quick post

i'm opening with this that sherry passed on. i think we all missed out last month. it's

"THE PORTLAND NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD APPLAUDS COURT VICTORY OF THE SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF GRANNIES" (national lawyers guild):



Friday, December 14, 2007, 01:51 PM

THE PORTLAND NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD APPLAUDS COURT VICTORY OF THE SERIOUSLY PISSED OFF GRANNIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 13, 2007

Contact: Ashlee Albies, Portland National Lawyers Guild Chairperson: 503.963.3751

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) applauds the acquittal of 5 members of the 'Seriously Pissed off Grannies' by a jury of their peers in Multnomah County Circuit Court today. After a three day trial, jurors in Multnomah County Circuit Court acquitted the Grannies, also known as the Surge Protection Brigade, on charges of "unlawfully and knowingly causing substantial inconvenience to the United States" (also known as criminal mischief in the third degree). The charges arose from a silent vigil held on April 6, 2007, at the U.S. Army and Marine recruiting center on NE Broadway, where the Grannies placed bloody handprints on the windows of the recruiting center with water-soluble red tempera paint. The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to charges of criminal mischief and testified that their actions constituted a symbolic act of political speech at a government office and resulted in no damage to the property. The jurors wisely chose to protect free speech rights and acquit despite outrageous closing arguments of the Assistant District Attorney that included references to suicide bombers, 9/11 hijackers, and pipe bombs.

"We applaud the Grannies, and their commitment to truth, justice, peace, and action," said Portland NLG chair Ashlee Albies. "They are truly an inspiration to us all; we can learn a great deal from our elders."

"The Grannies are on the forefront of the political protest movement to raise awareness about the illegality of the Iraq war and to counter the recruitment efforts of the U.S. military. I completely agree with one juror, who voiced the opinion that these grandparents truly are 'heroes," said NLG attorney and public defender Thaddeus Betz.

The NLG also commends the hard work and skilled advocacy of their attorneys -- Thaddeus Betz, Sue Kohler, Lisa Ludwig, and Bob Callahan -- and praises their efforts to protect the rights of the grandparents and all political activists in this case. Founded in 1937 as the first integrated bar association, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. The NLG is dedicated too providing effective legal support for progressive protest movements and demonstrators.

# # #

i managed that much last night and no complaints about the spacing. i'm lucky it is in a saved draft and those things screw up the spacing.

i wrote about my baby having a nasty cold and how drained that had left me. i got it.

i told flyboy to just watch the baby and tried to tough it out and do my blog post. i was burning up, my stomach - left side - felt like i was being stabbed with a pitchfork, my head was throbbing and my back was killing me.

now i never like being sick, true. but i felt like i was dying.

i'm talking about:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Ava

C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,

Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),

Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,

trina of Trina's Kitchen,

and ruth of Ruth's Report

i hope i didn't make c.i. sick. c.i. said, 'let's just pretend it's 1 of your college hangovers.' i don't know when c.i. went to sleep last night (we were all at trina's last night - i still am). but i was on their couch and on fire. i kept waking up every now and then when c.i. would put another cold washrag on my head. i woke up twice to throw up. (i hit the trash can both times, thankfully.)

i feel really tired but otherwise, except for some aching in the joints, i'm fine. i got up 30 minutes ago and c.i.'s already gone (c.i., ava and kat are on a plane headed home). trina and elaine said that my fever broke around 3 in the morning according to c.i.

i feel so bad because (a) i know c.i. was tired friday (really tired), (b) that means c.i.'s 1st sleep would be on the plane but i know that's not happening (c.i. and ava have to write their t.v. reviews for miguel, maria and francsico's newsletter) and (c) i'm sure c.i.'s going to pick up my nasty bug.

in college, c.i, elaine and i were roommates. when i was sick, i took the bed and was an impossible roommate. (sick includes hung over.) when i would wake up last night burning up and c.i. would just smile at and hold up the trash can (if i needed to hurl) or put another cold washcloth on my head, i remembered all the times that happened in college. (at 1 point, i even thought i was back in college and was arguing with c.i. that i had to get off the couch because i had a geology final - i hated geology, i had the worst asshole for a teacher.)

it just really drove home how good a friend c.i. was and is. and i feel awful due to the fact that c.i. got no sleep and will probably end up catching my bug.

let me put in something so i've got some sort of entry. ruth and i heard david corn distorting bill clinton yesterday on npr. my 1st thought was, 'are bill and hillary the new gary webb?' remember when david corn went to town on gary webb? wrote that catty little piece supporting the establishment and attacking gary webb (who was right)? i don't know if you come back from that ever? but i told ruth i would include bill clinton's remarks again to make sure the record was correct:

"But since you raised the judgment issue, let's go over this again. That is the central argument for his campaign. 'It doesn't matter that I started running for president less a year after I got to the Senate from the Illinois State Senate. I am a great speaker and a charismatic figure and I'm the only one who had the judgment to oppose this war from the beginning. Always, always, always.' "

"First it is factually not true that everybody that supported that resolution supported Bush attacking Iraq before the UN inspectors were through. Chuck Hagel was one of the co-authors of that resolution. The only Republican Senator that always opposed the war. Every day from the get-go. He authored the resolution to say that Bush could go to war only if they didn't co-operate with the inspectors and he was assured personally by Condi Rice as many of the other Senators were. So, first the case is wrong that way.""Second, it is wrong that Senator Obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year, numerating the years, and never got asked one time, not once, 'Well, how could you say, that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution? You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war and you took that speech you're now running on off your website in 2004* and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since?' Give me a break."

"This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen...So you can talk about Mark Penn all you want. What did you think about the Obama thing calling Hillary the Senator from Punjab? Did you like that?"

bambi is a war hawk. i don't know why david corn and others feel the need to lie about bambi's record. but they do. they lie over and over. maybe corn's just going after hillary & bill until he can find a journalist who tells the truth and attack him or her. gary webb's career was ended. david corn was doing the c.i.a.'s work for them. (gary webb exposed the c.i.a.'s work with the contras in importing drugs to this country.) so who knows whose butt-boy he's being these days. i hope he gets some fun out of the f**k at least. it would be a shame to whore yourself out and not even enjoy the sex, wouldn't it?

i'm sorry, that's really going to be it for me this morning (or this weekend). i've got my appetite back and trina's fixed a breakfast just for me that the smell has me starving for.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Friday, January 11, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, false predictions come back to haunt the White House, Adam Kokesh and Cindy Sheehan receive good legal news, guess who's made an agreement with the US to transport Iraqi oil, and more.

Starting with war resisters. In 2005, David Hughey spoke at the Veterans for Peace conference in Irving, Texas:

I am the father of Private Brandon Hughey who is at this time in Canada. I'm basically a card-carrying Republican. Used to be.
My story basically began when my young son called me from Canada and told me that he didn't want to risk his life for Bush and Cheney's son. That cuased me a great deal of concern. As a matter of fact, it caused great conflicts. Our first several conversations over the telephone were basically fights.
But I started reading. I did a lot of research, an incredible amount of research. And I actually found myself not being able to believe what I was seeing happen to this country. So I sent my son basically a manifesto that said I support him. It took a lot out of me.
as I guess you can tell, I'm not much of a speaker.
So it's brought me to this point, basically, to make a long story short. You know, I've read the Constitution of the United States of America. I've read a lot of books written by a man named James Madison, a lot of things by Thomas Jefferson. When I did that, it helped me figure out that all of this is totally wrong.
I had some really good quotes, but I can't recall 'em off the top of my head.
I just thought I'd come up and introduce myself. I do support my son.

The speech can be found in journalist Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq. Laufer co-hosts Washington Monthly Radio which will feature, among other guests, Gore Vidal on the January 13th broadcast. Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey were the first war resisters to publicy seek refugee status in Canada. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:

The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.

Courage to Resist notes:

Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

Yesterday, we ntoed that Maria Lauterbach had been missing since mid-December. The soldier who was eight months pregnant when she went missing is now said to have been murdered and CNN reports that Onslow Country Sherriff Ed Brown stated today that they are looking for her corpse and that Ceasar Armando Lauren ("a fellow Marine whom Lauterbach had accused of sexual assault") is a suspect. WTOL quotes family neighbor Kent Zimmerman saying that Maria Lauterbach was "very polite, very respectful." The Cleveland Leader states, "According to court documents, the anticipated birth of Lauterbach's baby 'might provide evidentiary credence to charges that she was sexually assaulted by a senior military person.' Investigators also said that the military had been pursuing rape charges against Lauren, and had plans to hold a hearing in December."

Currently there is tension in Australia and England over the issue of blood provided by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. Richard Norton-Taylor (Guardian of London) reports, "British soldiers and civilians contractors seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are being tested for HIV, hepatitis and other diseases as a health campaigners reacted angrily to the news that they had been given blood from American donors who [had] not been properly screened. British defence officials confirmed that the US military had not followed its own procedures by testing all the donors after the blood was given to 18 British service personnel and six civilians." The Daily Mall reports that Frances Shine, whose son Steve Shine lost "his left leg when his tank was blown up in Basra, southern Iraq" and who now must wait to find out if he received tainted blood. In Australia, Mark Dodd (The Australian) reports, "Defence officials are urgently checking whether Australian soldiers have been exposed to contaminated blood amid fears 18 British troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan received tainted transfusions. . . . ADF spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said he believed the risk of Australian troops being infected was low but checks were being made." The Australian Defence Force spokesperson states, "It's a very low probability any of our people would have been infected." Michael Evans (Times of London) explains, "The Pentagon revealed at a meeting in Washington in early November that, according to its records, 11 British servicemen had received life-saving blood transfusions from American volunteer donors at US military centres in Iraq and Afghanistan over the six-year period. None of the donors had been pre-screened to detect for any sign of HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis or other blood diseases." CNN quotes the UK undersecretary of defense Derek Twigg stating, "The (U.S. Defense Department) has told us that for the British service personnel they have records for, they know that the blood that they received is clean. However they do admit that their records are incomplete." Thomas Harding (Telegraph of London) points out, "The infections could have occurred any time between 2001 and last year to soldiers or civilian security guards who needed emergency blood transfusion while being treated in American field hospitals in Iraq or Afghanistan." Pay attention to this from the CBC: "In emergency situations, military forces sometimes use other coalition medical facilities, blood or blood products if they are available sooner, the ministry explained on its website. If supplies are exhausted, medical officials use emergency donor panels which are later screened." The warning went out in November -- so why did the UK wait so long to notify anyone? And when you put the above together, it may apply to US service members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. The US military supplied the blood -- not some US hospital's mobile blood bank doing runs through Ramadi.

