fly boy wanted this noted about ned lamont:
Calling dissent "patriotic," and accusing U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of pushing President Bush's agenda, Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Ned Lamont Wednesday called for more forces in Afghanistan and a set timeline to pull out troops from Iraq, in a major foreign policy address delivered at Yale Law School.
Lamont's speech came in a week during which both Lamont and Lieberman are establishing their positions on Iraq (and surrounding themselves with war veterans) as campaigning resumes in earnest for their Nov. 7 rematch. Lamont defeated three-term incumbent Lieberman in an Aug. 8 Democratic primary; now Lieberman is running as a third-party candidate on the newly-formed "Connecticut for Lieberman" line. Lieberman is expected to deliver his own address on Iraq -- the issue that as much as any helped lead to his primary loss; Lieberman has been President Bush's most prominent Democratic defender of the war.
Lamont Wednesday railed against Bush and his supporters for denying the need to "change the course" and withdraw from a "dangerously wrong" war in Iraq.
connecticut for lieberman? from everything i'm hearing from my mother-in-law, no-mentum needs to pack it in. there is just so much animosity to him. my mother-in-law also reports that she's reminding every 1 that, in lieu of gifts, fly boy and i had asked that they vote for real change in conn.
you do realize that lieberman's up for election in 2006, right? what that means? this wasn't john kerry or john edwards in 2004, running on the presidential ticket and also running for the senate. john edwards gave up his seat. john kerry wasn't up for election. joe lieberman ran as the dem's vice presidential nominee in 2000 and as a senate candidate.
that's 'ol safety joe, always hedging his bets. he can't be bold, he can only suck up and cover his own ass.
i'll also note that brady's got another neighborhood poll that will be in the gina & krista round-robin. he went door to door in his neighborhood (i believe he had help) and he's written it up for the round-robin that comes out friday. fly boy's also got a thing running (photos) so look for that too.
another thing to watch for is this sunday's the third estate sunday review. i have no hints on what ava and c.i. will be reviewing this week (i don't think they've even decided, c.i.'s been pretty sick most of the week) but dona passed on a 'short entry' and i was laughing and asking who had the original idea on it? turns out it was c.i. which surprised me for about 1/2 a second (it's in relation to the thing that pissed kat and so many of us off) but then i remembered c.i.'s humor. there was this dopey professor we had once, in college, and he made some remark like, after c.i. had reduced the class to laughter, 'you have such a sharp with' and c.i. shot back, 'yes, and some feel the blade a little more closely than others.' i've totally ruined the story but that's the gist of it.
thank you to c.i., by the way, for thanking me for the visuals at third. i just played with them some. and i knew every 1 was tired. the way it went last weekend was everyone was supposed to get some sleep and we'd start early (my time it was 3 o'clock) but they ended up working on the visuals and having a lot of fun and they also did some pre-work as well. they are working on more visuals for this weekend. they're also doing other things. mike and i were talking about the 'magazine dump' we both received today. they're magazines that we don't normally read and it's to get us away from the usual thought patterns. this is not 'required reading,' just something to pick up, if you have the time, and browse through. i think it's good to shake things up.
as you'll see in the snapshot below, camp democracy is holding an impeachment day this sunday. with that in mind, here's peter dyer's "Review of 'Case for Impeachment":'
Even though in the United States there is a fast-growing grassroots movement to impeach President Bush there has been predictably little response in the Republican-controlled Congress. If, however, the Democrats gain control of Congress as a result of the November midterm elections, a congressional impeachment effort will become considerably more likely.
