alberto's cesspool

that's Adam Kokesh and i am outraged by how little attention his 'hearing' has received. every 1's relying on ap to cover it and heather hollingsworth (hogsworth?) did a shit poor job covering the 'hearing.' so the entire discourse is polluted.

who is she? the camp lejune mascot?

the alberto gonzales cesspool was always about disenfranchising minority voters. that alone makes it a crime. not just your typical question of 'is it a crime?' but a crime under the voters' rights act. here's greg gordon's 'Justice Department Actions Expected to Draw Congressional Scrutiny' (mcclatchy newspapers via truthout):

Washington - Saying it was out to combat widespread voter fraud, the Justice Department in recent years has stepped up enforcement of election laws to ease the purging of ineligible voters from state registration rolls.
Since 2005, department civil rights lawyers have sued election officials in seven states - Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey and New York - and sent threatening letters to others, in some cases demanding copies of voter registration data.
Former lawyers in the Civil Rights Division, however, said the voter fraud campaign is a partisan effort to disqualify legitimate voters, as occurred in Florida before the 2000 presidential election.
The former department officials note that researchers have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and that no lawsuits have targeted states whose elections were managed solely by Republican officials.
At the same time, the department has done little to enforce the core provisions of a 1993 law that requires public assistance agencies to help register the mostly Democratic-leaning, poor and minority voters they serve despite complaints from a national group, Project Vote.

meanwhile, in congress today, bradley scholzman testified before the senate judiciary committee and did more damage to alberto's 'leadership'. this is from philip dine's 'Schlozman, Graves testify on Capitol Hill' (st. louis post-dispatch):

In the most contentious hearing yet on the firing of U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration, the former U.S. attorney for western Missouri testified that he issued indictments against a liberal voter registration group just four days before last year's hotly contested Senate election because he regarded Justice Department regulations against such actions as merely "informal" guidelines.
The former U.S. attorney, Bradley Schlozman, who is now a high-ranking Justice Department official, added that he was not particularly familiar with the part of the Justice Department manual that prohibited suits just before elections, even though it is underlined to emphasize its importance.
Throughout his testimony, he repeatedly said he did not recall conversations or events, but he firmly denied any wrongdoing or any role in the firing of his predecessor, Todd Graves, who was among those whose firings last year by the Justice Department has sparked a congressional investigation.


greg gordon (mcclatchy newspapers) also reports on the hearing and notes that committee chair patrick leahy complained about the 'new revelations' that come each week in this cesspool and that scholzman testified to consulting on cases with the right wing federalist society and heritage foundation. if you don't get it, that's the politicizing of the justice department that alberto gonzales has spent forever denying ever happened. it did happen. from gordon's article:

Schlozman testified that he brought the indictments against the employees of ACORN, a liberal community activist group that registers poor people and minorities to vote, "at the direction of the Public Integrity Section," the Justice Department unit that oversees voter-fraud prosecutions.
"At your instigation," Leahy said.
"The Department of Justice does not time prosecutions to elections," Schlozman said.
"Yes they do," Leahy shouted, his voice echoing through the packed hearing room. Leahy held up a department manual that lays out parameters for bringing election-related prosecutions.

but when native americans were being discriminated against before the 2004 elections (in minn.), scholzman testified he didn't have time to investigate that. we're all supposed to be surprised that a republican was over elections in that state and pretend like that didn't make any difference in whether or not the justice department pursued the case.

ap has more on the native american issue:

In an interview last week, Rich recalled that in 2004, the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota expressed concern about a state directive that prevented Americans Indians from using tribal IDs for voter identification. At the time, the office was headed by Tom Heffelfinger, who later wound up on a list of prosecutors to be considered for dismissal.
Rich said he told Schlozman that he wanted to investigate, but was told to run anything he did past Schlozman first because it "was a matter of great sensitivity."
But according to Schlozman, who now works for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, that was not unusual.
"That was, I believe, what he was instructed to do on all investigations," he said, adding that the matter was sensitive because it was close to an election.
Rich had also said that he made a request to contact local officials to get the directive and find out what they were going to do, but was told by someone in Schlozman's office to contact the secretary of state's office to get the directive. The secretary of state at the time, Mary Kiffmeyer, was a Republican.
"At that point, it became clear to me that there was sensitivity about this and there certainly was no push to investigate it vigorously," Rich said.

and this is from dan eggen's washington post article:

Schlozman, who served briefly as acting civil rights chief in 2005, testified that he may have boasted about the number of Republicans he had recruited for the division. He also acknowledged telling some applicants for career positions to remove GOP political activities from their résumés, but said that was only because politics should play no role in filling those jobs.

again, we're all supposed to pretend that the justice department did not get politicized. here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Tuesday, June 5, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, reporters (big and small) reveal their lack of knowledge and stupidity (possibly "reveal" is the wrong word, try "flaunt their lack of knowledge and stupidity") while covering Adam Kokesh's hearing, at least 91 Iraqis are reported dead today, the US military announces the death of another service member and which Iraqis are fleeing and which are leaving?

Starting with Adam Kokesh and let's go over a few basics. If you're reporting (even just reading from the AP wire), you have no excuse to fail to note that, in the hearing, Adam Kokesh was questioned as to whether or not he voted in the 2004 presidential election or whether or not he could be considered "a card carrying member" of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Carey Gillam (Reuters) could note that, others played dumb. Neither was pertinent to the hearing nor acceptable questions for the US military to note and the "are you a card carrying member" of any organization or group has historical antecedents in this country so don't even call yourself a member of the press if you stuck to reading the AP wire. (Yes, I've read the e-mails, I'm aware there's a long list of posers.)

Iraq Veterans Against the War notes the following:

Iraq Veterans Against the War scored a victory for free speech today in Kansas City, MO. A panel of three Marine Corps officers recommended today that Adam Kokesh receive a general discharge under honorable conditions. Adam and his attorney will, however, appeal this finding on the grounds that Adam is entitled to his full honorable discharge. In a seemingly hypocritical contradiction, the Marine Corps panel, as well as the prosecution's key witness, Major Whyte, agreed that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Regardless of this, several other honorably discharged IVAW members are facing a similar hearing based on their stance against the war. IVAW members will continue to tell the truth about our experiences in Iraq and in the military and fight to bring our brothers and sisters home from Iraq now.
Adam, Liam Madden and Cloy Richards appeared on Good Morning America on Sunday, June 3rd. Click to watch the video and other video coverage.
More updates will follow. To donate to the IVAW legal defense fund, click here (check "Legal Defense Fund" in the Current Special Project section).
For the latest on Adam's hearing, click here.
Okay, let's speak slowly because there is confusion thanks to bad reporting (or 'reporting'): the panel and Cry Baby Whyte both admitted that the UCMJ did not "apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)." If you can absorb that, then you know only real issue remains.

