Monday,
September 15, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, US Secretary of
Defense Gates goes to Baghdad, tensions flare within Iraq and more.
Al Jazeera reports
Gen David Petraeus is back in Baghdad as he gets ready "to hand over
his role to general Raymond Odierno, his second-in-command." Over the
weekend, Jim Michaels (USA Today) reported that
Gen David Petraeus, eager to assume control of CENTCOM and no longer be
the 'top [US] commander' in Iraq, managed to send off "a farewell
letter issued Saturday". At Baghdad Bureau (New York Times Iraq blog), [PDF format warning] the letter is posted.
In the second to the last paragraph, Petraeus notes Odierno, "Your new
commander is precisely the right man for the job. General Ray Odierno
played a central role in the progress achieved during the surge. He
brings tremendous skill, experience, and understanding as he returns to
Iraq for a third tour and takes the helm of MNF-I just seven months
after relinquishing command of Multi-National Corps-Iraq. I have total
confidence in him, and I will do all that I can as the commander of
Central Command to help him, MNF-I, and our Iraqi partners to achieve
the important goals that we all share for the new Iraq." Publicly,
Odierno's role was largely to repeatedly insist that Iran was guilty of
whatever the charge being pushed was and demanding that there was hard
proof. But when asked to provide the evidence, Odierno would have to
backtrack.
Julian E. Barnes and Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) report
that US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was in Baghdad both for the
handover between Petraeus and Odierno and to insist on "a cautious
approach to cuts". Gates, Petraeus and Odierno all attempt to sell the
escalation ('surge') as a success. But even Martha Raddatz was noting
on Friday's Washington Week (PBS)
that there will be more US service members in Iraq than before the
escalation started. While the US sees an increase, other countries see
the opposite. Friday night, Tina Susman (Babylon & Beyond, Los Angeles Times) explained that,
"The coalition of the willing has become the coalition of the dwindling
in Iraq, where non-U.S. forces now number about 7,000 compared with the
146,000 American troops here. More than half the non-U.S. troops are
British, with Poland, Romania and South Korea being the other main
providers to a multinational force that at its height numbered 49
countries and more than 200,000 troops." Simon Assaf (Great Britain's Socialist Worker) observes:
The
US is now confidently predicting that it will finally be able to start
drawing down its troops. The "surge", Bush's gamble to stabilise the
occupation, is being paraded as a success. But in fact Iraq
is poised to enter a new era of instability -- and the US is finding
itself trapped by a series of dirty deals that are coming back to haunt
it. Foremost among these is the deal the US hoped it could forge with the Shia‑dominated Iraqi government. This
deal, known as the "status of forces agreement", would have granted the
US the right to stage military operations inside Iraq without Iraqi
government approval, and the right to launch wars on other countries
from permanent bases on Iraqi soil. But progress towards the
agreement has been grindingly slow. Talks on Iraq's oil resources,
electoral reform and amnesties for members of Saddam Hussein's regime
have all stalled. Meanwhile the Kurds are blocking
constitutional reforms that will claw back the autonomy granted to them
in the earlier phase of the occupation.
AFP reports
that Gates praised Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker
"during a dinner at Petraeus' headquarters in a former Saddam
Hussein-era palace on the outskirts of Baghdad" while Ryan Crocker told
Petraeus, "It's been one heck of a ride, buddy." The US military notes
that Iraq's "Ministry of Defense held a ceremony today to say goodbye
to U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing commanding general of
Multi-National Forces-Iraq. . . . Iraqi Minister of Defense Abd
al-Qadir congratulated Petraeus on his next assignement and expressed
his regret to lose a man he called a close friend to himself and the
Iraqi people." Petraeus is scheduled to take control of CENTCOM
October 31st. Tim Albone (Times of London) reports,
"The outgoing Bush Administration and both US presidential candidates
promised to send thousands of US reinforcements to the country,
although the nature of the conflict was very different."
Sunday Hala Jaber (Times of London) reported
on his Beirut conversation with Sheikh Ahmad Fartusi who claims credit
both for attacks on British soldiers in Basra and for being "able to
halt the onslaught last year in a secret deal negotiated with British
officials in his cell" but who now claims that "British forces had
reneged on the deal that allowed them to withdraw peacefully from
central Basra to an airbase outside the city, reportedly in return for
the release of 120 Mahdi Army prisoners. The agreement had been
broken, he said, when the British returned to Basra last March
following Maliki's 15,000-strong 'charge of the knights' to seize
control from the Mahdi Army and other militias." Fartuis now promises
attacks will resume.
Saturday BBC reported, "A roadside bomb killed six Kurdish peshmerga fighters in Khanaqin town in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad." Sam Dagher (New York Times) observed
that the Saturday bombing increased "tensions with the Iraqi government
and local Arabs over the Kurds' presence in the area. The Kurdish
presence in Khanaquin, and in other nearby areas, has been a growing
source of tension. Kurdish forces have been moving the borders of their
semiautonomous region in northern Iraq, in what they say is an effort
to improve security. But the move has been viewed by many Iraqi and
American officials as a threat to stability in areas that are already
prone to violence." Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) reported
before the bombing, "Kurdish leaders have expanded their authority over
a roughly 300-mile-long swath of territory beyond the borders of their
autonomous region in northern Iraq, stationing thousands of soldiers in
ethnically mixed areas in what Iraqi Arabs see as an encroachment on
their homelands. The assertion of greater Kurdish control, which has
taken hold gradually since the war began and caused tens of thousands
of Arabs to flee their homes, is viewed by Iraqi Arab and U.S.
officials as a provocative and potentially destabilizing action." An Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy (at Inside Iraq) reviews
the benefits for the Kurds and wonders if "is it right to cause a state
to collapse into entities to realize your dream?" The correspondent
notes how the Peshmerga appears to decide what they will do and which
areas (Kurdish or non-Kurdish) they will 'patrol.' Of oil-rich Kirkuk,
the correspondent notes that Kurds compose only an estimated 40% of the
city's population but have "taken control of it and the Pershmerga
handle the security there". Of the Iraqi Constitution, the
correspondents notes that "the Kurds objected to the statement that
read 'Iraq is an Arab state and part of the Arab nation' pointing out
that there are other ethnic groups that would be offended. So the
statement was struck out -- as if by a magic wand disregarding the
other constituents of the Iraqi population. Arabs constitute 84% of
the population."
"Reporters
Without Borders is appalled and saddened by the murder of four
employees of privately-owned TV station Al-Sharqiya yesterday in the
northern city of Mosul. Al-Sharqiya's news director noted that the
murders followed a smear campaign against the station by state TV
broadcaster Al Iraqiya. 'We condemn the abduction and murder of the
three Al-Sharqiya journalists and their driver and we call for a
thorough investigation into the circumstances,' Reporters Without
Borders said. 'The comments by Al-Sharqiya's news director make such an
investigation all the more urgent'." Nicholas Spangler and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reported
that the foru were bringing "gifts that had come to be the trademark of
their reality show: some basic household appliances and a delicious
supper to break the Ramadan fast for a family of little means."
Meanwhile Caesar Ahmad and Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) report
on the diminishing press freedoms in Iraq and among the stories
included is Saad Khalaf's -- he is a photograph who was harassed by the
military, threatened with arrest and had his camera taken from him:
"Col. Ali then ordered the soldier to return the cameras. Khalaf,
thinking that Ali was afraid the photographers had taken pictures of
the soldiers, said he had been taking shots only of the burning car
that carried the bomb. That did not satisfy the colonel, who shouted
back. 'In this neighborhood under my jurisdiction, no one is allowed to
shoot any photos. I don't care what others say, but Col. Ali bans any
pictures here'." There was also a verbal assault on the press in Iraq
over the weekend. As noted in "Naeema al-Gasseer: the United Nations' embarrassment in Iraq" (here) and "The UN's embarrassment in Iraq"
(Third Estate Sunday Review) a press conference was held Friday in
Baghdad supposedly to address cholera. Participating were Iraq's
Minster of Health Dr. Salith al-Hasnawi, Dr. Tahseen al-Sheikhly and
WHO's Dr. Naeema al-Gasseer. They attacked the press verbally
throughout. The worst was al-Gasseer because she's an employee of the
United Nations -- a fact she frequently forgot while speaking (saying
"we" and then having to back up and clarify she meant the Iraqi
government). She blamed the cholera outbreak on Iraqi women, on lack
of cleanliness, made comments that were insulting and non-medical. She
ignored the fact that the puppet government sits on billions and does
nothing to repair the infrastucture. But in ten years, some of it will
be up and running, it was explained. In ten years. al-Gasseer blamed
Iraqi women for not boiling water and apparently she doesn't grasp that
not only is electricity 'iffy' in most areas of Iraq, fuel for heating
is expensive. al-Gasseer repeatedly lectured such as with this gem:
"Your role is to deliver the information rapidly in order to help us
stop spreading the disease." For all their faults, the media does know
their role. al-Gasseer's the one who seems to have forgotten that
she's an allegedly neutral party. Instead, she gave cover for the
government that does nothing, attacked the media and ignored the real
roots of the problem. It was an embarrassment. Among the roots of the
problem is the issue of sanitation. Click here for Zaineb Naji (Wall St. Journal) writing about the huge trash piles.
Bombings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 Baghdad car bombings resulting in 12 deaths with thirty-seven wounded. Reuters notes
a female bomber killed herself in Diyala Province and claimed 20 other
lives (with thirty wounded). Al Dulaimy notes 22 dead from that
bombing and, "The attack occurred at a feast to celebrate the release
of police sergeant Adnan Shukri, released yesterday from a U.S.
detention facility."
