War Resolution Seen Hurting Morale

War resolution seen hurting morale

By S.A. Miller
THE WASHINTON TIMES
February 9, 2007

Senate Republicans yesterday contradicted top Pentagon officials who say Congress would not injure troop morale by passing a nonbinding resolution critical of President Bush's Iraq war plan.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said he was outraged that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates would say U.S. combat forces "understand" politics back home and won't be disheartened by a symbolic no-confidence vote against the commander in chief.

       I guess that it has not occurred to Sen. Graham that most of our troops in Iraq have been back home at least once and they have no doubt watched the news and read the papers and blogs.

    Our troops are not as ignorant as Sen. Graham appears to be and our troops have more than likely formed their own opinions on Bush's rhetoric and if I am reading the emails from friends in Iraq correctly, they have very little confidence in Bush and his policies..

    A symbolic vote of no-confidence will dishearten no-one but Sen. Graham and the remaining Republicans that support this bullshit. It will not dishearten our troops.

                         IMPEACH! INDICT! IMPRISON!

 

Technorati tags: War, Iraq, Resolution, Morale

 

Pentagon Extends Troops Buildup In Afghanistan

   The Pentagon will be extending the troop buildup in Afghanistan into next year instead of early spring of this year. All of this because they expect the Taliban to go on the offensive in the spring and the U.S. is waiting for more troops from some of our allies.

The extension of the U.S. buildup means American troop levels in Afghanistan, which increased this month to about 26,000 — the highest of the war — will remain roughly the same until at least spring 2008. Until now, a level of 22,000 to 23,000 had prevailed through much of last year.  AP

   Maybe we should just take the extra troops needed for the Bush Escalation in Iraq and send them over to Afghanistan to help with the real war on terror. It would be nice to at least see one conflict resolved during my lifetime.

 

Technorati tags: Pentagon, Troops, Afghanistan

 

Mesa Arizona Councilman Gets threats Over Protest

   I just love the people of Arizona!

      Over in Mesa, just outside of Phoenix, a councilman has been sitting down during the Pledge of allegiance during council meetings as his way of protesting the war in Iraq.

   Mesa City Councilman Tom Rawles has been getting threats since he started his little protest.

    From the Tucson Citizen

AMANDA LEE MYERS
The Associated Press   02.09.2007

MESA - One person suggested that Mesa City Councilman Tom Rawles be taken out back and beaten. Another said someone should put a bullet in his head, and a third that he should be buried in the cement his construction company uses.

"You have disrespected our country and the symbol of it and the men and women who fought for it," resident Mike Thelan told Rawles through tears at a council meeting on Monday. "You have acted like a spoiled little child that has not received what he wants from his parents."

Rawles, a 57-year-old lawyer who long ago decided not to run for re-election when his term is up in June 2008, said he will continue his protest "until the troops come home." He said he doesn't mind that his stand is angering some people.

   If you are going to protest the war, by all means do so. But you can do it another way instead of dis-respecting the flag that many have fought and died for!

 

Technorati tags: Mesa, Arizona, Councilman

 

News For Friday Afternoon

Associated Press

Honda   plans to recall 45,335 Civic Hybrid sedans worldwide to repair an electrical defect that could stop the cars' engines, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Japan's No. 2 automaker plans to recall 7,219 of the vehicles sold domestically and another 38,116 sold overseas, mostly in the United States, a Honda spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing company policy.

                    * * * *

Clint Eastwood said he opposed the U.S. decision to go into Iraq

AFP

"I wasn't for going in there," Eastwood said. "Only because democracy isn't something that you get overnight. I don't think America got democracy overnight. It's something we had to fight for and believe in."

                    * * * *

The Washington Times

Rival Palestinian factions signed a power-sharing accord aimed at ending months of bloodshed yesterday, agreeing that the Islamist militant group Hamas would head a new coalition government that would "respect" past peace agreements with Israel.

                    * * * *

    From Think Progress we get this piece on Bill Donohue, the man who cried about John Edwards hiring two blogger's who disagreed with some views on the Catholic group that Donohue heads.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, George Bush’s Catholic outreach coordinator, 54-year-old Deal Hudson, was outed as a sexual predator for taking advantage of a drunken 18-year old while he was a professor. The National Catholic Reporter reported:

According to documents obtained by NCR, Hudson invited a vulnerable freshman undergraduate, Cara Poppas, to join a group of older students for a pre-Lenten “Fat Tuesday” night of partying at a Greenwich Village bar. The night concluded after midnight in Hudson’s Fordham office, where he and the drunken 18-year-old exchanged sexual favors. The fallout would force his resignation from a tenured position at the Jesuit school, cost him $30,000, and derail a promising academic career.

Yet at least one prominent right-wing figure came to Hudson’s defense: the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue, who has spent the last several days calling for the heads of two John Edwards bloggers. Donohue ardently defended Hudson in a statement, even invoking the Virgin Mary in downplaying his sexual assault:

In a press release, Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, minimized the charges against Hudson and attempted a joke at the Virgin Mary’s expense. “Effective today,” Donohue wrote, his organization had “a new requirement for all future employees: all candidates must show proof of being immaculately conceived, that is, they must demonstrate that they were conceived without sin.”