David Montgomery (Washington Post) (the only reporter other than Gillam who doesn't embarrass themselves) reports that Kokesh "protested the war while wearing parts of his uniform during a theatrical demonstration in Washington in March." It was street theater and though Heather Hollingsworth apparently never heard of the Supreme Court, that's no excuse. With UCMJ not covering Kokesh, there's nothing to resolve, the Supreme Court ruled on this in 1970. As we explained Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Schacht v. United States addressed this. UCMJ does not cover Kokesh, that was admitted in the hearing. That immediately means the issues were resolved in Schacht v. United States. Kokesh is not classified active duty. He participated in street theater. The US military may not have liked Kokesh's actions but the Supreme Court's already informed them that no one really gives a damn what they think of theatrical productions. Justice Huge Black writing for the majority of the Court: "The street skit in which Schacht wore the army uniform as a constume was designed, in his view, to expose the evil presence in Vietnam and was part of a larger, peaceful antiwar demonstrations at the induction center that morning." The skit? Three people (including Schact) -- two in military drag, the third dressed in Viet Cong drag. Water pistols loaded with a red liqud, fired when one of them said, "Be an Able American." The victim would fall to the ground, one of the actors would shout, "My God, this is a pregnant woman." The Court of Appeals noted, "Without noticeable variation this skit was reenacted several times during the morning of the demonstration." This is quoted in Justice Hugo's opinion. In fact, let's move to the conclusions. First, remember the military hearing thought they could reject that Kokesh was involved in street theater. The military thought the same before and the Court set them straight:


The Government's argument in this case seems to imply that somehow what these amateur actors did in Houston should not be treated as a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f). We are unable to follow such a suggestion. Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world. Here, the record shows without dispute the preparation and repeated presentation by amateur actors of a short play designed to create in the audience an understanding of and opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war. Supra, at 60 and this page. It may be that the performances were crude and [398 U.S. 58, 62] amateurish and perhaps unappealing, but the same thing can be said about many theatrical performances. We cannot believe that when Congress wrote out a special exception for theatrical productions it intended to protect only a narrow and limited category of professionally produced plays. 3 Of course, we need not decide here all the questions concerning what is and what is not within the scope of 772 (f). We need only find, as we emphatically do, that the street skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of that section.

Are we clear? I know Heather Hollingsworth (AP) isn't but is everyone else clear? Operation First Casualty is street theater and it has been performed repeatedly (in NYC on Memorial Day). Now let's move to the issue of the fatigues. Remember, Kokesh is not active duty, remember UCMJ -- by the hearing itself -- does not apply to him. Justice Black, writing for the Court:

This brings us to petitioner's complaint that giving force and effect to the last clause of 772 (f) would impose an unconstitutional restraint on his right of free speech. We agree. This clause on its face simply restricts 772 (f)'s authorization to those dramatic portrayals that do not "tend to discredit" the military, but, when this restriction is read together with 18 U.S.C. 702, it becomes clear that Congress has in effect made it a crime for an actor wearing a military uniform to say things during his performance critical of the conduct or [398 U.S. 58,63] policies of the Armed Forces. An actor, like everyone else in our country, enjoys a constitutional right to freedom of speech, including the right openly to criticize the Government during a dramatic performance. The last clause of 772 (f) denies this constitutional right to an actor who is wearing a military uniform by making it a crime for him to say things that tend to bring the military into discredit and disrepute. In the present case Schacht was free to participate in any skit at the demonstration that praised the Army, but under the final clause of 772 (f) he could be convicted of a federal offense if his portrayal attacked the Army instead of praising it. In light of our earlier finding that the skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f), it follows that his conviction can be sustained only if he can be punished for speaking out against the role of our Army and our country in Vietnam. Clearly punishment for this reason would be an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom of speech. The final clause of 772 (f), which leaves Americans free to praise the war in Vietnam but can send persons like Schacht to prison for opposing it, cannot survive in a country which has the First Amendment. To preserve the constitutionality of 772 (f) that final clause must be stricken from the section.

Is anyone confused still? The US military was told (STRONGLY) by the Court that they had no say over theater productions, they were told theater productions included street productions. The only reason there's any doubt about this is because DUMB ASS 'reporters' and 'news readers' didn't learn their damn history, don't know their Constitution and apparently will dumb down American without anyone ever calling them out on it. This issue was addressed by the Supreme Court in 1970. The hearing yesterday made it very clear that UCMJ did not apply to IRR. The minute that was made clear, there was no longer any question about it, Schacht v. US was the only ruling that mattered.

David Montgomery (Washington Post) notes Kokesh may appeal and that, following the next step (marine corps has to endorse the recomendation) his attorney Mike Lebowitz states they may appeal (civilian court) because "There's still a First Amendment issue involved. We have a lot to go on if we take it to federal court." Indeed they do and bad reporting serves no one. If you're last name is Montgomery or Gillam, chances are you did the people a disservice by failing to inform them of what was at stake which, while very personal to Adam Kokesh, effects all Americans. As Rebecca (rightly) notes the US military's actions need to be called out and when the US military thinks it does not have to obey the Supreme Court, the US press should be up in arms.

Turning to news of war resistance, AP reports on brothers Leif, Leo and Luke Kamunen who self-checked out while on Christmas break [we noted Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) report on the brothers yesterday], that the three had signed up for the National Guard and that Chris Beron (recruiter) denis Luke Kamunen's statements that Beron told him he wouldn't be going to Iraq. Apparently, AP's never heard the many reported stories of When Recruiters Lie (which predate the current illegal war). The brothers reveal that they hadn't even discussed the decision with each other -- Luke: "We saw each other a couple days later and we're saying, 'What, you didn't go back either?" To restate from yesterday, Luke is discharged now, Leo and Leif plan to turn themselves in at some point in the future.