Sunday the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier died this morning of non-combat related causes." And they also announced:
"A second Multi-National Division - Center Soldier died this morning of
non-combat related causes. The soldier died of wounds Sept. 14 at a
Coalition forces Combat Army Support Hospital."
Turning
to the US race for president. Senator Hillary Clinton campaigned for
Barack Obama, Democratic presidential nominee, in Ohio. It's among the
many states Hillary won during the primaries. Translation, among the
many big states Barack lost in the primaries. Toby Harnden (Telegraph of London) reports
a large crowd turned out for Hillary in Akron and the ones he spoke
with after have no plans to vote for Barack which would explain why
Hardin observers that "the response to her remarks about him" Barack
"was relatively muted." Many speak of hoping for a 2012 run by
Hillary, Sandy Wierzbicki wishes Hillary had been picked at the v.p.
nominee, and Paul Barry may speak for a number when he declares, "I'll
probably stay at home. It's all a media love fest with Obama. It's like
it's 'American Idol' to choose the president. I don't like all the
mystical, transcendental stuff from him. Anyone can be in favour of
change and brotherly love. Yes, he's inspirational. So why not give him
his own show after Oprah? I'm into reality. I want to know the facts
about what he'll get done. We need the meat and the potatoes, not just
pie in the sky."
Riverdaughter (The Confluence) writes for many who will not vote for Barack, "One of the things that sets PUMAs
apart from other Democrats is our built-in BS detectors. The other
thing is that we were supporters of Hillary Clinton because we saw her
as the true Democrat in the race. We liked her stands on the issues,
her ability to reach out to every voter and her grace under pressure.
But the PUMA movement is not about Hillary. It is about us, the
voters. The Obama campaign, the DNC and the media targetted *US*,
Hillary's voters, for a peculiar brand of derision, disrespect and
disenfranchisement this year." Meanwhile Peggy Simpson (WMC) reports,
"The Sarah Surge is unmistakable. GOP presidential nominee John
McCain's support rose markedly after he named Alaska Governor Sarah
Palin as his running mate--although after two solid weeks of
Palin-all-the-time media attention, McCain still hasn't broken 50
percent. Republicans now are far more fervent backers of McCain, a
candidate that the religious right and social conservatives opposed in
past races and were lukewarm about in this one. Post-Palin,
Republicans' strong backing of McCain nearly has doubled, from 39
percent in July to 71 percent in September, in a Newsweek poll." Dr. Violet Socks (Reclusive Leftist) has compiled a series of quotes by Palin on feminist issues. While Socks compiles what Palin has said, Joseph (Cannonfire) focuses
on what was left out of an interview last week: "ABC News deliberately
edited the interview with Governor Palin to make her appear bellicose
and ignorant. You'll be shocked when you see what they left out. " Palin was a hit in Carson City, Nevada Saturday. Scott Conroy (CBS News) describes it as a "rally in front of a raucus crowd of several thousands" Lynn Sweet (Chicago Sun-Times) has posted the transcript which
includes Palin noting one person attending, "I'm honored to hear that
we have with us in our midst, so many of us who admire, Chuck Yeager,
and I hear that he may be here. (Cheers, applause.) Now, he is a true
American hero and maybe the first man to break the sound barrier.
Hopefully he has a good idea maybe how that first woman can break the
glass ceiling once and for all! (Cheers, applause.)"
In
this fractious atmosphere women and women's issues took a back seat to
the Presidential campaigns. Feminists, acting through the Republican
Women's Task Force (RWTF) of the National Women's Political Caucus
(NWPC), were part of the Ford campaign. The anti-feminists, acting
through Phyllis Schlafly's STOP ERA, were Reagan supporters.
These
two groups fought over whether support for the Equal Rights Amendment
should remain in the Republican Party Platform. It had been in the
Platform from 1940 until 1964, when it disappeared without actually
being removed. Even though all of the candidates for the 1964
Republican nomination (Goldwater, Rockefeller, Scranton, Smith)
supported the ERA, a decision to write a very brief platform that year
caused removal of many planks which had traditionally been in the
Platform. In 1972, Republican feminists put it back in without
opposition. Serious opposition to the ERA emerged the following year as
the states debated whether or not to ratify the proposed Constitutional
amendment.
Both Ford and Reagan had
supported the ERA when it was sent by Congress to the states on March
22, 1972. Between then and 1976, Ford strengthened his support. His
wife, Betty, was an ERA champion. While Governor of California, Reagan
had also supported the ERA. When he decided to run for the 1976
nomination he switched sides to court the large number of conservative
women who did not like it.
Again,
it's a photo essay with many photos from her own personal collection.
(She covered both the Democratic and Republican 1976 conventions and
may be posting a photo essay of the Dems shortly.) Staying with photos
and journalism, David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press). He is in the midst of a book tour and some of the upcoming dates include:
Sept 16 Photography exhibition and reception, 6:30PM Living Under the Trees Exhibition 9/1-10/1 Santa Paula Family Resource Center 940 E. Main Street, Santa Paula, CA Sept 17 Book discussion, Illegal People, 2:30PM Transborder Institute, University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA
Sept 21 Presentation at REFORMA Conference, 10AM National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, El Paso, Texas
Sept 22 Book presentation, Illegal People,12:30PM Fall for the Book, Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts, Photography exhibition, Johnson Center's Gallery 123, 9/21-26 George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Sept 29 Book discussion, Illegal People, 6PM World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., #200, San Francisco
Sept 30 Book discussion, 7:30PM Illegal People and The Accidental American, by Rinku Sen Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St., San Francisco
JUAN
GONZALEZ: And the spread of these huge raids over the last few years,
it seems almost in response to the immigrant rights protests that
developed a couple of years ago, when you saw this new movement
developing in America, and suddenly the federal government all across
the country begins clamping down and raiding factories, communities,
stopping buses and trains, boarding buses and trains, even Amtrak
trains and regular commercial buses, checking IDs all over the place.
DAVID
BACON: That's right. These are-as you say, Juan, these are terror
raids, really. The purpose of these raids is really to terrorize and
frighten immigrant communities, partly because, I think, the government
is afraid of people asserting their rights and asserting their
existence in the country through the marches and through other kinds of
immigrant rights activities, organizing unions in plants and so forth.
But also, I think the government has an agenda here. In fact, it's
pretty open. Michael Chertoff keeps saying it over and over and over,
and that is that he says we're going to shut the back door and open the
front door. And what that means is that ICE is trying to push for the
establishment of new guest worker programs, so that people can come
here as workers, but only as workers, without rights, without
eventually getting political rights, without becoming citizens,
certainly without voting, but whose labor is going to be used in the
economy. And so, these raids are a way of terrorizing people and saying
to people: don't think that you're going to be able to come to the
United States; don't think that you're going to be able to work in any
other way other than through these programs.
JUAN
GONZALEZ: And I think one of the things that you raise in your book and
in a lot of your articles is that the movement for comprehensive
immigration reform, even among Democrats, is divided in terms of the
purposes of that immigration reform, that there are groups that are
really representative of business interests who are looking for that
front-door situation. Could you expound on that?
DAVID BACON:
Sure. The comprehensive immigration bills that we saw in Congress in a
lot of ways were labor supply bills. These were bills that were really
intended to supply guest workers to industry and then an enforcement
program to kind of drive workers into those programs. So, the
difference of opinion, I think in the Democratic Party, especially, is
between people who sponsored those programs and other people like
Sheila Jackson-Lee, the congresswoman from Houston, who said instead of
having a guest worker program, what we need is people to be able to
come here with green cards and with permanent residence visas. And
also, the thing I think that she said that was really a pioneering
idea, and that was that we also need a jobs program. We need to couple
immigration reform with jobs programs. So she said, let's take the fees
that people pay when they're normalizing their status and use that to
set up job creation and job training programs in communities with high
unemployment, so that all communities can have some kind of benefit out
of these bills. You know, these labor supply bills, comprehensive
immigration reform bills, what they do is they pit communities against
each other over jobs, over wages and so forth.
Freeman's essay provided us with the transition into Bacon. Some might have expected us to go to Cynthia McKinney
next and I would love to. But I've gone through about 30 articles and
blog posts on or related to her that were published over the weekend.
Not interested. That's nothing against Cynthia. I have a lot of
respect for her. But if she has female supporters, they need to start
making themselves heard because if I see one more article or blog post
about how she's not a woman, she's a ___ (whatever compliment), I'm not
even going to bother to try to highlight the campaign again. And
notice, it's men writing these things and men being quoted in them.
Again, if she has female supporters, they need to start speaking up.
Reality, Cynthia is indeed a woman and it's nothing to run from. I
won't highlight any articles or blog posts that claim or suggest it
is. Cynthia has an amazing personal story and an amazing legislative
record. She is also a "she." And all three things can and, in fact,
do go together. Some of those pieces are so bad they read like the
writers want to strap down her breasts, paste a mustache on her and
insist she's really "Sidney McKinney."
Ralph
Nader is the independent presidential candidate (Cynthia is the Green
Party candidate). His running mate is Matt Gonzalez. This is the latest from Team Nader:
On this momentous Monday, September 15, 2008, we make a simple request.
With Ralph warning about extravagance, recklessness, and excessive compensation on Wall Street.
Warning years ago about the undue influence of Fannie and Freddie on Democrats and Republicans alike.
Warning about the failure of our government to protect small investors.
Throughout his career, Nader has strong been a strong advocate for due diligence.
For protecting shareholder rights.
For prudential regulation.
And strict oversight of the markets.
While
the Democrats and Republicans have bent to the whims of their corporate
masters and Wall Street's bottom line imperatives.
Nader has been steadfast in his advocacy for safety, regulation, and protecting the little guy.
