i read c.i.'s entry this morning and called to kid 'you have sympathy pains!' (c.i. wrote 'my stomach is killing me' this morning.) my stomach was weird for the bulk of the day. just normal pregnancy stuff (believe me, flyboy was on the phone to the doctor immediately) and getting used to further stages of the pregnancy. but i was so tired today.
t had visited and i am so glad my friends get along with each other because she ended up talking to ruth after i nodded off in the middle of the conversation. even with that unexpected nap, i was still tired this evening. as soon as mike and elaine arrived, i apologized to them and explained i needed to take a nap. they were very nice about it and said they'd take 1 as well. so we were all snoozing this evening and only recently woke up. flyboy's fixing something in the kitchen that ruth's taught him and it smells very good.
i wonder how much of the sleepy comes from being housebound? i know that the body goes through changes and when you're pregnant as late in the game as i am, that's probably more so - or feels it because you don't have that youth ability to bounce back from everything. but i mention that because although the 2 weeks i'm on right now were a mutual decision between the doctor and myself, i'm thinking of extending it a bit.
that's partly due to betty's phone call last night. the gang is going to d.c. for the big demonstrations on the 27th. i was supposed to go before i found out i was pregnant. obviously, i won't be going now. (that's not, for any 1 passing by, to suggest that pregnant women do not belong at demonstrations. they do. that is to note that i have a history of miscarriages and i have had to slow everything down considerably for this pregnancy.) so betty called and let it slip that she would be visiting that weekend. that was such wonderful news.
i knew something was up. because i kept hearing from every 1 that i was going to have fun that weekend without them. betty wanted this noted, so let me note it, c.i.'s taken care of the ticket. when it was time to book, c.i. called betty and asked if she and her kids would prefer to go to d.c. or come out here to visit me? betty said she'd love to visit me but couldn't afford it and c.i. said 'i was calling to discuss money.' so betty and her kids will be out here that weekend.
it will be fun for me but i'm not sure how much fun for them. betty and i'll just talk and hang out and we'll have a blast but i was concerned about her kids being bored but she said they'd never been on a ferry and were excited about that and flyboy will take them for fun stuff along the beach so there should be enough, even with big, immobile me around, to make it so that they're not thinking, 'can we go home yet?'
i love betty and am so excited about seeing her. i warned her that i was now a red head. t did that earlier this week. i hated my hair and was begging her to cut it all off. i've never had short hair and she wisely talked me out of it. instead she brought some henna products with her that are natural and used them to turn my blonde hair red. i love it.
and am so glad she didn't let me talk her into cutting it off. but being here day after day, i needed some sort of change and going red perked me up. flyboy says he likes it and i hope that's true but, honestly, i don't care. i just needed to do something that was a change for me.
so why the decision then to stay housebound a bit longer? as i start feeling the changes going on with my body, i get a little nervous and start realizing how much i'm like a 'system' right now.
i love c.i. but that's not me. i do not get things accomplished regardless. c.i. really was in pain in this morning and still went ahead and made a speaking engagment. i would've cancelled, even before my pregnancy. i mean, i stub my toe and it's a major trauma where i have to stop to care for the boo-boo. so i think i'll probably extend it through the month, staying around the house. i know it may not be necessary and that the critical mark has been passed. everything's going well and no 1 needs to worry. but i just want to take it slow this month and get used to what's going on inside my body.
flyboy's taken a leave of absence from work. (i could suggest that he quit right now and he would agree because i can get anything right now; however, i'm trying to avoid using my 'powers' for my personal gain.) i was talking about this with ruth and she said it was understandable and talked about how in her 1st pregnancy she started grasping all these vulnerabilities as she was in the 1/2 way mark. she made me feel that what i was thinking was normal - hopefully, it is but if not, i don't give a damn. to steal from kat, it is what it is.