Meanwhile, Common Ground reports on an upcoming event in Canada, Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion. The multi-day event will be held from July 4th through 8th at the Brilliant Cultural Center in the community of Brilliant, part of the city of Castlegear, British Columbia, Canada. "We invited you to participate in the second annual Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion weekend, which honours the courage and contribution of US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War as well as the courageous US war resisters who sought safe haven in Canada after resisting the war in Iraq. The event also honours the thousands of Canadians who helped them resettle in this country, both then and now. US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War offer our world an important model of non-violence, as do those US war resisters arriving in Canada today during the US War in Iraq." Who'll be there? US war resister Kyle Snyder will speak, Daniel Ellsberg will be the keynote speaker, Leonard I. Weinglass will take part, Tom Hayden, Michelle Mason (director, Breaking Ranks, which will be shown at the multi-day festival), David Zeiger (Sir! No Sir!) and many more.



The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

Turning to Iraq, Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports there is no new information on the 2 US soldiers who have been missing since May 12 but, video claims or not, the search continues for Byron Fouty and Alex Jimenez. While they remain missing, displacement continues in and out of Iraq with UNHCR's Jennifer Pagonis declaring today, "The situation in Iraq continues to worsen, with more than 2 million Iraqis now believed to be displaced inside Iraq and another 2.2. million sheltering in neighbouring States." Though not fleeing, some college students are planning on leaving. Damien Cave (New York Times) reports on 30 Iraqi colleges from seven different colleges -- 26 of whom "said they hoped to flee immediately after receiving their degrees" and "did not expect Iraq to stabilize for at least a decade." Much more difficult to leave is Falluja. Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reports that the city slaughtered in November 2004 is adding even more checkpoints (they already use biometric data throughout the city), curtailing movement within Falluja as well as in and out of the city, imposing a curfew which has now lasted two weeks and Ahmed Alwan (Muslim Scholars Association) tells al-Fadhily, "This kind of collective punishment only means slow death to the people of the city and is adding to their agonies that have continued since April 2003."

Today has seen at least 91 reported deaths in Iraq.

Bombings?

CNN notes 15 people dead (thirteen wounded) from a car bombing in Falluja. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that killed 3 Iraqi soldiers and a Baghdad car bombing that killed 1 person. Reuters raises the death toll from the Falluja bombing to 19 (twenty-five wounded) and notes a Mahmudiya car bombing that killed 1 person.


Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a woman was shot dead in Baquba as she "was escorting a sick lady," 1 person was shot dead in in Diyala Province in an attack on a mini-bus and "A civilian was killed and his car burnt when gunmean attacked him near Al Ahrar bridge" (Baghdad). Reuters notes Abdul Raheem Nayef was shot dead in Jbela. Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports a woman carrying a bomb was shot dead in Baghdad -- upon which her bomb exploded.

Corpses?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 33 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 8 corpses discovered in Diyala. Reuters notes 2 corpses were discovered in Iskandariya.

Counting corpses discovered, that is at least 91 Iraqis who have died.

Also today, the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed when his patrol was attacked with small arms fire in a southern section of the Iraqi capital June 5." This brings ICCC's total number of US service members who have died since the start of the illegal war to 3496 and the toll for June thus far to 19. The ever rising death toll comes as Dan Balz and Jon Cohen (Washington Post) report on a new ABC-Washington Post poll that finds increasing discontent with the Bully Boy and the Democratically controlled Congress "has left satisfaction with the overall direction of the country at its lowest point in more than a decade" with many voicing disasisfaction with the direction of the country (six out of ten) and most saying that the illegal war has not increased the safety of the US (53%).


In media news, as independent media continues to be under attack, News Dissector Danny Schechter's "Special Blog: Can Our Media Channel Survive?" announces the potential fate of
Mediachannel.org which may shut down: "If we can get 1500 of our readers (that means you) to give $25, we can keep going for another quarter. [PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ONLINE]"

Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 7th, he will discuss his book with Amy Goodman at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:15). Admission is $5 per person and students (with ID) can attend for free. Pilger will sign copies of his book afterwards and Amy Goodman will sign copies of her latest book (written with her brother David Goodman) Static. "For ticket information, contact (212) 229-5488 or boxoffice@newschool.edu. For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, click here or e-mail pilgerny@gmail.com." He will also be interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Thursday June 7th.June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at: http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htmPresented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com." June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com." From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org." The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.

adam kokesh, the u.s. military attacks the supreme court & more

we wrote about Adam Kokesh in 'US military goes after veterans' (the third estate sunday review). you need to know what the u.s. military is doing. 1st of all they're conducting witch hunts on people like adam kokesh, liam madden and cloy richards. they're trying to make an example of them to scare other people from speaking out. 2nd they're attacking street theater and the rights of the people. 3rd, in doing the 2nd point, they're saying fuck the supreme court, screw precedent, we make our own laws.

the surpreme court already ruled (in 1970) that the u.s. military has no say in theater. theater in the streets, on broadway, big productions, small productions, the u.s. military has no say. before 1970, the u.s. military thought they could determine who could wear any kind of military uniform in any drama production. the supreme court set them straight on that in 1970. they have no say. they have no say over who wears what in theater.

adam kokesh participated in street theater on march 19, 2007 in d.c. he and others acted out the war (without guns) showing people what the war was like. this was street theater which the supreme court ruled the u.s. military had no say over.

are we going to let the u.s. military override the supreme court?

has the country sunk that low?

every 1 should be alarmed by this nonsense and calling it out.

this is about all of our rights. and we should not surrender a damn 1. hasn't the bully boy already shredded the constitution? are we now going to let the u.s. military shred the supreme court verdicts?

the u.s. military is not above the supreme court. even the bully boy isn't above the supreme court. we need to call a stop to this.

the democrats debates in new hampshire last night - or some did - some just went through the motions. this is from democracy now:

"Edwards Criticizes Obama and Clinton Over Iraq"
The Democratic presidential candidates met last night for a debate in New Hampshire. Former Senator John Edwards accused Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama of failing to offer strong leadership to end the war.
John Edwards: "And I said throughout the leadup to this vote I said that I was against a funding bill that did not have a timetable for withdrawal, that it was critical for Congress to stand firm, that it had been given a mandate by the American people and others on this stage Chris Dodd spoke up very loudly and clearly. But I want to finish this, but others did not, others were quiet. They went quietly to the floor of the Senate, cast the right vote, and there is a difference between leadership and legislating."Both Obama and Clinton rejected the criticism from Edwards.
Sen. Barack Obama: "I think it is important to lead and I think John, the fact is I opposed the Iraq war from the start. So you were about four and a half years late on leadership on this issue."
Sen. Hilary Clinton: "I think it's important particularly to point out this is George Bush's war. He is responsible for this war, he started the war, he mismanaged the war, he escalated the war and he refuses to end the war."Former Senator Mike Gravel said the Democrats are complicit in the Iraq war as well. Congressman Denis Kucinich said Congress has the power to end the war now by simply cutting off the funding. After the debate Senator Chris Dodd criticized CNN for giving far more time to Senators Obama and Clinton. Obama spoke for 16 minutes. Dodd, Kucinich, Gravel and Senator Joe Biden were each given less than nine minutes.

