Conservative vs. Conservative

Conservative vs. Conservative

Coming Thursday to the Washington Post:
William Bennett will repudiate Limbaugh's recent comments about Abu Ghraib. Bennet says that although the actions of U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib may fall short of war crimes, the offenses were serious and the photos of naked Iraqis piled on top of each or tethered to leashes will becomes effective "al Qaeda recruiting posters."

RUSH ARCHIVE:
Exactly! Exactly my point! This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation, and we're going to ruin people's lives over it, and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer 'em because they had a good time.You know, these people are being fired at every day. I'm talking about people having a good time. These people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of needing to blow some steam off?[LINK]

The Vactican's foreign minister has told Italian newspaper La Repubblica:

"The torture? A more serious blow to the United States than Sept. 11. Except that the blow was not inflicted by terrorists but by Americans against themselves," Lajolo was quoted as saying in La Repubblica.

Lajolo said that "intelligent people in Arab countries understand that in a democracy such episodes are not hidden and are punished ... Still the vast mass of people — under the influence of Arab media — cannot but feel aversion and hate for the West growing inside themselves."
And, he added, "the West is often identified with Christianity." [LINK}

Should Nick Berg's death dilute the outrage over Abu Ghraib?

Should Nick Berg's death dilute the outrage over Abu Ghraib?
The media should have the respect to ask Nick's own family. I believe, from all I know of them so far, that they would most likely NOT wish the death of their son to be condensed into a partisan spin on this human rights issue...or to have his death used as an excuse for more wrongly-directed war.

Should Nick's death reinforce our nation's resolve to "win" in Iraq? If so, why? (I implore all to step away from your emotion and look at the big picture). What does "win" mean? How do we plan to succeed? Nothing is clear.

How would this man's beheading suddenly make us "see" we have a magical strategy to win anything in Iraq? How would Nick's savage treatment prove we ever had good reason to be occupying the Iraqi state (where WMDs/imminent threat still haven't appeared)? How would Nick's death give us a clear idea of who will be taking the reins of Iraqi government on June 30th?

Will Nick's death prove that violence begets violence? Will his death prove that the photos of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners were a direct cause of the decision made by his killers to execute him? Will Nick's death make more torture acceptable?

I'm sorry. I don't think we should let our emotion over Nick's death distract us from the core issues and facts at hand in Iraq today.

This "war on terror" is not being properly prosecuted and Americans are beginning to see it clearly. Our nation's reputation is seriously at stake.

Lynndie a Mere Model in Psy-op Photos

Lynndie a Mere Model in
Psy-op Photos

"I was instructed by persons in higher rank to stand there and hold this leash and look at the camera."

- Lynndie England


"To all of us who have been charged, we all agree that we don't feel like we were doing things that we weren't supposed to, because we were told to do them. We think everything was justified, because we were instructed to do this and to do that," England said.

THE PHOTOS

Who's Responsible for Abu Ghraib?

Who's Responsible for Abu Ghraib?

Every Sunday ChIP’s (Choosing an Independent President 2004 Process) political coordinator Jacqueline Salit and activist/philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. This link provides excerpts from what I consider to be exceptionally interesting dialogue last Sunday- May 9, 2004- after they'd watched “The McLaughlin Group,” “Meet the Press” and “The Chris Matthews Show” – all on NBC.

Excerpts:

There are all kinds of conflicts in the American psyche which are exposed in this scandal at Abu Ghraib, and we have to deal with that. This is a country of the underdog, but it’s the wealthiest country in the history of civilization. These are fundamental conflicts in the American psyche. We have to – not just for psychological purposes, but for political purposes – go forward with a recognition of that conflictedness and try to build and develop with that as a basepoint. That’s not how partisan politicians think about it. To them, the basic axiom of public presentation is ‘Never admit that you have a dark side. Never admit that there’s a down side. Never admit that you’re conflicted.’ With those as guiding methodological premises, these kinds of situations are very difficult to deal with.

