Everyday Life in Baghdad

This is from Zappy; he is a mid-30's fellow with a family in the city. He's been blogging only since April 2006.

"They"

“They” came in more than ten cars, each car had four Armed men in it, they closed the street from both sides, they entered the house and abducted a young man, they put him in the trunk of a Car, I called 130 [reference to the emergency number] six times, continuously the phone rang without any answer.

I was standing in the Roof with my AK-47 and just stared at them.

This is the first time I witness such an event, and I felt so hopeless, they were too many of them.

The specific post of his is here

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The Archive Sure Can Be Fun

Primarily because you can see just how big the lies were. I can't say why I'd saved this article, but when I found it today, it was revealing.

WASHINGTON (March 28) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned Syria on Friday to stop sending military equipment to Iraqi forces, a charge that Mideast nation called "absolutely unfounded."

Rumsfeld said he had "information that shipments of military supplies have been crossing the border from Syria into Iraq, including night vision goggles."

"We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments," he told a Pentagon press conference. He didn't say what the other equipment was, and several senior Defense Department officials said they didn't know.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bouthaine Shaban rejected Rumsfeld's statement as "unfounded and irresponsible."

"He only brings problems for his country and humanity at large," she told Britain's Channel 4 television in a telephone interview from Damascus. "It is an absolutely unfounded, irresponsible statement, just like his statements that brought his country and the allied countries into a terrible war, unnecessary war on Iraq."

Syrian President Bashar Assad has described the military action against Iraq as "clear occupation and a flagrant aggression against a United Nations member state."

Rumsfeld also said that Iraqi militants opposed to Saddam Hussein's regime were streaming into Iraq from Iran, where they had been in exile. He said their presence was complicating U.S. war plans.

Sharing a Pentagon briefing with Rumsfeld, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Iraqi government has lost control of 35 percent to 40 percent of its territory and that allied air forces have supremacy over 95 percent of Iraq's airspace.

Rumsfeld said that Iraqi forces were being helped by shipments from Syria, Iraq's neighbor to the West.

"There's no question but that to the extent that military supplies or equipment or people are moving across the borders between Iraq and Syria, it vastly complicates our situation," Rumsfeld said.

Asked if the United States was threatening military action against Syria, Rumsfeld said: "I'm saying exactly what I'm saying. It was carefully phrased."

"These deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces," the defense secretary added.

Rumsfeld also said that "hundreds" of Iran-backed militants opposed to Saddam's regime, known as the Badr Brigades, were entering Iraq and complicating U.S. war plans drawn up by the on-scene commander, Gen. Tommy Franks.

"To the extent that they interfere with Gen. Frank's activities, they would have to be considered combatants. And therefore we're suggesting they not interfere," Rumsfeld said.

"They are Iraqis....They have been housed in Iran, armed by Iran, sponsored by Iran," Rumsfeld said. "Gen. Franks and the coalition countries are busy, they've got a complicated task. We'd prefer it not be made more difficult by the neighbors."

Rumsfeld and Myers briefed as America's battle plan for Baghdad was taking shape, with U.S. forces now in position to strike the Iraqi capital from nearly all sides - or to mount a siege and wait for Saddam Hussein's regime to fall to internal opposition.

Myers said that Republican Guard units defending the city are ''dug in.''

"They could be consolidating to make a defense. It doesn't make any difference. The outcome is certain," said the Joint Chiefs chairman.

The Bush administration's accusations against Syria follow complaints that Russia had sold anti-tank guided missiles, jamming devices and night-vision goggles to Iraq.

The administration has faulted the Russian government for lack of oversight of Russian firms and for not interdicting the shipments. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied the allegations.

While Rumsfeld did not identify the source of the technology, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that Syria does not manufacture such military equipment and gets most of it from Russia.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he could not confirm that Russia passed on the equipment to Iraq but said that Syria has long been a major conduit for Iraq-bound shipments.

When asked if the shipments from Syria were "state sponsored," Rumsfeld said he wouldn't answer because "it's an intelligence issue."

"They control their border," he added. "We're hoping that kind of thing doesn't happen."

As sporadic battles raged between American infantry and defiant Iraqi troops and paramilitary guerrillas, more armor and at least 100,000 reinforcing U.S. and allied troops are on their way to join the coalition force over the next few weeks.

In the interim, the American game plan is simple: bombs, bombs and more bombs.

The Army's senior ground commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace of V Corps, told reporters of The New York Times and The Washington Post on Thursday that unexpected tactics by Iraqi fighters and stretched supply lines were slowing down the campaign. "The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against," the papers quoted Wallace as saying during a visit to the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in central Iraq.

Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, at the daily briefing at U.S. Central Command in Qatar, insisted U.S. war planners had not underestimated Iraqi fighting capabilities, but said unexpected developments were inevitable in any war. He accused the Iraqis of using "terrorist death squads" who changed in and out of civilian clothes.

Meanwhile, a U.S. official involved in military planning and intelligence said Iraqi troops have been spotted between U.S. and Iraqi lines wearing full chemical protection suits and unloading 50- gallon drums from trucks. U.S. intelligence doesn't know what was in the drums, but fear it could be chemicals.

Officials have said that the closer invading forces get to Baghdad, the higher the possibility that a cornered regime will launch an attack with chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam as denied he has.

AP-NY-03-28-03 1558EST

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Update On the Unbelievable

Yesterday, we posted something we found hard to believe. Now we know why we were skeptical.

U.S. arrogant, stupid in Iraq: American diplomat
Last Updated: Saturday, October 21, 2006 | 10:59 PM ET
CBC News

A senior U.S. diplomat has criticized his country's role in Iraq as President George W. Bush said the United States is still expecting to win the war, but is changing its tactics.