as soon as ruth learned i was pregnant, she started coming out here and it's been wonderful but when we were discussing this, i told her she didn't have to come out every day, monday through friday. but she swears (she lies good) that she and her grandson are enjoying it so they're going to continue through the end of the month. it's been a big help - she has everything so organized - but it's also been great to know, each morning, that she would be coming.
she can make me laugh. flyboy tries and often suceeds but, for instance, this morning, when i was going on about my stomach, she just looked at me and asked, 'did you think it wasn't going to expand?' just the way she said it made me stop whining and start laughing. i'm now preparing myself for major back pain later in the pregnancy because i'm sure i'm going to end up bigger than a house. and spending the day eating peter pan crunchy, from the jar, probably didn't help any. but the 2nd i woke up friday morning, i was just craving peanut butter and ended up eating it, off and on, throughout the day.
peanut butter and pickles have been the 2 big things this week. i have gone through 3 jars of vlasic kosher dill spears this week. in fact, the 3rd 1, which only has 3 pickels left in it, is by my bed. i have kept the pickles on the little end table next to the bed because i will wake up in the middle of the night just in need of a pickle. if i get out of bed, i'll wake flyboy and if i wake him, he'll say he would have gotten them for me so it's just made more sense to keep a jar on the end table by me so i can just reach for 1 when i wake up in the middle of the night.
so that's the exiting days and nights of rebecca. now let's turn to this by lisa farnio and medea benjamin, 'peace is possible in iraq' (common dreams):
What would it take to create peace in Iraq? On August 2, 2006, a delegation of American citizens--including YES! board member Dal LaMagna and Code Pink cofounders Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, and Gael Murphy--met with fifteen Iraqis in Amman, Jordan to find out. The American activists spent two days listening to a variety of Iraqi citizens, including five Iraqi parliamentarians from the major Shi'a, Sunni, and secular parties, as well as Iraqi intellectuals, torture victims, professionals, and religious leaders.
The American Delegation summarized the views of this diverse group of Iraqis in the Iraq Reconciliation Plan, a concrete plan for ending the violence in Iraq. The plan's ten points are items identified by the Iraqis themselves as essential to restoring peace.
YES! Magazine Associate Editor Lisa Farino spoke with Medea Benjamin about this initial meeting. Medea Benjamin is cofounder of Global Exchange and Code Pink. This interview is the first part of a three-part series about practical strategies for creating peace in Iraq. Sign up for our newsletter to hear about the next installment.
Lisa: What were some of the main things you learned from the Iraqis during these discussions?
Medea: We learned that there were major differences among the different groups but also some major commonalities. The biggest commonality is that they were all anxious to find a way for the U.S. troops to leave. Some of them said they should have been gone yesterday and tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough, and some thought that their departure had to be part of a slower, broader peace process so that things would not get worse. It was very interesting for me to learn that some Iraqis felt that the presence of the US troops was the only ace they had to negotiate with the United States for things like money for rebuilding their country because as soon as the troops left, they felt the U.S. would wash its hands of its financial responsibilities. And so they wanted the troops to stay while an agreement was worked out with the United States around its obligations. So there was a variety of opinions about when and how U.S. troops should leave, but all Iraqis we met with not only wanted all the foreign troops to leave but also wanted a fixed timetable for that process to happen.
They also told us that many Iraqis have been working seriously on a peace and reconciliation process since November, 2005, when they had their first reconciliation meeting in Cairo. This was underreported in the U.S. press, but it's very important to understand that the Iraqis are not sitting around waiting for the U.S. to end the violence. They are meeting intensely to come up with their own peace plan. But a precondition of that peace plan is setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. In the U.S., we are hearing a lot of blame being put on the Iraqis themselves-- "they're not stepping forward to fix their own country", "we're doing our part but they're not doing theirs." That is just such garbage. Iraqis have been actively trying to stop the sectarian violence and end the occupation, but their efforts are being thwarted by the Bush administration.