David Lindorff, author and prominent investigative journalist, and Barbara Olshanksy, attorney and deputy director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, have written a book which could show the way: "The Case for Impeachment: the Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office." (Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, New York) The authors' purpose is "to try to lay out for examination the vast range of presidential crimes, abuses of power, and threats to the Constitution and to the Republic"
The authors have collected and documented in methodical and convincing detail some of the President's most prominent impeachable offenses: lying to start an illegal war; the arrest and detention without charge of American citizens; violation of international treaties including the Geneva Conventions and the conventions against torture; willfully ignoring or violating acts of Congress by issuing hundreds of "signing statements"; violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution and others.
now here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Wednesday, September 13, 2006 and chaos and violence continue in Iraq claiming the lives of at least 39 Iraqis (AP), occupation puppet Nouri al-Maliki continues his Tehran visit, the US military announces two deaths (one soldier died Monday, the other Tuesday), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anan tells some hard truths, and Camp Democracy continues in Iraq.
As reported by CNN yesterday, at least 60 corpses were discovered in Baghdad on Tuesday. The BBC reports: "They were found all over the city, from Sunni areas in the west to Shia districts in the east -- but most were found in largely Sunni west Baghdad. Secretarin killings are not unusal in the city but this is a large number for oen day, a BBC corrspondent says." Reuters reminds of the UN estimate in July (100 people killed each day in Iraq from violence) and notes that "[m]orgue officials" have stopped providing figures. CBS corrspondent Pete Gow provides an audio report here that calls into question the 'success' of the 'crackdown' that's been going on in Baghdad since June. CNN also raises questions about the 'crackdown' and notes: "On Monday, the U.S. Command acknowledged that its [own] report of a dramatic drop in murders in Baghdad last month did not include people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks, The Associated Press reported. The count only included victims of drive-by shootings and those killed by torture and execution."
Puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki continued the second day of his visit to Tehran. Devika Bhat (Times of London) reports: "Yesterday, Washington reacted with caution to comments from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran that he would offer full support in restoring security to Iraq. . . . A member of Mr al-Maliki's Dawa party said . . . Today Ayatollah Ali Khameni, Iran's supereme leader, . . . [blamed] US troops for Iraq's misfortunes and [told] Mr al-Maliki that the way to end instability was for American forces to withdraw altogether." CNN quotes Kahmenei: "A major portion of Iraq's problems will be solved when the occupying forces leave that country, and that is why we desire and hope that occupiers leave Iraq."
Kahmenei's opinions are hardly surprising and, Nick Wadhams (AP) reports, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, declared today "that most leaders in the Middle East believe the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath" is "a real disaster". Annan: "Most of the leaders I spoke to felt the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath has been a real disaster for them. They believe it has destabilized the region."
So it's also not surprising that the AP reports "a resolution setting a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops" managed to get 104 members of the 275 member Iraqi parliament "before [it] was effectively sheleved by being sent to a committe for review."
In the United States, as Robert Knight noted on KPFA's Flashpoints yesterday, the Government Accountability Office issued a report on Monday that also recommended Congress members ask themselves several questions such as:
-- What political, economic and security conditions must be acheived before the United States can draw down and withdraw military forces from Iraq?
-- Why have security conditions continued to worsen even as Iraq has met political milestones, increased the number of trained and equipped forces and increasingly assumed the lead for security?
Drew Brown (McClatchy Newspapers) reports on the findings and notes: "Though the Bush administration has hailed each political milestone in Iraq as another step on the march to freedom, the report cited a Defense Intelligence Agency finding that 'the December 2005 elections appeared to heighten sectarian tensions and polarize sectarian divides'."
The AFP reports that the US military "announced the deaths of two of its servicemen, taking its total losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 2,670, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures. A soldier was killed on Tuesday, south of Baghdad, while another died of wounds on Monday in the western Al-Anbar province, the military said."
Al-Anbar? On Monday, Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reported on the assessment of Col. Pete Develin, "chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq,"
that "prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there". Today, Ricks reports that Marine Maj. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer "agrees with the findings of a pessimistic classified report recently filed by his top intelligence officer but also insisted that 'tremendous progress' is being made in that part of the country." Ricks also notes: "According to several Defense Department officials who have read the report, Devlin also argued that the lack of political progress has crated a political vacuum in the province."
And as the war drags on . . .
Bombings?