Yesterday at the US State Department, the department's deputy spokesperson Tom Casey delivered the briefing. He was asked, "Mr. Casey, on Turkey, do you favor a political dialogue between Turkey and the Kurdish organization PKK?" He rsponsed, "We favor putting the PKK out of business. It's a terrorist organization. . . . We want a political dialogue between the Government of Turkey and the Government of Iraq, which is ongoing and continuous, over how to defeat the PKK. I don't believe anyone in the U.S. Administration has ever called for dialogue with a terrorist organization." That was yesterday. Today Reuters reports, "Turkish artillery shelled northern Iraq on Friday morning, but there were no immediate reports of any casualties or material damage, a Kurdish government official said." This as Reuters reports that Turkey and the US have reached an agreement where "Turkey will help the United States to operate and transport neighbouring Iraq's oil as part of its drive to become an energy hunb" according Hilmi Guler, the Energy Minister of Turkey.

Meanwhile, the escalation is set to wind down in Iraq. Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) noted yesterday that it was one year since Bully Boy announced that the "surge" would take place (and Congress, of course, rolled over offering only 'symbolic' resistance). Ricks and DeYoung observe, "In many cases -- particularly on the political front -- Iraqi solutions bear little resemblance to the ambitious goals for 2007 that Bush laid out in his speech to the nation last Jan. 10. 'To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis,' he pledged. 'Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year . . . the government will reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution.' Although some progress has been made and legislation in some cases has begun to slowly work its way through the parliament, none of these benchmarks has been achieved. Nor has the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki taken over security responsibility for all 18 provinces, as Bush forecast it would. Last month's transfer of Basra province by British forces brought to nine the number of provinces under Iraqi control." There were no provincial elections, there was nothing. Yesterday, in a Pentagon briefing, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates declared, "And so I think that our hope is that in the relatively near future we will see some progress on one or more of the key pieces of legislation that we've talked about at the national level, but we clearly are hoping that the reconciliation and improvement in the political environment that has taken place at the local and provincial level over the past number of months will now meet further progress coming at the national level." Yes, we have repeatedly heard that song and dance every year of the illegal war.

As the US Institute of Peace's Barbara Slavin (on leave from USA Today) declared on the second hour of NPR's The Diane Rehm Show today, "One disturbing note, I mean, there has been an increase in violence apart from the US combat. There have been more suicide bombings, more attacks. It seems to be stepping up again. So you know, we've had all these stories celebrating the surge and saying what a huge success it's been, obviously it has not succeed in securing the country." To see the failures of Bully Boy you don't have to drop back a year. South of Baghdad and Diyala Province (to the north) are targeted for slaughter this week. In ten minutes Thursday, 40,000 pounds of bombs were dropped outside of Arab Jabour and Jamie Gumbrecht and Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) remind the administration "recently held" the region "up as a security success" with Bully Boy, speaking in November, declaring, "Slowly but surely the people of Iraq are reclaiming a normal society. You see, when Iraqis don't have to fear the terrorists, they have a chance to build better lives for themselves."

From Bully Boy's November 2, 2007 speech at Fort Jackson, South Carolina (remember, he can't really appear before the general public with his disapproval ratings):

Here's what this progress means to one shopkeeper in the former al Qaeda stronghold of Arab Jabour. He's a local butcher. He says that as recently as June, he was selling only one or two sheep per week. Now, the terrorists cleaned out and residents returning home, he's selling one or two sheep per day. Slowly but surely, the people of Iraq are reclaiming a normal society. You see, when Iraqis don't have to fear the terrorists, they have a chance to build better lives for themselves. You must undertand an Iraqi mom wants her child to grow up in peach just like an American mom does.

Does that "Iraqi mom" see the bombs falling and say, "It's okay, it's just the US bombing us this time?" Or does she it as terrorism as well? In the same speech, Bully Boy got a qucik shout out to Diyala Province, "In Diyala province, tribal groups come together for the first time to foster reconcillation." The 'success' stories only a two months ago has fallen apart and civilian populations are now being targeted in collective punishment which is in violation of the Geneva Conventions. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today, "The US is claiming success in a massive air-strike campaign sough of Baghdad. More than 40,000 pounds of bombs were dropped on the Arab Jabour district in one of the most intense air attacks since the US invasion. . . . The Pentagon says no civilians were killed but the claim hasn't been independently verified." However, in their briefing yesterday Gates babbled on -- apparently thinking no one was listening -- and declared the latest attacks on the population were going well because "frankly, after these places, there's not much else -- not many places they can go." That statement led to this, "Three follow-ups, then. The current bombing south of Baghdad, after this you say there's not many places they can go. I mean, after this, is it all over? And what should Americans, after yesterday seeing -- nine service members killed in Iraq, what would you say to the American people? Should they still expect days of heavy casualties? What do you forecast?" Gates had no real replies but noted he didn't find it to be "a suprise" that the US would "see some higher casualties" -- all heart -- and that "this job is not finished. There is more to do." Yeah, we've heard that every year of the illegal war as well.

But, hey, speaking with NBC's David Gregory today (link has text and video), Bully Boy showed no concern. NBC reports: "Asked about recent comments by Republican presidential hopefuly Sen. John McCain that it would be fine to have a U.S. military presence in Iraq for 100 years, Bush said it's up to Iraq. 'That's a long time,' he said, adding that there could 'very well be' a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq at the invitation of the government in Baghdad. When asked if it could be 10 years, Bush replied, 'It could easily be that, absolutely."

So, as Barbara Slavin noted, "Obviously" the escalation has "not succeeded in securing" Iraq.

It's Friday, very little violence gets reported. Among the reported violence today . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing claimed 2 lives with eight more wounded. Reuters notes a Mahmudiya roadside bombing that left three police officers injured.

Shootings?The US military announces it shot 2 people yesterday and labels them "terrorists" -- strangely the 11 also arrested are just "suspects". If you die, you're a terrorist, apparently.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

IVAW co-chair Adam Kokesh blogs, "After the government had three and a half months to preapre their case against those of us challenging our arrests from September 15th, the case finally went to trial January 3rd. Sort of. One of my tendefendants, Sholom Keller had come down from Philadelphia the day before and was staying at our new house in the Petworth neighborhood where our new office is set up. S**** ***** (an active duty US Army soldier and member of IVAW) who had been present on September 15th came up from Pensacola as a witness." "How do you resist liars?" Kokesh asked speaking to the September 15th rally before answering, "Speak the truth. How do you stop a war based on lies? It starts with the truth!" He ended his speech (available in full here) stating, "Today may very well mark the beginning of the American anti-fascism revolution. March with us. Honor the dead with us. If you are willing to risk arrest, lie in the street, if not, lie in the grass. Die-in when you hear the air raid sirens. Raise your voice and your fist with us in defiance to send a message to our leadership. If you will not make peace for us, we will make it for ourselves! Power to the people!" As Karissa Marcum (The Hill) reported that day, approximately 200 demonstrators were arrested, "[a]t least two protestors were pepper-sprayed after they tried to breach the police barricade on the west end of the Capitol. The men joined the 187 other anti-war activists who were arrested after crossing a police line. One person was charged with a felony. Iraq Veterans Against the War co-chairman-elect Adam Kokesh stood on the concrete fence and was arrested by Capitol Police wearing riot gear." In other peace and legal news, Reuters reports, "A U.S. appeals court on Friday overturned Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan's conviction for demonstrating without a permit on the White House sidewalk in 2005 and ordered a new trial. The unanimous three-judge panel ruled that Sheehan's conviction had been based on errors of law by the magistrate judge that eliminated the prosecutor's burden to show her criminal intent." On a related note, this Sunday, January 13th, the Green Party presidential debate is held in San Francisco (moderated by Cindy Sheehan) with Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, Jard Bell, Kat Swift, Jesse Johnson Jr. and Ralph Nader to participate. The Green Party notes, "The first, and only, live debate between candidates on the Green Party's California ballot for President of the United States - featuring a former Democratic Party member of Congress, consumer protection icon, professor and environmental engineer - is scheduled here January 13, said John Morton of the Green Party Presidential Debate Committee." The debate starts at two p.m., Herbst Theater in the Veterans Memorial Building on 401 Van Ness Avenue.