i'd love to tell you i read yes! all the time. i really only read the magazine when c.i. passes it on (in fact, i believe there's a copy in this week's care package that arrived in thursday's mail.) so, if you're like me, let's all make a point to pick up the magazine because that summit in jordan did matter. even if our better known left media couldn't be bothered to cover it (then or now).
that's going to be it for me except for 1 thing. liang e-mailed wondering about the nursery? we'd just done the redecorating, just finished it, when i found out i was pregnant so, no, we don't have a full nursery yet. my mother and my mother-in-law have been buying things for it and flyboy thinks betty's boys might have fun helping him put together a crib so that'll happen on the 27th. but, no, it's not up and running yet. we're still trying to figure out if we want to know ahead of time the gender. i think i'll last about a month more on that (as soon as i think 'no,' my second thought is 'yes, i want to know!') so we'll probably start doing more once we know. also, by then, i'll probably be more than ready to get out - which means we can get it painted as a nursery. my mother-in-law found these wonderful blue and red curtains that we'll be using (boy or girl) because they're so wonderful. my mother's found a wonderful lamp. they've both brought over some nice artwork to hang in the room. when i start going out in february, i'll probably start shopping.
here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Friday, January 12, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; after the Bully Boy's Wednesday speech offering no 'benchmarks,' US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reveleals the 'plan' also offers no timetable; Anthony Arnove and Howard Zinn talk the importance of withdrawal and combat the latest wave of Operation Happy Talk; US war resister Ehren Watada prepares for a public speech this weekend; and Antoni Juhasz addresses what an escalation means for US troops.
Today on KPFA's The Morning Show, Andrea Lewis spoke with Anthony Arnove and Howard Zinn about Iraq and comparisons to Bully Boy's dreamed of escalation in Iraq to Vietnam. Zinn felt it was very important to note that the Iraqi people do not want US forces in their country. On the 'new' 'plan' and it's talk up as well as the way Iraq is addressed, Howard Zinn pointed out:
When they talk about making a difference, they keep using the words 'victory' and 'success' and how do we 'win'? It seems to me this is missing a very, very critical point, Iraq is not our country to 'win' -- to be successful in, to be victorious in. We simply don't belong there. And Bush's 'surge' is exactly the opposite of what we need to do. Well Anthony's book Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal lays out the argument for the simple statement that I'm making now, that instead of surging in Iraq, we should be withdrawing as fast as we can from Iraq. And not only that, we should be questioning the larger principle involved and that is should the United States be sending troops anywhere in the world -- whether it's Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere else -- should we think we could solve any problems with military solutions? And, in fact, is this the motive of the administration to solve problems for the people of these other countries? Iraqis don't want us in Iraq, that's clear. The American people don't want us in Iraq. Even the Iraqi government, which was really put in in a kind of fake election with American control excercise, even the Iraqi government is very embarrassed by the idea of having more American troops in Iraq. So what Bush is proposing is a violation not only of self-determination of Iraqis and the will of the American people and world opinion, it's a continution of the whole idea of US military dominace in the world which we should do everything we can to bring to an end.
Andrea Lewis asked about the statements that if the US pulls out it will lead to chaos in Iraq.