         * * * *

Reuters

US strike kills 8 Kurd soldiers in northern Iraq

Fri 9 Feb 2007

By Ibon Villelabeitia
BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. air strike killed eight Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers and wounded six others in northern Iraq on Friday in what appeared to be a "friendly fire" incident, Kurdish officials said.

The men, who had ignored warnings in Arabic and Kurdish to put down their weapons, turned out to be Kurdish policemen, the military said in a statement, adding that U.S. forces expressed their "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims.

 

Technorati tags: News, Clint Eastwood, Iraq, Donohue, Friendly Fire

 

Former U.S. Interrogator, Eric Fair, Speaks Out

    Meet Eric Fair, a former contract interrogator in Iraq. He has an interesting article in the Washington Post on the nightmares that he suffers through since he  has come home from Iraq. He speaks on the interrogation of one prisoner who was in custody

I was one of two civilian interrogators assigned to the division interrogation facility (DIF) of the 82nd Airborne Division.

The lead interrogator at the DIF had given me specific instructions: I was to deprive the detainee of sleep during my 12-hour shift by opening his cell every hour, forcing him to stand in a corner and stripping him of his clothes.

   Mr. Fair goes on to state that it is he who now can not sleep because of the nightmares with this prisoner's face always in his dream. Mr. Fair has a guilt trip over what went on during the interrogating process.

American authorities continue to insist that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident in an otherwise well-run detention system. That insistence, however, stands in sharp contrast to my own experiences as an interrogator in Iraq. I watched as detainees were forced to stand naked all night, shivering in their cold cells and pleading with their captors for help. Others were subjected to long periods of isolation in pitch-black rooms. Food and sleep deprivation were common, along with a variety of physical abuse, including punching and kicking. Aggressive, and in many ways abusive, techniques were used daily in Iraq, all in the name of acquiring the intelligence necessary to bring an end to the insurgency. The violence raging there today is evidence that those tactics never worked. My memories are evidence that those tactics were terribly wrong.  WaPo Article

  

Technorati tags: U.S., Interogator, Eric Flair

 

 

Secrecy's Dangerous Side Effects

     Common Dreams

Published on Thursday, February 8, 2007 by the Los Angeles Times

When legal settlements allow companies to hide their mistakes, what we don't know can hurt us.
by Richard Zitrin

Drug Giant Eli Lilly & Co. recently settled 18,000 lawsuits brought by people claiming they were injured by the side effects of its biggest-selling drug, Zyprexa, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. But the $500 million in settlements says less about the dangers of the drug than the dangers of secrecy.
About 18 months earlier, Lilly had settled 8,000 other Zyprexa cases for $700 million. But those settlements required the plaintiffs to return all sensitive documents obtained through the legal discovery process to Lilly — a requirement that kept the strongest smoking-gun evidence out of public view. The plaintiffs also had to agree "not to communicate, publish or cause to be published, in any public or business forum or context, any statement, whether written or oral, concerning the specific events, facts or circumstances giving rise to [their] claims."
Lilly had strong motivation to settle. The documents contained evidence that Zyprexa caused large, often enormous, weight gain in many patients, significantly increasing the risk of dangerously high blood-sugar levels and diabetes. They also showed that Lilly knew about the problems in 1999, largely through its own research. Other documents outlined a marketing scheme to encourage physicians to prescribe Zyprexa for elderly patients with early signs of dementia. This strategy not only had no clinical evidence to support it, it promoted an "off-label" use not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a violation of federal law.   Entire Article

    The drug companies have been doing this shit since their first lawsuit, that is why there should be a bill introduced to make this info public knowledge. As it stands now, they pay off the plaintiffs, then continue to market the junk that they put out unless it is pulled by the FDA.

 

Technorati tags: Secracy, Lilly, Zyprexa

 

Nancy Pelosi's Larger Plane Request

    From the AP

House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood:

"The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making nonstop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable. I regret that an issue that is exclusively considered and decided in a security context has evolved into a political issue."

Pelosi said Thursday that she'd be happy to fly commercial.

"We never asked for a larger plane. This is a myth that (the Republicans) are talking about on the floor," she said. "They have nothing to say to the American people about the war, the economy, global warming and the rest. So they have this game they're playing."

   Now that we know who did what, can we get on to something of actual importance? This has been nothing  but the Republicans trying to side-track the real issues.

 

Technorati tags: Nancy Pelosi

 

Gates Says U.S. Can Prove Iran's Role In Iraq

    Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that the military has collected some pretty good proof that the Iranians are involved with providing militants in Iraq with either weapons or technology. He was referring to some serial numbers and some markings that have been found on explosives.

    Gates: " I think there's some serial numbers, there may be some markings on some of the projectile fragments that we found."

    Reporters were supposed to have been briefed on this last week but Gates and the officials higher up had it delayed because they wanted to make sure that the info they would be talking about was accurate.

   We have to ask ourselves if we are going to trust this group of liars. I for one, will not until I see the proof and even then I still will not back an attack on Iran.

    This group (Bush clan) are notorious for cooking up things to go along with their rhetoric and I think that they are just trying to make sure that the facts ( ? ) on Iran can hold up to scrutiny.  The White House is no doubt making sure that their is something to show this time around.

   Also note from the quote by Gates that " I think." That tells me that so far, they know nothing. He should know what the evidence would be unless he actually is as incompetent as Rumsfeld was.