with regards to time, a moderator is responsible for that and a moderator is supposed to ensure that every 1 is allowed to speak for an equal amount of time. with regards to obama's lame comeback about 'four and a half years late on leadership,' uh, john edwards is leading now. where's obama? out digging through the trash cans of his opponents again so he can find something embarrassing about their families that he can use to take them out? jerri ryan was not running for office. her divorce records were sealed. the scandal that destroyed her ex-husband jack ryan (then obama's opponent for the u.s. senate) didn't just unseal itself. obama is a gutter politician. but what edwards should have pointed out, what every 1 should, is that telling some 1 they're late to leadership requires that you are currently leading and obama is not leading. he's hiding and ducking, just like he did after he took out jack ryan. he really is trash. i'm not going to pretend and i think the way the press has handled this is disgusting.

i know c.i. has noted this before and i know it enfurates c.i., but obama, to knock out an opponent, publicly humliated a woman who wasn't running for the u.s. senate, who wasn't his opponent. you have to be really trashy to do that and obama is really trashy.

okay, tomorrow, fingers crossed, we should have some new news in the gonzales cesspool. a lot of people are already speculating about tomorrow's congressional testimony but i will go ahead and wait until i see what the witness says.

adam kokesh should be a story you're following. there's more on him in c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Monday, June 4, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, Adam Kokesh goes on (kangaroo) trial, resistance within the US military continues to grow, a veteran enters his eighth day of marching to honor the dead in California, news (or 'news') of 2 missing US soliders and more.

Starting with Adam Kokesh who was in Kansas City, MO today at the Marine Mobilization Command for a hearing to determine the status of his discharge. With Kokesh were his attorneys Eric Seitz and Mike Lebowitz as well as many supporters. The AP reports that the Yellow Rose of Texas, the bus carrying Kokesh and supporters from DC to Kansas City, had slogans on it: "Bring Them Home Now," "What Noble Cause?," and "Not One More!"
Kokesh was discharged from active duty (honorably) in November. At issue is the street theater he and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War participated in on March 19, 2007 in DC as part of Operation First Casualty -- an attempt to provide Americans with some idea of life in Iraq. Kokesh (and others) wore fatigues -- not dress uniforms.

On The KPFA Evening News Sunday, Ruthanne Shpiner observed, "At stake is the right of freedom of speech for the hundreds of thousands of members of the US military." Kokesh explained to Shpiner, "So if I were to show up to a formation in what I was wearing to that demonstration an NCO would say first thing, right away, 'Hey Devil Dog, you're out of uniform.' So technically, yes, I was definitely out of uniform that day. By the regulations. However, what's really important here is that the Uniform Code of Military Justice should not be applied to the Inactive Reserve and it's being abused as such for political ends."

The hearing today is not expected to reach an immediate finding/decision. It is thought that they cannot issue a dishonorable discharge because that normally requires an Article 32 hearing. Normally? What is happening is so rare that there is no clear outcome -- happens when the military steps away from official guidelines to silence critics of the illegal war. The finding/decision is expected to come within two weeks.

Kokesh discussed what is considered likely with Shpiner, "Well there's two schools of thought about this and the first one is that if it were to be an other than honorable discharge and it would have effect of being my last official discharge from the military and it would have effect in determining benefits. I would lose all my rights to VA health care for the two years from the point of my discharge, I would lose the lifetime care for my two service related injuries namely my elbow . . . which I may need an operation on soon and my hypertension and I may have to pay back the educational benefits I received as a reservist going to college full time. But then there's another theory and this is untested because the case is so new and unprecedented that a discharge from the Inactive Reserve would have no effect on my benefits whatsoever."

When Kokesh speaks of losing educational benefits, this would include future as well as repayment for classes he took before serving in Iraq and after -- and courses he took while in Iraq, stationed in Falluja. Halliburton's not asked to return of the money they fleeced from tax payers, but the US government has no problem trying to pull money back from veterans.
Heather Hollingsworth (AP) reports that Kokesh has (rightly) called the hearing a "disgusting waste of government resources" and declared on a break in today's hearing, "More importantly, it's a case of fraud, waste and abuse and a disgusting waste of government resources. While Marines are dying every day in Iraq, they are spending time investigating members of the individual ready reserves for political activity."

Kokesh is not the only one the US military has gone after. Liam Madden and Cloy Richards have also faced threats. In a video posted at David Swanson's AfterDowningStreet, Cloy Richards mother speaks of what her son has been through. Tina Richards explains that when the threats started coming in from the US military, Cloy -- who has served two tours in Iraq -- just didn't feel he had another fight in him after he and his mother had spent months and months fighting the VA so that Richards could receive treatment he needed and had earned. Tina Richards shared with Kris Welch on KPFA's Living Room May 24th that shortly after her son learned he was being deployed to Iraq for a third time, she found him with a shotgun, the barrel in his mouth. This is the type of person the US military would rather screw around with than help. Unless, of course, they see this nonsense as helpful.

Richards was speaking at last Friday's press conference. In a video posted on YouTube from the same press conference, Kokesh explains, "When I participated in Operation First Casualty I was not intending to represent the government, the Department of Defense, the army, the marine corps or any other part of the government. I was representing myself as a veteran and Iraq Veterans Against the War. The voices of the recently honorably discharged veterans of this conflict are the most relevant in the most pressing debate before the nation today. The fact that the marine corps is being used to intimidate those people is what offends me more than anything. As someone who loves the marine corps, has loved the marine corps, I'm particularly offended to see it used for political ends. Clearly, this administration has a case of selective prosecution. But I have to ask, to those proponents of the current administration's policies: If the cause in Iraq is so just and so righteous, why are you so afraid of the truth? Why is it necessary to silence the voice of veterans? To remove them of their credibility? To prevent them from wearing their uniforms while expressing their freedom of speech?"