Anthony Arnove: I think we have to acknowledge that people who raise that point raise it two different ways. The cynical group of people who make that argument, pundits, politicans, to say we can never pull out, to justify the US remaining as an occupying power in Iraq for years to come, to justify setting up military bases, permanent bases, in Iraq, to justify the role that the United States wants to play in Iraq projecting its power in the entire Middle East and globally, as Howard mentioned. But then there's also decent people who have a concern for the consequences of the Iraqi people. And I think we have to acknowledge their fears and their concerns for what would happen to Iraq? And we're not saying abandon the Iraqi people -- "This is some kind of isolationist position, we don't care what happens to them." We're saying the opposite. Our point is that every day that the United States continues in Iraq as an unwanted, foreign, occupying power, it makes the situation worse for ordinary Iraqis. It's not ending sectarian conflict in Iraq, it's actually fueling sectarian conflict. It's not ending violence, it's actually fueling violence. The United States occupation is the greatest source of instability in the country. And after every benchmark that we've been told would change the situation there --elections, the constitution, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the execution of Saddam Hussein -- things just get worse. Iraq right now is the world's largest refugee crises in the world. Inflation has skyrocketed, unemployment has skyrocketed, there's less electricty, less safe drinking water, less security for Iraqis which is why poll after poll shows that that they say their life is getting worse and they want the United States to leave and so if we claim that we're bringing democracy well democracy would dictate that we let the Iraqi people determine their own future. But we should support them. We should pay reperations. We owe them a tremends debt, not just for the harm caused by the occupation, but all of the years before that the United States imposed sanctions on the country and, before that, supported Saddam Hussein as he carried out his worst crimes.
Zinn discussed how the same arguments for the US remaining in Iraq were the ones his book Vietnam: The Logic for Withdrawal were "greeted with the same claims that are made today" -- e.g. chaos, violence, civil war in Vietnam. "The truth is that we were creating the chaos," observed Zinn. Anthony Arnove's book, Iraq: The Logic for Withdrawal, has just been released in paperback and he will be appearing on the following dates:
January 17, 7 pm,
New York, NY (with Michael Schwartz)
16 Beaver
http://www.16beavergroup.org/monday/
January 20, 7 pm,
Chicago, IL (with Jeff Engelhardt)
University of Illinois-Chicago
Contact: Adam Turl, 773-567-0936, adamcturl@yahoo.com
January 27, 5 pm,
Washington, DC (with Kelly Dougherty)
Busboys and Poets
http://www.busboysandpoets.com/blog_events.htm
February 1, 7:30 pm,
Pasadena, CA
Voices of a People's History of the United States
with Mark Ruffalo, Q'Orianka Kilcher, Benjamin Bratt, Marisa Tomei, Josh Brolin, and Alfre Woodard.
All Saints Episcopal Church
http://www.icujp.org
Appearing as part of a panel discussion yesterday on Kris Welch's program, KPFA's Living Room , Antonia Juhasz (author of The BU$H Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time) noted two points regarding the US troops in Iraq. First, she noted, "On this issue of the troops increase . . . Bush wanted significantly more troops but the military said we don't have anywhere to get them for you, there aren't anymore troops. So the troops that are the addition of the 20,000 is simply going to be extending the tours of troops that are there speeding up the redeployment of troops that have already served. We have to be really clear about who the soldiers are that are part of this increase."
She then spoke of what their role would be and what is wanted from Iraq.
Antonia Juhasz: This is . . . the critical moment to make our demands very, very clear to the Democrats and one of those demands has to explicity be that this is a war for oil that cannot be allowed to continue and that what the administration is hoping for is that it will suceed in its economic transformation of Iraq which at this point has nearly reached fruition -- which is a new law developed way before the war in the US State Department, then pushed by US corporations, pushed by the successive appointed governments of Iraq by the US government following the invasion -- for a new law that is now, the al-Maliki govenrmenet has now said that it will put this new law forward to the Iraqi parliament that creates an unprecedented oil victory in Iraq. So what it does is give the government of Iraq nominal control and ownership of their oil but every function of the oil industry would then be privatized and turned over to foreign companies and the foreign companies would get a form of contract called a Production Sharing Agreement which is not used anywhere in the Middle East not used anywhere in oil rich countries in fact that gives first 30 years, 30 year contract, and then according to the UK Independent, that the intial contract would give 75% of initial profits to the private companies leaving only 25% for the Iraqis. [. . .] Iraq can best be understood as a pimple of oil that has yet to be plucked. It has certainly the second largest oil reserves in the world possibly larger. It has 80 known oil fields but only 17 have even begun to be developed. It is those undeveloped oil fields which are all completely within the realm of the new law and then the debate, that the president mentioned in his speech, is over a constitutional amendment to address the existing fields, which are now divided between the Shia and the Kurds in the north and the south, and to bring the control of the existing fields back into the central gover of al-Maliki. And what I believe is that the Bush administration is going to hold onto the occupation and make it larger and make it as big as he can until the law passes and US companies sign contracts and then they have to get work. And they need a security force to do that and that is our troops.