Unfortunately for the nation and for investors, his warnings have gone largely unheeded.
On
this momentous Monday, as we watch the fallout from the failed
policies, greed and extravagance of the corporate political class
unfold, we make this simple note.
Due
diligence, prudential regulation, and strict oversight of the markets
-- Nader-style -- would have gone a long way to averting the disaster
currently hitting Wall Street.
Instead, it was short-term fast and dirty profits, muzzled politicians, and throw caution to the wind.
And
so now, the American people are learning the hard way about the
consequences of a reckless corporate dominated political economy.
But thanks to your hard work, we are in a position to give America a choice in November.
For prudence.
For strict oversight.
For regulation.
Right now, we're in the stretch drive of our $80,000 fundraiser -- to help fund our get out the vote drive.
To get Ralph Nader into the presidential debates.
To let the American people know that they don't have to settle for corporate rule.
There will be a choice in November.
But first, we need to reach $80,000 by September 17th.
Donny
Deutsch recently made sexist comments about Republican Vice
Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and former Democratic Presidential
contender Hillary Clinton. Deutsch appeared on CNBC's Squawk the Street (Watch the video here)
and made several misogynistic comments including praising Palin for
earning respect through her ability to make men "want to mate with her"
and calling Senator Clinton's loss in the Democratic Primaries a direct
result of the fact that she "didn't put a skirt on."
Deutsch
also said that "if you were gonna sell a new concept, a Woman in Power,
to the American people, if it was a cereal, was a product, what
ingredients would you put in? Hillary Clinton never figured it out. She
(Sarah Palin) figured it out." Later, he said that it was a "huge
lesson that if you have a woman candidate "you gotta first sell her as
a woman" before you can sell her as a candidate.
The blogosphere quickly responded to Deutsch's comments. A CNBC blogger
wrote that, "to imply men want to sleep with [Palin] as a reason for
her popularity is about as chauvinist as it comes." A blogger on Feministing
posed the question, "Would he even think to talk about packaging a
product in quite so demeaning a way if he were talking about McCain?"
Media Resources: Feministing 9/8/08; Shakesville 9/8/08; ThinkProgress 9/5/08
That's their brief in full. Again, ask them where it went. Also this Friday's NOW on PBS will be an hour long special broadcast and will examine women -- in the electorate and in office
In Iraq: When
the new Iraqi constitution was being written, the Kurds objected to the
statement that read "Iraq is an Arab state and part of the Arab nation"
pointing out that there are other ethnic groups that would be offended.
So the statement was struck out – as if by a magic wand disregarding
the other constituents of the Iraqi population. Arabs constitute 84% of
the population. With whose support was this achieved?
In Kirkuk: The
Kurds insist that Kirkuk is a Kurdish province because it is populated
with Kurds, and that it should be part of Kurdistan region. They have
taken control of it and the Peshmerga handle the security there and
they refuse to enlist or train any Arabs – or Turkmen. Kurds constitute
around 40% of the population in Kirkuk, according to Iraqi lawmakers.
In Diyala: Khanaqeen
is a small city that has an ethnically mixed population, most of whom
are Arab. During military operations the leaders of the insurgency flee
from one town to another with the security forces hot on their trail.
Khanaqeen is not a part of Kurdistan region, it never was, and yet when
the Iraqi forces pursued their duties to Khanaqeen all hell broke
loose. The Kurds went into red alert, and threatened to use force if
the Iraqi forces didn't step down and leave the city, all on pretext of
the existence of Kurds there. The Peshmerga confronted the Iraqi Army
and refused to budge. The constitution says that Diyala is under the
jurisdiction of the central government – but in spite of that it was
the Iraqi army that stood down. They left their posts inside the city
and camped around on the periphery of Khanaqeen. What is the source of
this strength, this confidence with which the Kurds are making these
stands?
When
a thunderous blast Sunday shook a Baghdad neighborhood that is home to
the Los Angeles Times and other news organizations, photographers did
what photographers are supposed to do: grabbed their cameras and headed
for the huge cloud of black smoke, which was clearly visible despite a
dust storm and the creeping darkness of night. It was about a
three-minute walk to the scene, but if you don't see many photographs
of the bomb's aftermath, which killed at least two people and wounded
seven, that's because Iraqi soldiers seized photographers' camera
equipment. They got their camera bodies back, but the Iraqi officials
refused to give up the memory cards inside them. The incident was an
example of the twisted relationship Iraq's government has with the
media, who under Saddam Hussein had virtually no freedom and who now
are promised freedom but often get the opposite. Scores of journalists
have been detained by Iraqi and U.S. security forces since Hussein's
ouster in 2003, and according to the Committee to Protect Journalists
in New York, at least 182 journalists or media employees ranging from
drivers to technicians have been killed in Iraq. That does not include four abducted and killed Saturday in the northern city of Mosul while working on a show for independent Sharqiya TV. Concerns
about press freedom began growing in May 2007, when Iraq's government
declared that photographers would be banned from bombing sites,
ostensibly to prevent them from destroying evidence. Media groups
suspected the real intention was to prevent images that portrayed Iraq
in a negative light from getting out. Whatever the case, journalists
who tried to test the ban later that month had warning shots fired
their way. On Sunday evening, the Iraqi soldiers on the scene
outside the Hussan restaurant in Karada did not feel the need to cite
any laws except their own as they confiscated camera gear.
News Advisory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Welch, 202-471-5833, mike@votenader.org (National HQ); Joe Alfone, 504-319-9312 (local)
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RALPH NADER TO SPEAK IN BATON ROUGE
On
Wednesday, September 17, at 7 p.m., Independent Presidential Candidate
Ralph Nader will host a news conference in Room 105 of the LSU School
of Music. Following the news conference, at 7:30 p.m., Mr. Nader will
hold a rally in room 115. The LSU School of Music is located at 229
East State Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.
The
theme of the rally, "Open the Debates," reflects the Nader/Gonzalez
Campaign's call for inclusive, democratic Presidential debates. Right
now, they are limited to the candidates from the two corporate parties.
The debates are controlled by the so-called Commission on Presidential
Debates (CPD), a private corporation created by the Democratic and
Republican Parties in 1987, which Walter Cronkite called an
"unconscionable fraud" because the CPD format "defies meaningful
discourse."
Mr. Nader's
remarks will include the failure of the federal government to
adequately respond to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. It is
absolutely shameful that some New Orleans residents are still without
homes, and that corporations are seizing the opportunity to displace
former residents and gentrify disaster-vacated real estate. More than
35,000 individuals are still living in FEMA trailers. Only 11 percent
of Lower 9th Ward residents have been able to return to the city.
Populations made vulnerable by disaster should not be ignored or
exploited for corporate profit. The Nader campaign maintains that this
is yet another example of the disastrous collusion of corporations and
politics.
Mr. Nader will
also address these and many other critical issues the major party
candidates have taken "off the table" that the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
has put on the table, including:
- a comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq; - a single-payer, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all; - a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act; - a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources; - a carbon tax to deter global warming; -
an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted
in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax
dollars; and, - more direct
democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with
"we the people," and not "we the corporations."
About Ralph Nader Attorney,
author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time
Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th
Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and
organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest
groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and
was instrumental in enacting the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor
Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless
other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader
we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink
cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from
Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.
About Matt Gonzalez Matt
Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000
representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005,
he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender,
Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney
practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations
in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state
and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia
University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign The
Nader/Gonzalez independent presidential candidacy will be on the ballot
in 45 states, is polling at 5-6 percent nationally, and a new Time/CNN
poll shows Ralph Nader polling 8 percent in New Mexico, 7 percent in
Colorado, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 6 percent in Nevada -- all key
battleground states.
For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org
In today's New York Times, Sam Dagher offers "Sunni Proponent of Reconciliation Is Killed"
which is a look at the "Awakening" Councils with an inital focus on the
assassination of Fouad Ali Hussein al-Douri via a Saturday night
bombing. From Dagher's article: Administration
of the Awakening program, which is made up of almost 100,000 mostly
Sunni men countrywide on the American military payroll, is expected to
be handed over to the government starting Oct. 1. About 54,000
Awakening patrol members in Baghdad will start reporting to the
government that day. There are serious concerns that many might be
arrested for previous links to the insurgency or denied long-promised
jobs in the army and the police. The Awakening members, whose ranks
include many former Sunni insurgents, backed by the Americans to fight
militants, are often cited as a crucial factor in the improvement of
security in Iraq. But they have long been viewed with deep suspicion by
many Shiites in the government.
Though the paper skipped
Iraq on Friday, they've now had one article filed from Iraq for the
last three days, all written by Sam Dagher. One other section of the
article to note: "Guards are paid a monthly salary of $300, and Jihad
Guard leaders $450, by the American military." Actually, they are paid
their monthly salary by the US tax payer. And on that note, we'll go to
this from Mohammed Abbas (Reuters):
Iraq
does not need any financial aid from the United States, the government
spokesman said, in the wake of criticism from some U.S. politicians
that Washington is paying too much towards Iraq's reconstruction. Since
the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, U.S. taxpayers have paid $48 billion for
stabilisation and reconstruction in Iraq, a congressional report said
last month, adding Baghdad had spent little of its growing oil revenues
on rebuilding infrastructure. "I
think we are in a position now not to ask for financial aid from
anybody, even the United States," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh
told Reuters at the weekend in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf. "I think we have enough money to spend and we are not in need of any money in the future."
Peter Miguel Camejo, a civil rights leader, socially responsible
investment pioneer, and magnanimo caballero for third party politics in
the US, peacefully passed away early Saturday morning at his home in
Folsom, CA with his wife Morella at his side -- only days after
completing his autobiography.