--Fred Newman

All of us. Americans are responsible. That’s who’s responsible. Are there some particular people who are going to be judged responsible because of their positions? Yes – and probably they should be. But who’s responsible? We are. We are conflicted, but easily seduced by our arrogance. Americans like to hear from our leadership that we are the Righteous People, and so forth. It sounds good. It just happens that some people in the world don’t go along with that. So, this arrogance of ours lives side by side with our goodness and our decency and our wealth and our this and our that. But it’s all there mixed together. It’s all mixed together, and so we are responsible for the people who we elect, and the people who they select, and our troops. Daniel Goldhagen wrote a book, “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust,” that said that the German people were responsible for the Holocaust. And today, the American people are responsible for this war and for the way it’s being conducted, because this is a democracy. The American people did select this president. I know some people would argue that they didn’t really, not by the popular vote, but Bush managed to get elected according to the laws of this land, and we have to take responsibility for it. And if we take responsibility, as we justifiably do, for all the extraordinary good things that this country does throughout the world, we have to take responsibility for what it means to be the sole superpower – whether we like the title or not. We are an imperialist power. De Facto. Forget about what you think of anybody’s intent.

--Fred Newman

(Many thanks to Hamilton for referring me to this one.)

Meet The Judge Advocate General: Thomas J Romig

Meet The Judge Advocate General:
Thomas J Romig



General Romig

General Thomas J Romig is Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Army. You may have seen him at yesterday's Congressional hearings about Abu Ghraib, where he said the Army is now tracking a total of 83 different prisoner abuse cases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here's a few things you may not know about him.

Born, raised, and educated in our great state of Kansas, General Romig has been with the U.S. Army since October, 1971. In 1977, General Romig was selected for the Funded Legal Education Program and attended Santa Clara University School of Law, where he served as an editor on the Santa Clara Law Review and as a member of the Honors Moot Court Board. He graduated with honors in 1980. He is a graduate of the National War College and the Armed Forces Staff College. He was promoted from Colonel to brigadier general in July 1998. General Romig's most recent assignment was as the Assistant Judge Advocate General for Military Law and Operations, Office of The Judge Advocate General, United States Army, Rosslyn, Virginia.

Gen Romig paid a visit to Iraq in November, 2003, accompanied by three personal staffers. According to the Pentagon, the purpose of his trip was "to assess the provision of legal services, look at integration of RC (Reserve Component) soldiers in our operations, talk with commanders, look at both traditional and nontraditional legal issues, gather lessons learned ... and check on the status of our soldiers and our equipment."

Sadly, Gen Romig's combat mission became a nightmare when one of the two Blackhawk helicopters transporting him and his team was shot down. Romig's assistants, Chief Warrant Officer
Sharon T. Swartworth and Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore, were killed along with the entire Blackhawk crew, Capt. Benedict J. Smith, Chief Warrant Officer Kyran E. Kennnedy and Sgts. Paul M. Neff and Scott C. Rose.[link]

Freepers considered Nick Berg's family "the enemy"

Freepers considered Nick Berg's family "the enemy"

"..Less (sic) we forget. Everyone send this to Rush, Sean, Fox, and everyone you can e-mail this list. Don't stop until everyone has a copy...."


This is how the extreme partisan polarization in this country is rotting our nation from the inside.

Look at this list of people---
Michael Berg, (business name Prometheus Methods highlighted on list) the father of slain Nick Berg, signed a list of those who simply wished to express dissent about the war in which our nation was engaged. Yet, he and his family still contributed directly to the effort to help America to help the Iraqis establish a new democracy.

The Freepers state on this site:
Here is "the enemy"--they have posted their names.

I submit the true enemy of America is the ignorant, filthy polarization in this nation. When the hell are people going to wake up?

Shirin Ebadi speaks at Syracuse University

Shirin Ebadi speaks at Syracuse University

SHRIN EBADI'S MESSAGE TO US
On Religion and Democracy

Hendricks Chapel
Syracuse University
May 10, 2004

The following are my rough notes on a speech given by 2003 Nobel peace-prize winner Shirin Ebadi of Iran..

Shirin Ebadi walked to the podium to a standing ovation. She smiled warmly and slightly bowed several times before her audience of approximately 500 sat down to listen to her hour-long speech, given in her language of Farsi. Her interpreter was Syracuse University Political Science professor Mehrzad Borouherdi.