Operation First Casualty was street theater and many, including the US military and the press, seem to forget that this has already been addressed by the Supreme Court. As we explained Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Schacht v. United States addressed this. In 1967, Daniel Jay Schacht and two other people participated in a dramatization against the then current illegal war outside a military recruiting center. In the production (unscripted), they used toy guns and squirted out a paint (red) meant to symbolize blood. Schacht was arrested for wearing military drags. (Schact was never in the military, that doesn't matter and didn't to the Court.) The US military maintained that it had the right to decide who wore their uniforms and who did not. The case made it to the Supreme Court which found that since the US military would allow uniforms and drag to be worn in "pro-war" plays, they had no right to say no to "anti-war" plays because, having allowed one group, it was now a free speech issue. To the cry that street theater was not "theater," Justice Hugo Black wrote, "Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world."

Heather Hollingsworth (AP) notes that the US "military considered it a political event" and not street theater. The reality is the Supreme Court found the US military not fit to determine what was or wasn't a theater production. The reality is that in a more informed country, big media (including AP) would know what the hell was going on and that the Supreme Court ruled on this 37 years ago.

Turning to more war resistance, Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) reports on the Kamunen brothers. They are? Three brothers who decided to self-check out last Christmas. Luke Kamunen is now discharged from the military, his brothers Leif and Leo "plan to turn themselves in soon" and the three are among the 3,301 the US army admits self-checked out in 2006.


The movement of resistance within the US military continues to grow. It includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) reported today on the 17 US service members who have been announced dead in "the first three days of June." Currently, ICCC's count of the total number of US service members who have died from the Iraq war since the start of the illegal war is 3496.

Attempting to remember them is an anonymous Iraq veteran who has now been marching in California for over a week. On The KPFA Evening News Saturday, David Rosenberg noted Friday marked the veteran's "1200 loop around the State Capitol Building in Sacramento on Friday night the effort which began on Memorial Day is continuing this weekend with scores of supporters also walking laps for Americans killed in Iraq. The anonymous veteran talked about why he decided to take the action he did."

Iraq Veteran: I'm doing this as a way to focus on what we're doing and to focus on the soldiers that we're trying to remember. So right now, I'm representing Sgt. Travis M. Arndt who was 23 at the time of death. He died of a result of vehicle accident during a convoy operation in Kirkuk, Iraq on September 21, 2005. So that's my identity right now. I'm just doing this for the soldiers in a way to bring attention to the fact that we need to stop the war and stop killing and stop sending our soldiers over their to die and stop the innocent death of Iraqis as well. . . . Our group started by doing all the California . . . casualties and then we kind of spread it out to the community and allowed them to carry a soldier so that more people would get exposed to these individual soldiers and it's been a really touching experience for everyone. We've had a few people just break down and start crying, and saying 'I never realized, you know, like I read about this in the paper but it was just, 'seven soldiers were killed in this' but I never realized how much of a difference it is when you hold a specific soldier in your hand and read a little about him and then read about how tragically he was taken out of this world at the age of like 19 or 18, you know, in a lot of cases, or as the soldier I'm holding right now 23 years-old.

David Rosenberg noted, "The anonymous veteran says the group of anti-war activists will probably be at the state capitol through most of next week. The activist who are inviting people to join them usually start off about six in the morning and go to a little after ten at night."

As one veteran honors the declared dead, news or 'news' about the 2 US soldiers missing since May 12th surfaces. Al Jazeera reports that a web posting by a group reported to be linked to al Qaeda is video of the 2 US soldiers and contains the photo ID cards of Byron Fouty and Alex Jiminez. CBS and AP report that the group and posted video (they display the ID cards for Fouty and Jiminez in a screen capture) "offered no proof for its claims that the soliders had been killed and buried" and that the US military is continuing to search for Fouty and Jiminez.

The month of May resulted in the deaths of at least 2,155 Iraqis according to the AP counted (noted on Friday's broadcast of The KPFA Evening News). The increase in the deaths of Iraqis and of US service members comes as David S. Cloud and Damien Cave (New York Times) report on a one page (US military) assessment of the escalation which found that of the 457 neighborhoods in Baghdad, only 146 can be said to be under 'control' (US and Iraqi troops "maintain physical influence over").

It also comes as the daily violence continues.

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports one person was killed in a Baghdad roadside bombing (12 wounded) and one person was killed in a Baghdad mortar attack (four wounded). Reuters notes a Kirkuk roadside bombing that injured three police officers, a Baghdad ambulance bombing that killed one (three wounded), a Yusufiya roadside bombing that killed a police officer (3 wouned), a Mosul roadside bombing that wounded a truck driver, a Baghdad bombing that killed 3 and left eight wounded and a Mosul truck bombing that injured 1.1

Shootings?

Reuters reports, "Gunmen killed a Chaldean Catholic priest and three of his assistants in Mosul on Sunday, police said on Monday. CBS and AP note an attack on minibuses in Baquba that left two passengers dead and eight more wounded.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 28 corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters reports five corpses discovered in Khaldiya.



Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 7th, he will discuss his book with Amy Goodman at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:15). Admission is $5 per person and students (with ID) can attend for free. Pilger will sign copies of his book afterwards and Amy Goodman will sign copies of her latest book (written with her brother David Goodman) Static. "For ticket information, contact (212) 229-5488 or boxoffice@newschool.edu. For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, click here or e-mail pilgerny@gmail.com." June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at: http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htmPresented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com." June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com." From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org." The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.

i no longer promote the national org. of women

bejing. that's the name i'll be using for my child at the website. marlene (goldie's mother) wrote a great e-mail where she noted a number of cities and said that would be a non-gender name and also pointed out that both michelle phillips and grace slick named their daughters 'chynna' and 'china.' marlene had sold me before i got to mama michelle and grace but that was the cherry on top.

also in the e-mails was an e-mail foward done by kristi who said, 'look now [national organization for women] is bothered by the supreme court's verdict on wages too.' yeah, that's 'cute.' i wrote about that wednesday and they're sending out an action alert on friday.

did they just give birth? if not, why the delay. i'm not posting their action alert. ava and c.i. will still link to them but i'm not promoting them. i don't support hillary clinton but, most of all, i don't support their decision to get rid of the dove button with 'feminist is a peace issue.' can't have that cluttering up the home page, apparently, when you're pushing a war hawk.

until they return that button or create another for their home page, now will get nothing for me. not a link and no money. (i'm actually, along with elaine, ava and c.i., giving seed money to an organization that's going to try to address this nonsense of 'candidates, turn your backs on women!' that's not now.)