The 68-year-old justice fighter
had been battling a reoccurrence of lymphoma cancer, and his condition
had rapidly deteriorated over the past few days.
Peter was a
student leader, civil rights advocate, leader in the socially
responsible investment industry with his own investment firm,
Progressive Asset Management, Inc., and author of books on investment
and history including Racism, Revolution, Reaction, 1861-1877, The Rise and Fall of Radical Reconstruction, California Under Corporate Rule, and his recent book, The SRI Advantage: Why Socially Responsible Investing Has Outperformed Financially.
Peter
used his eloquence, sharp wit, and barnstorming bravado to blaze a
trail for 21st century third party politics in the US. He was a third
party candidate for state and national office, making three
gubernatorial runs in California as a Green, including one in the 2002
election when he earned 5.3 percent of the vote. In the 2003 recall
election, he debated Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis, and in the
2004 Presidential election, he was my running mate on our Independent
Ticket.
Among the many causes Peter forcefully championed were a
living wage, healthcare for all, and making the US the world leader in
renewable energy. He was also a passionate advocate for electoral
reform, pressing for proportional representation and instant run-off
voting (allows voters to rank their top choices) in an effort to
overturn the "200-year-old dysfunctional money-dominated winner
take-all system that disrespects the will of the people."
Peter
was a friend, colleague and politically courageous champion of the
downtrodden and mistreated of the entire Western Hemisphere. Everyone
who met Peter, talked with Peter, worked with Peter, or argued with
Peter, will miss the passing of a great American.
Peter Camejo
is survived by his wife Morella, his father Daniel, his daughter
Alexandra, his son Victor, three brothers Antonio, Daniel, and Danny,
and three grandchildren Andrew, Daniel, and Oliver.
When his autobiography (with the working title Northstar)
is published, we will all be able to get a vivid sense of the great
measure of Peter Camejo as a sentinel force for civil rights and civil
liberties, and expander of democracy. His lifework will inspire the
political and economic future for a long time.
Click here to view Peter Camejo at this summer's California Peace and Freedom Party convention, endorsing the nomination of Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez.
Eight Kurdish pesh merga soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in a disputed part of eastern Diyala Province on Saturday, adding to tensions with the Iraqi government and local Arabs over the Kurds' presence in the area. [. . .] The Kurdish presence in Khanaquin, and in other nearby areas, has been a growing source of tension. Kurdish forces have been moving the borders of their semiautonomous region in northern Iraq, in what they say is an effort to improve security. But the move has been viewed by many Iraqi and American officials as a threat to stability in areas that are already prone to violence.
The above is from Sam Dagher's "Bomb Kills 8 Kurdish Soldier, Inflaming an Iraqi Regional Dispute" in today's New York Times. That's two days in a row that the paper's filed from Iraq and both pieces by Dagher. (Nothing was filed from Iraq in Friday's paper.) Dagher also covers other violence including aimed at journalists. Nicholas Spangler and Hussein Kadhim set the scene in "Terrorists murder a television crew" (McClatchy Newspapers):
The Iraqi TV crew brought the gifts that had come to be the trademark of their reality show: some basic household appliances and a delicious supper to break the Ramadan fast for a family of little means. They'd done it many times before. But this episode didn't get made. Gunmen seized four of them from their vehicles, hauled them down the street and executed them. The show is called Your Iftar on Us, after the Arabic word for the evening feast, and it airs on the privately-owned Sharqiya network. It didn't have much in the way of production values but it had a wide following. People watched it because it made them feel good.
Reporters Without Borders is appalled and saddened by the murder of four employees of privately-owned TV station Al-Sharqiya (photo,AFP) yesterday in the northern city of Mosul. Al-Sharqiya's news director noted that the murders followed a smear campaign against the station by state TV broadcaster Al Iraqiya. "We condemn the abduction and murder of the three Al-Sharqiya journalists and their driver and we call for a thorough investigation into the circumstances," Reporters Without Borders said. "The comments by Al-Sharqiya’s news director make such an investigation all the more urgent." The Al-Sharqiya TV crew - consisting of Mosul bureau chief Musab al-Azawi (the son of a parliamentarian), cameramen Ahmed Salem and Ihab Maad and driver Qaidar Suleiman - were kidnapped by gunmen at midday while filming in the central Mosul neighbourhood of Al-Zenjili for a programme about Ramadan, which began two weeks ago. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found in a nearby district later yesterday. The sequence they were filming would have shown Al-Sharqiya bringing food and gifts for a poor family for the Iftar, the meal with which the daily fast is broken every evening during Ramadan. The station broadcasts to Iraq by satellite from Dubai.
With other reported deaths over the weekend, that makes for at least 37 Iraqis dead. In addition the US military announced the deaths of more US service members.
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 4,155 was the number. And tonight? 4157. Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier died this morning of non-combat related causes." And they also announced: "A second Multi-National Division - Center Soldier died this morning of non-combat related causes. The soldier died of wounds Sept. 14 at a Coalition forces Combat Army Support Hospital." Just Foreign Policy's counter estimates the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war to be 1,255,026 same as last Sunday.
Turning to some of the reported violence . . .
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports (today) a Baghdad mortar attack on the Green Zone, a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed the life "of the commander of the Sahwa in Furat neighborhood" and left four other people wounded, a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 2 lives and left six wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded three people, a Diyala Province roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 5 police officers (five more left wounded), a Falluja roadside bombing that claimed 1 life (and left two police officers wounded) and, dropping back to Saturday night, a Baghdad car bombing that wounded six people. On Saturday McClatchy's Hussein Kadhim reported a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded four police officers, a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed 3 lives and left five wounded, a Baghdad car bombing that wounded four people, a Baghdad roadside bombing that wounded three and a Baghdad car bombing that wounded six people.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Mosul home invasion that left three people wounded. Saturday McClatchy's Hussein Kadhim reported a Friday night Basra attack that claimed the life of 1 person and left three more injured. Reuters notes a Sunday attack "on a publishing house" that resulted in four people being wounded and 2 police officers shot dead in Mosul on Saturday while 1 guard was shot dead in Iskandariya on Saturday. Saturday Reuters noted 1 real estate broker shot dead in Kirkuk, a Mosul home invasion in which a husband and wife were shot dead.
Parliament on Sunday suspended legal immunity for secular Sunni lawmaker Mithal Alusi, opening him up to possible felony charges for traveling to Israel last week to participate in an international counterterrorism conference. "Are you holding me accountable for not hiding secrets? For being honest? For not walking behind the curtains?" he demanded of his colleagues Sunday. "It is better than visiting in secret." Alusi is the only Iraqi politician in recent years to publicly visit Israel, a country declared an enemy of state by Iraqi law, and he used the occasion last week to accuse Iran of sponsoring terrorism and interfering in Iraqi affairs. At the end of his appearance he called for relations with Israel and other nations to fight terrorism.
The policeman, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak with the news media, said the explosives-packed vehicle blew up amid grocery stalls and butcher shops on the main street just across from the town’s barricaded police headquarters. The impact of the blast destroyed a building that housed several clinics and set at least 10 vehicles ablaze. At least seven women and four children were among the dead, and distraught residents rushed to the scene to search for loved ones, he said.
The above is from Sam Dagher's "31 Killed in Car Bomb Attack on Iraq Shiite Enclave" (New York Times, A2) on yesterday's bombing. The paper did not file from Iraq yesterday despite multiple e-mails to the public account claiming otherwise.
What the paper ran Friday was a report filed from Tokyo, not Iraq. (It was a bad report which contained errors. Instead of calling it out, we just overlooked it because it was not an Iraq report and the topic had already been covered in Thursday's Iraq snapshot.)
In other news, Jim Michaels (USA Today) reports today (online, USA Today's next print edition comes out Monday) that Gen David Petraeus, eager to assume control of CENTCOM and no longer be the 'top [US] commander' in Iraq, managee to send off "a farewell letter issued Saturday".
Among today's violence includes a bombing. BBC reports: "A roadside bomb killed six Kurdish peshmerga fighters in Khanaqin town in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad." Earlier this week, tensions escalated with counter-claims -- the central government in Baghdad claimed they weren't targeting the Peshmerga and Kurdish officials expressed concerns otherwise. The roadside bombing (likely planted by resistance fighters) will only inflame speculation in the Kurdish region where the belief is already that the Peshmerga are under attack.
The following community sites have updated since Friday morning:
Four employees of an independent TV station were abducted and killed today while filming a reality show that bestows gifts on needy people during the holy month of Ramadan. The victims, killed in the northern city of Mosul, were among at least 12 people slain nationwide, including four in a bomb blast in eastern Baghdad and four Kurdish soldiers in northern Iraq. The attack on the Sharqiya TV employees was stunning for its brazenness and brutality. Police in Mosul said the victims were grabbed as they filmed an episode of a program known as "Breaking the Fast Is on Us," which airs only during Ramadan.
Yesterday, a press conference was held in Baghdad during which is was noted, "The disease is epidemic in Iraq." The disease is cholera. Participating were Iraq's Minster of Health Dr. Salith al-Hasnawi, Dr. Tahseen al-Sheikhly and WHO's Dr. Naeema al-Gasseer (who was a public menace). And there was plenty of time to slam the press, excuse the puppet government, blame individual Iraqis and what has to be seen as encouragement of attacks on Iraqi women. It was a complete embarrassment and the United Nations should be ashamed that a rep for the World Health Organization not only participated but launched her own attacks.