Madame Ebadi had been introduced by S.U. College of Law dean Hannah Arterian, who prefaced the speech with a story about the subtleties found in this life and the experience of growing up-a child of lawyers. She used a very simple example- her own daughter whose Grandfather said to her: "Clean your plate," and her daughter replying: "It's not a plate, Grandfather. It's a bowl." Subtlety often makes an important and essential difference. Ms. Arterian read comments from a former law student's e-mail regarding the joy upon learning Mme Ebadi, an attorney (of all professions) had won a Nobel Peace prize. She then introduced Mme Ebadi.

Mme Ebadi explained her topic would be 'Religion and Democracy'. Philosophers have long debated the relationship between the two.

There is a certain movement within/between the Islamic states with those who believe humanity is a creation of God. Islamic state-leaders see themselves as sheer maintainers of their society's duties to God. Social rights are not the priority or focus in this movement. This belief and this movement has trans-national reach in the region.

In this movement, yesteryear's intellect is relied upon and modernity suffers as a result. Prophets are given governmental weight and popularly-elected officials can be easily rejected for their perceived failure to maintain societal duties directly related to certain interpretations of Islam. Divine law trumps civil law..period. Divine ordinance trumps parliamentary democracy.

European blueprints for democracy have long been resisted by this movement. 'State religion' weighs heavily... at a sad cost to human rights in a 'religious state'.

There are no names, no headquarters, no leaders in today's movement toward this certain interpretation of Islam...yet it is ingrained in the mind and sensibility of nearly every Muslim.

Mme Ebadi is an avowed Muslim and insists it is a religion of equality. She quoted Mohammed's doctrine of the equality of all believers.

The problem is that today's practice of state religion does not emanate from the true essence of Islam. There is an unwillingness for Islamic states to give an interpretation of Islam toward equality and human rights.

For these reasons, the dominant culture is in need of reform. An understanding and recognition of social realities compatible with the spirit of Islam is needed.

The most important step to achieve this goal is the teaching of the nature of inclusiveness of the Islamic faith itself. Mulims need to learn (and teach) the dynamic spirit of Islam and realize they can accept modernity without the risk of losing this essence.

If education becomes prevalent and citizens learn to press for their rights, religious states will be compelled to respect legal rights and civil law rather than imposing divine law which often reults in an ignorance of human rights. Islamic governments now silence laws they don't like and regard themselves as God's law on earth. This is often nothing more than convenient excuse to silence and intimidate members of their society. Often, for example, they will accuse others of having "wishy-washy" faith in order to intimidate. Being accused of abandoning your faith at a moment's notice will make you very unpopular in these societies. Freedoms are limited by the great fear of being charged with "apostacy" (deserting one's faith) when there is dissention against these authoritarian regimes.

Mme Ebadi believes that Muslims, who comprise one-sixth of the world's population, should connect with the masses by any means available to expose false claims of despotic rulers that the true essence of Islam is represented by their rule. Mme Ebadi especially appealed to the intellectual class to reach the mass audiences so they be made to better understand that the current ruling elite in Iran and other Islamic states are violating the very core of Islamic essence.

Islamic states do not have the key to Paradise.

When it comes to democracy, all people of this world share a common thread. All people in all cultures and societies share the hope for freedom, respect for life, property, and human dignity. War, violence, and terror are not desired nor admired.

Cultural relativism and reactionary tyrants using this relativism to retain political power blinds the cultural masses and leads to violations of what should be all of our common rights as human beings.

Whether we like it or not, there is a globalization of both war and peace. We're in this venture together. If we want peace, we must struggle for peace--together. Partnerships must be consolidated and concern for humanity must transcend national boundaries and religions. We cannot be blind to human violations wherever and whenever they may occur..be it Afghansitan, Palestine, or our very own homelands.

We're all on the deck of the same ship. Every individual damage and/or violation to our sense of humunity endangers all of us. The destiny of all humanity is tied to every single person. We cannot value and enjoy freedoms and rights ourselves when we deprive others of the same freedom and right.

Mostly, we need compassion.

Mme Ebadi appeals to you--be kind to one another. Kindness is the only commodity that doesn't diminish when you spend it.