Today a photo exhibit of the work of artist and journalist David Bacon opens at the Galeria de la Raza (2857 24th St, San Francisco 94110): "Living under the trees" "Viviendo bajo los arboles." The exhibit is from January 11th through February 23rd (Enero 11 - Febrero 23, 2008). "An exhibition documenting communities of indigenous Mexican farm workers in California through photographs and the narrative experiences of community residents and leaders" y "Una exposicion que documenta a traves de fotografias y testmonios de lideres y residentes las comundades indigenas de campesinos mexicanos." Inauguracion de exposicion (Opening Reception) Enero 11 7:30 p.m. (January 11th). Y mesa redonda de fotografos (photographers' panel) Sabado, Enero 26, 2:00 p.m. (photographers' panel, Saturday, January 26). And on WBAI, Sunday, The Next Hour features Malachy McCourt (broadcasts NYC, streams live online, 11:00 am to noon) while Monday's Cat Radio Cafe finds Janet Coleman and David Dozer joined by Hattie Gossert (author of "the immigrant suite: hey zenophobe! who you calling a foreigner?), Paul Browde and Murray Nossel (from the Barrow Street Fortnight's Two Men Talking), Dan Barrett (International Street Cannibals) and the latest on the Save Carnegie Hall Towers actions. Lastly in audio Time 4 Hemp is a podcast (free podcast) whose broadcasts feature, among others Ed Rosenthal (a regular guest on Kris Welch's Living Room), Tere Joyce, Keith Stroup, Steve Hager, Allen St. Pierre, Steve Bloom, Jack Cole, Gatewood Galbraith and Carl Olsen. Upcoming interviews will include Andy Dick.

robert parry, an asshole

robert parry is an asshole.

that's not easy for me to say.

i've been a fan of robert parry for years. there's not a friend of mine that can't point to their bookcases and say, 'rebecca gave me those.' (unless they traded or sold the books.)

but robert parry is an asshole.

he used to be a journalist.

what changed him?

a woman running for president in the democratic party.

(remember 'in the democratic party' for later.)

parry lies about bambi. parry's never been a liar before but these days he tosses away his repuation to lie for barack obama and go after hillary clinton.

i've met hillary maybe 4 times. i don't like her. i never liked her. (it may be more than 4 times but i know i've spoken with her at least 4 times.) i never liked bill clinton.

i was for jerry brown in 1992 but voted for bill because he was the democratic nominee. that's the same reason i voted for him in 1996.

in 1992, after the primaries, i did do a check to his campaign. that was because i wanted poppy bush out of the white house. i didn't contribute a dime to him in 1996.

c.i. likes hillary (c.i. is not supporting a presidential candidate, c.i. also like john edwards and the recently departed from the race joe biden and bill richardson - c.i.'s given a lot of money to the democratic party over the years and knows many). when hillary ran for the senate in 2000, elaine told me how big of a check she'd written. i said, 'i'm not writing a check.' elaine said, 'c.i. knows that and doesn't plan to ask you to.' every 1 who knows me knows how i feel about both bill and hillary.

every 1 who knows me today knows that i am seriously considering the green party for my 2008 vote.

i have to put all that in because these days if you call out sexism you're accused of being pro-hillary.

that's not the case with me.

but i believe in fairness and i believe in truth.

once upon a time robert parry did as well.

now he lies about obama's record by calling out hillary for voting for the iran resolution last year but by not noting that bambi didn't bother to show up for the vote. (bambi's record with regards to veterans affairs also doesn't appear to be an issue parry wants to tackle.)

elaine's already pulled consortium 'news' from her links. i'd planned to as well when elaine told me she had but it, turned out, i hadn't ever put it on my blogroll. i thought i had. being lazy can pay off.

i'm tired so let me pull the easy link strategy pioneered by kat. in this post, i'm talking about:

Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
and Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz

so i thought, forget parry, he hates women and that's his problem. then sherry e-mailed me his latest crap.

parry writes:

But rarely could the Clintons' determination to get their way be more detrimental to both the Democratic Party and the United States than if Hillary Clinton continues to play the "gender card" on behalf of her presidential campaign, especially in what is shaping up as a two-person race against an African-American.

first off, barack obama is the product of a white mother and an african-father. he is not black. betty would kill me if i let that slide by. (and she'd be right too.) second of all, the 'gender card' isn't being played by hillary. it's been used against her with talk of her cleavage and her 'cackle' and all the other crap. including when parry wrote about her 'tearing' her up. as every 1 else noted (mike and c.i. were the 1st) the boys didn't say a word about 'iron my shirt.' to cover his own ass, parry finally got around to writing about that this morning and minimizes it as 'humor.'
1 wonders if the sign had said 'shine my shoes' and held at a bambi rally if parry would be so comfortable with it?

parry writes:

Instead of an inspiring campaign between two trail-blazing politicians, the race could degenerate into a spasm of "identity politics" in which two groups – women and blacks – compete over who has been more unfairly repressed.

race and gender matter. i know to a white middle aged man like parry, it's no fun if he's left out. so he whines 'identity politics.' all he's done is play sexist pig with regards to hillary in the last few weeks. now he wants to whine because some women are saying 'enough'?


To this point, Sen. Barack Obama has avoided playing the "race card," favoring uplifting rhetoric about "change" that is underscored – but not overwhelmed – by the fact that he is the first African-American to be given a serious shot at winning the White House.

he can't play the 'race card.' he didn't grow up in america. he, by his own admission, didn't realize there was any difference in skin color for the bulk of his childhood. race wasn't an issue to him then and it's not today. he's 'transcended' which parry finds 'inspirational' and parry can't find it that way because he's white.

robert parry has spent forever praising bill clinton.

i know that not because, like c.i., i have this photographic memory. i know it because i can remember the eye rolls i've done when reading him over the years.

suddenly that clinton-lovin' parry is gone. and what changed?

hillary entered the race for president.

barack obama is not a peace candidate. he is a professional liar who wants to 'reach across' who wants to 'transcend' partisanship.

and parry wants to get all mean and ugly because hillary's a tri-angulator?

there's no difference between barack obama and hillary clinton. i don't support either of them and i don't like either of them. i have nothing vested in either of their races.

but parry's writing about bambi like peggy noonan off on 1 her mad crushes on the bully boy. it's embarrassing.

when he left his man-crush for bambi to start trashing women - the trashing of hillary as he's done it is a trashing of women - he became an asshole.

sherry notes that he rushed to post a woman today. that is very rare at consortium. not because all the stuff is usually by him, nat or his other son. sam. i blanked. his other son is sam. along with them he features a plethora of 'guest columns' by males.

but he knows he did something wrong, he knows he crossed a line.

and like many sexists when caught, they need a woman to hide behind.

the reality is that bambi makes whites feel good about the days of racism. bambi says 'it wasn't so bad because look at me!' and so he gives a pass on that and also argues that the ivil rights are 'like so over.' hillary's not half-woman. she's a woman. she was born a woman. and she's never going to be able to wipe that out and parry's never going to be able to get over that.

it's sad to realize that some 1 i spent years cheerleading (offline) has turned out to be a sexist.

but that's how it usually goes. think about it. some guy rapes a woman, some guy you know, and you're shocked. you tell yourself, 'he never acted like that around me.' of course he didn't. he knew he couldn't get away with it. but when he thinks he can, he goes for it. it's the same way with their little 'jokes'. when we're in the room, they know better. when we leave the room, they say what they really think.

parry's 'mistake' was in saying what he really thought in public. women should see it as a reward. it's not often that a man trumpets what an asshole he is, celebrates it so loudly.

it's a hard come down for me. but, and bambi groupies should remember this, it's always better to know.

so, bambi groupies, when something finally forces you to deal with the fact that he's campaigned on homophobia, that his record is a joke, that he's no different than hillary on iraq, etc. when that day comes and you're crushed beyond belief, realize that it's actually a gift.

it's just a shame supposed journalists couldn't give you that gift before you invested so much into believing them. i'm not moking you on that. believe me, as some 1 who believed in 'robert parry,' the reality of parry is very disappointing. but i'll live and so will the bambi groupies when they learn the truth. hopefully, it will be before the primaries are over.

robert pary - remember journalists aren't trained in history - get in a trashing of gloria steinem. who knows how long the bastard's been holding that grudge? but he might try learning history. women were supposed to get the vote after the civil war and were sold out. they'd been fighting for it. that is 1 of the many points of sojourner truth's famous speech 'ain't i a woman.' women have been raped for years and it was their fault. or it was the man's right. for parry to claim that women of all races haven't suffered is just him being the biggest pig in the world and intentionally missing gloria steinem's points.

gloria steinem is truly independent. robert parry is an organ for the obama campaign. he is not independent. those who've read me for some time know that i supported ned lamont. that's what flyboy and i asked his relatives for before the primary. we don't need anything but they could 'gift us' by voting for lamont. after the primary - as the usual useless wonks descended on lamont's campaign, he lost it. but note that bambi supported joe lieberman. bambi gave money to joe lieberman. that's another turth and reality robert parry can't tell you about (although it was big news). lieberman is, in fact, bambi's mentor.

parry can't tell you that because he's too busy air brushing reality. he writes of the debate last week:

Obama didn't help himself either with what sounded like a graceless reaction to the question. "You're likable enough, Hillary," he said, causing even some of his supporters to wince.

parry airbrushed reality. here's what really happened. from c.j.r.'s 'Bill Clinton: Media Critic:'

But in the same debate, Obama had what could, and perhaps should, have been seen as a revealing moment himself. In reaction to a question about her lack of like-ability compared with Obama, Clinton frowned and said her feelings had been hurt. Obama's face then made what could best be described as an eye-rolling scowl. "You're likeable enough, Hillary," he said. Now, he’s got every right to not like her. But this brief glimpse into Obama's temperament -- one that suggested something a bit more petty than what comes through in his transcendental speechifying -- didn’t nearly get as much play the following day as Clinton's anger.

that didn't fit with the lies parry was serving up today, so he left the scowl out. but he's been all over hillary's face, now hasn't he?

pig. asshole. human trash. take your pick. that's how robert parry wants to be remembered today. reality is he's fading. he's made sure of that with his actions.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot' which, note, has covered women in iraq, even if parry never could:

Thursday, January 10, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, civilians are targeted, femicide continues, Pigs say oink-oink-oink all the way home (to the arms of Bambi?) and more.

Starting with war resistance. Proving the knowledge is power, Peter J. Swing (Asian Week) explains how Ehren Watada became convinced that he had to refuse to deploy to the Iraq War, "He haunted the Fort Lewis library, which contains an extraordinary number of military documents, archives and databases, and scoured volumes on military history, particularly in Iraq. 'I read the history of units that have gone during the initial invasion to gain a broader knowledge of what I could expect,' he said. At the time, it was more than the war that was making headlines; the Valerie Plame case, Supreme Court nominations and the country's heightened surveillance, all questioned the legitimacy of the war in Iraq. 'I was looking at who was trying to protect us,' Watada said. 'Who is standing up and speaking out for the soldiers' I told myself that nobody is'." Which is how Watada began the process that led him (June 2006) to become the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.