until they proclaim their support for peace, now can kiss my ass.

do you get how offensive that was?

now drops their peace slogan ... while the illegal war is still going on!

way to pack it in and crumble, now.

at first, i was checking their web site every week to see if the button (or a new 1 on peace) was back. then it dropped to every other week. as it is, now no longer speaks for me.

i hope they have fun with hillary. i think it's likely she'll get the nomination.

and when the death toll rises to X, i hope they'll be proud of themselves for all the hard work they did for hillary. course, if they look down, at their own hands, they'll wonder where all that blood came from.

i'm not telling tales out of school. it's been noted that ava and c.i. are the only 1s who still support now. (wally may as well. his mother's big into now.) that's fine and i certainly don't hate ava or c.i. but i have no use for now. if i was doing my blogroll today, they wouldn't be on it.

i think now has made itself useless and turned itself into an organization that's about '1sts!' and not about women. there was no reason in the world for now to endorse hillary clinton who, as 1st lady, sold the destruction of women by selling her husband's attacks on public assistance. as though women on public assistance (who were not majority african-american, despite the stereotype) weren't looking for work (the majority were). that safety net existed for a reason and bill clinton destroying it is all the more laughable when you consider that the multi-million grabbing bill clinton now 'hopes' that if his wife becomes president, they can get by without his taking in money.

when they endorse carol moseley braun in 2004, i had no problem with that. she didn't have much hope of winning but that didn't matter because she stood for somethings and they were in keeping with now. hillary clinton? she's a woman and that's the only reason she got the nomination.

but i could hold my nose and tongue if they'd maintained what had been strong opposition to the illegal war. hard to do that when you're pushing a candidate who's still trying to figure out if she's opposed to the illegal war. if elected, maybe we'll get out of iraq in her 2nd term - the same time she'll supposedly give americans better health care.

there was an e-mail with a question about the snapshot and whether c.i. was talking about now when pointing out the cowardly silence on adam kokesh? you could apply it to now and other cowards like walkon.org, but c.i. was talking about the 'vet' groups. vote vet and all the other cowards who claim to be veterans organizations but are really about elections. that's true of the idiot mommy's pantyhose and his group too. none of them came forward to defend adam. you'll note that the veterans of foreign wars could. that surprised me. even they can do that when they are really a conservative group. but this was a vet issue so they stepped forward. you'll note that the spineless suck ups to the democrats didn't - even the 1s run by vets like mommy's pantyhose. i look at that crap and think 'no wonder cindy sheehan got sick of this shit.'


here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Friday, June 1, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, two US soldiers remain missing (someone tell the national press), the US military announces more deaths, May becomes the third worst month of the illegal war thus far in terms of US military fatalities, Nancy Youssef looks at payouts to Iraqis, and Veterans of Foreign Wars stands with Iraq Veterans Against the War's Adam Kokesh -- which begs the question of where the psuedo 'left' and 'centrist' groups are -- you know all the useless groups who take up time endorsing candidates while maintaing "we're non-partisan." Guess they must all be off to the (election) races. Someone tell the Marx Brothers.


Starting with apparently breaking news: Alex R. Jimenez and Byron W. Fouty are missing. The two US soldiers have been missing since May 12th. The military has not announced that the two have been found, it's just the press that's lost interest in the story -- the big press. Possibly, if they worked for a corporation with lots of money to toss around (isn't that how they got the contract to begin with?), the New York Times, et al, would take a moment to remember that two US soldiers have been missing since May 12th. Jennifer Manley (Queens Chronicle) spoke with Maria del Rosario Duran and Ramon Jimenez who are the parents of Alex Jimenez, "Each night in Corona, Jimenez's parents keep the faith that their son is luckier. Despite the grim evidence to the contrary, Duran believes in her heart that he is alive. 'That's what I hope. That's what I have put in my mind,' she said." Manley notes that vigils for Alex Jimenez were originally packed but "[b]y Tuesday, the numbers had dwindled and the news coverage had as well. About a dozen people remained, mostly the family's friend and neighbors." Adam Pincus (Times Ledger) reports Maria del Rosario Duran is unable to sleep or eat while she awaits some word on her son and quotes what she would to say to her son ("Alex, I miss you. Alex, please come to my house.") and what she would say to the Bully Boy ("This is a desperate mother. Stop this thing and bring them home. Every day this is happening. George Bus, please bring them home.") Rosario Duran last saw her son in December when he got a pass to attend the funeral of his grandmother. She tells Christina Santucci (Queens Courier), "I cannot do anything but think about where is my son. What's he doing? Who has my son?" and Ramon Jimenez states, "I pray every night for the three missing people. And I say, 'God give me my son back!'"

The three soldiers refers to Joseph Anzack whose body was found. On May 12th, 4 US soldiers and 1 Iraqi translator were found dead from an attack and three US soldiers were classified missing and assumed captured. Jimenez and Byron Fouty remain missing -- not at all unlike big media's coverage. CBS and AP break from the pack to note that, while the search for the 5 British contractors (one is considered a consultant) continues, "the hunt for two U.S. soldiers missing since an ambush on May 12 has slowed down."

KXAN (NBC, Texas) reports that Byron Fouty's family released a statement yesterday: "Son, we are so proud of you and for who you are, what you stand for. We know in our hearts, you were doing what you needed to do in Iraq, and we would have never expected any less from you. You are our Hero, our son. We will miss you and love you forever. Love, Mom and Dad." Today is day 20 that Jimenez and Fouty have been missing. Day 20. Big media moved on to the story of contractors -- from England -- because that's cleary the biggest domestic story coming out of Iraq. (That was sarcasm.)

Turning to news of Adam Kokesh who faces a hearing Monday, June 4th in Kansas City, MO that will determine the status of his discharge (previously "honorable") and would determine the status of his benefits. The Manny Named Brian (Public Eye, CBS) offers that Kokesh may be the new Cindy Sheehan, that he's "photogenic" and "sure seems like the kind of thing that could gather momentum as the summer heats up." (I swear, I did not make that up, use the link.) From the world of Candy Perfume Boy, to the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) which has a press release from which we'll note this "Executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War, [Kelly] Dougherty was in Iraq from March 2003 to February 2004 with the Colorado National Guard. She said today: 'This is not so much about Adam as it is an attempt by the military brass to silence opposition to the war among veterans. The military is supposed to fight to preserve free speech, not quashing it. Not only are veterans, who can attest to the realities of this war, increasingly speaking out against the war -- but its grim realities are moving them to increasingly take nonviolent direct action to stop it." AP reports that "The Veterans of Foreign Wars is urging the military to show 'a little common sense' and call off its investigation of a group of Iraq war veterans who wore their uniforms during war protests." Sam Hananel (AP) quotes the national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Gary Kurpius, stating, "We all know that people give up some individual rights when they joint the military. But these Marines went to war, did their duty, and were honorably discharged from the active roles. I may disagree with their message, but I will always defend their right to say it."