Those who seek gain in times of war find it advantageous to use Islam as a reason for terror and violence. This is wrong-minded. Think about the Bosnian war and you will see that Muslims did not blame all of Christendom for the atrocities committed against them. It is also erroneous when political opportunists erroneously claim Islamic culture is incompatible with Western culture and values. There has been a lot of blame toward the religion of Islam for acts of terror. Some have claimed that violence is reflective of Muslim values and this is often a way to cause mass-reaction and perpetuate political conflict. This is not so, Mme Ebadi said. Islam is not a religion of violence and terror should never be attributed to Islam. In the same manner, Israel's rejection of many U.N. resolutions should never be equated with Judiasm.

Actions of the masses should never be confused with the message of God. We must learn to distinguish humanity's mistakes and recognize the nature of the cultures from which those mistakes stem. Culture and civilizations do not need to be in conflict with one another. We've lived by each other's sides for ages. We must not forget our shared values and we cannot allow a civilization-clash to be used as a justification for war.

Mme Ebadi ended with an extension to all people of love and affection.

There was a question and answer session, which I will write about in another post.


Reference: Mme. Ebadi's Nobel-prize speech is [here].

UPDATE: Newsday-Nobel winner criticizes U.S. invasion of Iraq, prisoner abuse

Abu Ghraib: What did Bush know--and when did he know it?

Abu Ghraib: What did Bush know--and when did he know it?

Why is Donald Rumsfeld the cut-off when we go up the chain? Where do we consider 'the buck' really stops? Is an investigation of President Bush (and VP Cheney) necessary? Given the extreme circumstances of Abu Ghraib, I believe we should leave all possibilities open.

At Buzzflash, Maureen Farrell asks some important questions:

...though it's tempting to cling to the narratives that make us feel good, in the end, reality catches up with us any way. Right about the time William Kristol and Lawrence Kaplan were promising that America would "demonstrate to all the compatibility of its interests and ideals" and make the world "a safer and more just place," for example, the Guardian's George Monibot was saying 'It will end in disaster.' "The United States, like Israel, will discover that occupation is bloody and, ultimately, unsustainable," he wrote. "Its troops will be harassed by snipers and suicide bombers, and its response to them will alienate even the people who were grateful for the overthrow of Saddam." [Guardian]

So at this juncture, believing in the Bush administration means embracing incompetence.
And while the Taguba report reportedly went unread by the Pentagon brass, are we to believe that the Red Cross report on torture delivered to the Bush administration earlier this year did, too? And though Paul Bremer was reportedly told of the abuse in November [Guardian] are we expected to believe that CNN knew about the abuse at Abu Ghraib in January [CNN] while the president remained "out of the loop?" For God's sake, if the President had tuned into Wolf Blitzer's May 2, 2004 interview with Seymour Hersh, perhaps he would have learned about the abuse and not said, a mere one day later, "Because we acted, torture rooms are closed [and] rape rooms no longer exist. . . in Iraq." [WhiteHouse.gov]

See Paul Krugman's op-ed from today's N.Y. Times titled Just Trust Us. We cannot operate or depend on trust alone when it comes to this administration. Not anymore. Congress needs to end partisanship and save our nation's reputation before it's too late.


The Army Times has an editorial in its May 17th edition that calls for going straight to the top.

The Daily Mislead has some questions for the White House about their ignoring so many pleas to address this prison situation far earlier.

From Harvey Wasserman/Free Press-Independent News Media-- Bush the torturer must leave office:

...like My Lai, atrocious behavior in Iraq comes straight from the top. Bush's contempt for international law, including the Geneva Accords, has been legend. His stirring praise for Defense Secretary Rumsfeld must be taken at face value. If Rumsfeld is doing a "superb job," it's because Rumsfeld is doing superbly what George W. Bush wants done.

What Bush did as governor he now does as president. It has nothing to do with stopping terrorism or protecting the United States. It's not the product of a few "bad" or poorly trained soldiers. It's not about a wayward Secretary of Defense and his out-of-control military apparatus. The inevitable reaction that's now come with this first beheading has been provoked by an administration engaged in global drunk driving.

