (Workers World)
offered an overview of Burmeister's court-martial providing the context
and why the US military brass wanted to silence him. Today Evan
Kornfeld (US Socialist Worker) also offers a look at James
court-martial (James was not deported or extradited, he returned to the
US from Canada of his own accord earlier this year and was court-martialed July 16th):
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. Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) reports
that the death toll for yesterday's bombing attack on pilgrims is 20
"and it raised the specter of more bloodshed as the pilgrimage route
becomes crowded before the event Saturday." Sami al-Jumaili (Reuters) explains
that "Despite the [security] precautions, Kerbala is bracing for
the worst. Local health director Alaa Hammoudi said that 40 medical
units were standing by, and that extra hospital beds were made ready.
Near the mosque, makeshift clinics were set up in tents and trailers.
Some pilgrims donated blood." Campbell Robertson and Riyadh Muhammed (New York Times) quote
an eye witness to yesterday's bombing, Ali, who explains, "I saw smoke,
and I smelled the very bad smell of burned flesh and blood. The
reactions were a little less than at the last blast maybe because they
already have been shocked." Sudarsan Raghavan and Saad Sarhan (Washington Post) cite
Iskandariyah police chief Ali al-Zahawi insisting there is "a shortage
of female police officers in the town". And why is that? Hey,
remember when women were being purged? Remember when female police
officers were informed they could not carry fire arms? And remember how
the pig and thug and puppet Nouri al-Maliki was pleased as punch with
all of that and shocked when a few (very few reports) objections were
raised? The puppet needs the illegal war to stay in power. And the
White House doesn't give a damn about the rights of Iraqi women. So it
was the perfect blend for pigs everywhere. Anna Badkhen (Salon) reports
that, even in the crack-downed Baghdad, "women here still feel
threatened. One can't yet see a pervasive shift in the way women
dress. They continue to wear the conservative clothing that the
militias began compelling them to wear after the U.S. invasion. Most
women remain cocooned in shapeless, black abaya dresses and hijab
scarves that covered their hair. . . . Before the war, Tammy says, she
could walk down the streets of her hometown, the southern and heavily
Shia Iraqi port city of Basra, dressed like most teenagers in the
United States -- in jeans and no head scarf. Saddam Hussein's regime
was one of the world's most despotic, but it was secular and allowed
Iraqi women personal rights and freedoms unparalleled in the Persian
Gulf. Women, who make up more than half of the country's populartion,
could drive, travel abroad alone, serve in Iraqi security forces and
work side-by-side with men. They chose whom to marry and whether to
marry at all, and were among the most educated in the region. . . .
After the U.S. invasion in 2003, conservative Muslim clerics called for
Iraq to become an Islamic state. In the name of Islamic values, they
eroded the liberties women here enjoyed even under Saddam's oppressive
regime. Schools, once coed, became segregated by gender; women were
afraid to go outside without a head scarf. As sectarian violence
engulfed Baghdad and other parts of the country in 2006, it brought in
its wake even more constraints on women's freedoms." And the White
House didn't just let it happen, they encouraged and, in fact, still
encourage it. At a time when female bombers are said to be the biggest
threat to stability in Iraq (foreign forces on the ground in Iraq are
the biggest threat to the country's stability), the US military
actively recruits women into their "Awakening" Councils and yet --
despite a supposed need which should be driving the market forces --
they pay these women 20% less than their male counterparts. No one
objects. No one calls it out. And it reinforces the message to those
installed into power in Iraq (by the US) that women are not equal and
that their worth is less than that of a man's.
Helen Benedict (In These Times) reports
on the increased number of sexual assaults in the US military -- women
serving assaulted and abused by their "comrades-in-arms" -- and notes
that "the attention always focuses on the women: where they were when
assaulted, their relations with the assailant, the effects on their
mental health and careers, whether they are being adequately helped,
and so on. That discussion, as valuable as it is, misses a fundamental
point. To understand military sexual assault, let alone know how to
stop it, we must focus on the perpetrators. We need to ask: Why do
soldiers rape?" It's the culture of the institution (which includes
looking the other way) and that institution has had a bigger impact
than any other US institution in Iraq.
Institutions,
organizations. How does the peace movement ever plan to be effective
in the US with such sorry-ass 'leaders.' Tom Hayden shows up to soil
his own name at The Nation this week with "The Defunding of the Peace
Movement." He pretends to be talking straight (no doubt inflicting
howls of laughter from all who know Tom-Tom) and pretends like Barack
has pledged to end the illegal war. Barack has pledged no such thing.