 

Technorati tags: Gates, U.S., Iran, Iraq

 

White House Backs Pelosi Plane Use

   It's been played out in all of the various media entities but I hadn't noticed if anyone had covered the fact that the White House is backing Nancy Pelosi on the use of an airplane to fly to California.

White House spokesman Tony Snow :

"It is important for the Speaker to have this kind of protection and travel. It was certainly appropriate for Speaker Hastert. And so we trust that all sides will get this worked out."

   This has to be a first! Tony Snow actually got one right! I may send him a get well snowball!

Technorati tags: White House, Pelosi

 

House Democrats Planning On Closing Gitmo

    I guess that the top House  Democrats are thinking about a plan to close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, by the end of 2008. there are still a few dozen prisoners there  who would still be stuck there and even tried there.

Yahoo News

Without public notice, Murtha dispatched Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to the detention center at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay on a one-day trip late last month to recommend ways for closing it. Both men said the prison has become counterproductive as the United States tries to win converts overseas in the war on terror.

 

Technorati tags: The House, Democrats, Gitmo

 

Statement On Pelosi's Airplane Trip From House Sergeant At Arms

   I have not said anything about the big -to-do that everyone is making over Nancy Pelosi's airplane rides because, frankly, what's to say? This whole fiasco is just nothing more than the Republicans mouthing off about nothing, as they are so prone to do,

   Anyway. Here is a statement from the  House Sergeant at Arms on how stupid this story is.

For Immediate Release

February 8, 2007

As the Sergeant at Arms, I have the responsibility to ensure the security of the members of the House of Representatives, to include the Speaker of the House. The Speaker requires additional precautions due to her responsibilities as the leader of the House and her Constitutional position as second in the line of succession to the presidency.

In a post 9/11 threat environment, it is reasonable and prudent to provide military aircraft to the Speaker for official travel between Washington and her district. The practice began with Speaker Hastert and I have recommended that it continue with Speaker Pelosi. The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making non-stop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable. This will ensure communications capabilities and also enhance security. I made the recommendation to use military aircraft based upon the need to provide necessary levels of security for ranking national leaders, such as the Speaker. I regret that an issue that is exclusively considered and decided in a security context has evolved into a political issue.

    Can we move on to the important things now?

 

Technorati tags: The House, Nancy Pelosi

3 More illegal Immigrants Killed In Arizona

   From the AP:TUCSON, Ariz. - Gunmen stopped a pickup truck full of illegal immigrants, shot some and took the rest captive Thursday in an attack that left at least three men dead and two people wounded, authorities said.

The men shot three people, one fatally, along a known smuggling corridor near Tucson, then forced several other immigrants in the group to leave with them, Pima County sheriff's officials said.

The crime was similar to a robbery Wednesday night more than 70 miles south, near the Mexican border, said Rick Kastigar, the Pima County sheriff's criminal investigations chief. In that incident, four men carrying assault weapons and wearing ski masks robbed 18 immigrants, but no one was reported injured.

   I am against letting the illegal's into this country and I can understand how the residents in and around Tucson feel, being from there originally. If these are actual American citizens doing this crap, then they should be locked up for a long time. If it is the Mexican gangs and the smugglers doing this, then they should be executed. There is no call for this kind of shit.

 

Technorati tags: Illegal Immigrants, Arizona, Tucson

 

A New Alternative to Escalation and 'Stay The Course'

      The 71-member  Congressional Progressive Caucus, largest  ideological grouping of House Democrats, released a detailed policy statement on the war in Iraq on Wednesday. It is posted below for those who may not have seen it.

Over the last four years, the insurgency in Iraq has strengthened and sectarian violence has increased. Furthermore, the current situation on the ground in Iraq is grave and rapidly deteriorating. The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) has determined accordingly that a predominantly military approach is no longer a viable solution to stabilizing Iraq.

We are committed to bringing all of the US troops and military contractors in Iraq home in a six-month time frame as part of a fully-funded redeployment plan.

More specifically, we oppose sending additional US troops and military contractors to Iraq and favor binding votes to block President Bush's escalation of US military involvement in Iraq.

We believe all appropriations for US military involvement in Iraq must be for the protection of our troops until and during their withdrawal within six months of the date of enactment of this limitation and accelerating the training and equipping of additional Iraqi security forces during that six-month time frame. The President has left the Congress few alternatives other than to use the power of purse spelled out in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution to curtail U.S. military operations in Iraq.

Finally, we are opposed to establishing any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, support rescinding the President's Iraq war authority, and support greater diplomatic and political engagement in the region, while ensuring that the Iraqi people have control over their own petroleum resources.

The Nation

   This sounds like a very good alternate plan to me and I'll bet to many others also.

    Now, if we can just get President Dickhead and Vice President Buttmunch to admit that there are other alternatives other than ' staying the course ' or a troops escalation. I seriously doubt that will happen. Cheney has to help Halliburton make up some of that money that the government withheld from them.

 

Technorati tags: Escalation, Bush, Stay the Course

 

Senate Panel Reacts to Attorney Firings

Go to Original

   Crossposted from Truth Out

Senate Panel Reacts to Attorney Firings
    By Laurie Kellman
    The Associated Press

    Thursday 08 February 2007

    Washington - A Senate panel advanced a bill Thursday to curb the Justice Department's power to replace federal prosecutors indefinitely, after seven forced resignations sparked accusations of political favoritism.