This ghastly spiral of brutality is all about George W. Bush and who he really is. And since he is doing this in the name of the United States, it is ultimately about us, and what we do about him.

I've read the story of Nick Berg

I've read the story of Nick Berg

click photo to learn a bit about Nick's life

The story is told in all its cold detail.

These are only my first impressions.

It's nearly too much to bear.

My heart goes out to Nick's family...I have a lot of questions about the circumstances which prevented his return home at a time when he desired to come home.

Because of a savage thirst for revenge, Nick won't be home at all.

Michael, Suzanne, David, Sarah--I am so, so sorry.

This war is nothing but madness and it needs to end.

The article says the people who did the beheading praised God in the name of Islam. That, my friends, is horse-shit, plain and simple. Killings in the name of God have nothing to do with the essence of Islam. The killing occurred in the presence of war, anger, vengeance, and blood-lust. I'm sick of criminals using the name of God to kill in cold blood.

All good people of the world--Islamic, Christian, Hindu, atheist-- need to consolidate and speak out against any who kill for shrouded politics in the holy name of God.

Iraq is over, people. All we've done from the get-go is to send an army to inflame the godless who act with violence in the false name of their state-God.

I'm afraid all we have left to reap in Iraq is a whirlwind of godless blood-vengeance.

Cultural reform cannot happen at the drop of a bomb, an occupation, or a new-government puppet show.

It cannot happen that way.

Nick is gone because of this folly and it makes me sick.


________

May 7th AP article about Nick:

The Associated Press [LINK]

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Nick Berg was on his way out of Iraq. He had been released from the prison where he had been held for 13 days by Iraqi police for reasons he said he did not know. He had made his way from Mosul to his Baghdad hotel. He was finished with being an independent civilian contractor and was coming home to West Chester.

That was April 9. A month later, Berg's parents, Michael and Suzanne, still haven't heard from him. They've gone from concerned to frantic.

"Our hopes are that he's still in hiding or en route and traveling in a very slow manner," Michael Berg said.

A spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq who tracks the number of civilians missing in that country was unavailable for comment. But in mid-April, coalition spokesman Dan Senor said during a news briefing in Baghdad that about 40 people from 12 countries were missing and presumed hostages.

Nick Berg, 26, owns a business called Prometheus Methods Tower Service Inc. He climbs communications towers to inspect the antennas, the electrical connections and the structure. He first went to Iraq on Dec. 21.

He stayed until Feb. 1, making contact with a company that indicated there would likely be work for him later. But he returned on March 14 and there was no work, so he began traveling. He usually called home once a day and e-mailed several times; Michael Berg is his business manager, and they needed to stay in touch.

They spoke on March 24, and Nick Berg told his parents he was coming home on March 30. Then the communications stopped, and he wasn't on the plane on March 30.

When FBI agents arrived at the Berg's West Chester home on March 31, they were relieved to know their son was alive, but in jail. The agents questioned them about various details that only they and their son would know about.

Jerri Williams, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia FBI office, said the agency was "asked to interview the parents regarding Mr. Berg's purpose in Iraq."

On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq.

The next day, April 6, Nick Berg was released. He told his parents he had been riding in a taxi on March 24 when he was arrested by Iraqi officials at a checkpoint in Mosul. He told his parents he had not been mistreated.

Nick Berg said he would come home through Jordan, Turkey or Kuwait. But by then, hostilities in Iraq had escalated, and Michael Berg said they have not heard from their son since.

The Bergs have hounded the State Department, the FBI and the International Committee of the Red Cross, seeking information. Michael Berg said the State Department sent an official to Nick Berg's hotel, where an employee told the official they had not heard of him.

The Bergs hired a private investigator, who talked to an American hotel guest who said he remembered Nick Berg.

Sometimes, they tell themselves their son "is a resourceful fellow who can take care of himself," Michael Berg said.