Dr. al-Sheikhly started the conference insiting that "we decided today that the Iraqi government is going to deal with this topic with total frank". Apparently that decision required him immediately handing off to al-Hasnawi who gave the figures for cholera as "36 confirmed cases: 20 cases in Babil Province, 1 in Maysan, 13 in Karkh District in Baghdad. We had 6 but the confirmative test added 7 -- 3 in Mahmudiyah, 4 in Yusufiyah. Rusafa District had 1 case coming from Kut, it was dected in Rusafa. Today we confirmed a scond case in Mada'in."
Moving from confirmed to suspected cases, he declared, "It is 86 cases: 20 in Maysan, they are new, suspected; 39 in Karkh suspected; 6 in Karbala; 1 in Nasiriyah; 1 in Najaf cases. All of them would cause...would make 86. The mortalities of cholera were 6 only." Later, he would add, "In Hillah now, we have 19 suspected cases."
"Total frank" flew out the window early on. al-Sheikhly declared there was six deaths from cholera at the opening of the press conference and would later insist "only five death . . . mortalities." The numbers given were in doubt and anyone counting on WHO representative Dr. al-Gasseer to clear up the numbers was hoping in vain. She stayed clear of the number issue although she did find time to play journalism professor: "Media can be negative affect also. Your role is to deliver the information rapidly in order to help us stop spreading the disease." Much later in the press conference, al-Hasnawi would chime in with his own journalism lesson, "The media buzz. it has maybe negative results that would affect the social life and affect the people." Iraq doesn't have a free press and while it's easy to snicker at 'advice' from the puppet government, WHO shames itself and the United Nations by participating in attacks on the press in a region that knowingly attacks the press. That was disgaraceful and the United Nations should be ashamed for taking part in that farce. They allowed themselves to be a shield. If you're missing that fact, much later in the press conference, al-Sheikhly would reply to a question with, "If you would allow me, I would like the WHO to answer as being neutral side."
The World Health Organization made a joke out of themselves in the press conference. That was only more evident when it was left to Free Iraq Radio (and not WHO) to point out the obvious to al- by stating "the cholera disease is epidemin in Iraq. All these decades you have not taken special procedures to stop this disease? Where is the role of the minister of health now to stop the cases? Who is the responsible side for spreading this disease, especially this is growing a suitable environment, which is a lack of potable water environment? Who is the responsible part in your opinion? What is your future plans? I’m sure you have future plans to stop this disease. Where is the awareness procedures through the TV channels?"
Admitting that lack of potable water was the cause ("the big reason"), al-Hasnawi declared "the committee is going to have plans. We're going to have rapid procedures and strategies for the long term, for the midterm." Oh really? Much later in the press conference, a timefram would be mentioned by al-Hasnawi, "Within 10 years, our infrastructure is going to be finished for the first 8 centers and providing treatment and the staff. The outcomes are going to be witnessed after years." Well isn't that something to take pride in? In 10 years, 8 centers (the first eight, mind you) will be functional.
In addition As-Salam Satellite Channel pointed out that despite promises from Nouri al-Maliki (puppet of the occupation) that villages would receive water tanks, the tanks have not been received. al-Sheikhly replied, "Mr. Prime Minister allocated 16 water tanker to be sent to the areas that are having shortage due to some cuts in the water pipe...waterline. Also, the area that you are talking about, maybe within the coming days they would reach the tank...they would receive a tanker." He went on to declare that the promise was made when a water pipe was broken.
So why wasn't anything done?
al-Hasnawi would go on to declare that there was nothing to worry about because WHO was assisting. There is a cholera outbreak and WHO is allowing it to be minimized. al-Hasnawi asserted, "The shortages of medications, who said that the Ministry of Health now needs medications with an expiration to the cholera cases? WHO is present." He then declared of the outbreak, "It happens in everybody -- in every country in the world, not only in the ministry of Iraq." Golly, it's hard to think of another country with all the billions Iraq has (not to mention the billions the US is spending) that faces cholera outbreaks every year.
As if the press conference could not become more of a joke, the United Nation's figure began not just using outdated terminology ("housewife") but blaming women for the outbreak of cholera, " As you are individual responsible at your house, if you do not control your family – how they cook food, how they wash their food, if the woman...the housewife there does not have correct information about how to deal with food – this is your responsibility. I would tell...there is a formal responsibility and local responsibility."
The idiot then returned to the issue of lecturing and hectoring the media. Someone explain to the United Nations that the good doctor needs a good ass kicking. That was so shameful and so embarrassing and it sullies the reputation of the UN. And no one needs her climbing on the cross about how 'rough' things are for her: "I cannot call everyboyd from the international community." No? Well how about you just trying doing your damn job and if that's too much work for you, how about you try finding another job because all you are is a public embarrassment.
WHO again took an issue of potable water and attempted to turn the puppet government's failures into a lacking in individual Iraqi citizens: ". . . how to deal with food and personal hygiene. I have asked the minister that the clergymen need and do have a big responsibility. They need to spread this line of cleanliness." That statement is all the more offensive when you consider the attacks on women and when you take in what "cleanliness" connates in a fundamentalist society. Repeating, the United Nations SHOULD BE ASHAMED.
When not hecotring the press, the WHO represenative snarled that there was a web page on cholera and Iraq at WHO's website and that correct information could be found there. Oh really, Dr. Dumb Ass? Here's the page -or at least the most obvious place for it to be, under Iraq and, under that, under epidemics. You'll note the most 'recent' posting was October 3, 2007.
It also needs to be noted that Dr. Dumb Ass defined the government's responsiblity in an interesting way. She insisted that the Iraqi government was only responsible for food eaten in public places. They apparently had no obligation to the general welfare of the Iraqi people. Her statements go against every stated principle the United Nations claims to adhere to. She has lost all distance and detachment and her ass needs to be reassigned. She is no longer a voice that can be trusted. Your first indication may be how she repeatedly said "we" and then needed to correct herself that she was speaking of the Iraqi government.
There were over 4,000 cholera cases last year. They broke out at the same time. This year's epidemic was not unforseen. WHO really needs to get it's act together and that would include pulling the dumb ass doctor who's been there for five years and has ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING. Her ass needs to be reassigned before she does more damage (both to the Iraqi people and to WHO's image).
While sliming and smearing women, the doctor never held the Iraqi 'government' accountable for refusing to address the situation. That goes far beyond refusing to use any of the billions to repair the infrastructure (year after year). It goes to the sorry and unhealthy squalor that Iraqis are forced to live in. Zaineb Naji offered "Baghdad's Trash Problem" (Baghdad Life, Wall St. Journal) earlier this week:
In our neighborhood, the municipal council placed large, yellow garbage containers on many road sides. People said it cost millions of Iraqi dinars but after a month, we can no longer see these containers since they have been stolen or destroyed. And garbage and piles of debris are back again. In other areas, municipal councils have not taken such steps. Instead, they chose to use an empty land for litter. Those empty spaces were supposed to be used by the Iraqi government to build housing complexes in the city, which is overflowing with people because of the growing population and the displaced who have lost their homes due to sectarian violence. This has led poor or displaced families to build houses near the garbage piles, as this has become a source of livelihood for families who suffer hardships.
But while I can understand Americans' fears about fuel prices and availability, I have a harder time understanding why Iraqis -- with their oases of crude oil reserves and untapped oilfields in the south and the north -- have had to put up with high oil prices and severe shortages of gasoline, diesel and cooking gas. A report issued recently by the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that Iraq's government could generate between $73.5 billion and $86.2 billion in total revenue for 2008, with oil exports accounting for $66.5 billion to $79.2 billion. And yet ordinary Iraqis still face fuel shortage and high rates. These days, there are three-hour lines of cars queued up for gas, according to one friend of mine in Baghdad. He said officially the government blames this problem on the lack of power that gas pumps need to operate. In Baghdad, he said, people are only getting two hours of electricity a day. The government says the nearly total absence of power in the capital is due to the lack of new power projects.
While giving a pass to the central government in Baghdad and blaming Iraqi women (to the point that her words could be seen as encouraging men to batter them), the WHO doctor didn't mention any of the above. Piles of garbage sitting on the streets? Not a damn word. Women, the doctor told us ("housewives," actually) should be made to boil the water -- with what, doctor, when they have no electricity in many areas (STILL) and the fuel shortage applies to cooking.
Again, that woman needs to be pulled from the region immediately. She has embarrassed the United Nations and her five years in Iraq have made her care more about a puppet government than about the people she is supposedly there to help. She is an embarrasment and she is a joke. Her continued presence in Iraq will mean that that the United Nations is seen in the same light.
Friday,
September 12, 2008. Chaos and violence continues, the theft of Iraqi
oil is still pursued, tensions remain between the puppet government and
the "Awakening" Council, Charlie Gibson makes a huge error in his
interview with Sarah Palin, and more.
Starting with Iraqi oil. Edward S. Herman (ZNet) noted
at the start of this month, "On the oil front, in late June the
newspapers featured the announcement of the Iraqi oil minister Mohamad
Sharastani that contracts had been drawn up between the Maliki
government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the
largest fields in Iraq. No competitive bidding was allowed and the
terms announced were very poor by existing international contract
standards. The contracts were written with the help of 'a group of U.S.
advisers led by a small State Department team.' This was all in
conformity with the Declaration of Principles of November 26, 2007,
whereby the 'sovereign country' of Iraq would use 'especially American
investments' in its attempt to recover from the effects of the American
aggression." Thursday Andrew E. Kramer and Campbell Robertson (New York Times) reported
on a Tuesday press conference, held by Hussain al-Shahristani (Iraq's
Minister of Oil) at OPEC's meet-up, where it was announced that the
contracts with western corporations (including Chevron, Exxon Mobil,
Shell, Total and BP) were being cancelled which the coporations
"confirmed on Wednesday." Ernesto London (Washington Post) reports
on the cancellations today and notes that the companies "are expected
to submit bids in coming weeks for deals" and explains it was not just
public outrage that killed the contracts, "The oil companies were not
surprised by the Iraqi decision, given the political sensitivities
raised by the issue, according to an executive at one of the five
companies. Speaking on the condition that he not be identified further,
the executive said the deals had become less attractive because Iraqi
officials had shortened the proposed length of the contracts from two
years to one in response to criticism." The cancelled contracts aren't
the only bad news for those hoping to play Let's Steal Iraqi Oil!