    The Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to send the measure to the Senate floor.

    "I'm going to do everything I can to get it to the floor next week," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

    Three Republicans, Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Orrin Hatch of Utah, joined all the panel's Democrats in backing the bill.

    U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and may be dismissed for any reason, or no reason at all. It's the process of replacement that, the bill's proponents argue, should prevent political cronyism.

    Sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the measure would strip a provision in the antiterror Patriot Act that gave the attorney general new power to replace fired U.S. attorneys indefinitely, avoiding the Senate confirmation process.

    Feinstein's bill would allow the attorney general to appoint interim U.S. attorneys for 120 days. If after that time the president has not sent up a nominee to the Senate and had that nominee confirmed, then the authority to appoint an interim U.S. attorney would fall to the district court, according to Feinstein's office.

    The bill would apply to any interim U.S. attorneys who have not received confirmation, including those appointed to replace the seven prosecutors who have been fired since the Patriot Act reauthorization went into effect, according to a spokeswoman for Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

    The Justice Department opposes the bill, saying the attorney general's authority to choose prosecutors should not be handed over to courts.

    "We are disappointed by congressional efforts to restrict our ability to appoint our own employees for temporary periods of time while a permanent nominee is selected," said agency spokeswoman Tasia Sciolinos.

    Senate Democratic leaders sent Gonzales a letter Thursday asking him to publicly answer several questions about the matter, including any role that presidential adviser Karl Rove might have had in replacing Arkansas U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins with former Rove adviser Tim Griffin.

    Senate Democrats accuse the administration of slipping the provision into the Patriot Act reauthorization that took effect last March with the intent of circumventing the Senate confirmation process and rewarding political allies. Specter, who wrote the reauthorization as chairman of the committee, says he was unaware of that provision and opposes it.

    They cite the firings since March of seven U.S. attorneys from Arkansas to California, some without cause, as evidence that the administration is punishing prosecutors whose work targeted Republican allies and rewarding those faithful to the GOP.

    Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has staunchly denied that charge and promised to submit every replacement for Senate confirmation. He has said district court judges are sometimes not qualified to appoint federal prosecutors.

    Earlier this week, his deputy, Paul McNulty, told the panel that some of the ousted prosecutors were fired for performance-related causes he would not describe, while others were asked to leave without cause.

    Democrats pounced, demanding the performance reports of all seven dismissed prosecutors and threatening to subpoena them. McNulty cautioned that the reports might not detail any reasons for dismissal.

    The panel's action came a day after one of those fired, former U.S. Attorney John McKay of Washington state, said his resignation was ordered by the Bush administration without explanation seven months after he received a favorable job evaluation.

    "I was ordered to resign as U.S. attorney on Dec. 7 by the Justice Department," McKay, who led the Justice Department's Western Washington office, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "I was given no explanation. I certainly was told of no performance issues."

    The Seattle Times reported Thursday that in his last performance review, McKay received a highly favorable report from a 27-member team from the Justice Department's Evaluation and Review Staff.

 

Technorati tags: Senate, Attorney Firings, McKay

Former U.S. Attorney John McKay Says He Was Forced To Resign

  The AP says that former U.S. Attorney John McKay  was ordered to resign by the Bush administration just seven months after getting a positive job review.

John McKay:

"I was ordered to resign as U.S. attorney on Dec. 7 by the Justice Department. I was given no explanation. I certainly was told of no performance issues."

Robert Lasnik, the chief federal judge for the Western District of Washington, said he and fellow judges could not understand the firing and were dismayed that the Justice Department implied there was anything wrong with McKay's performance.

"This is unanimous among the judges: John McKay was a superb U.S. attorney," Lasnik said. "For the Justice Department to suggest otherwise is just not fair."

   You will recall that a provision added to the reauthorization of the Patriot Act gives the attorney general the right to appoint U.S. attorneys for as long as they wish without Senate confirmation.

    This is just another way for Bush to reward his loyal minions, once again.

 

Technorati tags: U.S. Attorney, John McKay, Bush

 

John Edwards Rises To The Occasion With Blogger's

   On Wednesday, the press made a big issue of the two blogger's that John Edwards had hired for his staff. As you may recall, Bill Donohue was upset because the blogger's posted some comments about a Catholic group, which Mr. Bill did not like so he demanded Edwards fire them.

    Edwards did the right thing.

Daily Kos

by Trapper John

Thu Feb 08, 2007

The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word. We're beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can't let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.

 

Technorati tags: John Edwards, Bill Donohue, Bloggers

 

U.S. Army Not Paying Halliburton $19.6 Million

    The U.S. Army says that it is withholding $19.6 million from Halliburton over a breach of contract.

   It looks like Halliburton hired Blackwater USA to provide armed security guards in Iraq. That is a big no-no.

The Army has said that its contracts with Halliburton, generally bar the company and its subcontractors from using private armed guards. Halliburton has a different point of view, of course.

   This was announced at a hearing of the House Government Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

    Maybe that is a little cash that at least one of Bush's war profiteering corporations won't get its hands on for a change.