Stephen Funk is the first public war resister after the illegal war broke out. Camilo Mejia is the first public war resister who served in the war. Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey were the first war resisters to publicy seek refugee status in Canada. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:

The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

Maria Lauterbach is missing. AP reports she is eight-months pregnant and a Lance Corporal marine whose mother filed a missing person report on her December 19th. CNN reports that she "was assaulted by a superior officer" and, according to Sherrif Ed Brown, that she was due to give testimony about the assault. WARL reports, "Lauterbach's debit card was used on Christmas Eve to withdraw money from an automated teller machine, according to an affidavit attached to a search warrant in the case. The white man who used the card tried to cover the ATM camera with a rag, the affidavit said." Margo Rutledge Kissell (Dayton Daily News) reports, "Onslow County Sherriff Ed Brown said in a news conference Thursday that the Marine sergeant who had been deployed to California is being brought back to North Carolina 'so we can look him in the eyes and ask him some questions.' Brown said the decision to return him came after authorities met Wednesday with the commander at Camp Lejeune, where Lauterback is stationed." Rutledge Kissel also notes that Lauterbach's baby "is due Tuesday".


On Monday, we noted that Saturday's US military press release that Rowdy Inman and Benjamin Portell were apparently shot dead by a member of the Iraqi army in what was not a case of 'friendly fire' and how the families weren't told of that until after they held the services. Maria Lauterbach was living off base but still on military property. If her family hadn't sprung into action, would the US military? Lanny Davis would probably answer "no." His son Richard Davis went 'missing' and the military wasn't interested. The Belfast Telgraph explains how US service member Richard Davis was killed by soldiers and how the military refused to search for Davis, refused to do a damn thing. Father Lanny served in Vietnam, his son signed up in 1999 and served in Bosnia and later Iraq. In Iraq, Richard served with some people who didn't need to be in the service such as Jacob Burgonyne: "Army doctors reportedly examined him and said he was suffering from PTSD and should not be allowed near a weapon. But, trumpeted as a battle hero by his commanders, he was released and rejoined his comrades. Soon afterwards, Richard Davis was murdered." On July 14, 2003, Richard Davis was beaten, repeatedly stabbed ("at least 33 times") and then attempts were made to set his corpse on fire. They apparently targeted Richard Davis because he was multi-racial ("They looked at my son as a mulatto, a half-breed."). What followed was the US military contacting Lanny Davis and telling him that his son was AWOL -- "as opposed to a missing person, which meant that no official search by military authorities would be made." Then they put obstacles in his path when he tried to find out what happened to his son. Lanny Davis had to start the search himself, had to prod the military, people who served with his son and the local authorities and finally one soldier pointed to Jacob Burgoyne, Alberto Martinez, Mario Navarrette and Douglas Woodcoff -- the latter "took investigators to a highway in Columbus, Georgia. 'He took them out to the road where there was a place where they keep trash. That's when they started finding bits of my son'." Burgoyne serves time in a prison in Georgia while Martinez and Naverrette "are up for parole in three or four years and they will probably get it," according to Davis. Or, as Ruth noted earlier this week, NPR's Day by Day reported on Jason Scheuerman who took his own life in Iraq (after the military refused to provide him with help for PTSD -- a chaplain 'diagnosed' him as "possessed by demons") and the parents were told one lie after another including that their son left no suicide note. Lies, and lies.

This has happened repeatedly, where families are told one thing and another thing actually happened. On June 23, 2006, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) spoke with Nadi McCaffrey whose son Patrick and Andre Tyson were both killed in Iraq and the US military claimed it was by 'insurgents' when it was by Iraqis in the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps that Patrick McCaffrey and Andre Tyson were training:

AMY GOODMAN: But no member of his unit came to you and said, "It's not as the Army has told you. I was there." NADIA McCAFFREY: Yes. Yes, two or three people did. AMY GOODMAN: And did they tell you this? NADIA McCAFFREY: They told me, yes, what they saw and what they have heard. As a matter of fact, just after Patrick and Andre were killed, one of the soldiers made his own report. And very complete, I may say. And this report was actually sent to the Sacramento Bee in Sacramento, newspaper. And this article was actually published by the Sacramento Bee. Immediately after that, this article was all over the world, because when Patrick's body returned to the airport in San Francisco, I called the media, and that made a huge fire within the news and so on, since the Pentagon had a ban on that. AMY GOODMAN: Let's explain the idea that you called the national press to be at Sacramento airport, international airport, when Patrick's body came home, because President Bush had issued this executive order, saying that you shouldn't videotape, photograph, film the flag-draped coffins of the soldiers coming home. But you defied that? NADIA McCAFFREY: Yes, yes. I didn't want to. That was my son. Frankly, I didn't really care, you know. I needed to do it this way for us, and I wanted to honor my son. I was not going to pass him in the dark, returning home, no. He didn't leave in the dark; why should I do that when he comes back? No. But because of that, immediately after this, this article took off and was everywhere. What happened was, the soldier who wrote this article was threatened to be court-martialed immediately. And the only reason that the court-martial didn't happen is because it became too public too fast. But he nonetheless was in serious trouble. I know that through his mother, and she was extremely worried about it. So I talked to other soldiers in his unit, and I called, you know, [inaudible] in San Francisco that I know. I needed advice from just in case something would turn ugly. He's okay. But it was not easy for him for quite a long time.
.
Meanwhile, in Iraq the femicide continues. MADRE's Yifat Susskind (at Common Dreams) explores the ongoing femicide in Basra, "City officials reported on December 31 that 133 women were killed and mutilated last year, their bodies dumped in trash bings with notes warning others against 'violating Islamic teachings . . .' But ambulance drivers who are hired to troll the city streets in the early mornings to collect the bodies confirm what most residents believe: the actual numbers are much higher. The killers' leaflets are not very original. They usually accuse the women of being prostitutes or adulterers. But those murdered are more likely to be doctors, professors, or journalists. We know this because activists from the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) have taken on the gruesome task of visiting city morgues to try and determine the scale and pattern of the killings. According to OWFI, most of the women who have been murdered 'are PhD holders, professionals, activists, and office workers.' Their crime is not 'promiscuity,' but rather opposition to the transformation of Iraq into an Islamist state. That bloody transition has been the main political trend under US occupation. It's no secret who is killing the woman of Basra. Shiite political forces empowered by the US invasion have been terrorizing women there since 2003." The US was not unaware of what was going on. June 21, 2006, Eve Ensler and Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) discussed the realities for women in Iraq

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I wanted to read from an explosive U.S. government document about the situation in Iraq that was recently leaked to the Washington Post. It's an internal memo from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad that describes the situation in the Iraqi capital. This is from a subsection titled, "Women's Rights," and it says, "Two of our three female employees report stepped-up harassment beginning in mid-May. One, a Shia who favors Western clothing was advised by an unknown woman in her Baghdad neighborhood to wear a veil and not to drive her own car. She said some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran, even at its most conservative. Another, a Sunni, said people in her neighborhood are harassing women and telling them to cover up and stop using cell phones. She said the taxi driver who brings her every day to the Green Zone has told her he cannot let her ride unless she wears a head cover. A female in the cultural section" -- this is in the U.S. cultural section -- "is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats. "The women say they cannot identify the groups pressuring them. The cautions come from other women, sometimes from men who could be Sunni or Shia, but appear conservative. Some ministries, notably the Sadrist-controlled Ministry of Transportation, have been forcing females to wear the hijab at work." Now, again, that's from an internal memo from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and at the end of the memo, it's the name of the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Khalilzad. Your response. You have gone to Afghanistan repeatedly. In fact, we last spoke to you on a mountain in Afghanistan. But can you talk about this? EVE ENSLER: Well, we have been supporting women -- Yanar Mohammed, we've been supporting, who's running the women's organization in Baghdad. We have been in touch with women now for the last three years, and everything we're hearing about the situation of the women in Baghdad is just -- it is shocking, and it actually really mirrors what happened in Afghanistan. It is the Talibanization of Iraq. And if we look at the fact that sex trafficking has escalated, honor killings have escalated, women's security is abysmal, we are talking about the reversal of women's rights, in terms of Sharia law being reintroduced into the constitution.What most people forget is the status of women in Iraq during Saddam Hussein was actually far better off than many women throughout the region. It has now been completely undermined. And we have this illusion in this country that we have freed women in Afghanistan and freed women in Iraq. Every report we're getting now from Afghanistan is that the situation is terrible and that warlords are everywhere, and the Taliban is completely present.

The US government was completely aware of what was going on and didn't give a damn. It hopped into bed with thugs because it was thought that thugs (using violence) would bring 'stability' quickly. In March of last year MADRE released a report entitled "Promising Democracy, Imposing Theocracy: Gender-Based Violence and the US War on Iraq." The report can be read in full in PDF format or, by sections, in HTML. As the first section makes clear, Paul Bremer was more than ready to strip women of their rights and only the protests by Iraqi women to Resolution 137 prevented it. Bremer never gave a damn. Nor did Zalmay Khalilzad whom the report notes, "As in Afghanistan, Khalilzad supported the Islamist factions of the Iraqi constitutional drafting committee. The result was a new constitution that declared Islam to be the official religion of the state and a fundamental source of legislation." The destruction is all there in the report. And the killings took place throughout and continue, see Bay Fang's "The Talibanization of Iraq" (Ms. magazine, spring 2007 issue).