He might reduce the number of US forces in Iraq (to send them to
Afghanistan) but he has not called for all US troops out of Iraq -- and
long ago refused to promise in a televised debate that, if elected
president, all US troops would be out of Iraq by 2012. Tom-Tom's
heart-heart races for Barack so he lies and lies. The problem, as
Tom-Tom sees it, is that people aren't giving money to peace
organizations. Or 527s. 527s? No, those are not peace organizations
but Tom was never a peace leader. Not now, not back then. He was
always someone lusting after a political career and that motivated him
then and does so now. It's always been about setting Tom's end up. He
talks to Leslie Cagan of UPFJ and she's wondering what her organization
could do with $100,000? More of the same, Leslie, absolutely nothing.
Say it again.
When UPFJ (not one of the worst
offenders in my opinion) had more money it didn't change the way they
operated. At best, they were silent on John Kerry. Other orgs and
'leaders' made it their life's work to shill for his 2004 election. If
UPFJ is facing fund shortages it goes to the lousy leadership they've
shown since the start of the illegal war. Engaging in their sniping
with A.N.S.W.E.R. which is fine if it's just an open debate but is not
fine when it prevents actions from taking place. There has not been a
huge peace rally since January 2007. No one's in the mood to give one
damn dime to any of these useless organizations. (IVAW remains the
only organization that is working at ending the illegal war.) They all
go rushing off to "War With Iran Tomorrow!" or "Saint Bhutto Has Died!"
or one hundred and one other causes while they abandon Iraq. (Again,
my opinion, UPFJ has not been the worst offender there. CODESTINK has
been the worst and the most hypocritical. UPFJ has tended to go for
silence as opposed to hawking non-peace events/candidates.) Barack's
greedy. How surprising that people are just now grasping that. How
pathetic that Leslie's going to whine to Tom-Tom instead of taking to
the UPFJ website to state, "We are an organization trying to end the
illegal war. We are not endorsing any candidate. We are endorsing the
end of the Iraq War. If you are with us on that, we could use some
donations to continue this struggle." Tom-Tom lies as well and claims,
"The Obama finance committee is under more pressure, literally, to pay
Hillary Clinton's debt to Mark Penn than to fund any messages on war,
recession and global warming." Tom Hayden, you sexist pig, drop the Bash The Bitch
games. At your age, it only makes you look older, uglier and more
pathetic. Barack hasn't done a damn thing to retire Clinton's debt
(and Hillary has stated that she's paying off small vendors first).
That joint-appearance where he gave the speech and 'forgot' to ask
people to donate to Hillary and only returned to the stage when
reporters questioned him on it? He's done nothing to help her with her
debt and shame on you, a man who'd be living on the streets were it not
for his divorce settlement, for pretending otherwise and yet again
trying to make it all about Hillary. Your Lover Man has failed you
Tom. Your limp and inactive and it has nothing to do with Hillary.
You fell in love with Barack and he broke your heart. Those are the
breaks, grow the hell up before senility sets in.
Or has that already happened. Tom-Tom was one of the signers of that ridiculous ass-kiss to Barack from The Nation. As we observed at Third:
Because The Nation
is run by the brain dead and the socially stunted today, they decide to
copy that with an open letter. (They only know how to do what was done
before, no visionaries or dreamers they.) The open letter is called
"Change *We* Can Believe In" and if the starring of "We" didn't
indicate to you there was a lot of ego tripping going down, you only
had to read the names of those who signed on to the garbage --
including non-Democrat Frances Fox Piven (billed as Francis Piven --
what happened, she looked in a mirror?), The Ego Of Us All's Red Buddy
who pimped her hard to The New York Times and did more to lie
for Friedan than even she herself did, Democratic Groupie (in the worst
sense of "groupie" in the rock world) Norm Solomon, Tom-Tom Hayden
(still fretting about the 1969 violence we pointed out recently), Red
Billy Fletcher, Take Me To My Divorce Pay Day! Jodie Evans, Emma
Goldman lookalike Barbara Ehrenreich,
Does-Marlo-Know-You-Signed-That-Garbage Phil Donahue, School Girl
Katrina vanden Heuvel (who reportedly came up with the embarrassing
phrase "the long night of greed" -- to which C.I. responded, "Oh, she's
turned her hand to autobigoraphy?") and, yes, Howard Zinn.