 

Technorati tags: U.S., Army, Halliburton

 

Jerry Falwell Looking Forward To 2008

Reuters

DALLAS (Reuters) - His influence may be diminished but his zeal is undaunted. Evangelist Jerry Falwell is on a mission to keep a like-minded Republican in the White House and get at least one more conservative judge on the Supreme Court.

Despite his years in the trenches of America's culture wars, Falwell -- who founded the Moral Majority political movement in 1979 and helped propel the rise of the religious right -- said a major victory in his broader crusade to restore the country's moral righteousness has so far eluded him.

With abortion still legal, prayer banned in public schools and pornography rife, he sees a long struggle ahead. For now, he is focusing on voter registration drives and rallying the faithful with his eyes on the twin prizes of the 2008 presidential election and control of the Supreme Court.

  Someone must have turned the rock that he was under back over and let him out again. All we need is more  of the religious right putting their paws all over politics once again.

   This is one of Bush's favorite groups so it is a good thing that we will not have to worry about Bush bending to their will after 2008. That is, if Bush hasn't declared marshall law because of our wars with Iraq, Iran, and whoever else he decides to attack.

 

Technorati tags: Jerry Falwell, 2008, GOP

 

Ayatollah Threatens Retaliation If Iran Attacked

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went mouthing off at the United States on Thursday saying that he would strike U.S. interests all over the world if the U.S. attacks Iran.

Tehran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif said that the U.S. was reaping "the expected bitter fruits of its ill-conceived adventurism. He went on to say,"But rather than face these unpleasant facts, the United States administration is trying to sell an escalated version of the same failed policy. It does this by trying to make Iran its scapegoat and fabricating evidence of Iranian activities in Iraq."  AP

   Of course, Bush crime Family says that it does not intend to attack Iran, but those of us who are use to Bush and his crap know better. It is just a matter of time.

Speaking to a gathering of air force commanders, Khamenei said: "The enemy knows well that any invasion would be followed by a comprehensive reaction to the invaders and their interests all over the world."                                                              "Some people say that the U.S. president is not prone to calculating the consequences of his actions," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television, "but it is possible to bring this kind of person to wisdom."                            "U.S. policymakers and analysts know that the Iranian nation would not let an invasion go without a response," Khamenei added.

    We already know that Bush and the boys have probably cooked up a fantasy attack by Iran on a civilian plane or some other object so that Bush will have an excuse for attacking.

 

Technorati tags: Ayatollah, Iran, Attack, Bush

 

Iraqi Health Ministry Official is Detained, Mormon Mitt Romney as President,and Tim Russert at Libby's Trial

   I have been up all night so this is going to just be a short round-up of the latest news for Thursday morning. Computers can be so annoying sometimes.

    From the Associated Press:

February 8,2007

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces on Thursday detained a senior Health Ministry official accused in alleged corruption and infiltration of the ministry that has funneled millions of dollars to Shiite militiamen blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in the capital, the U.S. military said.

                                         * * * *

    From New York Times:

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: February 8, 2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — As he begins campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is facing a threshold issue: Will his religion — he is a Mormon — be a big obstacle to winning the White House?

  Polls show a substantial number of Americans will not vote for a Mormon for president. The religion is viewed with suspicion by Christian conservatives, a vital part of the Republicans’ primary base.

                            * * * *

From Washington Post:

Journalist Says He Learned Plame's Role After Leak

By Carol D. Leonnig and Amy Goldstein

Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 8, 2007

Tim Russert, the Washington bureau chief for NBC News, yesterday swiftly and firmly rejected I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's assertion that the journalist revealed the identity of an undercover CIA officer to him during a telephone call in the summer of 2003.

Testifying as the final, and perhaps most critical, prosecution witness in the perjury trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Russert recounted their conversation that July and how a "very agitated" Libby called to complain about MSNBC's "Hardball." Russert said that the subject of the CIA officer, Valerie Plame, never came up and that he could not have told Libby anything about her.

 

Technorati tags: Iraqi Official, Mitt Romney, Tim Russert, Libby

 

McConnell and Reid Blasted By Seven Republican Senators

   This comes after the fiasco with the Senate not being able to pass any kind of resolution dealing with Bush's troop escalation.

   Apparently there was alot of in-fighting going on over this resolution so these seven voted to shelve the entire thing until the fine folks can grow up and deal with it.

    Here's the letter in PDF form and here's what the letter says:

February 7, 2007

The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader

The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader

The Honorable Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader

The Honorable Trent Lott, Assistant Republican Leader

United States Senate -- Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Leader Reid, Leader McConnell, Senator Durbin and Senator Lott:

The war in Iraq is the most pressing issue of our time. It urgently deserves the attention of the full Senate and a full debate on the Senate floor without delay.

We respectfully advise you, our leaders, that we intend to take S. Con. Res 7 and offer it, where possible under the Standing Rules of the Senate, to bills coming before the Senate.

On January 10,2007, the President stated, with respect to his Iraq strategy, "if Members have improvements that can be made, we will make them. If circumstances change we will adjust." In a conscientious, respectful way, we offered our resolution consistent with the President's statement.

We strongly believe the Senate should be allowed to work its will on our resolution as well as the concepts brought forward by other Senators. Monday's procedural vote should not be interpreted as any lessening of our resolve to go forward advocating the concepts of S. Con. Res. 7.

We will explore all of our options under the Senate procedures and practices to ensure a full and open debate on the Senate floor. The current stalemate is unacceptable to us and to the people of this country.