While Juhasz addressed the realities of US troops in Iraq, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, testifying before the US Senate Armed Service Committee, revealed a reality of his own. BBC reports that Gates, speaking of Bully Boy's new 'plan' for Iraq, stated that there was no timetable for the puppet government to achieve any of the non-defined benchmarks. Susan Cornwell and Kristin Roberts (Reuters) observe that Gates threw out the usual sop of troop withdrawal on the conditional 'if' (always the same 'if' -- if a corner is turned and it never is) and they write that "Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha, who heads a House panel overseeing defense spending, said he would try to attach restrictions to a $100 billion 'emergency' request for new war money that Bush will request in February. Those restrictions could include a prohibition on spending money for the additional troops, Murtha said. They could also include immediately closing Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad and the Guantanamo Bay detention center at a U.S. base in Cuba."
Yesterday, US military forces stormed an Iranian diplomatic consulate and arrested six diplomatic staff. The Kurdish government in northern Iraq responded by insisting that diplomatic staff be released immediately (Iran has long had a consulate in Iraq's Kurdish territory). KUNA reports that the US, via White House flack Tony Snow, continues to dismiss concerns and attempt to downgrade a recognized diplomatic headquarters while the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari, continues to state that it was a consulate and that, in addition, "U.S. forces tried to seize more people at the airport in Irbil, 220 miles north of Baghdad, prompting a confrontation with Kurdish troops guarding the facility that was resolved without casualties. " The BBC notes that the consulate has been "operating for years" and the Mikhail Kamyin ("Russing foreign ministry spokesman") declared, "It is absolutely unacceptable for troops to storm the consular offices of a foreign state on the territory of another state . . . It is also not clear how this fits in with American statements that Washington respects the sovereignty of Iraq."
In other Iraq news . . .
Bombings?
Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that, near Baquba, a mortar attack killed "one primary school teacher and one student," while a child was killed in Muqdadiyah by an IED and, in Baquba, an Iraqi soldier was killed by a bomb and three more wounded.
Shootings?
Mohammed al Awsy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that in the Diyala Province, "American forces killed a woman and a child and injured another woman with another child (all from the same family)" while 4 Shi'ites were shot dead "near ARAB SHOKA area near hibhib area in khalis town" as well as their driver.
Corpses?
Reuters notes that 10 corpses were discovered in Baghdad, seven in Mosul, three in Basmaia.
Turning to news of war resistance, Ehren Watada became the first officer (June 2006) to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and now faces a February 5th court-martial. He is scheduled to speak tomorrow at the Coupeville Recreation Hall, 901 NW Alexander ST., Whidbey Island in Coupeville, Washington at 1:00 pm. Also tomorrow, there will be a benefit performance for him Corvallis, OR when Crooked Kate and the Childers-Carson Duo take the stage of the Sunnyside-Up (116 N.W. Third St.) at six pm. In addition, later this month A Citizens' Hearings is being convened January 20-22 at Evergreen State College to address the illegality of the war. In addition, Iraq Veterans Against the War are staging Camp Resistance in support of Watada. Writing at the blog they've set up for Camp Resistance, dockyne reports:
www.kboo.fm The oldest public radio station in the states hosted IVAW Deployed and had Darrell [Anderson] and Dennis [Kyne] on Friday morning for one hour and a half. Discussing Darrell's experience in this illegal war and his 18 months in exile to Canada, as well as the fact that thousands of other soldiers are refusing to deploy to this illegal war. Hosted by Ani and Melody on their weekly progam (7:30-9 am) Absolutly revolting.