Not all that long ago, with much happy gasbagging in the press, Iraq
announced Iraq's Energy Expo and Conference to be held October 17th
through 19th. Ben Lando (UPI) reports
that, woops, no one bothered to think about construction -- the
convention center's not done yet -- so the Expo's dates have been moved
to December 3rd through 5th. The puppet government can't get it
together to hold provincial elections and they can't even pull off a
conference they got a ton of positive press for when they announced
it. And Andy Rowell (Oil Change International) offers,
"Oh it's so good to be back. After a 35 year absence Shell has become
the first western oil company to land a major deal with the government
in Baghdad since the invasion of the country five years ago. They will
be smiling in the Hague and London. Shell has been awarded a $4bn contract
in the south of the country to supply gas for Iraqi domestic use but
also for export. Shell's project is intended to make use of the gas
flared off by the oil industry in the south of Iraq. In that region
alone, an estimated 700m cubic feet of gas is burned off every day --
enough to meet the demand for power generation in the entire country."
Yesterday's snapshot noted the Thursday meet up between the puppet government in Baghdad and the "Awakening" Council members. Saif Rasheed and Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) report
on it today noting,the supposed impending melding of "Awakening"
Council members and the Iraqi 'government': "Leaders of the so-called
Sons of Iraq disputed Iraqi plans to absorb only 20% of the fighters
into the Iraqi military and police, and they expressed doubts that
their members would be protected when the U.S. military turned over
responsibility for the units to Iraqi officials. . . . The plan worries
many Sons of Iraq leaders, who say Maliki's government already has
begun a campaign of arrest and intimidation against them. U.S.
officials, who embraced the program last year as a way to turn around
the Sunni insurgency, now say the Iraqi government has the right to
arrest fighters it suspects of crimes."
Today's bombings include an attack in Salaheddin Province. AFP puts
the death toll at 31 plus the "suicide bomber" whom they note "detnoate
his explosives-filled truck near the police station of the central
Iraqi Shiite town of Dujail". AP says the count rose to 32 dead (forty-three wounded) citing police and hospital sources. Reuters adds, "They said casualties were a mix of civilians shopping at a nearby market as well as police." While Al Bawaba notes, "Police
said the bombing occurred just before dusk, when many people were on
the streets before the breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) provides
the historical background, "The mainly Shiite city is best known as the
site of a campaign of vengeance by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
following an assassination attempt against him there in the 1980s.
After the attempt on his life, the Sunni leader ordered the roundup of
young Shiite boys and men and destruction of homes in the town. Hussein
and six others were convicted in 2006 in the killings of 148 Dujayl
residents, and Hussein was hanged for the crimes later that year." Al Jazeera goes with more recent history, "The
last major suicide attack occurred on August 26, when a bomber
thwarted a security checkpoint in Jalawla, a police recruiting centre,
and blew himself up, killing at least 25 people."
In other reported violence today . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a
Baghdad car bombng that left five people wounded, a Baghdad grenade
attack that injured thirteen people, a Nineveh bomber who killed
themselves outside a Shi'ite mosque and claimed 3 more lives with
fifteen more people injured and a Salahuddin Province car bombing which
claimed 27 lives with forty more wounded.
RALPH
NADER, INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well if we're in the
presidential debates, it might be a Jesse Ventura, three-way race. But -- yet today, we put together --
BLITZER:
Three presidential debates, but the Presidential Debate Commission has
set a bar that's pretty hard for you to overcome.
NADER:
Yes, since it's controlled by the two parties, as you know. Today I
think is an historic day because we, Ron Paul and the candidate for the
Green Party, the candidate for the Constitutional Party, and me, and
Bob Barr, agreed on four major areas: foreign policy -- get the
soldiers back, end the war in Iraq, stop being imperialistic, privacy,
deal with the repeal of the Patriot Act; the revision of FISA --
Military Commissions Act and you know, get rid of torture; and a third
is the national debt. Deficits are now used for reckless government
adventurism. The --
BLITZER: The national debt has nearly doubled over the last --
NADER: Yes, and the Iraq war is financed from deficit spending.
BLITZER: And the fourth issue?
NADER:
And the fourth issue is the Federal Reserve is now a government within
a government. It is totally out of control. Congress doesn't control
it. It's funded by the banks. And we either have constitutional
government or we don't because of this. Well -- here's the question: Is
there anything left for the American people to decide about their
country?
We've
been conditioned by the mass media to believe there are only two
political parties worthy of our attention. Because only the Republican
Party and the Democratic Party receive significant coverage, especially
during election cycles, it's easy to forget that other parties do
indeed exist. Case in point: While Democratic presidential-nominee
Barack Obama filled the Kohl Center to an over-capacity crowd of over
17,000 during his trip to Madison in February prior to the Wisconsin
presidential primaries, Independent candidate Ralph Nader, running for
president for the fifth time, struggled to fill the small Orpheum
Theatre this past Friday on State Street, which has a capacity that is
only 10 percent of the Kohl Center at 1,700. Most students here
probably didn't even know Nader would be speaking at the Orpheum, and
those who did know scoffed at the idea of him running for president
again. The situation is shameful -- because over the past eight years,
the two mainstream parties have failed us and no one really seems to
care, nor do they really want to do anything about it. With wars
on two fronts both deemed failures by the general public and key
congressional leaders involvement in Jack Abramoff's money laundering
scandal, the odds were rightfully stacked against the Republicans for
the 2006 midterm elections. And indeed, they resulted in sweeping
changes in the United States' political landscape from the local level
all the way on up. Democrats gained 31 seats in the House of
Representatives and five seats in the Senate, drastically altering the
landscape of Congress. Democrats won these seats under the premise that
Washington -- under the leadership of the Republican Party -- was
broken, and a change in leadership was necessary to fix it. Two years
later, looking at the voting records of the spineless Democrats, they
have, by-and-large, failed us.
On the campaign trail, Ralph will be heading to New Orleans September 17th
where he will speak at Tulane University where he will hold a press
conference at the Freeman Auditorium starting at 2:30 p.m. and a rally
starting at 3:00 p.m.
Turning to Sarah Palin
who is John McCain's running mate on the GOP ticket. This is a quote
from her when she was speaking to her church:
Pray
for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right.
Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are
sending them out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to
make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that
plan is God's plan.
That's what Palin said in her church. Here for text (Glen Beck, CNN), here for audio (KPFK's Uprising
-- and Sonoli Kolhatkar notes that the clips are cutting off short
during the segment). Note it because Charlie Gibson distorted her
words.
ABC News has the first interview with
Governor Palin. Charlie Gibson conducted the interview. One segment
aired 'dealing' with Iraq. Russell Goldman (ABC News) summarizes it as follows:
Palin defended a previous statement in which she reportedly characterized the war in Iraq as a "task from God."
Gibson quoted her as saying: "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God."
But Palin said she was referencing a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln.
"I
would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. But
what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was
let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but
let us pray that we are on God's side."
GIBSON:
You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are
sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a
holy war?
PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.
GIBSON: Exact words.
PALIN:
But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words when he
said -- first, he suggested never presume to know what God's will is,
and I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words.
But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and
that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our
side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's
side.
That's what that comment was all
about, Charlie. And I do believe, though, that this war against extreme
Islamic terrorists is the right thing. It's an unfortunate thing,
because war is hell and I hate war, and, Charlie, today is the day that
I send my first born, my son, my teenage son overseas with his Stryker
brigade, 4,000 other wonderful American men and women, to fight for our
country, for democracy, for our freedoms.
Charlie,
those are freedoms that too many of us just take for granted. I hate
war and I want to see war ended. We end war when we see victory, and we
do see victory in sight in Iraq.
GIBSON: I take your point about Lincoln's words, but you went on and said, "There is a plan and it is God's plan."
PALIN:
I believe that there is a plan for this world and that plan for this
world is for good. I believe that there is great hope and great
potential for every country to be able to live and be protected with
inalienable rights that I believe are God-given, Charlie, and I believe
that those are the rights to life and liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
That, in my world view, is a grand -- the grand plan.
Charlie
quoted Palin stating, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers
on a task that is from God." That wasn't a sentence, that was part of
a sentence with additions to it by Charlie Gibson. Again, what Palin
actually said:
Pray for our military
men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this
country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out
on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're
praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.
When
Palain said, "I don't know if that was my exact quote," Gibson
insisted, "Exact words." No, they were not. Gibson was also wrong
when he stated, ". . . you went on and said, 'There is a plan and it
is God's plan'." She did not say that, she asked her church to pray
that there was.
Even Sarah Posner told Sonali,
"I mean, in a way, she was right with respect to the words that Gibson
was quoting." And note that MSM Gibson got it wrong and did not play
clips of Palin's remarks while left-wing Sonali was more than happy to
play the clips and allow a discussing (with Posner) and for listeners
to make their own judgments. If Gibson had access to a recording of
Palin's remarks, then he lied. If Gibson was using a secondary source,
he practiced bad journalism. Sonali showed more fairness than he did
(not at all surprising considering Sonali's track record, but it needs
to be noted).