In other Iraq violence, the air war goes on. Deborah Haynes (Times of London) calls it "fast, powerful and loud." Apparently "deadly" wasn't in her thesaurus. Alexandra Zavis and Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) note that the US military "dropped 40,000 pounds of bombs on Arab Jabour, in an area of mostly farmland, the U.S. military said in a statement." Actually, the US military command brags about the 40,000 tons being "dropped within the first ten minutes" of a strike on Arab Jabour today. Repeating, 40,000 pounds in ten minutes on "mostly farmland." CBS and AP explain the 'target' is "what the military called al Qaeda in Iraq safehavens on the southern outskirts of the capital." The campaign targets the Diyala Providence -- an inhabited provence despite the US bombings and despite, as CBS and AP note, Major General Mark P. Hertling's 'judgement' that "[a]ll indications are that the al Qaeda fighters retreated north from Diyala". So who's there? Sylvie Briand (AFP) reports, "Four men are lined up along an earthen wall in a Sunni village north of Baghdad as US soldiers quiz them about Al-Qaeda. 'There is no Al-Qaeda here,' says one suspect. 'But I can give you the names of Shiite militias' in a neighbouring village." He fingers al-Sadr's Mahdi Army as "the problem". Al Jazeera notes Sbdallah el-Jbouri ("local Sunni tribal leader") stating that "many civilians were feared dead and 300 families had fled" while "at least 40 hourse and the main road out of the villege were destroyed. He said that residents told him that people were believed to be trapped under the rubble of the ruined buildings and the injured were unable to reach hospital because of the damage to the road."
IPA quotes IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh explaning, "This underscores how inappropriate traditional military tactics are in what should be a police action, and how an increase in bombing goes against what we are told the 'surge' is supposed to accomplish, namely creating space for political reconciliation."

While the MSM gets giddy over the smell of destruction, one reporter is working in Iraq and guess which outlet?

Bombings?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing on Sa'doon Street that lured police officers to a second bombing which claimed the lives of 1 police officer and 1 soldier (ten more were wounded) and a Baghdad bombing on Palestine Street claimed 1 life and left four more people wounded.

Corpses?

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses were discovered in Baghdad

Turning to US 'political' commentary. The long list of embarrassments just gets longer. Mike observed Robert Scheer's disgrace yesterday. Today Lotta' Links weighs in. Lotta' Links ponders "identity politics" in terms of Hillary Clinton's win -- but he rushes to assure that "identity politics" played no part in Iowa. Isn't it always interesting to hear allegedly left male gas bags tell us that an attack on a man is out of bounds and must be called out; however, calling out an attack on a woman is "identity politics." What they fail to grasp is that they're playing "identity politics." The male is not universal but that's the lie, right? Then and now. Sexism exists and is repeatedly minimized. That's among the many points Gloria Steinem made in "Women Are Never Front-Runners" (New York Times) and obviously it was too much reality for many.

Lotta Links gets off a lot of laughable claims (such as "No generally progressive news website has been stronger than" Lotta Links "in championing the full empowerment of women" -- Ha! They can't even highlight the majority of female newspaper columnists on the left) but this may be the big one: "Women over 40 all have had countless sexist experiences". The pigs & piglets like to admit sexism -- in the past, you understand. 'Before they were adults, some men may have done some really bad things, you understand, but that was then and this is now.' Reality, women under forty can tell you about their experiences with sexism as well. (Not all, some women -- of either age group -- maintain it doesn't exist.) But Lotta Links is a student of today's hula-hoop, like so many other of these men, and remember it's the 'framing' (it took women to call out the nonsense of that hula-hoop -- and men to ignore it). So the 'frame' is, "I'll admit some bad things were done to women -- years ago -- and then I'll explain, 'Hey, Chickie-baby-boom-boom, get over it. That's the past. Get with the program!'"

The program is: "Vote for Bambi." Women, we've been thrown under the bus. It shouldn't shock us. Gays and lesbians were thrown under the bus at the end of October by Bambi. That didn't matter either. The left stayed silent and played dumb. A Democrat held an event in South Carolina -- a Democrat who wants to be president of the United States -- and he put known homophobes (plural) onstage. He did so despite many organizations asking him not to. He did so and he got away with it. Note the silence on the left. That was October and it's still not resulted in angry editorials. Has Matthew Rothschild bothered to sound the alarms? Not only did homophobes take the stage, they expressed their homophobia to those gathered. And Bambi got a pass. Meanwhile, in the real world where facts matter, Peggy Simpson (WMC) points out the obvious, Clinton "won among all Democrats older than 40" -- that's women and men and pay attention for the shocker -- "but, in contrast to Iowa, also won voters aged 25-29. She took the majority of married voters, by 38 to 33, and scored big among single women, who were 22 percent of the overall vote." In other words, she appealed to a wide range of Democratic voters. None of the gas bags want to talk about how Barack Obama can't even fire up the Democratic base, do they?

At Black Agenda Report, real journalists have repeatedly noted bi-racial Barack gears his campaign, his speeches, his whole persona to White voters. As BAR's Glen Ford noted on Democracy Now! yesterday, Bambi's "done that at the expense of black people, by constantly, relentlessly sending out signals to white people that a vote for Barack Obama, an Obama presidency, would signal the beginning of the end of black-specific agitation, that it would take race discourse off of the table." And White media gives Bambi a pass there. So women have already been tossed under the bus by Bambi -- African-American women, lesbians of all races -- and now it's time for him to toss the entire gender. And you know what, beyond the gas bags, Democratic voters really don't like that game. They're insulted by it and that's why Democratic voters have not given Bambi women thus far -- even in laughable Iowa he depended upon 'indpendents.'

But it's women voters who are playing "indentity politics." Only in the minds of so many PIGS could self-respect be seen as "identity politics." But "women voters" gave Hillary New Hampshire (so did a lot of men) and you know how we are, I mean our minds are still reeling from those kind men 'giving' us the vote, right? And there was that gorgeous strappie that we really, really wanted so, in those two minutes of thought that we're capable of, we said, 'Hmm, Hillary! Okay, where do we go to lunch?'

That's really what this nonsense is. It's saying women aren't smart enough to know how to vote. Lotta Link's Pig-In-Chief Mark shows up to tell us how to vote because we need reminders from a man. You know those paper ballots can be heavy and those touch screen's can be confusing, maybe a man can help us with those as well?

Bambi "has no generally relied on identity politics" Piggy Mark says. Of course, not, he's a man and he is 'universal,' right. Pig continues, "he has risen above it" -- must have been that dangling Y chromosome, right? Let's cut through the crap, a woman wins New Hampshire -- apparently fueled by women showing up at the polls, and Piggy Mark oinks, "Let's make our choice on what is best for the nation, not what is best for us personally." Yeah, we gals need the reminder, right? Without a man to try to shame us, we'd just go voting willy-nilly. Good of the nation? Didn't occur to us. We're not all that smart, right?
That's what the lectures and the whines from all these men really says. And it makes clear that our needs -- which our universal needs -- will always be written off as "identity politics." Our experience is the universal. We are in the majority. We are the norm.

Thank goodness Bambi has all of his White Male defenders. Without them, where would he be? People might discuss his homophobia -- HIS homophobia. When he chooses to put homophobes on stage, it is homophobia. It doesn't matter if he says, "Some of my best friends are gays and lesbians," as a politican he put homphobes on stage last October. Or people might notice that Bambi's not 'anti-war.' He's not anti-Iraq War, obviously, but he's not anti-war. Without his groupies, Bambi might actually have to compete for votes -- and that would include competing with John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. For the Bambi Groupies, that is very scary and the "and Hillary Clinton" is probably scariest of all for them. Bill Clinton spoke the truth on Bambi and Iraq. Matthew Rothschild was wrong (and has issued no correction, so read Elaine's post on the pathetic nature of independent media since Rothschild's bound and determined to prove her right). Bill Clinton was right.


"But since you raised the judgment issue, let's go over this again. That is the central argument for his campaign. 'It doesn't matter that I started running for president less a year after I got to the Senate from the Illinois State Senate. I am a great speaker and a charismatic figure and I'm the only one who had the judgment to oppose this war from the beginning. Always, always, always.' ""First it is factually not true that everybody that supported that resolution supported Bush attacking Iraq before the UN inspectors were through. Chuck Hagel was one of the co-authors of that resolution. The only Republican Senator that always opposed the war. Every day from the get-go. He authored the resolution to say that Bush could go to war only if they didn't co-operate with the inspectors and he was assured personally by Condi Rice as many of the other Senators were. So, first the case is wrong that way.""Second, it is wrong that Senator Obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year, numerating the years, and never got asked one time, not once, 'Well, how could you say, that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution? You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war and you took that speech you're now running on off your website in 2004* and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since?' Give me a break."This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen...So you can talk about Mark Penn all you want. What did you think about the Obama thing calling Hillary the Senator from Punjab? Did you like that?""Or what about the Obama hand out that was covered up, the press never reported on, implying that I was a crook? Scouring me, scathing criticism, over my financial reports. Ken Starr spent $70 million and indicted innocent people to find out that I wouldn't take a nickel to see the cow jump over the moon."So, you can take a shot at Mark Penn if you want. It wasn't his best day. He was hurt, he felt badly that we didn't do better in Iowa. But you know, the idea that one of these campaigns is positive and the other is negative when I know the reverse is true and I have seen it and I have been blistered by it for months, is a little tough to take. Just because of the sanitizing coverage that's in the media, doesn't mean the facts aren't out there. "

