The Selective Service System is planning a comprehensive test of the military draft machinery, which hasn't been run since 1998.
The agency is not gearing up for a draft, an agency official said Thursday. The test itself would not likely occur until 2009.
Meanwhile, the secretary for Veterans Affairs said that "society would benefit" if the U.S. were to bring back the draft and that it shouldn't have any loopholes for anyone who is called to serve. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson later issued a statement saying he does not support reinstituting a draft.
The Selective Service "readiness exercise" would test the system that randomly chooses draftees by birth date and the network of appeals boards that decide how to deal with conscientious objectors and others who want to delay reporting for duty, said Scott Campbell, Selective Service director for operations and chief information officer.
"We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf" until needed, Campbell said. "Everyone fears our machine for some reason. Our machine, unless the president and Congress get together and say, 'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the shelf."
that's from kasie hunt's 'Agency to Test Military Draft Machinery' (ap via common dreams). the war machine grinds on. the test date is set for 2009. they're already planning more and more wars.
ruth and i listened to counterspin on wbai today and it was a pretty solid broadcast. (i am not a huge fan of the show - so that's saying something.) i will note that antonia juhasz was a great guest and not say much more on that because i think c.i. may using that with regrads to a centrist attacking women. and being given a left platform to do so.
i really think that's disgusting. i think it's past time that some 1 was held accountable (the 'tot' elaine referred to some time ago). if they're going to provide a platform for women to be ripped apart, then they're not helping other women.
i will note that antonia discussed the importance of oil in the iraq war and noted that when you discuss that basic fact you are called a 'left wing nut' or something similar. and if you're a woman, you're apparently hysterical.
that a woman allowed a review like that to run in a magazine is appalling.
okay, i called c.i. and said i seem to be stuck on this topic. c.i. said grab it.
here's the background. asshole peter bergen, who is not left and DOES NOT BELONG IN THE NATION MAGAINE, reviews 3 books. 1 is by sarah chayes whose apparent crime is leaving npr because she wants to make a difference in afghanistan (and not be constantly censored by npr - it's a great book read it) so she goes the n.g.o route and her thanks is pithy little critiques from ASSHOLE BERGEN like 'we have to take chaye's word for it that akrem was the selfless patriot she paints him to be'. can ASSHOLE BERGEN establish that he wasn't? no, because ASSHOLE BERGEN doesn't know 1 thing about akrem kharkrezwal (though ASSHOLE BERGEN thinks it's cute to refer to the dead man by his 1st name).
the 2nd book is by ann jones (this is another wonderful book). bergen writes: 'like chayes, jones has written an angry book about afghanistan ...'
OH THOSE WOMEN AND THEIR ANGRY BOOKS!
women just aren't rational are they?
what a load of shit. i'm not done yet.
but katrina vanden heuvel needs to be embarrassed that she ran this crap in the nation.
women need to start demanding that she stop allowing them to be trashed.
bergen's playing on all the usual stereotypes. (and his org has put out a book bemoaning falling birthrates - bemoaning what the united nations has noted is a path to equality in terms of gender and economics.)
women are angry, they're not rational.
on the last 1, bergen writes: 'unfortunately, jones's reading of recent afghanistan history is sometimes marred by a tendency to see sinister conspiracies where they don't exist. she writes, for instance, that the united states was initially willing to play ball with the taliban in the mid-1990s because of energy interests eager to build a pipeline across the country from the gas fields of central asia and withdrew its support only because the taliban could not provide 'security' for such a project, rather than acknowledge the real reasons the united states turned against the taliban, which were their antediluvian treatmen of women and harboring of al qaeda.'
okay, jones isn't rational, according to PIGBOY BERGEN, she's got a tendency to 'conspiracy theories.' there's no theory there, only truth.
and PIGBOY BERGEN wasn't screaming for women's rights in the 1990s. he didn't care anymore then than he does now.
nor did the u.s. care. it took feminist groups calling it out to end the 'afghanistan is our friend' bullshit. and if he believes otherwise, pick up the phone and call robin morgan or call mavis leno.
the united states did not go to war with afghanistan because of their treatment of women. they were still negotiating with afghanistan in the summer of 2001 for the pipeline.
PETER BERGEN IS A PIG AND AN ASS and THIS SHIT SHOULD NEVER HAVE MADE IT INTO PRINT.
after going on to paint the women as emotional, PETER BERGEN PROFESSIONAL PIG finds a book he likes and, BIG SURPRISE, it's by a man. rory 'stewart's beautifully written book is in a lighter veing than those of chayes and jones, underlying his picaresque stories of adventure on the road is a critical point' blah blah blah.
stewart has 'erudite knowledge' which, i'm guessing, comes with testicles.
peter bergen is with the NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION. a 'centrist' organization full of christy todds and neocons. he never should have been published in the nation to begin with.