"Other times we think perhaps he was dead on April 10," he said. "My worst fear is that I'll never hear anything." [Philly.com LINK}

Reuters
Boston Globe
L.A. Times
Guardian
Globe and Mail

UPDATE: "I don't think this administration is committed to democracy."
--Michael Berg, father of Nick

*HEAR NICK'S FATHER MICHAEL BERG IN A LIVE INTERVIEW AT HERE AND NOW

Nick had a great heart. He had previously traveled to Ghana, where his family said he had purchased a $900 brick-making press for a poor village.

AP: Reaction to Nick's death

Pennsylvania community shocked by death of `real nice kid'

*Note--If you're looking for the video of Nick's death, don't expect to find it here. I won't sink that low. Sorry. I'm sure there's someone else..some ghoulish soul out there who will lack the taste, the compassion and the conscience.*

Senator Inhofe makes a political show of Taguba hearing

Senator Inhofe makes a disgusting political show at Taguba hearing

James Inhofe is equivocating and rationalizing away the violation of human rights at Abu Ghraib at the Taguba-Congressional hearing as I'm writing this post. He actually just suggested that these Iraqis deserved the treatment they got in these prisons. What a total ass he's making of himself! He sounds like a FOX News propagandist, for Pete's sake. He's whining about the politicization of this Abu Ghraib torture-story, but I have to tell you-- I've never seen such blatant politicization myself. It's sad.. really sad. Inhofe's outraged at "do-gooders" looking for violations of human rights in our military prisons. He reminds us of violations Iraqis have committed against our soldiers. (As if we didn't know).

I remind Inhofe that we are supposed to be BETTER than savages. He seems perfectly willing to forget that we are supposed to be a civil people.

Inhofe is the same fundamentalist kook who babbled, just after 9-11, "One of the reason I believe the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States of America is that the policy of our government has been to ask the Israelis, and demand it with pressure, not to retaliate in a significant way against the terrorist strikes that have been launched against them."

Inhofe is also the same ugly partisan who refused to support his President or give him the benefit of any confidence during the Kosovo crisis, stating in April, 1999: "The best way we can support our troops is to keep them out of Kosovo, out of a protracted war that, in my opinion, we are not going to end up winning."

We "won" the hearts and minds in Kosovo. Inhofe was dead-wrong.

Look at what Inhofe is supporting now...the damned hypocrite. I do not suffer fools lightly and I must call them out when I see them. Senator Inhofe is a fool. Our military needs to get out of Iraq. We need an exit strategy, not a foolish political display for all the nation to see.


Knowing Inhofe's making American law is a very frightening thought.



Update: 5/ 12- Walter Shapiro writes on the subject.

The Second Superpower Meets the Pentagon

The Second Superpower Meets the Pentagon

The Second Superpower is the term coined by James F. Moore of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. As the United States government becomes more belligerent in using its power in the world, many people are longing for a “second superpower” that can keep the US in check. This Guardian article shows how this idea of Mr. Moore's is actually taking shape.When the Abu Ghraib photos depicting the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US troops began to surface, it became clear that many of them were amateur shots taken by soldiers using their own private digital cameras. The internet played a large role in distributing the images, which highlights the ease with which troops serving in Iraq can now send photos back to the U.S. and are curiously not subject to any kind of military censorship.(I wonder if things will soon change?)The morality of war will always pose the same dilemmas, but the internet (and blogs) have provided a powerful new way of exposing truths in real-time. The Internet and other interactive media continue to penetrate more and more deeply and promptly. It's hard for world leaders to hide things they once found easy and convenient to hide.

Ref: See "The Other Superpower" at Rodger Payne

The Tipping Point by Lt Col. Karen Kwiatkowski

Ship of state not leaking info, but leaking bodies

Karen Kwiatkowski's latest article, The Tipping Point, can be found at the Military Week website. As the title suggests, Lt. Col. Kwiatkowski believes we've reached that point in Iraq already. She's seeing what she calls a "bloodless evacuation of the appointed ideologues from Washington to some safe and profitable haven". Once-strategizing-and-hopeful Neoconservatives are "peeling off like a bad paint on an old Chevy". A sure sign.