Staying with the topic of religion, US House Rep and Idiot Steve Cohen was back in the news this week. Jake Tapper (ABC News, link has video) points out, "Last seen in election 2008 comparing Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to the villain played by Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction" -- having survived an anti-Semitic primary challenge
-- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., feels liberated to come on the House
floor and say that 'Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate a
governor'." No, JPT, that's not what Cohen said. The video shows Cohen
stating, "Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our
minister prayed about, Pontius Pilate was a governor." So Cohen --
that would be Jewish Cohen for those not paying attention -- was
'endorsing' Barack on the House floor by comparing him to Jesus? Or as
the Jews might say, "You know, him." Jewish people do not believe in
or pray to Jesus (unless they are "Jews For Jesus"). Exactly what
belief does Cohen have left and, if there is one, has put a price tag
on it already? And for the record, Christian theologians will dispute
Cohen's crackpot claim re: Jesus and historians will say, "Not so fast"
on the Pilate claim. Meanwhile Laura Strickler (CBS News) provides a fact check on several rumors about Palin currently making the rounds while Women's Media Center highlightsRepublicans for Choice's Ann E. W. Stone weighing in on the meaning of Sarah Palin's being the GOP's choice for v.p.:
Also, we
are incensed by the petty and misogyny of the small-minded statement
the Obama campaign released totally dissing her background! Couple that
with Obama telling the Hillary folks to "get over it" and I would think
disenchanted Hillary supporters should flock to the GOP.
We
need to reach out to Palin and try to find common ground--social issues
are not her front and center agenda. No nonsense, no BS--Palin is
a doer, not a talker, and not afraid to take the boys on.
Did we mention she is a feminist for life? Again, her position on abortion means we will never endorse her, but even her selection advances all women.
The
Democrats stood by while the media and others, including extreme
elements in our own party, trashed Hillary Clinton and did not speak up
to defend her. Many were baseless attacks and jabs having to do more
with her hairstyle or clothing than with her policies. That stops
now.
As Sarah Palin said when she
thanked pro-choice Democrat icons Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton
during her first speech upon being selected, they led the way but women
are not finished yet and we will crash through the glass ceiling.
Tell it to the The Daily Toilet Scrubber
-- and their squeaked voice tiny-tot 'leader' -- which continues their
smears on Palin. The latest recalls what Bully Boy did to McCain in
2000 -- spreading lies about John and Cindy McCain's daughter Bridget.
The trash being spread shouldn't be surprising, Toilet Scrubber is not
left. Joseph (Cannonfire) explores
that latest nonsense and notes, "This is the first election that finds
me observing Democrats 'from the outside.' My god. My good god. Have we
always been this foolish, this clueless, this self-defeating? Have
lefties always gone so far out of their way to alienate huge voting blocs?"
"I try to take the reigns and lead me somewhere better, I try to keep on moving on," sings I Am Three ("I Try") which sums up World Can't Wait's Sunsara Taylor who hides in no political closet and refuses to silence herself in the latest in the never ending Quiet Game To Elect Democrats. Taylor spoke in Denver during the DNC convention (no, she didn't speak to the convention) and Revolution has an edited transcript:
"I know Recreate '68 had to go up against this. I'm going to be really
blunt because it matters. United for Peace and Justice, Leslie Cagan,
she said maybe we should call off the protest today and advocated
instead that we should mingle with the delegates. I'm all for going and
talking to delegates...in order to get them to join us in the
streets, okay? But Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, where
were they today? . . . I'm not going to prettify this. We are in the
belly of an empire. It is committing war crimes and crimes against
humanity. They have legalized torture and both parties, the whole
system, is involved in that. History is going to judge us by how we
act. If your allegiance to the Democratic Party is bigger than your
allegiance to the people of the world then you have foreclosed your
right to call yourself an 'anti-war leader'." Use the link to read all of Taylor's strong speech.
Turning to public televsion, NOW on PBS
begins airing tonight on most PBS stations (and it will stream online)
with topics that include: "Are tactical mistakes by Obama going to cost
him the election? Maybe, says psychologist and Democratic political
consultant Drew Westen. The author of "The Political Brain," talks to
NOW's David Brancaccio about how appealing to voters' emotions reaps
bigger electoral rewards than hammering home policy proposals. Westen
is a Professor of Psychology at Emory University and the founder of
Westen Strategies, LLC, a political and corporate consulting firm."
PBS'Washington Week (begins airing tonight, check local listings) features Gwyn being joined by ABC News's Martha Raddatz, Time's Karen Tumulty, the New York Times' Jackie Calmes and Slate's John Dickerson. And Krystalline Kraus has an article on an important topic.
I
have noticed and so did my colleagues that many Iraqi officials say
while talking to media "I demand the government" as if thye are not
from the government. Some ministers use this phrase also while they
talk about their responsibilities. Using
this phrase by the officials tell one fact only. It tells us that those
officials dont work for Iraq and its people. It is a big evidence that
those officials had lost the sense of patriotism.
The above is from "September 12, 2008" (Inside Iraq) written by an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. Yesterday's snapshot
noted the Thursday meet up between the puppet government in Baghdad and
the "Awakening" Council members. Saif Rasheed and Tina Susman's "Iraq, U.S.-funded militia at loggerheads" (Los Angeles Times) covers the topic of the supposed impending melding of "Awakening" Council members and the Iraqi 'government':
But
the government has made it clear it has little trust in many of the
Sons of Iraq fighters, or in the numbers of them provided by the U.S.
military. In Baghdad alone, the United States says, there are 54,000
Sons of Iraq, each receiving $300 a month. It puts the total nationwide
at roughly 100,000. The
Iraqi government has said it suspects that the U.S. military number is
far too high, and an order signed by Maliki this month requires Sons of
Iraq to submit paperwork to Iraqi security forces in their areas of
operation so their identities can be checked against U.S. records. Only
then will they be paid. "We
want to protect the program from being infiltrated," explained Iraqi
army Lt. Gen. Aboud Qanbar. The government has given Sons of Iraq
fighters until only the end of September to handle the paperwork and
report to their area security force stations. The
plan worries many Sons of Iraq leaders, who say Maliki's government
already has begun a campaign of arrest and intimidation against them.
U.S. officials, who embraced the program last year as a way to turn
around the Sunni insurgency, now say the Iraqi government has the right
to arrest fighters it suspects of crimes.
Joan e-mailed asking if we could note this People magazine story
on Palin's son. It's Lorenzo Benet's "Sarah Palin Sees Her Son Off to
Iraq" and Joan notes, "The son's name is Track. Track, not Trig. A fact
that neither Amy Goodman or her 'expert' could get right last week.
Trig isn't shipping off, he's an infant." Joan says see this by Ava and myself
on how Goody and her 'expert' on Sarah Palin didn't know the basics on
Palin (for Goody, that ignorance included not knowing how to pronounce
Palin's last name).
If it has a two in it, we'll e-mail you the recipe.
(Of course, your two two two donation will help us reach our current
fundraising goal of $80,000 by the September 17 deadline. Your donation
will help us fund our get out the vote drive over the last seven weeks
of this campaign -- which translates into putting the substantive
Nader/Gonzalez shift the power agenda front and center in this crucial
election year.)
Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication.
Onward to November.
Ralph Nader
PS: Remember, if you give $100 or more, we will also send you In Pursuit of Justice,
the 520-page book of essays by yours truly -- essays on corporate
power, the Constitution, and transforming our country. If you donate $100 or more now, we will send you this historic collection -- and I’ll autograph it. (This book offer ends at 11:59 p.m. September 17, 2008.)
NOW on PBS begins airing tonight on most PBS stations (and it will stream online) with topics that include:
Are
tactical mistakes by Obama going to cost him the election? Maybe, says
psychiatrist and Democratic political consultant Drew Westen. The
author of "The Political Brain," talks to NOW's David Brancaccio about
how appealing to voters' emotions reaps bigger electoral rewards than
hammering home policy proposals. Westen is a Professor of Psychology at
Emory University and the founder of Westen Strategies, LLC, a political
and corporate consulting firm.
And I believe PBS'Washington Week (begins airing tonight, check local listings) features Gwyn being joined by ABC News's Martha Raddatz, Time's Karen Tumulty, the New York Times' Jackie Calmes and Slate's
John Dickerson. (I believe because a friend at PBS is on the phone
plugging it but the website has that show for September 5th -- I'm told
that's a mistake at the website and these are the guests for this
weekend's show.)
Ernesto Londono's "Iraq Rejects No-Bid Contracts" (Washington Post)
reports on the cancellation of the contracts with Chevron, Exxon Mobil,
Shell, Total and BP and referring to the Ministry of Oil's
spokesperson's Assem Jihad they state, "He said the ministry decided to
end the talks because they had dragged on for too long. But he said
Iraq looks forward to working with those companies in the future."
AP's Anna Johnson offers "Iraqi women take aim at expanded police roles" The
30-year-old recruit and the 20 other women training at the academy are
a critical part of the U.S. and Iraqi response to the latest deadly
tactic of al-Qaida in Iraq: female suicide bombers. But the academy
-- the only one of its kind in Iraq -- is taking that response one step
further. For one month, the women stay and train at the academy in the
volatile Diyala province with 680 male colleagues. Unlike many other
security programs for women, where they come only during the day and
where classes are confined mostly to search methods, this academy
offers women the same lessons as men -- including weapons training. Women
have been serving as auxiliary members of Iraqi security forces in
markets and during pilgrimages, but these recruits will be full-time
policewomen once they graduate next week. They also will receive an
official police certification from the Ministry of Interior.