The
letter is also frankly dishonest when it says that Obama is simply
moving to a more "centrist stance" In what sense "centrist"? The war is
wildly unpopular and close to 70% of Americans want the U.S. out of
Iraq asap. What is "centrist" about moving away from a landslide
majoritarian position? And what is the "peace" candidate doing when he
calls for 100,000 more active duty army and marines, when he calls for
more military spending, when he calls for stepping up the war on
Afghanistan, when he talks belligerently about Iran, and when he
equivocates on how many tens of thousands of troops are to be left in
Iraq? All these are positions that the "peace" candidate took during
the primary. They are not new.
[. . .]
What
is awfully irritating is that Katrina Vanden Heuval and the rest of the
"liberal" elite criticize supporters of McKinney/Clemente and
Nader/Gonzalez for "wishful thinking." Compared to the sentiments and
views of the supplicants' letter, supporters of third party candidates
are hard core realists. And it is very sad to see some of the
signatories of this letter who in better times would have been men and
women who put principle over "lesser evil" politics. Read the letter
carefully. Look at the signatories. It may bring tears.
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
pilgrims continue to be targeted with a Baghdad roadside bombing
claimed the life of 1 (nine more wounded), a Baghdad mortar attack left
two people wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing left six people
wounded, and a Salahudding car bombing that claimed 5 lives (twenty
more wounded).
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
an armed clash in Kirkuk that resulted in 1 death and an Al Anbar
Province assassination attempt on "Sheikh Kahmees Al-Dulaimi, the Imam
of one of the mosques in Falluja" who was taken to the hospital for
medical care
Today the US military announced:
"A Multi-National Force -- West Marine was killed Aug. 14 when his unit
received small-arms fire during security operations approximately 1 km
east of Fallujah." And they announced:
"A Multi-National Corps-Iraq Soldier died of non-battle related causes
Aug. 15 in Baghdad. An investigation into the cause of death is under
way." That brings the total number of US service members killed in
Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4143 and the death toll for the month thus far is 16 -- which is 3 more than the July total that all the news outlets thought was news.
Neil Conan: We're talking with independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader here at the Newseum. I'm Neil Conan along with NPR Political Junkie Ken Rudin. If you'd like to join us, 800-989-8255 e-mail talk@npr.org. This is Talk of the Nation from NPR News. And let's get a question from here in the Newseum.
Patty:
Hi, good afternoon. I'm Patty from San Francisco, California and as a
retired public school principal I'd like to know your views on No Child
Left Behind. And I'd also like to know what your education platform
is.
Ralph
Nader: Well the way No Child Left Behind has been implemented is not
good. First of all, there are too many tests. It ruptures the
relationship between teachers and students -- they've got to have a
test Tuesday and a test Thursday. They're the wrong kind of tests in
my opinion: A, B, C, D, "None of the above." That's not the assessment
test that I think are better evaluators They make teachers teach to the
test. It's this frantic test mania. It creates unnecessary anxiety
among children. So I'm against it. Teachers are against it too. A lot
of people think it was underfunded and I think the key thing in
environmental agenda for a presidential candidate is more decent
facilities -- I mean a lot of these inner-city schools are crumbling,
we have gleaming stadiums funded by you the tax payer in the same
cities the schools, and clinics and libraries are crumbling. The
second thing is decent pay for competent teachers. They should be
assessed too. And the third is citizen skills, civic skills. We
should teach students connecting the classroom with their town with
their community so they can learn about the history, the geography,
economics, government of their town and in the process learn citizen
skills. How to use the Freedom of Information Act in your state, how
to build coalitions, how to get information from City Hall. How to do
comparative price analysis of staples in supermarket. That's what
makes student learn indirectly reading, writing and arithmetic. I hope
a lot of teachers will . . . push to replace No Child Left Behind with
this kind or practical and down to earth and very exciting educational
process.
Neil Conan: Thanks for the question. Let's go the phones, line six, and Mike is with us from Boca Raton in Florida.
Mike:
Good morning or good afternoon. Mister candidate, considering what's
happened since the year 2000, don't you think that your candidacy
creates too much of a risk of unintended consequences based on your
past performance?