Sincerely,

Olympia Snowe

John Warner

Chuck Hagel

Susan Collins

Norm Coleman

Gordon Smith

George Voinovich

 

Technorati tags: McConnell, Reid, Republican, Senators

 

United States Constitution and Bush's Crimes

    This is only a few bits and pieces and some of the violations that the Bush Crime Family have more than likely taken part in. There will be more forthcoming.

 

United States Constitution   From Cornell Law School

Article I

Section 3

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Article II

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article I

Section 8

    ( The Congress )

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.                                                   

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

 

Technorati tags: U.S., Constitution, Bush, Crimes

 

White House Seeks Iraq War Funds For 2008

    The weasels in the White House are going to ask Congress for $100 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan this year in addition to the $70 billion that is already in the till. On top of that, Bush is seeking $145 billion for 2008!

   I'm just wondering why he needs the cash for 2008 unless he intends to still have us in these places. Either that or he and his corporate crooks are going to funnel it into their pockets somehow.

The Nation  Ari Berman

The costs of Iraq and Afghanistan aren't even included in the $481 billion the Pentagon demands for 2008, a 10 percent raise over this year. Total these figures up and Bush is asking for roughly $745 billion in defense spending, a higher number, when adjusted for inflation, than the entire cost of the Vietnam War.

Just pause and consider the size of that number. Three-quarters of a trillion dollars and Osama bin Laden is still at large, the Taliban are regrouping in Afghanistan and the US military is stuck in a civil war in Iraq.

"We have the largest Pentagon budget since World War II, but we are losing to an opponent in Iraq that spends less over an entire year than what we spend in one day," says Winslow Wheeler, a longtime defense expert at the Center for Defense Information.

   One of these days, when I grow up, I want to be a war profiteer like George Bush is!

    We can only hope that the Congress tells Bush where he can go and what he can do with himself. There is no reason to fund this mess with this kind of money just so the U.S. can continue to lose its troops in a civil war and we get no return on the investment.

                  IMPEACH! INDICT! IMPRISON!

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, War, Funds, 2008, White house

 

Iraq Scams, Another Downed Chopper and Other News

   From BBC:

Five charged over US Iraq 'scam'

The group are alleged to have run the scam for two years

A US court has charged three reserve army officers and two civilians with using millions of dollars of Iraq reconstruction money for personal gain.

The group are accused of directing at least $8m (£4m) to a construction firm run by a US businessman in return for luxuries such as cars and jewellery.

The officers were responsible for supervising how some $26bn was spent on reconstruction projects in Iraq.

One man has already been jailed and another awaits sentence over the scam.

                       * * * *

BBC:

US helicopter crash kills seven

The US military has lost dozens of helicopters over Iraq

A US Sea Knight helicopter has gone down near Baghdad, killing all seven crewmembers and passengers on board, the US military has said.

It said the cause of the crash - the fifth such incident this year - was being investigated.

It come three days after the US said ground fire apparently caused the four previous helicopter losses, which claimed 20 lives.

                           * * * *

BBC

Bremer quizzed over cash for Iraq

The former head of the US-led civilian administration in Iraq has defended his decision to send billions of dollars in cash to Baghdad in 2003 and 2004.

Paul Bremer told a Congressional committee investigating allegations of waste and fraud that he had done his best to kick-start Iraq's economy.

The funds came from Iraqi oil revenue and previously frozen assets.

Much of the money went missing and critics say there was no system to track how it was used.

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, U.S. Chopper, Bremer

 

News Hounds Blast Neil Cavuto

   I really love the people over at News Hounds, the people who watch FoxNews so that we don't have to!

   Here is a piece from them, just for you!

The Original

Memo to Neil Cavuto: Go to Iraq and Show Us All the Good Things You Claim the "Liberal Media" is Ignoring

Reported by Melanie - February 7, 2007

The first segment today (February 7, 2007) on Fox's "business news" show, Your World w/Neil Cavuto, was essentially a repeat of segments Cavuto has been airing several times a week for the last few months: The "liberal media" is, (1) trying to bring down poor George by not reporting how good the economy really is, or it's (2), demonizing our troops by not reporting all the good things that are happening in Iraq.

Cavuto's guest was Vince Micco, alternatively identified as a sergent in the U.S. Army (Ret.) and as a "counter-intelligence agent." We know Micco as a Republican who ran for Congress last year who Fox practically endorsed.

Cavuto, broadcasting from Pebble Beach, California, opened the show and the segment with:

Well, when a lotta these guys aren't hitting the links, they're hitting the media, wondering why all they hear is bad news about an economy they say is soaring and even an Iraq war a lot of them insist, you know, we aren't losing. The trouble they say is you wouldn't know it reading the day's headlines or looking at the day's images. ... Well, Army Sergeant Vince Micco says it is part of a widespread media agenda to demonize our troops.

A baby-faced Micco came on and said he was in some "pretty volatile areas in Iraq," but nothing affected his sleep after he "got home though, like the media's coverage." For "every bad story that we're force-fed night after night on television or read every day in the paper and the New York Times, there are 99 heartwarming stories about what a blessing the U.S. troops are to the people in Iraq."