---
i've pulled about 7 paragraphs. i'll leave this at what it is now because otherwise i'll be working on it all night and we've got mike and elaine over. but this piece of trash never belonged in the nation. next time i won't bite my tongue out of respect for c.i.'s feelings. for more on this read
wally's "THIS JUST IN! THE NATION MAGAZINE SAYS 'SHUT UP, CHICKS!'" and cedric's "Why does Katrina vanden Heuvel hate women and love centrists?"
i have no problem having a war with the nation.
here's c.i.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, December 22, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; American military fatalities in Iraq hit 2964 -- 36 shy of the 3,000 mark and Condi Rice is pleased with that figure and want to see it go higher, HIGHER, HIGHER; a US war resister will be released from the military brig tomorrow; Carolyn Marshall demonstrates you don't have to serve in the US administration to be useless; and a remedial walk-through for confused visitors from yesterday.
Starting with news of US war resister Ricky Clousing. Joe Miller (Jacksonville's The Daily News) reports that Clousing "will be released from the Camp Lejeune brig on Saturday." As Bob Geary (Raleigh-Durham Indpendent Weekly) reported yesterday, there is a rally scheduled in Fayetteville (North Carolina) "midday Saturday to be greeted by human rights supporters at the Raleigh Friends Meeting House, 625 Tower St. (the street behind the Cameron Village Post Office). His reception is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., before he catches a flight from RDU back to his hometown of Seattle Wash." Once arriving in Seattle, as Courage to Resist notes, there will be a welcoming at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 10:15 p.m. Saturday night -- "Concourse B., Baggage Claim 11."
Clousing self-checked out of the US military in June 2005 and, on August 11, 2006, announced he would be turning himself in. Following an attempt at turning himself in at Fort Lewis, Clousing was told to go to Fort Bragg. On October 12th, Ricky Clousing was court-martialed and has been in the brig since then. Like Ehren Watada, Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Mark Wilkerson, and Agustin Aguayo, Clousin is a part of resistance within the military that includes Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress next month. Information on past and present war resistance can also be found in David Zeiger's Sir! No Sir! which tells the story of war resistance during the Vietnam era and, in the new director's edition, also includes bonus material on Camilo Mejia's court-martial, interviews with Cindy Sheehan and Jane Fonda about today's war resistance, and more. The director's cut is availabe for $23.95 and the original version is currently available for $12.95.
Resistance within the military was the story of 2006 but too few were interested in reporting it or, let's face it, in reporting at all. Chatting on some charges, don't call it reporting, Carolyn Marshall (New York Times) continued to flaunt ignorance today, as well as what may very well be xenophobia, as she chirped away about 8 US marines charged in the November 2005 Haditha slaughter without ever noting a reaction on the part of Iraqis -- even a previously reported reaction. (Marshall does have a co-writer. Her past bylines indicate she grabs all the blame for the latest.)
On today's Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez rebroadcast an interview they did with Time magazine's Aparisim Ghosh about the Haditha massacre explaning (pay attention, Carolyn Marshall), "The more we dug, the more we thought something didn't quite add up." How so? The Iraqis "were killed in their homes, in their night clothes. The night clothes were significant because . . . women and children especially, are unlikely to go out in their night clothes, it is a very conservative society." "The victims," yes, Carolyn Marshall, Aparism Ghosh spoke with victims and eyewitnesses, "told us that the Marines came in and they killed everyone in sight." One young girl told of how the Marines killed everyone in her home except for her and her young brother. Click here for the full report from May 30th's Democracy Now! and we'll note what Dahr Jamail said in that discussion: "And the other really aspect of that, I think is important to note on this, is the media coverage, again, surrounding what has happened around Haditha simply because Time magazine covered it, and thank heavens that they did, but this has gotten so much media coverage, and in comparison, so many of these types of incidents are happening every single week in Iraq. And I think that's astounding and important for people to remember, as well."
If Carolyn Marshall needs futher examples of what real reporters do, she might also check out Majid Hameed (Reuters) who spoke with people in Haditha today. Khaled Salman declares, "Those soldiers killed 24 people. They killed women and children, isn't that enough for them to be excuted? Just so that the family can have peace." Her sister was killed in the slaughter. Hameed also notes a local judge, Talal Saed, who states, "They should be tried in Iraq and under the Iraqi law. . . . This is a show trial just to show that the Americans are doing something to be fair with Iraqis but it's nothing more than that."