This interview was in depth...it covered the draft, the anti war movement, depleted uranium and allowed multiple callers to learn about the Gulf War, which the VA handbook of benefits states began on 2 Aug 1990 and will end on a date to be determined by congress. When will they end it? We discussed the court martials of Suzanne Swift and Ehren Watada...and the support from Portland, Oregon is massive. Darrell stated, "this is the most radical community I have been too."
Dennis Kyne, writing at U.N. Observer, gives the details on Camp Resistance:
Please support this move....as troops are gathering to support Ehren Watada in his stand against the lies that have gained our nation nothing more than death and despise. Purple Heart, 'Winner' Darrell Anderson returned from 18 months in hiding when he heard that Lt. Watada had refused to deploy. Darrell Anderson would have deployed to his third tour had he not gone north. Anderson asked me to get on the ( http://www.ivawdeployed.org ) with him and get to Fort Lewis to open up Camp RESISTANCE!!!
We are here, in the mud. It is not warm here
...nor dry
.....however, you should stand with us
....in support of a man who stands up against the military mahine and a nation of millions who don't have the foggiest notion that our troops do not want to serve in this war. Lt. Watada is speaking for thousands of enlisted soldiers like Darrell Anderson and myself, a fifteen year veteran of the Army. Watada is a true leader.....leading and doing
....he knows he should never ask enlisted soldiers to do things he would never do
....that is part of the requirement. NEVER ask nor order your troops to do things that you wouldn't do. There are more violators of this rule in the military now, than ever (or at least in my 15 years.) Lt. Watada is not one of them
...and with that, the soldiers, who have always followed good leaders
....will follow Lt. Watada.. Mike, Damon, Ethan and I, slept on the rig last night
...it was night one of Camp RESISTANCE!!!There is a RESISTANCE!!! going on. Thousands of troops are refusing to deploy
....please let everyone know we are here
.....working from the wi fi hot spot, let them know they should stand here too. If not for a month as we will, than for a day or even an hour. We are at off ramp 119, gates of Fort Lewis.
We are meeting up at the gates of Fort lewis to support the Lt. Why? We have had enough
...we want the war to stop....we want the government to stop using the troops as pawns in their game. If you know of a veteran who is opposed to this war, please help them get here....if you are ok with the weather, please get here also.
I, personally, will always think it an honor and a privilege to have served the United States people
...I know Ehren does too. It is with that same pride and honor that I, personally, ask you to do something for this man
....who has, without question stood, with more integrity in his little pinky, than most of these Generals have in their entire skin. I am honored to know his family, they are a wonderful display of family values
...something we don't see a lot of.
To support him
.... ( http://www.thankyoult.org ) you will find the news to follow the days up to the trial......
Meanwhile, John Powell writes to the Capital Times to weigh in on the argument that Watada signed a contract and any responsibilities he had for war ended right there: "Perhaps Piek has never served in the military, but I remember the oath I took when I was inducted into the Army as a lowly buck private in 1968. The oath for soldiers is virtually the same as the oath taken by the president of the United States and every other official of every level of government in the country: an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States. There is nothing in that oath about obeying orders. In fact, the Geneva Convention and the Uniform Code of Military Justice make it clear that a soldier's duty is to disobey illegal orders. Watada alleges that the Iraq war is unconstitutional and therefore illegal, and that he is duty-bound to refuse to serve in it. This should be the issue - not whether he refused to obey orders (clearly he did), but whether those orders were legal."
Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson (noted abovein the Camp Resistance post), Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske 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.
Finally, on yesterday's KPFA's Flashpoints, Dennis Bernstein provided military families with the opportunity to weigh in on Bully Boy's announced intent to escalate. This included a couple with five children and grandchildren serving in the military who ask that people write Congress and say "no" to the escalation. In addition to utilizing either previous link for an archived broadcast, Rebecca wrote about the broadcast yesterday.