Eric Ruder (Socialist Worker) observes that the goal in going after Kokesh and Liam Madden is "silencing criticism from veterans -- discharge them again, but this time less than honorably" and quotes Tod Ensign (Citizen Soldier and Different Drummer Cafe) stating, "These are important issues, and they go to the question of military-civilian balance, and when you cease being bound by military rules. Are Liam and Adam bound by those rules? I'd say hell no. This is just a trial balloon, and it's harassment. But if they get away with it, you can be sure that they will then start becoming more draconian and their sweep of other people will be expanded. This could have a very chilling effect on the IVAW, to say the least." Matthew Rothschild (The Progressive) provides a strong overview of the issues at stake and noted that Monday's hearing/administrative meeting is not expected to result in a quick 'verdict' but a recommendationg that Master Sgt. Ronald Spencer says "can take up to two weeks."

Adam Kokesh wore fatigues during DC actions in March, Liam Madden, as David Montgomery (Washington Post) noted, "is accused of wearing his camouflage shirt at an antiwar march in Washington in January." For all the drama the military's created, you'd think the two (and a third who has been unidentified) had shown up in their dress uniform. David Morgan (Reuters) identifies the third: Cloy Richards. Cloy Richards is an Iraq veteran who suffers from PTSD. Both he and his mother Tina Richards have discussed this publicly. Apparently the US military believes the way to 'help' Cloy Richards is to threaten the veteran with loss of benefits. If that doesn't digust you, what does? Last week, Tina Richards discussed her son's suicide attempt with Kris Welch on KPFA's Living Room. Getting help for his PTSD has been a battle for Cloy Richards to begin with, the US military's lack of "common sense" just became even more visible.

As the lack of "common sense" becomes more apparent to the public, war resistance continues to grow within the US military. Pepe Lozano (People's Weekly World) reports on the June 19th event by the Rosenberg Fund for Children which "will commemorate the 54th anniversary of the Rosenbergs' execution with 'Celebrate the Children of Resistance." The fund was created by Robert Meeropol, the son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, and guests will include Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, Howard Zinn, David Strathairn as well as US war resister Camilo Mejia who notes, "When you prosecute an activist, it brings hard times to the family, especially for children like [his daughter] Samantha. People have to realize there is a family behind activists, and there should be more groups like RFC." Mejia's book Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia (The New Press) came out at the beginning of May and Iraq Veterans Against the War's Martin Smith (Socialist Worker) reviewed it noting: "Mejia's work -- written from the vantage of a soldier who served and saw firsthand the consequences of U.S. imperialism -- cuts through the deceptions and lies used to justify the war. . . . Beyond Mejia's exposure of the lies of occupation, the strength of his book is the humility with which Mejia explains the change within himself that led to his decision to follow the conscience and oppose war." John Catalinotto (Workers World) provided a wide ranging look at war resistance within the US military this week and noted of Iraq war resister Ehren Watada that his "court-martial is still pending after the military uniltaterally decided to declare his first trial a mistrial last February, has now had the court-martial postponed once more. At first scheduled for June 23 at Ft. Lewis, the trial is now on hold until it is determined if re-starting the trial would mean that Watada faced 'double jeopardy.' It is still possible that the Army will be forced to drop charges on Lt. Watada, the first officer to refuse duty in Iraq."

The growing movement of war resistance within the US military includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

On Memorial Day, Michael Kamber (New York Times) reported from Iraq on the rising disillusion of some serving in Iraq noting Staff Sgt. David Safstrom's comments about how he felt when first deployed -- "In Mosul, in 2003, it felt like we were making the city a better place. There was no sectarian violence, Saddam was gone, we were tracking down the bad guys. It felt awesome" -- compared to now -- "I thought:'What are we doing here? Why are we still here?' We're helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us." On a semi-related note, Peter Laufer -- journalist, author of many books including Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq and former NBC correspondent, debuts Sunday with his new (still unnamed) program on KPFA, taking over the slot Larry Bensky has occupied until recently (9:00 am to 11:00 am PST).
The announcement was made today during the KPFA Management Report to the Listeners.
More information can be found on Laufer here.


Meanwhile, Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "The Department of Defense spent nearly $31 million in three years in condolence payments to civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it didn't rack how it doled out the money, a Government Accountability Officer report found" -- which, she notes, didn't include what monies were paid for property damage, loss of life or for injuries. Youssef notes that the report states that June of 2003 was when the US military began offering compensation. In his book The Deserter's Tale, Joshua Key shares (p. 97) the story of how the process had no rhyme or reason but, at one point, $50 was given to one Iraqi male whose home had been damaged and bed burned when US illumination rounds "crashed into his home".

The violence continued today.

Bombings?

Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing this morning that claimed 1 life (2 wounded), an afternoon Baghdad bombing that wounded four police officers, a third Baghdad bombing that left 3 dead, three Baghdad mortar attacks that left
11 dead (32 wounded), a Salaheddin truck bombing that killed 12 civilians ("and two houses were destroyed"), a Basra mortar attack that left four police officers wounded, and 3 Kirkuk bombings that left 2 dead (6 wounded). Reuters notes a Kirkuk roadside bombing which injured five police officers and a Mahmudiya mortar attack that claimed 2 lives (four wounded).

Shootings?

Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Kirkuk attack in which an Iraqi soldier was shot dead. The US military announced today that they killed three children while firing on what they hope were insurgents (one of whom they killed, two of whom escaped).

Corpses?

Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 15 corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes six corpses discovered in Baquba.

Today, the US military announced: "Baghdad Soldier was killed when a patrol was attacked with small arms fire in the eastern section of the Iraqi capital May 31." This brought count of the total US forces killed in Iraq for the month of May to 125 (caution, there may be more announcements pending) making May the third worst month for US fatalities since the start of the illegal war in March of 2003. And the US military announced: "One MNC-I Soldier was killed by small arms fire at approximately noon June 1 in the vincinty of Zawiyah." This brings the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 3477.