"*" It was 2003 when it was first disappeared as Glen Ford pointed out yesterday. There's another narrative out there right now. Lotta Links and others couldn't shut up about the "Big Dog" for years and years. Bill's every word was gold. They rushed to praise him, they rushed to quote him. Now? They ridicule or ignore him. The underlying narrative there is that Hillary is so all-powerful she's controlled his mind. He's no longer speaking for himself -- so he doesn't need to be quoted -- he's being controlled by a woman. If you're missing it, this is the right-wing smear coming from the center-left and the left. Repeating, I don't care who you vote for (or even if you vote -- nor I have endorsed any candidate except Cindy Sheehan for the 8th US Congressional district in California). Unlike like Little Media, I do care about Iraq. And it's neither fair nor honest to apply one standard to one candidate (Hillary) and to apply no standards to Bambi. He's a media-created fantasy and didn't we see how nasty it could get over the last few days as a little sunlight flooded in? If you support the illegal war then applaud Big and Little Media because they have refused to apply standards to Barack Obama (and they don't want to touch on his think-tank -- doing so would underscore that a Bambi president would result in even more wars). But if ending the Iraq War matters to you, the lessons to take away is that there are three Democrats in the race: John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Two of them are not different on Iraq (Clinton and Obama). One makes noises about being different (John Edwards) but isn't running on it and for every brave remark he makes on Iraq, he falls silent for many days. The peace movement isn't the Democratic Party. Nor is the Democratic Party the only game in town for voters. Those planning to vote Democratic currently should be informed of the realities regarding the candidates and Iraq and Little Media hasn't done that. Those looking elsewhere or open to doing so should especially pay attention this Sunday, January 13th, when the Green Party presidential debate in San Francisco (moderated by Cindy Sheehan) is held with Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, Jard Bell and Ralph Nader to participate. The Green Party notes, "The first, and only, live debate between candidates on the Green Party's California ballot for President of the United States - featuring a former Democratic Party member of Congress, consumer protection icon, professor and environmental engineer - is scheduled here January 13, said John Morton of the Green Party Presidential Debate Committee." The debate starts at two p.m., Herbst Theater in the Veterans Memorial Building on 401 Van Ness Avenue.

grab bag post

the press is saying bill richardson is dropping out (announcement to come tomorrow) from the democratic race for the presidential nomination.

ava and c.i. summed up what richardson was offering sunday in 'TV: The Dead and Missing Persons:'

Yesterday, in New Hampshire, a debate took place. 'Candidate' Kucinich was excluded. We found it interesting who went for the role of the clown when Kucinich wasn't there to play it: Barack Obama and Bill Richardson.
Richardson provided one laugh-getter after another including, "Well, I've been in hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this." Possibly too much time has been spent with the lie that you learn everything you need to know in kindergarten? Certainly high school teaches its own lessons such as this one: The class clown rarely becomes the class president. But at least Richardson's jokes actually got laughs. Obama's attempts were far worse.
Charlie Gibson ('moderator') asked Clinton about Obama's record and, in one section of her response, she declared, "You know, Senator Obama has been -- as the Associated Press described it, he could have a pretty good debate with himself, because four years ago he was for single-payer health care. Then he moved toward a rejection of that, a more incremental approach. Then he was for universal health care; then he proposed a health care plan that doesn't cover everybody." Obama's response? "Well, I think the Associated Press was quoting some of your folks, Hillary." As any professional comic knows the only audience response to fear is dead silence which, for the record, greeted that lame attempt at humor by Obama.With Kucinich out of the debate, Richardson and Obama seemed bound and determined to land the title Funny Boy. That may be a result of the popularity of one-liners under Reagan. "Where's the beef?" was simple and possibly that's because Regan couldn't handle anything too complex. "Well, I think" "the Associated Press" "was quoting" "some of" "your folks, Hillary" is never going to get a loud laugh. It's badly constructed, it depends upon listeners following groupings and it's just badly, badly worded. Though not nominally funnier, it would get the point across much better if he'd said, "Sounds like AP was quoting your people." No need for "Hillary." Funny lines rarely end with a person's name and "eee" syllables, as ending ones, don't lend themselves to that harsh landing needed to pull off the catty Obama was aspiring to. He reminded us of the critic John Simon being channeled through Herman Munster.
"Where's the beef?" was to the point and made the point, for those who liked Reagan, "He's like us, repeating a slogan." Wit really isn't a factor in presidential elections but bad attempts at it distance the voters from the candidate.

i could quote the whole thing, it's wonderful.

this is a grab bag post. a kucinich supporter e-mailed me that before i reposted today's snapshot, 'you need to put in a correction because it wasn't just mike gravel, dennis was excluded as well.' c.i. was talking about real candidates. kucinich isn't 1.

as ava and c.i. noted, kucinich's campaign is over, he just didn't make the announcement.

another e-mailer wanted to tell me that bob somerby 'is back on board and back in the fight today.' yeah, after throwing in the towel on friday, on monday and on tuesday. after saying that obama would have an easier chance to win. the alleged fighter just needed a new hampshire victory by hillary clinton to stop writing off her campaign as dead.

'back in the fight today' is actually the key phrase. when the going gets tough ... bob somerby gets going ... away from the fight.

mike's 'Robert Scheer: Human Trash' is amazing. if i'd known he was writing about that, i would've passed on 1 thing: gloria steinem's 'Women Are Never Front-Runners' from tuesday's paper was still the number 1 most e-mailed column or article at the new york times this afternoon. something that would never happen with anything robert scheer might write.

elaine's 'Clinton tells the truth, Matthew Rothschild doesn't' is elaine ticked off and i love that side of elaine. when she's had enough, she's had enough. (unlike c.i. & elaine, i didn't grow up rich so i wasn't asked for money back in the day. but you better believe i instilled every word i heard from elaine during that period. and she's right, c.i. is a soft touch. that's not an insult to c.i. but it is noting that any sob story can pull c.i.'s heart strings.) it's equally true that independent media has nothing to show for itself today. they all seemed to stop working in 2005 and having just been boring us since then.

linda e-mailed to say i forgot to talk about 'Kat's Korner: The year in music.' i didn't. last friday, i was too tired. and in too much of a rush. i was hoping to get to it this friday. but i don't want any 1 to think i'm ignoring it, so i'll make a stab tonight.

kat showed up at the common ills writing about music before i started my site. i love c.i. very much but know from college that there is no 1 like c.i. those who try to compete lose. but kat's voice was 1 that i could not only relate to but that i could see using something similar. my strongest posts early on are directly a credit to her writing. (to her 'writing' - i didn't meet kat until april of 2005.) i was stumbling around and i'd read or re-read 1 of her music pieces and find my way back. (i tried fantasies, i tried story-time, i tried everything in the early days.)

so i really love kat the person, yes. but i also love her writing. she inspires me and i aspire to write like her. (but with dirty words!) (that's a joke. kat has had to censor her own language due to the 'work place friendly' nature of the common ills. that was a big problem for her in the early days. now she says it's not very hard to do.)

in her look at 2007's music, she reminded me yet again why i love her writing. she just puts it out there. she calls it like she sees it. and she's got information to back up her view. (which doesn't mean you have to agree with her and kat's not interested in that to begin with.) but she's so amazing and has found a way to bring women back to music. i don't just mean in terms of the pieces being written by her, i mean her context. she's not playing the boys' game. she has examples that honor the women who came before. she is 1 of the most female-affirming writers out there and i just can't say enough about kat.

her own site is Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills) (yeah, i'm lazy and swiping links off my website) and she always entertains me. sometimes she's brief, sometimes she's long.

but do you know that ava and c.i. begged her to let them post for her this week?

monday, kat smashed her thumb on her left hand. really bad. c.i. and ava took her to the emergency room. (that's why c.i.'s morning entries went up late, late in the morning on monday.) she's fine but it's a pain to use the thumb. so ava and c.i. were telling her they'd fill in for her. she loved the idea but the events of the day had her saying, 'i've got to write.'

and she's written amazing posts all week long. despite her thumb.

she's rounded up, in her music retrospective for 2007, the best of the year as far as i'm concerned. i didn't disagree with 1 of her picks. i thought she brought insight to them that i had missed. it's a pleasure and a joy to read so i read it often (i have it bookmarked on my favorites on the explorer page).

i'm tired tonight and might have had more if i waited until friday. but if linda thinks i forgot that means somewhere some 1's thinking that i ignored it because i didn't like it. i hope i've made it clear that i loved it.

'Ruth's Report' is among the things i meant to note this week and i'll close by noting that (i'm about to fall asleep, i'm that tired). ruth, ruth, you used to feel so badly when you called out reality! :) ruth is a truth teller and we're lucky to have her. she points out what counterspin consider a best-of and what they didn't. and she does so with humor. she always makes me laugh. but where's the yiddish! i miss her yiddish phrases. (i was actually learning them.)

wait!

c.i.'s always pointing out that wally & cedric link to everything we write but we always forget them. it's because they make us laugh and then we put on our 'serious' (yes, for me, this is serious) thinking caps and forget the funnies. read their joint-post today 'THIS JUST IN! BAMBI SMELLS CROTCH ROT IN THE MORNING!' & ' Bambi's dainty crotch rot.' it's very funny and i've loved the 'jobama' theme they've been working.

i really am exhausted. from the baby. winter cold. i take to the bed with the simplest illness. or used to. now i fret and worry over everything that happens to the baby. remember, this is my 1st and i tend to panic over everything. 'it's not pneumonia.' flyboy told me that repeatedly today. so did ruth. around noon, i finally accepted that it was just a cold.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Wednesday, January 9, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Big Oil is salivating for Iraq, Matthew Rothschild accuses Bill Clinton of distortions but, in this case, it's Rothschild who is distorted, and more.

Starting with war resisters. Earlier this week Andrea Stone (USA Today) reported on Darren Manzella who is a sergeant in the US army and openly gay. Stone noted that he discussed this recently with 60 Minutes "and the program aired a home video that showed him kissing a former boyfriend" and there's been no fallout. Stone also notes that the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network estimates there are 500 out troops currently. Who knew the US military brass was so laid back? Of course the reality is that they aren't but have little choice but to enter this century as a result of the Iraq War. War resister Bethany "Skyler" James shared her story upon arriving in Canada. She explained to Ariel Troster (Capital Xtra) back in October that her plan was to be low key about her sexuality but she "was ridiculed daily by other soldiers and even received hate letters" which led Skyler to be more open "even hanging a rainbow flag in her room at the military base, despite a rule which prohibits anyone who 'demonstrate(s) a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts' from serving in the US army." So what was going on? Troster explains, "You would think that by disclosing her identity, Skyler would have received a 'get out of the army free' card. By outing herself, she was clearing contravening regulations in a way that should have earned her a discharge. But according to Skyler, it isn't that easy. The US military is so desperate to enlist more troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, that they are willing to turn a blind eye to even the most blatant homosexual conduct -- leaving people like Skyler to endure the double injustice of fighting in wars they don't agree with, while also being subjected to harassment and intimidation from their fellow soldiers."