These
are not "Awakening" Councils members, the article is about the actual
police. It notes resistance in Diyala Province to using women. Consider
it one of the 'accomplishments' of the illegal war, police women are
nothing new to Iraq, they only became an issue after the illegal war. In US political news, Levi Pulkkinen's "McDermott joins call to oust Bush" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) offers:
Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott wants to see George Bush impeached, whether or not, he says, Bush is still in office. The
long-serving Democrat and outspoken advocate for liberal causes made
his displeasure with the president official Tuesday, joining a call
from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to launch impeachment proceedings
against Bush. Chiefly at issue, McDermott said, is Bush's decision to mislead the country to war with Iraq. "It's
increasingly clear to me that we were led into a war without any
justification whatsoever," McDermott said in an interview Wednesday.
"And the president deliberately did this. It wasn't an accident of any
kind."
To help meet our goal of $80,000 by Constitution Day -- September 17.
(Remember -- Ralph Nader will appear on Lou Dobbs tonight at 7:00 pm EST.)
Together, we are making a difference.
Onward to November.
The Nader Team
PS: Remember, if you give $100 or more now, we will send you In Pursuit of Justice,
the 520-page book of essays by Ralph Nader -- essays on corporate
power, the Constitution, and transforming our country. If you donate $100
now, we will send you this historic collection -- autographed by the
man himself -- Ralph Nader. (This offer ends at 11:59 p.m. September
17, 2008.)
Statement by Ralph Nader on the 7th anniversary of 9/11:
The
Massacre of September 11, 2001 -- before, during and after -- continues
to raise many questions among millions of Americans who believe they
have not been told the truth about what really happened that day. These
questions include ones relating to the procedures of the 9/11
Commission, its independence, the depth of the inquiry, and the scope
of the explanations as to what happened in each of these three stages.
From
the beginning, public skepticisms were fed by the early refusal of the
Bush Administration to authorize an independent investigation into the
attacks -- a response that would have been automatic for a prime
minister of Canada, the United Kingdom or Australia, for example. Only
the tenacity and probing efforts of the bereaved families changed the
White House's mind. Then the 9/11 Commission aborted its expected or
prudent objectives by announcing at the outset that it would neither
name names nor assign responsibility for various segments of the
sequences that led to the tragedy and delineated its aftermath. By
failing to name names, or assign responsibility, the commission
betrayed its duty to the American public.
The
White House helped to fan the flames of skepticism further by initially
allocating only $3 million for the 9/11 Commission's work, a paltry sum
compared with, for example, the $50 million spent to investigate the
Columbia shuttle disaster -- a far less complex, deadly event.
Public
confidence was additionally eroded by unexplained concessions to the
closed, secret testimony by President Bush and Vice President Cheney
which was not under oath. No recording was made of the session, no
stenographer was allowed in the room, and no transcript exists.
Not
surprisingly, when public confidence in such a commission's work
erodes, criticism ranges from the very sound, to the heuristic, to the
plausible to the outlandish. Plausibility is not evidence. But that
does not vitiate the need for more evidence -- an insufficiency only
partly of the Commission's own making. But partly is still significant
in an episode with many dimensions and penumbras.
Closing
the books on the federal government's 9/11 Commission is a syndrome
nourished by fatigue and the desire for "closure" or "for putting it
behind" the nation. Unfortunately, the sense that the commission was
unnecessarily incomplete and unfinished seems to be growing with more
commentary, criticism, documentaries, rumors and charges. Other
jurisdictions may see the need for extending the investigation -- most
notably New York City, New York State, Virginia and Pennsylvania. An
effort to establish such an independent commission of inquiry, by
registered voters backing a referendum, seems to be continuing in New
York City.
It helps our
country little to stereotype the critics of the 9/11 Commission
categorically. Their range covers nearly the entire spectrum of the
human imagination, critical analysis, and capacity for suspicion. That
is to be expected with major sudden traumas to a society. What should
not be expected is to use stereotypes as the basis for dismissal of all
the critics, regardless of the quality of their procedural and
substantive queries. A further authoritative and properly funded
inquiry is in order.
For
starters, why not a four hour debate at the National Press Club (with
an intermission) between a leading proponent of the 9/11 Commission's
performance and a leading critic on the other side? This may join,
clarify or jettison issues that have festered.
It's
Friday. On the weekends some members only check on home computers and
some have dial up. Point. We don't do videos on Friday. But a strong
argument was made in the public account for this video of Green
presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney.
And this is a video of Ralph Nader speaking at the same event Wednesday.
Before we get to anything else, the acoustic group I Am Three has a MySpace page. I Am Three is Andy, Hughes and Irving. They are selling their latest CD at their page as well. Sometimes, music is all that matters so I'm happy to note them and note them at the top.
In terms of other e-mails to the public account, we (Eli, Martha, Shirley, Jess, Ava, Dona, Jim and myself) go through as many as we can. If you (as someone did last week) e-mail something at the last minute and I don't get to it, I don't get to it. I'm thinking specifically of a late Friday e-mail about a Saturday action. I didn't see it until Monday. I'm the only one who works the public e-mail account on the weekend and I'm paying more attention to the two private e-mail accounts for members. I do not go through every e-mail to the public account on the weekends. I wouldn't have the time even if I had the desire. That's just how it is. Had your e-mail come in sooner, it would have been noted. Seeing it on Monday, there was no reason to note an action that was taking place two days before.
To those repeatedly sending e-mail invites to FaceBook, I'm not interested in FaceBook.
I'm really not interested in MySpace but for musical acts we will note a MySpace page.
With much fanfare, Iraq announced Iraq's Energy Expo and Conference to be held October 17th through 19th. Ben Lando (UPI) reports that, woops, no one bothered to think about construction -- the convention center's not done yet -- so the Expo's dates have been moved to December 3rd through 5th. The puppet government can't get it together to hold provincial elections and they can't even pull off a conference they got a ton of positive press for when they announced it. Meanwhile UPI also reports on the Center for American Progress' new study of Iraq which finds no political gains: "The report points to divisions among major Iraqi factions that have marked differences over the structure of the future state of Iraq as well as varying ethnic and religious groups that harbor either "latent tensions" or have yet to resolve lingering issues left over from the past regime." The Center is a partisan organization which is supporting the Obama-Biden ticket so, hopefully, they gave credit for the quoted point to Joe Biden who made those points in a public Senate hearing back in April. The Lexington Institute's Loren B. Thompson offers a column at UPI exploring the similiarites between GOP candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama and how they both agree what what has come to be known as the Rumsfeld Policy (after former US Sec of Defense Donald Rumsfeld):
Nine years ago this month presidential candidate George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, gave the most important defense speech of his campaign at a military school in South Carolina called The Citadel. In that speech, he set forth the framework for dealing with national security that he would use if elected: "If elected, I will set three goals. I will renew the bond of trust between the American president and the American military. I will defend the American people against missiles and terror. And I will begin creating the military of the next century." That last item became known as military transformation and was the central goal of Rumsfeld's tenure as defense secretary. During the six years he served under Bush, Rumsfeld carried a card spelling out the key precepts behind what Bush's speech had called "a new architecture of American defense." Defeat asymmetric threats. Optimize intelligence. Bolster homeland security. Build global partnerships. Improve counterinsurgency skills. Integrate military and non-military instruments. Become better at stability operations. Reform Pentagon processes. You could easily conclude from the media coverage since Rumsfeld's resignation that this agenda has been discredited. Guess again. The key security initiatives favored by both McCain and Obama echo the assumptions of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld worldview. [. . .] Obama seems to agree with all of these views. He says, "We must meet the full-spectrum needs of the new century, not simply recreate the military of the Cold War era." He then goes on to call for funding of special operations forces, information operations and, surprisingly, missile defense. Obama endorses Bush's call for a bigger military, but he also says, "We must rebalance our capabilities to ensure that our forces can succeed in both conventional warfighting and in stabilization and counterinsurgency operations." His positions on cyberwarfare, rebuilding global partnerships and reforming the acquisition process all sound similar to those of McCain. More strikingly, both candidates sound like they think Bush and Rumsfeld were right about what the future requires, even if Iraq was a mistake.
No Barack is not "change." After his July calling out (even by the Hopelessly Devoted like Tom Hayden), Barack's response was that people weren't listening to him. They honestly haven't been. They've excused what he's said, practiced "I know he said ___, but what he meant . . ." and other forms of self-deception. Sadly, they then turned it around on the public which makes them no better than Judith Miller. Regardless of the outcome of the election, history will not be kind to those in Panhandle Media who revealed themselves to be dishonest brokers interested not in conveying information and news but in manipulation.
And in the unstable Iraq, UPI reports rumors floats over an upcoming confrontation between Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces which have acted on their own and with no oversight from the central government in Baghdad. In other where does the truth lie news, UPI reports that the country's Minister of Defense Abdul Qadir Obeidi stated Wednesday that the government was in possession of proof "that the dissident People's Mujahedin of Iran, based in Iraq's Diyala province, has carried out criminal activity". That conflicts with Jalal Talabani's statements at the White House this week that Syria and Iran were good neighbors for Iraq. Talabani is the president of Iraq. Notice the conflict in the two men's accounts.
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love There's a war going on So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove And I'm writing a song about war And it goes Na na na na na na na I hate the war Na na na na na na na I hate the war Na na na na na na na I hate the war Oh oh oh oh -- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4154. Tonight? 4155. Just Foreign Policy lists 1,255,026 as the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war.
david bacon
jo freeman
the los angeles times
tina susman
caesar ahmed
now on pbs
pbs
washington week
mcclatchy newspapers
the washington post
ernesto londono
andy rowell
sonali kolhatkar
womens media center
edward herman
anna johnson