Late yesterday, Reuters reported that 26 year-old AP camera person Saif M. Fakhry was shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday. Reporters Without Borders has issued a call. Noting that four journalists had been killed in five days (their call was written before news of Saif M. Fakhry's death was broadcast), they declare: "The Iraqi authorities must fulfil their duty to protect journalists. We call for the creation of a special force within the national police to identify the perpetrators and instigators of killings of journalists and to organise awareness campaigns about the protection of journalists for all the Iraqi security forces and for the public. To help the investigators, a witness protection programme should also be set up with the help of countries in the region." Organize awareness campaigns among Iraqi forces? Drop back to the January 25th snapshot: "This 'fine' Iraqi military that al-Maliki intends to turn loose on homes and schools includes some real thugs as evidenced by incident reported this morning by Damien Cave and James Glanz (New York Times): 'One Iraqi soldier in the alley pointed his rifle at an American reporter and pulled the trigger. There was only a click, the weapon had no ammunition. The soldier laughed at his joke'."


Meanwhile, in news that is sure to soften ultimate War Pornographer Michael Gordon's war on, CBS and AP report: "U.S. military officers tell CBS News the troop surge, which has not reached full strength, stands no chance of succeeding by September." Which is why, yesterday, the military sent out flacks attempting to reset the clocks and take the pressure off the upcoming September progress report.

PBS' NOW with David Brancaccio has interviewed Cindy Sheehan about her decision to pull back currently ("We're going to pull back and regroup and figure out a better way to come at this," Sheehan tells Brancacio) and the interview can be streamed here or you can catch it via YouTube. In addition, they offer Shron Clemons sharing his poetry (written while in the Sheridan Correctional Center of Illinois) at YouTube here.

Also on Cindy Sheehan, Laura Flanders (writing at Common Dreams) notes:

Two years later, Sheehan's pushed another question into the public glare. Quitting the Democratic Party and resigning from the front ranks of the US anti-war movement, Sheehan said out loud what hundreds of Democratic voters have been muttering: Democrats in Congress -who do you think you're working for?
In a letter to Democratic leaders shortly after they permitted a vote in Congress that approved $120 billion more for war, Sheehan wrote: "There is absolutely no sane or defensible reason for you to hand Bloody King George more money to condemn more of our brave, tired, and damaged soldiers and the people of Iraq to more death and carnage."
The president's never been more unpopular, nor has his Iraq war. Yet a majority of Democrats in both houses voted "aye" to keep the funding flowing.
Speaking with me on Air America Radio soon afterwards, Sheehan called it a betrayal. "Before they came into power they told me it was because they were in the minority. Now it's because they're the majority? What stakes do they have in keeping this occupation going?" Given the choice of funding an unpopular war or being accused by the right wing vitriol machine of "abandoning the troops," 86 Democrats in the House and all but 14 in the Senate voted to sacrifice more troops. Sheehan called that playing "party politics with human lives."

Laura Flanders is the host of RadioNation with Laura Flanders which now airs at one p.m. Sundays on Air America Radio, XM satellite radio and streams online.

In other news, Saturday from 10:00 am until noon (PST), KPFA will broadcast a Pacifica Radio and Free Speech Radio News special hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar (host of KPFK's
Uprising) and Dalia Hashad (attorney, the USA program director for Amnesty International and one of the co-hosts of WBAI's Law and Disorder). The special will address the new Senate bill on immigration which is due to be voted on shortly and "present challenging interviews with lawmakers, and look at global dynamics that lead to migration and Europe's own crackdown on immigration."

In media news, as independent media continues to be under attack, News Dissector Danny Schechter's "Special Blog: Can Our Media Channel Survive?" announces the potential fate of
Mediachannel.org which may shut down: "If we can get 1500 of our readers (that means you) to give $25, we can keep going for another quarter. [PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ONLINE]"

Finally, independent journalist John Pilger is on a speaking tour with his new book Freedom Next Time and his documentary Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror (which looks at DC, Afghanistan and Iraq). June 7th, he will discuss his book with Amy Goodman at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:15). Admission is $5 per person and students (with ID) can attend for free. Pilger will sign copies of his book afterwards and Amy Goodman will sign copies of her latest book (written with her brother David Goodman) Static. "For ticket information, contact (212) 229-5488 or boxoffice@newschool.edu. For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, click here or e-mail pilgerny@gmail.com." June 11th, Pilger will be in Los Angeles at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (244 S. San Pedro St.) and will discuss his book and show his documentary beginning at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). The price of admission to the even is five dollars. "Directions, maps, and parking info at: http://www.jaccc.org/directions.htmPresented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, and The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call or visit the JACCC. Box office: 213-680-3700 (Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: Noon - 5 pm)For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilger.la@gmail.com." June 13th finds him in San Francisco showing his film and discussing his book at Yerba Beuna Center for Arts (beginning at 7:00 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm) and the price of admission is $15 general and $5 for students. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, and KPFA, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. For ticket information, call 415-978-2787 or order online at http://www.ybca.org/. In person tickets at YBCA Box office located inside the Galleries and Forum Building, 701 Mission Street at Third. (Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun: noon - 5 pm; Thu: noon - 8 pm.) For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org For more information, email pilgersf@gmail.com." From San Francisco, he moves on to Chicago for the 2007 Socialism conference. At 11:30 am Saturday June 16th, he and Anthony Arnove will participate in a conversation, audience dialogue and book signing (Arnove is the author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) and that evening (still June 16th) at 7:30 Pilger will be at Chicago Crowne Plaza O'Hare (5440 North River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018) as part of a panel of international activists. To attend the conference, the fee is $85. For Saturday and Sunday only, the price is $70. To attend only one session, the cost is ten dollars. "Presented by The Center for Economic Research and Social Change, The Nation Institute, with support from the Wallace Global Fund. Co-sponsors: Obrera Socialista, Socialist Worker, International Socialist Review, and Haymarket Books. For ticket information, call 773-583-8665 or e-mail info@socialismconference.org For media inquiries, contact (212) 209-5407 or ruth@nationbooks.org. For more information, email info@socialismconference.org." The Socialism 2007 conference will take place in Chicago from June 14-17. Along with Pilger and Arnove, others participating will include Dahr Jamail, Laura Flanders, Kelly Dougherty, Joshua Frank, Amy Goodman, Sharon Smith, Dave Zirin, Camilo Mejia, Jeremy Scahill, Jeffrey St. Clair and many others.