This is another example of what is missed when independent media doesn't cover war resisters. And note that the MSM view puts foward a concept of tolerance when the reality is that the military can't afford to kick anyone out.

Skyler is in Canada hoping to be granted refugee status. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:

The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure :
1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada.
For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

US civilians have been in Iraq (that comment isn't recognizing mercenaries as civilians) and one example is Jamie Leigh Jones. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today, "The Pentagon's top watchdog has announced he won't investigate rape allegations made by a former employee of the war contractor Halliburton and its subsidary KBR. The alleged victim, Jamie Leigh Jones, says she was gang-raped by co-workers in Iraq. Jones has accused KBR and the US government of covering up the crime. On Tuesday, Pentagon Inspector General Claude Kicklighter said he won't look into the charges because the Justice Department still considers it an open case. Democratic lawmakers and Jones' defense team both criticized the decision. A criminal probe has already last more than two and a half years with no charges filed." Yesterday, ABC News' Justin Rood reported on the latest and noted the office of US Senator Bill Nelson (Florida) says, "We're not satified with" the non-response and Rood noted, "Despite deferring to the Justice Department, Kicklighter's office told Nelson it was willing to pursue other questions Nelson raised about Jones' case. Kicklighter agreed to explore 'whether and why' a U.S. Army doctor handed to KBR security officials the results of Jones' medical examination, a so-called "rape kit," which would have contained evidence of the crime if it had occurred." Justin George (St. Petersburg Times) reports that Nelson is focused on two cases specifically -- Jamie Leigh Jones and another, unidentified woman: "The Tampa woman alleges she was sexually assaulted by a drunken male colleague while working in Ramadi, Iraq in June 2005 for KBR Inc. subsidary Service Employees International Inc. Nelson has said the Navy Criminal Investigative Service turned its finding over to the Justice Department, but nothing has come of the matter. The woman sued KBR, claiming the company failed to protect her from foreseeable harm." That's Tracy Barker. Today David Ivanovich (Houston Chronicle) reports that in addition to determining that, "The Inspector General's office also is trying to learn how many other rape examinations have been performed by U.S. military doctors in Iraq, as well as what steps federal departments are taking to ensure similar criminal cases are properly investigated." Ivanovich also cites Republican US House Rep Ted Poe (who was informed of the gang-rape and imprisonment of Jamie Leigh Jones by Jones' father and began pressing the US State Department to expalin why a US citizen was being held against her will by a contracting company with State Department knowledge) stating, "Who is in charge here? With a $400 billion budget, you would think that the Defense Department would have the resources to protect Americans overseas and maybe even a little left over to investigate allegations of criminal activity as well."

While the White House has shown no interest in the assaults on women in Iraq, Bully Boy did get a briefing on the non-progress in Iraq. CBS and AP report that "John Jones, the provisional reconstruction team leader in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad" gave the feel good performance of the day. "The key thing for us," said Jones of Diyala, "is we're making small steps." That would be the province Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reported on today where "American troops began a major offensive on Tuesday". Farrell quotes Major General Mark P. Herling (you thought the Times would quote rank and file?) who declares, "What has been happening in Baquba and Wajihiya specifically has been somewhat of a deception effort. We have allowed the enemy to believe that Diyala has been wide open while we have been generating forces in here to nail them." The deception is in Herling's remarks. The 'plan' was a last-minute scramble to use the surplus forces the escalation provided before significant numbers are deployed out of Iraq. CBS and AP forget to name the province (might it hurt Jones' feel-good report on Diyala? -- no need to worry, reality hurt Jones' feel-good report when the US military announced multiple deaths in the region today) but note that "No. 2 U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, announced the new operations and took pains to say it would focus on bettering Iraqi lives". Two things. Odierno was among those stating publicly last summer that the escalation would end this year because the US military did not have the numbers to maintain it. Second, for those who want to believe Herling's lies, they need to immediately call for him and others above him to be brought on charges of War Crimes. If you really believe the lie that this was planned months ahead -- to route violence into Diyala Province -- then the US military brass willfully made Iraqi civilians living in that area a target which would be a violation of the rules of law.

Meanwhile another province, Al Anbar, is the focus of a corporate struggle. Robin Pagnamenta (Times of London) reports that Shell and Total both want "to develop a huge gasfield" in Al Anbar -- in an area that "is thought to contain up to seven trillion cubic feet of gas -- up to 6 per cent of Iraq's estimated total of 112 trillion cubic feet. The field is capable of producing up to 50 million cubic feet a day, but this could be raised to 450 million cubic feet per day if developed further." Pagnamenta states Shell maintains the Iraqi Oil Ministry requested their involvement. Thomas Financial reports that talks were held by the Iraqi government "with a number of potential companies last week". Last week, Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) noted, "Iraq has set a Jan. 31 deadline for international oil firms to register to compete for tenders to help develop the world's third-largest oil reserves, the Ministry of Oil said today."

While the corporations rub their hands eagerly, others are less eager to enter Iraq. Sue Pleming (Reuters) notes, "Nearly half of U.S. diplomats who do not want to serve in Iraq say a key reason is because they do not support the Bush administration's policies there, according to a union survey released on Tuesday. The survey by the American Foreign Service Association, which represents the rank-and-file diplomatic corps, not political appointees, also found that most U.S. diplomats were frustrated by what they saw a lack of resources." The American Foreign Service Association has the report [PDF format warning] by Steve Kashkett entitled "ASFA Opinion Poll Results Highlight Disturbing Trends" which notes early on, "With regard to Iraq, a clear majority believes that war-zone postings should remain voluntary; some 68 percent oppose directed assignments as unneccsary and undesirable. More than 2,000 FS members -- including 110 currently serving in Iraq and 295 who said they had previously done tours of duty there -- provided comments on ways to encourage more people to volunteer for Iraq assignments. Many themes emerged repeatedly: increasing the Separate Maintenance Allowance, getting tax exemptions for war-zone service, awarded meritorious step increases, shortening the length of a standar unaccompanied tour. But a large number of comments suggested a fundamental disagreement with the whole approach of seeking evver greater incentives to staff an escalating list of Provincial Reconstruction Teams and an expanding embassy; instead, many hundreds of employees urged a downsizing of the U.S. mission there, both for practical and policy reasons."

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Kirkuk car bombing that wounded one person and another that wounded two, a Khalis bombing that wounded a police officer and a Baquba bombing that left four people wounded.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a suspected member of al Qaeda in Mesopotamia was shot dead in Salahuddin and two people were woundedin a Baquba shooting.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

Today the US military announced: "Three Multi-National Division -- North Soldiers died from injuries sustained during an attack while conducting operations in Salah ad Din province Jan. 8." And they announced: "Six Multi-National Division -- North Soldiers were killed by a house born improvised explosive device while conducting operations in Diyala Jan. 9. Additionally, four MND-N Soldiers were injured in the explosion and evacuated to a Coalition Forces' hospital." Peter Graff (Reuters) notes the six deaths today is "one of the highest daily death tolls for U.S. troops in Iraq for months and followed the deaths of three soldiers in the operation a day earlier."

Meanwhile, CBS and AP report, "The number of Iraqis fleeing their homeland has declined in recent months, primarily because neighboring countries refuse to let them enter, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday." IRIN notes the UN World Food Program is ready to begin in Iraq, "will run for a year and target 750,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) inside Iraq, as well as over 360,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria."

Turning to US politics. On Saturday the Democratic nominees for president (minus Mike Gravel) debated in New Hampshire. On Monday, Matthew Rothschild (The Progressive) weighed in with observations such as "Obama played it cool throughout and projected calmness to Clinton's desperation." While Rothschild channeled Whoopi in Ghost ("Molly, you danger in, girl" became "Hillary is in deep trouble") for Hillary, he laid it on thick for Bambi: "played it cool throughout," "projected calmness," "Obama's eloquence," "his eloquence," etc. On Ava and my scale, egg on your face for failed attempts at humor and awkwardly worded statements don't qualify as "eloquence," but whatever . . . except, post-New Hampshire results (last night), Rothschild ponders how Hillary won in New Hampshire last night and offers, among other things, "It could have been Obama's lackluster debate performance Saturday night . . ." Huh? The one where he was "cool throughout," the one Rothschild found so eloquent he had to note the eloquence twice in what appears to have been a 21 sentence column? (Check my math.) Help 'em out, do they hum along to "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" or "The Morning After"? The Bambi-boys are needing a tune today that will carry them over to the primary after next.