Ralph
Nader: Well the social scientists who studied that say that [Al] Gore
won the election, he won the popular vote. The electoral college stood
in his way and the press investigations and others in Florida indicate,
and Gore believes this, that he won Florida but it was taken from him
before, during and after election day in all kinds of tricky ways that
have been subject to documentaries and investigations, to the five
Republicans in the Supreme Court who selected George Bush. I keep
saying to Democrats "Look in the mirror Go after the thieves because
they might do it again and there was a lot of shenanigans in Ohio --
the swing state that left Kerry behind --
Mike: You obviously can't win. Which of the two candidates would you prefer to be president. The other two candidates.
Mike:
Well you know, I'm all for anyone being able to run but candidly we
can't stand another eight years of George Bush, McCain and that crowd.
Ralph
Nader: Nor can we. In fact if Al Gore picked up my withering criticism
in detail of Bush's record in Texas when he was governor, he'd have won
even over the obstacles that these Republican illegally put in his way.
Team Nader has set up Ralph's Daily Audio to leave audio commentaries and the one that went up today is entitled "Impeachment:"
This
is Ralph Nader. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are the most
impeachable president and vice president in the history of the United
States. The Constitution of the United States structures our democracy
within the rule of law. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi,
Senator Barack Obama and their Republican associates are seriously
subverting the rule of law by blocking the impeachment of George W.
Bush and Dick Cheney.
Bill Clinton must
be shaking his head in wonderment. High Crimes and Misdemeanors are
what get a president impeached. That's in Article II, Section IV of
our Constitution. Let's consider the case of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney.
High
crimes and misdemeanor number one: The criminal war, invasion and
occupation of Iraq in violation of our Constitution, federal statutes
and international treaties that our country belongs to. The second is
systemic torture condoned at the top of our government. That even
violates the US Army Field Manual as well as FBI procedures. High
crimes and misdemeanor number three: the arrests and imprisonment of
thousands of Americans without charges, denying ha beaus corpus the
fundamental requirement for a restraining power to show why the liberty
of a person is being restrained. High crimes and misdemeanor number
four: spying on millions of Americans without a judicial warrant. This
one violates the FISA Act which provides for a five-year jail term.
High crimes and misdemeanor number five are all those signing
statements that George W. Bush declared when he signed one bill after
another from Congress saying that it would be up to him to decide
whether or not to obey the law. I guess one could call him King George
IV.
The American Bar Association, the
largest barre association in the world, quite conservative, has sent
three major reports to President George W. Bush outlining his serious
violations of provisions in our Constitution. I stood in front of the
White House for 45 minutes a few weeks ago and declared the reasons for
the impeachment or resignation or subsequent prosecution of Bush and
Cheney for the five categories of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
If
we allow rampant, recidivist criminal activity in the White House -- as
Speaker Pelosi, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have done week
after week, month after month -- that'll simply set the stage for
future presidents to think that they too can break the law with
impunity and run our civil liberties, our civil rights, our safety, our
freedoms, our status before the world into the ground. I'm Ralph Nader.
Friday (in most markets, check local listings), Bill Moyers sits down with Andrew Bacevich to discuss the imperial impresidency. PBS tonight (and throughout the weekend depending on when your local station airs it) will also feature Washington Week. Janine Zacharia (Bloomberg News)
will be among the guests. She's been doing a ton of research on
refugees so she should be able to pull that into her topic (the
positions of Barack and McCain), Todd S. Purdum (Vanity Fair) will discuss the upcoming Democratic National Convention (will Gwen or anyone mention the Nadar Super Rally that will take place in Denver August 27th?), and Jeffrey Birnbaum (Washington Post) will be among the guests (Birnbuam will be addressing campaign monies and laws). And NOW on PBS explores the US and Mexican border.
jeremy hinzman
john mackay
daniel baker
robert weiss
susannah tarbush
christopher keating
the new york times
richard a. oppel jr.
leila fadel
mcclatchy newspapers
peter kavanagh
joshua key
robin long
tim richard
skylar james
steven argue
erica goode
ali hameed
the washington post
sudarsan raghavan
the los angeles times
ned parker
saif hameed
sabrina tavernise
james burmeister
evan kornfeldt
juan gonzalez
tina susman
campbell robertson
riyadh muhammed
saad sarhan
anna badkhen
janine zacharia
todd s. purdum
jeffrey birnbaum
washington week
now on pbs
talk of the nation
npr