Unphased by the huge ratio of bad versus good stories, Cavuto said, "It's not so much that we see these images. I don't even mind that. I think what's causing some consternation in the military is that these are the only images certainly that Americans are subjected to. I don't see a similar zeal on the part of a number of major U.S. newspapers to show good stuff. You know, either helping kids, building schools, building bridges, building hospitals; the kind of stuff that I know guys like you were and are doing."

Of course Micco, who spent a year in Iraq, agreed: "Neil, these children in Iraq love us...I was treated like a movie star...I don't know how many U.S. dollar bills I pulled out of my pocket as a little gift to these kids...that's the legacy we leave in Iraq." Some of the "gullible" people in Iraq who have "nothing better to do," know that "our television cameras are looking for bloodshed and sensationalism and they wait for the cameras to come by before they detonate that roadside bomb or that suicide bomber pulls a cord" because they "know they're going to be on Al Jazeera," and American TV stations.

In closing Cavuto said, "Well, we'll make sure we cover some of those good images. Sergeant, thank you very much."

Comment: On October 3, 2006 Cavuto aired a segment featuring a wounded Iraq war veteran who complained that there weren't enough jobs available for returning vets. At the end of that segment the guest urged Cavuto to do more "good news" stories about Iraq and Cavuto said he would. It didn't happen. Now again today, Cavuto promises to cover "those good images." I'll be watching. In the meantime Neil, you're "the media." Why don't you gather all the resources News Corp. can muster and get yourself a contingent of Humvees and get your ass over to Iraq and spend a week in country visiting all those hospitals and schools and bridges that we're building. If you're so pissed off about this, do it yourself!

 

 

Technorati tags: News Hounds, Neil Cavuto, Iraq

 

U.S. Didn't Sign The Ban On Disappearing Detainees

   Did you know that on Tuesday, more than 60 countries signed a treaty which bans governments from holding people in secret lockup?

    There were a few countries that did not sign this treaty. Can you guess who a few of them were? Can you say " United States"?  Some of the others were the usual Bush Crime Family European allies.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007 by the Associated Press

"Our American friends were naturally invited to this ceremony; unfortunately, they weren't able to join us," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters after 57 nations signed the treaty at his ministry in Paris.

"That won't prevent them from one day signing on in New York at U.N. headquarters - and I hope they will."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined comment except to say that the United States helped draft the treaty, but that the final text "did not meet our expectations."

McCormack declined comment on whether the U.S. stance was influenced by the administration's policy of sending terrorism suspects to CIA-run prisons overseas, which Bush acknowledged in September.

Many other Western nations, including Germany, Spain, Britain and Italy, also did not sign the treaty. France introduced the convention at the U.N. General Assembly in November and it was adopted in December.  Article

   I can well understand why the Bush administration would not want to sign this treaty. It would be called a criminal defense move on the Bush teams part. To many skeletons in the closet to go along with anything that would be humane and moral.

 

Technorati tags: U.S., Bush, Detainees

 

Mistrial Declared In Watada Court-Martial

   That is some of the best news out today!

   Looks like there was a disagreement over a pre-trial agreement.

    AFP 

Military judge Lieutenant Colonel John Head halted the case involving First Lieutenant Ehren Watada following possible inconsistencies concerning a "stipulation of fact" agreed before the hearing.

A date for a new court martial has been set for March 19.

 

Technorati tags: Watada, Court martial

Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation

    This will be one of those rare times that i make a comment on politics and ' religion '  as far as seperation of church and state is concerned.

    The Supreme Court will soon hear a case on seperation of church and state in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, a case involving the standing (or legal right) of taxpayers to bring a lawsuit challenging federal government expenditures in violation of the Establishment Clause.

From People For The American Way:

The case is a critical one for church-state separation, as the religious right is using it as a vehicle to urge the Court to eliminate taxpayer standing in Establishment Clause cases, which would significantly undermine the ability of Americans to obtain access to the courts to vindicate their constitutional right to religious liberty.
In fact, Pat Robertson's ACLJ has taken direct aim at taxpayer standing in Establishment Clause cases, announcing that it has filed its own "friend-of-the-court brief asking the Supreme Court to put an end to federal taxpayer lawsuits by church-state separationists." According to the ACLJ, "separationists enjoy special privileges by being able to file lawsuits simply because they are 'taxpayers' without having to show they were actually injured in some way by a law or government activity." This of course is not true, as a fundamental purpose of the Establishment Clause is to protect Americans from the injury of being coerced or required, financially or otherwise, to support religious beliefs with which they may not agree.
Perhaps even more radical is the position of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who violated the Constitution by placing a huge monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the state Judicial Building and was kicked off the bench when he refused to comply with a federal court order to remove it. Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law have filed a brief in Hein taking the extreme—and extremely erroneous—position that the Establishment Clause does not even "protect an individual right and cannot be the basis for an individual lawsuit."

    I have no problem with a government official hanging the ten commandments in their office or on the government building itself. I think that the ' banners ' of Christianity should be displayed in government buildings and all of our schools and the thoughts behind then taught to the students every day.

   I do not need Pat Roberts or any of the rest of those clowns telling me when I can or cannot sue for my ' religious ' rights and beliefs. This group of idiots would have us all bowing down to just one view, theirs.

    I find that the so-called fundamentalist Christians are far worse than any devil could ever hope to be and should basically be sent into their little corner and told to shut up!