Rothschild maintains, that the Clintons are going to make it "uglier" (as opposed to the gauzy haze the press has created?). Rothschild declares we can see that in a speech Bill Clinton gave (isn't it funny that Elizabeth Edwards has called out both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton repeatedly in the press -- even in the pages of The Progressive -- but that's never an issue?). Rothschild writes that "Bill said the media had fed the public a 'fairy tale' about Obama, and then he distorted Obama's record on the Iraq War." Goodness me! I thought it was the press' job to distort Bambi's record on the illegal war (in his favor). Turns out, Bill Clinton didn't distort Bambi's record, Bill Clinton told the truth (try it, it's liberating). The Chicago Tribune has the video and text online. Here's Bill Clinton:

"But since you raised the judgment issue, let's go over this again. That is the central argument for his campaign. 'It doesn't matter that I started running for president less a year after I got to the Senate from the Illinois State Senate. I am a great speaker and a charismatic figure and I'm the only one who had the judgment to oppose this war from the beginning. Always, always, always.' "
"First it is factually not true that everybody that supported that resolution supported Bush attacking Iraq before the UN inspectors were through. Chuck Hagel was one of the co-authors of that resolution. The only Republican Senator that always opposed the war. Every day from the get-go. He authored the resolution to say that Bush could go to war only if they didn't co-operate with the inspectors and he was assured personally by Condi Rice as many of the other Senators were. So, first the case is wrong that way."
"Second, it is wrong that Senator Obama got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year, numerating the years, and never got asked one time, not once, 'Well, how could you say, that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on the resolution? You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war and you took that speech you're now running on off your website in 2004 and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since?' Give me a break.
"This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen...So you can talk about Mark Penn all you want. What did you think about the Obama thing calling Hillary the Senator from Punjab? Did you like that?"
"Or what about the Obama hand out that was covered up, the press never reported on, implying that I was a crook? Scouring me, scathing criticism, over my financial reports. Ken Starr spent $70 million and indicted innocent people to find out that I wouldn't take a nickel to see the cow jump over the moon.
"So, you can take a shot at Mark Penn if you want. It wasn't his best day. He was hurt, he felt badly that we didn't do better in Iowa. But you know, the idea that one of these campaigns is positive and the other is negative when I know the reverse is true and I have seen it and I have been blistered by it for months, is a little tough to take. Just because of the sanitizing coverage that's in the media, doesn't mean the facts aren't out there.
Where's the distortion, Rothschild? That the resolution wasn't seen as an automatic greenlight? I believe Elizabeth Edwards has made that point herself . . . in the pages of The Progressive. That wasn't flagged in the article as a falsehood. Is Rothschild now saying Elizabeth Edwards lied? The White House wanted the Iraq War to start. That was not in doubt. Some, like Senator Chuck Hagel, did believe that the resolution passing would mean war would only break out if a resolution passed in the United Nations or other conditionals. So Bill Clinton is correct on that point. In fact, let's hear how that resolution was explained not all that long ago: "And the resolution wasn't really to go to war. The resolution, if you remember, was forcing Bush to to the U.N. first. Of course, we expected him to actually listen to the U.N., which didn't happen. The resolution was actually a slowing technique".

That had better be correct, even for Rothschild, because it was printed -- without challenge -- in The Progressive. It's from Ruth Conniff's "Elizabeth Edwards Interview" which The Progressive printed last fall. As for Bambi, Elizabeth Edwards stated in that interview, "Obama gives a speech that's likely to be extrordinarily popular in his home district, and then comes to the Senate and votes for funding." (She also notes, "So you are going to get people behaving in a holier-than-thou way." Gee, whom do you think she was referring to?)

His second point? Clinton maintains Bambi "got to go through 15 debates trumpeting his superior judgment and how he had been against the war in every year, numerating the years, and never got asked one time, not once, 'Well how could you say, that when you said in 2004 you didn't know how you would have voted on this resolution? You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war and you took that speech you're now running on off your website in 2004 and there's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since?' Give me a break." First Whoopi, now he channels John Stossel.

Bill Clinton told the truth. Matthew Rothschild is either ignorant of the truth or he is lying. It pains me to say that but that is reality. Bill Clinton could have carried the 2004 point through to 2006 and noted that Bambi told The New Yorker he didn't know how he would have voted in 2002 if he was in the US Senate at that time. Again, Bill Clinton is correct. Bill Clinton didn't distort a damn thing, Matthew Rothschild, however, has -- intentionally or not. And he needs to get his facts right -- facts, after all, are supposed to be his business.

It is a "fairy tale." We've used that term and many others to describe the lies about 'anti-war' Bambi. The New York Times? I believe we last noted Bambi telling them he didn't know how he would have voted in the January 4th snapshot: " Obama tells Monica Davey (New York Times, July 26, 2004) he doesn't know how he would have voted if he'd been in the Senate. Two years later, he's telling David Remnick (The New Yorker) he doesn't know how he would have voted." Bill Clinton noting the disappearence of the speech Obama is now so proud of? Glen Ford and Bruce Dixon (then at The Black Commentator) pointed that out before Bambi made it to the Senate (the date of that is addressed later in the snapshot). Bruce Dixon (Black Agenda Report) reminded people of that again on December 12th of last year. Where's the distortion, Rothschild? There is none. Either Rothschild is suffering from the fairy tale Bill Clinton rightly noted or else he's lying. Hopefully, it's the former and not the latter. The reality is that the media -- Big and Small -- have fed the public a fairy tale on 'anti-war' Obama and. The reality is that Bill Clinton didn't distort Bambi's record -- the distortions have been done by the media. Matthew Rothschild joins in the distortions today and needs to do a reality check real quick.

Does independent media follow independent media? Glen Ford, Bruce Dixon and Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report) have done tremendous and amazing work but maybe Little White Media sees "Black Agenda Report" and scurries off in fear? (If so, apparently Ford, Dixon and Kimberly changing the title to "Biracial Agenda Report" would make the site more 'friendly' for some Whites.) Let's start with Margaret Kimberley's latest and in the excerpt below, she's commenting on New Hampshire:

The media have already begun making fantastic claims attributing the backhanded treatment to his multi-racial heritage. Those ridiculous assertions must be dismissed out of hand. There is a lot less to Obama than meets the eye. He is little more than a very slick and very savvy politician. He knows how to impress and please powerful people, and speaking up for black Americans accomplishes neither one of those things.
Obama has masterfully out maneuvered the amateurish Hillary Clinton. She isn't smart enough to know that she should at least attempt to give Democratic voters a little bit of lip service. While she voted in favor of a senate resolution against the Iranian government, Obama stayed on the campaign trail and conveniently missed the vote. In fact he is just as willing to go to war as she is.

That reality (not a distortion, Rothschild) matters for a number of reasons. Kat noted one reason last night with AP reporting that exit polls in New Hampshire found those citing the Iraq War as the top issue resulted in "an advantage" for Obama. That's due to what Bill Clinton, rightly, called a "fairy tale." (We'll address another reason at The Third Estate Sunday Review this weekend.) Also citing Bill Clinton is Glen Ford -- no surprise, Clinton was citing work he and Bruce Dixon have been doing for years -- who notes, "Actually, Clinton got one of the dates wrong. We at Black Agenda Report know -- because we have been closely scrutinizing Obama since his Illionis state senate days, and engaged him in a month-long interchange in June of 2003. Obama's October 2002 anti-war speech first disappered from his U.S. Senate campaign site, not in 2004, but in 2003, when public perception of the war and occupation -- with the exception of Black opinion -- had dramatically shifted towards war. At the time, Bruce Dixon and the core Black Agenda Report crew, including myself, were housed at Black Commentator.com. . . . What a difference a shift in public opinion on war makes. Bruce Dixon put it well: 'His passion evaporated, a leading black candidate for the US Senate mouths bland generalities on war, peace and the US role in the world." Ford goes on to offer a walk-through for those who missed reality in real time. (Ironically, Matthew Rothschild was one of the few in indymedia not to be taken in by the nonsense Barack offered at the 2004 DNC convention -- Rothschild rightly called it out in real time, one of the few who did.)

As Glen Ford again notes, Barack and Hillary are siamese twins. He notes they are "political twins" on Democracy Now! today where Amy Goodman hosted a debate between him and Michael Eric Dyson (Dyson being a long-term Barack supporter only recently out of the closet as such):

GLEN FORD: Well, it wasn't really a loss. He only lost by a couple of points. I think with New Hampshire and Iowa, Barack Obama has won a great unprecedented historical victory in proving that he can win the support of huge numbers of white people in essentially white primaries. And by doing that, he has accomplished the central mission of his entire campaign, which is to prove that a black man can be embraced by masses of white people. The problem is, he has done that at the expense of black people, by constantly, relentlessly sending out signals to white people that a vote for Barack Obama, an Obama presidency, would signal the beginning of the end of black-specific agitation, that it would take race discourse off of the table. And he's gone to extraordinary lengths to accomplish that. He said things that white Democrats would--that no white Democrat would ever say--for example, the ridiculous statement that blacks had already come 90% of the way on the road to equality, with the implicit idea that a vote for him would take black people the other 10% of the way. Now, it's a ridiculous statement. It's based on no substance whatsoever. No indexes show blacks 90% of the way towards equality in any area of life. We've never made 65% more in income than white people. Black median household wealth is one-tenth white median household wealth. And on and on and on and on. In fact, we can't find 90% figures relevant, outside of NBA teams and prison. But no white man, no white Democrat who said that would avoid being excoriated by the entire spectrum of black political opinion.

Goodman stated "this is part one of of this debate" so look for continued coverage on Democracy Now! and it's needed. It's not just the 'public' that's assuming myths of 'anti-war' Bambi, Matthew Rothschild does as well. In other New Hampshire primary news, Dennis Kucinich had a "narrow" fifth place "win." He received approximately 417 more votes than the sixth place winner when 100% of the precints had reported. Both he and the sixth place "winner" received one percent of the vote. Who was sixth place? "Total Write-ins." So Kucinich managed a "narrow" fifth place upset over the write-in candidates. The Concord Monitor has the results on the front page of their websites and, again, that's with 100% of the precints reporting. Also Michigan holds primaries January 15th, Democratic and Republican. Ted Roelof (Chronicle News Service) reminds that the DNC has attempted to punish Michigan as it's trying to punish Florida. This issue was raised on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show today around the forty-minute mark of the first hour). Stuart Rothenberg (The Rothenberg Political Report) offered, "At the end of the day, I can't imagine a Democratic Convention without Florida and Michigan delegates that would be crazy," Rehm agreed, "I mean, it just doesn't make sense." Roelof notes of Michigan, "A squabble between state and national party officials over the state's early primary date led Obama and Edwards to withdraw their names. Clinton faces token opposition from Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich, and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. The other name on the ballot, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, dropped out last week."