Equally oblivious is the US Secretary of State. Yes, Condi Rice continues to flaunt her loose grip on reality. Her failure as US National Security Advisor (remember, 9-11 was on her watch) trails her as US Secretary of State. Mark Tran (Guardian of London) reports that Condoleezza Rice "said Iraq was worth the cost in US lives and dollars". Today, the US military announced: "Three Marines and one Sailor assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died Thursday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province." Also today, the US military announced: "An attack against a Multi-National Division - Baghdad patrol killed a Soldier west of the Iraqi capital Dec. 22. The Soldiers came under sporadic small arms and indirect fire during a patrol. One Soldier was killed and another wounded." Five deaths and Condi says it's worth it. The total number of US troops killed in the Iraq war is 2965 and Condi says 'It's worth it.'
As for the financial costs, the National Priorities Project has released their summary of the US federal government's budget for 2006 which notes ". . . the total cost of the Iraq War rose to nearly $380 billion. . . . Broken down another way, on average, the federal government spends about $11 million every hour on the Iraq War, $256 million each day, or around $8 billion per month."
Condi's statements about things going swimmingly come as the BBC reports that at least seven Iraqi police officers were arrested by British troops in Basra due to suspicions of "corruption and leading a death squad in Basra."
While Condi proves she's useless in every position, Bully Boy hopes and prays that Santa Clause will bring him a way out of the illegal war he started so that he can announce some new 'plan' in 2007. 75 US troops, who lost their lives this month so far, won't be able to wait for that news. It is the deadliest December for US troops since the start of the illegal war and December isn't over.
And in Iraq?
Bombings?
AP notes that two people died and four were wounded in a car bombing in Samarra while two police officers were wounded in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. Reuters identifies the two dead in Samarra from the car bomb as Ahmed al-Yaseen and his wife (name not given) and the four wounded were their children while also noting that two police officers were killed in Samarra from a roadside bomb and, in Suwayra, a bombing left five people wounded. Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that an explosion in Baghad "targeting police patrol in Al Saadon street, central Baghdad" left eight citizens wounded.
Shootings?
Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Hiba Abdullah was shot dead while in her car in Baquba and her two-year-old son Mohammed Ahmed was injured.
Corpses?
Reuters notes that the corpse of a "hospital employee" who was kidnapped Thursday was discovered today in Kut. Christopher Torchia (AP) reports that 21 corpses were found in Baghdad, Baquba and Kut today.
CNN reports that iman Emad al-Shimari was kidnapped "at a Sunni mosque in northern Baghdad after Friday prayers."
In peace news, Veterans For Peace announces that they, CODEPINK, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Working Assets were able to purchase 24,000 phone cards which "were distributed to 149 VA hospitals nationwide."
Also in peace news, Guy Smallman (Great Britain's Socialist Worker) reports that England's House of Lords has determined, three years after, that the police response to a March 2003 demonstartion against the war was "illegal and the protesters' human rights were violated. Lord Bingham has described the police's actions as 'wholly disproportionate' and said that the right to protest is 'an essential foundation of a democratic society'."
In let's-walk-the-vistors-through-real-slowly news (for visitors lost yesterday), the US government wants to sideline Muqtada al-Sadr. Iraqis want foreign troops to stop occupying their country. This week US troops ceded control of Najaf to Iraqis. As the BBC reported yesterday, an attempted end run around al-Sadr took place yesterday when Shia leaders met with Ayatollah ali al-Sistani in Najaf. For visitors who got lost in the basic yesterday, note this from Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP): "In Najaf, Shiite delegates were meeting the country's top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to ask for his blessing for the new coalition. The deal would excluse al-Sadr, but participants sought to reassure him that it would not sideline his influence". Today, Lebanon's The Daily Star reports that following the meeting with al-Sistani, the same group of leaders will meet with al-Sadr and discuss with him the possibility of a one month truce/cease fire. Already one part of the plan has been enacted, al-Sadr's followers announced yesterday they would return to their cabinet and parliamentary functions. If it's still too hard to put together, the AFP reports: "US officials have made it clear that they favour a realignment in Iraq's unity government, which would exclude Sadr and his Shiite militia". Despite that desire and the Pentagon report blaming al-Sadr, Nouri al-Maliki refuses (thus far) to heed the US call. And, as AFP reports, "this week Iraqi politiicans trampled down to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to talk to Sadr's allies and encourage him back into the coalition." To review, in an attempt to win the favor of al-Sistani and his followers, US forces handed control of Najaf over to Iraqi forces. The US government's hope was that al-Sadr would then be shut out in the talks that took place on Thursday, that a new coalition would be formed which would sideline him. That, however, did not happen. Another bet Condi made that someone else will have to pay off. For visitors still confused, Sam Dagher (CNN) reports: "'President Bush is being misled,' senior Shiite parliament member Ali al-Adeeb said in response to Bush's statement Wednesday that an emerging 'moderate coalition' would marginalize those who 'use violence to achieve political objectives'."