Maj. General Antonio Taguba to testify tomorrow

Maj. General Antonio Taguba to testify tomorrow

Tuesday, May 11

IRAQ POLICY
Prisoner Report's Author on Hill
Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba testifies before the Senate Armed Services Cmte. on his report on the treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib Prison.
TUESDAY ON C-SPAN AT 9:30AM ET

Also on CSPAN tomorrrow:

--Prisoner Hearing in Senate: Part 2
Sen. John Warner (R-VA) chairs a hearing on the treatment of Iraqi prisoners. Intelligence Undersec. Stephen Cambone & Army JAG Thomas Romig testify.
TUESDAY ON C-SPAN3 AT 2:30PM


--Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is one of our Tuesday morning guests. Another is Stephen Mansfield, author of "The Faith of George W. Bush."
TUESDAY ON C-SPAN AT 7AM ET

Joel Katzman on Israel

Joel Katzman on Israel

Joel Katzman, PhD, has written a piece for Arutz Sheva titled "Israel, Beware!". In it, he states that the current stand on Israel by the Bush administration is all about "running scared" and "botching" the Middle East situation.

The US is terribly humiliated and fearful, because Iraqi prisoners were mild to moderately abused by US service personnel; yet the US appears to be becoming less concerned about humiliating and putting Israelis at risk, than it is about making sure that the Islamofacists and the Muslims of the world feel comfortable and protected.

I don't agree that we can dismiss the matter of Abu Ghraib as a case of moderate or mild abuse. I find that to be incredibly disingenuous from an intellectually honest standpoint. I also sense a form of either resentment, distrust, or envy for the attention the situation is getting the Muslim world. It may be best, if Dr. Katzman wishes to catch liberal American attention, to pose his argument with far more care and appreciation for the American situation.

He continues,

I truly hope that I can be written off as being overly paranoid and incapable of grasping the "holier than thou" and failed approach to peace making so common to the diplomats of "evenhandedness" and their failed land-for-peace arrangements. However, if I am not wrong, then Israeli concessions will not be allowed to stop at even the 1967 borders, and Israelis and many Jews may be unpleasantly surprised to find that the US, along with other nations, and the UN, will push relentlessly to drive Israel back to pre-1949 borders.

I would hope this is, indeed, paranoia. Yet, I share Dr. Katzman's concerns. This is a terribly trying time for America. Iraq turned out to not be a cakewalk. If the politics surrounding the failing war are hurting Israel, I can understand the discomfort. Perhaps, if America could gracefully walk (not run) away from Iraq, we could get the Middle East back on track. I honestly think it's going to take a new administration to set us on the track again.

To Dr. Katzman, I say: Please do not blame liberal people. We never chose this path for our nation...or Israel.

Learn these names

Learn about these names


John Israel
Steven Stephanowicz
Col Thomas M. Pappas
LTC Steve L. Jordan

[See LINK]

Oh no, not Lt. General Boykin...

Oh, no....not Lt. General Boykin

I'm afraid that Lieutenant-General William "Jerry" Boykin's words are going to come back to haunt all of us. America was supposed to keep its religious intent out of the Iraq war. Now we learn he's involved in this Abu Ghraib mess? Some in the media are saying Donald Rumsfeld has tried to
cover up the controversial Boykin, who was allegedly hired by him to pin down the "interrogation" process. Since most of the people that Boykin is charged with capturing in Iraq are Muslim, his past words and actions will now draw even more scrutiny in the Arab and Islamic world.

Casualty of War- Colin Powell in GQ

Casualty of War-
Colin Powell in GQ

"It is rare for a member of any president's cabinet to stand alone.."

[LINK]

Bloody Road from Abu Ghraib leads back to Rumsfeld

Bloody Road from Abu Ghraib leads back to Rumsfeld

The creation of torture units was the consequence of orders by the Defence Department – headed by Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – to prise information out of prisoners.

What we haven't seen...yet...

American soldiers beating an Iraqi to a bloody pulp.

A male U.S. soldier having sex with a female Iraqi inmate.

Soldiers acting inappropriately with a dead body.

A video allegedly showing Iraqi guards raping young boys.

Dancing the Web

Dancing the Web

Read American diplomat Phil Kosnett's story titled Little Glamor for U.S. Diplomats in Najaf . Kosnett, a 43-year-old diplomat from Black Mountain, NC, has seen his job made much tougher by the Shiite uprising in their holy city of Najaf.