 

Technorati tags: Hein, Freedom, Religion, Church, State

 

Edwards Fires Two bloggers At Urging Of Bill Donohue

    Well it looks as if John Edwards has fired the two bloggers that a Catholic group did not like because of their postings about some of the group's views and meddling.

   According to Salon:

The bloggers, Amanda Marcotte, formerly of Pandagon, and Melissa McEwan, of Shakespeare's Sister, had come under fire from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs. A statement by the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, which called Marcotte and McEwan "anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots," and an accompanying article on the controversy in the New York Times this morning, put extra pressure on the campaign.

Speculation from sources that the two bloggers might be rehired was bolstered by Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, who said in an e-mail that she would "caution [Salon] against reporting that they have been fired. We will have something to say later."

   I do not see Edwards as ever being the President of the United States because he cannot get his priorities right!

    Bill Donohue isn't a stranger to making lousy public comments himself.

Joan Osborne

In 1996, Donohue took issue with singer Joan Osborne over her song "One of Us", which explores the question of what it would be like if God were a normal person. Donohue questioned the point of the song when viewed in light of her own activism. "It is no wonder that Joan Osborne instructs her fans to donate their time and money to Planned Parenthood. It is of a piece with her politics and her prejudices. Her songs and videos offer a curious mix of both, the effect of which is to dance awfully close to the line of Catholic baiting. If even her admirers see something of the sacrilegious in her work, it is hard to maintain that Osborne doesn't have an agenda. It is our hope that she doesn't let her sentiments regarding Catholicism get in the way of whatever artistic abilities she has."

Marilyn Manson

In 2000, Donohue claimed that heavy metal singer Marilyn Manson hated Christianity, including Catholicism. Donohue said, "It is Christianity that [Manson] hates, and it is Catholicism that he hates most of all. This guy is at war with Christ."

Marilyn Manson then responded to Donohue's claim by saying, "I can't possibly be at war with Christ, because your religion killed him and what he stood for. But if you want to be at war with me, bring it on."

On Scarborough Country on February 9, 2006, while commenting on why mainstream American actors like Billy Zane and Gary Busey would star in an anti-American and anti-Semitic film like Valley of the Wolves Iraq, he went further, proclaiming, "Well, look, there are people in Hollywood, not all of them, but there are some people who are nothing more than harlots. They will do anything for the buck. They wouldn't care. If you asked them to sodomize their own mother in a movie, they would do so, and they would do it with a smile on their face."    All from Wikipedia

   So these bloggers are toast over something that they wrote that offended Mr. Donohue. So much for free speech and having an opinion, right?

  Bill Donohue:The most common argument that Donohue receives when he is battling the art community is that all of these artists are protected by freedom of speech. The way to respond to that, said Donohue, is to remind them that freedom of speech applies to Catholics too. "Catholics must fight for their right just like Martin Luther King fought for the rights of the blacks. Other groups complain about images portrayed in art and nobody calls them fascist. Nobody criticized Hillary Clinton for condemning the fact that Julia Roberts was smoking in a recent movie."

   I'm not even going to touch that!

    To read more on Bill Donohue and his intimidation tactics and other crap, go here and here.

 

Technorati tags: John Edwards, Bloggers, Bill Donohue

 

 

Impeachment By The People

  You know that I've been calling for Bush's impeachment. I've been telling you to call your Senators and Congressmen to let them know how you feel about it.

   Here's the same take on it from Alternet

Impeachment by the People

By Howard Zinn, AlterNet. Posted February 3, 2007.

But if sanity is to be restored in our national policies, it can only come about by a great popular upheaval, pushing both Republicans and Democrats into compliance with the national will.

The Declaration of Independence, revered as a document but ignored as a guide to action, needs to be read from pulpits and podiums, on street corners and community radio stations throughout the nation. Its words, forgotten for over two centuries, need to become a call to action for the first time since it was read aloud to crowds in the early excited days of the American Revolution: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and institute new government."

The time is right, then, for a national campaign calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Representative John Conyers, who held extensive hearings and introduced an impeachment resolution when the Republicans controlled Congress, is now head of the House Judiciary Committee and in a position to fight for such a resolution. He has apparently been silenced by his Democratic colleagues who throw out as nuggets of wisdom the usual political palaver about "realism" (while ignoring the realities staring them in the face) and politics being "the art of the possible" (while setting limits on what is possible).

More

  

Technorati tags: Impeachment, Bush, Cheney, The People

 

No Proof Of Beatings At Gitmo

   The United States military said that after investigating claims of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay, they have found no evidence of such abuse happening.

AP

Col. Richard Bassett, the chief investigator, did not recommend disciplinary action against the Navy guards named by Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny, who had said that during a conversation in September they described beating detainees as common practice.

"The evidence did not support any of the allegations of mistreatment or harassment," the Miami-based Southern Command, which oversees Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in southeastern Cuba, said in a statement.

Investigators conducted 20 interviews with "suspects and witnesses," the Southern Command said. The statement did not say whether Bassett interviewed any detainees, including any of the alleged victims.

   The report doesn't say that they interviewed any alleged victims or detainees because the odds are that they did not. If they did do the interviews with victims, it was more than likely ' scrubbed ' from the report.

 

Technorati tags: Gitmo, Beatings, Military