In Baghdad, as reported by Amit R. Paley (Washington Post), "a car bomb exploeded near an indoor stadium" killing and injuring a number of people and then, as people came forward to help, "another bomb detonated". CNN puts the toll at 14 dead and 67 wounded. AP later raised the death toll to 19 and noted "[b]ut the U.S. military reported the death toll at 15 killed and 25 wounded, and said the blast was caused by two car bombs."
Also in Baghdad, Reuters reports a car bomb that was aimed at "police protecting an electricity distribution plant [which] killed eight people and wounded 19." The AP reports that the U.S. military states the bomb ended up "killing at least 12 people and wounding 34."
Still in Baghdad, Al Jazeera notes two separate mortar attacks the claimed one life (police officer) and left six wounded. Reuters reports that mortar attacks wounded four in Samawa. Back to Baghdad, Demka Bhat (Times of London) reports a mortar attack that killed "[a] further two police" officers.
Shootings?
AP reports that, in Falluja, "two pedistrians were killed and two others injured apparently in the crossfire between U.S. troops and unidentified gunmen" and that a man in his car was shot dead in Baghdad. Reuters reports that an attempted kidnapping of "the owner of a currency exchange shop" in Baghdad resulted in the death of "[t]wo bystanders" and two more wounded.
Corpses?
Reuters reports four corpses were discovered in Suwayra. Reuters also notes that Safaa Ismail Inad's corpse was discovered ("journalist at al-Watan Newspaper") in Baghdad.
In peace news, Cindy Sheehan (Common Dreams) advises: "Don't wait until the creeping militarism and budding fascism of the Bush State comes knocking at your door for one of your loved ones. It will happen unless we stand up and say 'no' with our loudest and most annoying voices" and urges people to take part in Camp Democracy which is ongoing in Washington, DC and free and open to the public.
Ann Wright (Scoop) writes of the genesis for the Camp (from Camp Casey to Camp Democracy): "Since we were in Bush's backyard in Crawford, why not bring our concerns on the direction of America and the need to use and preserve our democracy to the backyard (or frontyard) of Bush in the White House and to other government officials and lawmakers? Well, that's what Camp Democracy is doing right now. Every day concerned Americans are coming to Camp Democracy to think, listen, and act on important concerns."
Today's events included The Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration release of their verdict: GUILTY: "The panel of jurists consisted of Adjoa A. Aiyetoro, William H. Bowen School of Law, Little Rock; former executive director, National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL). Dennis Brutus, former prisoner, Robben Island (South Africa), poet, professor emeritus, University of Pittsburgh. Abdeen Jabara, former president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Ajamu Sankofa, former executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility-NY. Ann Wright, former US diplomat and retired US Army Reserve Colonel."
Tomorrow's events include peace and election education with Danny Schechter scheduled to be among the participants with a screening of his documentary WMD: Weapons of Mass Deceptions. And on Sunday, Camp Democracy will host a number of events and the theme will be Impeachment Day. Among those participating: Elizabeth Holtzman, Michael Avery, Ray McGovern, David Green, John Nichols, Marcus Raskin, Elizabeth De La Vega, Dave Lindorff, David Swanson, Jennifer Van Bergen, Geoff King, David Waldman, Dan DeWalt, Steve Cobble, Anthony St. Martin, Cindy Bogard, Mubarak Awad, Susan Crane, Frank Anderson. The camp has daily activities and admission is free. A complete schedule can be found here.
In election, John Nichols (The Nation) examines the primary win of Keith Ellison in Minnesota: "The Ellison victory was one of several for anti-war Democrats seeking open seats. Others came in in New York, where City Council member Yvette Clarke won a fierce fight for a Brooklyn seat once held by Shirley Chisholm, and in Maryland, where John Sarbanes, the son of retiring Senator Paul Sarbanes, led in a crowded House race. In Maryland's highest-profile race, however, former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, who was outspoken in his opposition to the war, lost to the decidely more cautious Representative Ben Cardin by a 46-38 margin."