Kosnett and [Col. Dana] Pittard, whose troops are poised to attack if ordered, both say harm to Najaf's holy places has to be avoided. The Imam Ali and Kufa mosques, the city's most sacred shrines, remain in the hands of al-Sadr's gunmen although they've vacated the main government office and police station.

"They may have moved out of the pizzerias but they still hold the Vatican," one of Kosnett's assistants said. "That's the biggest hostage they hold."

John at Archy rewards Tom Friedman (he does say something worth an honorable mention sometimes).

John says-

I recognize that [Friedman’s] headed in the right direction and especially give him credit for a good hook:

I have never known a time in my life when America and its president were more hated around the world than today…. It's no wonder that so many Americans are obsessed with the finale of the sitcom 'Friends' right now. They're the only friends we have, and even they're leaving.

At Rodger Payne's Blog, we learn a Conservative revolt is hitting the front pages of mainstream media.



The Army Times along with three other military papers owned by the Gannett Companies, have suggested Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top Pentagon civilian and military leaders should be removed over the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal.



How does this grab ya?

At World Net Daily, I read this

Osama bin Laden's family business is on the short list of contractors bidding to build the world's tallest skyscraper...The Saudi Binladin Group, the biggest developer in the kingdom, begun by Osama bin Laden's father, is in the running for the project.

I don't know about you. I keep thinking...

"World Trade Center"....

"He who dies with the biggest and the tallest toys wins"...

"My ****'s bigger than your ****"....

Moqtada Sadr Controls Sadr City

Moqtada Sadr Controls Sadr City
With the quick takeover, which was completed at dawn, Sadr City joined two southern towns, Najaf and Kufa, now under the control of Sadr's militia...

Here's what we've got:

In Iraq, we're fighting against a Shiite cleric and those whose Shiite hearts have been won by him (some of them mere teenagers). I happen to believe we're going to have a hard time convincing these folks this is not a war against their religion since their religion is so closely tied to their government.

A U.S. raid Saturday night and the detention of two of al-Sadr's lieutenants, Amr Husseini and Amjad Saedi, triggered a whole new uprising. One-third of Baghdad's 5 million residents live in this place. They may call this place a "slum", but no matter how you slice it, you can't discount it--that's a lot of people.

Our forces are hitting al Sadr's forces where they can---Diwaniyah, Karbala, Kut and Kufa. The U.S. now has fewer than eight short weeks to transfer some type of authority to a new Iraqi government (whoever on earth that might be...). There's intra-Shiite fighting to worry about in the process of the turnover of power. Rival Shiite clerics hate al-Sadr and here we are-- stuck in the middle of their civil hatred-- precisely where we've never belonged. To boot, all the Shiites have nothing save distrust for the U.S. for reaching out and touching someone...who happen to be members of Saddam's old Baath Party (to placate Sunnis in Fallujah).

We don't belong there. We never have. FOX News Sunday tried to piece together a short propaganda pro-war film to counter Ted Koppel's reading of the names of our Fallen (how dare he?). The FOX news
propagan-documentary fell apart from its start when the filmmaker had the audacity to show Saddam's torture and rape rooms (in the wake of Abu Ghraib).The rest of the film showed our troops doing social work, which should be done by organizations created for that purpose. It drove home the sickeningly sad point that our troops don't belong there and are now suffering (some facing court-martial) for a situation in which they were thrown...untrained..unprepared..and given a wink and nod all the way up the chain of command to do what they needed to do to get the locals to "talk".

I blame FOX News for unethically misleading the American public far too long. The fact that 80% of FOX News-viewers surveyed believed weapons of mass destruction had been found and a connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq existed reveals FOX's ethical transgession. When the Vice President says he loves your work (as he did with FOX), you have to realize that they are not doing their job..which should be challenging power instead of sucking up to it.

It's time to look through the lens clearly (both literally and figuratively) and get these troops back home. Let this become a world-crisis, because that is precisely what it is. Back away and let the entirety of the world step into the vaccuum. It should never have been a lone U.S. Crusade.
The American public, although constantly misinformed, is slowly beginning to understand.
It's a no-win situation.