"We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," Alberto Fernandez, an Arabic-speaking diplomat in the State Department's bureau of Near Eastern affairs, said on Al-Jazeera television on Saturday.

An administration official wondered whether the translation was accurate, the Associated Press reported. The unidentified official said Fernandez was not repeating the administration position.

Earlier Saturday, Bush met with Pentagon generals to discuss the situation in Iraq, which is perceived to be getting worse — three marines and at least 18 civilians were killed Saturday — and has become an issue in the U.S. midterm elections, set for Nov. 7.

More recent reports suggest that the White House is not very happy with Mr. Fernandez and make adamantly clear that 'stupid' and 'arrogant' are not in their vocabulary, at least not when characterizing themselves and their foreign policy in Iraq. Read the complete CBC article here.

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This Can't Be Good

Sudan Orders U.N. Envoy to Leave Country
By MOHAMED OSMAN
AP

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Oct. 22) - The Sudanese government Sunday ordered the chief U.N. envoy out of the country after he wrote that Sudan's army had suffered major losses in recent fighting in Darfur.

Jan Pronk was given 72 hours to leave -- an order that is likely to complicate international efforts to halt the killings, rapes and other atrocities in the strife-torn region of western Sudan.

"The presence of the United Nations is vital to hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Darfur region," said a European Union spokesman, Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, in Brussels.

In a statement distributed by the official Sudan News Agency, the country's Foreign Ministry accused Pronk of demonstrating "enmity to the Sudanese government and the armed forces" and of involvement in unspecified activities "that are incompatible with his mission."

In New York, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Kofi Annan had received a letter from the Sudanese government asking that Pronk be removed from the post.

"The secretary-general is studying the letter and has in the meantime requested that Mr. Pronk come to New York for consultations," Dujarric said.

Read the rest of it here. If you'd like to follow up on Pronk's perspective, he maintains a Web log here, and it's interesting reading to say the least.

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From a Frequent Correspondent

Hunter S. Thompson from Baghdad
DahBEED,

Coupla nights ago, I sat down and, anticipating big changes in Iraq verbiage coming out of the White House -- and I swear this was before the newest developments and stories of today (Saturday) -- I fantasized a news conference in the Baghdad Green Zone press room in which Tony Snow (what a great name, huh? -- if you're a Repugnican, ya wanna live in a tony neighborhood, and if you're the White House news flak, ya wanna snow people, and this guy has managed -- for a while -- to do both) -- but anyway, in which Tony Snow, newly arrived from DC, and accompanied by the Bush deputy flunky for whatever at the State Department or the Defense Department or whatever, flanked by Condi Rice and Dick Cheney's least-liked deputy, announces that it is time for fresh blood, a new face, "to lead the Iraqi people, to repair the damage that has been done by terrorists, and to give the Iraqi people hope again, to rebuild back to greatness the greatness that at one time was Iraq..." and so on. In my imagined news conference, Tony goes on and on about the newness of this new great leader who is needed, and it's clear that he has someone literally waiting in the wings as he speaks, and he's gonna bring him out as the new US puppet when he finishes talking about how bold and brave and mainly how fresh a face this new man will be. Rick Redfern is there, as is the resurrected Duke, and the remnants of the once-embedded US news media in bed with the invasion forces, and they're all wondering, "Who can these poor bastards have FOUND who would take the mantle of US lackey, who would willingly subject himself to the ridicule, not to mention the risk, of being seen as a shill and a water boy for the tattered and shredded remnants of The American Dream in Iraq? There is rustling behind the curtain as Snow begins to work towards his crescendo of introductory praise: ".....and this man, whom a year ago, two years ago no one would have dreamed could lead a nation such as Iraq....to the glory....that once was this great nation's destiny.....a man who, though virtually unimaginable as a world-class leader just a few short months ago brings FRESH VISION, FRESH EXPERIENCE, FRESH BLOOD -- er, uh, I mean, FRESH PERSPECTIVE.....to his own beleagured homeland....ladies and gentlemen, I give you a man who stands ready to bring FRESH IDEAS, FRESH SOLUTIONS, NEW AWARENESS, BOLD AIMS to the WORLD STAGE .... ladies and gentlemen, I give you, none other than......(the curtain parts and a tall, erect figure in the olive drab uniform of the old Iraqi armed forces, red felt epaulets glowing, shoes spit-shined, trousers freshly creased, steps out.....for a brief moment there is a collective gasp....as the whisper goes around that he resembles ....perhaps too much....an unbeloved figure in Iraq....but there are shadows from the TV camera lights and his face, for an instant cannot be clearly seen, then he steps fully into the light, and there is a collective and deafening roar of stunned silence: shoe-polish black hair, a salt-and-pepper beard....if he had huge bags under his eyes he would be the spitting image of ....but wait....it IS....the bags are gone, there is just the faintest hint of a smile behind the stolid endurance....it is ....OH............ MY........... GOD.......... NO.......... but yes: IT IS: it is Saddam Hussein.

"Yes," says Tony Snow. "It is the man formerly known as the President of Iraq, who has agreed, in an act of stunning generosity....

He is interrupted. "Tony -- I mean where did you get a name like that, anyway? -- Tony, I am not the former President of Iraq. I am simply the President of Iraq. I have been telling you that for years now. And you, sir, are simply a fool. Now get the fuck out of my country."

Snow sputters; things have again gone off script. Saddam shuts him up with a wave of the hand. "I have arranged for an escort for you and your colleagues as far as precisely half the distance between the last reinforced gates of the Green Zone, and the pitted runway of the Baghdad airport. Good luck to you, Tony, and may the vultures -- who are six steps above you in the moral heirarchy because they do not kill the innocent, only clean their flesh from the roadways -- not die from eating your lie-poisoned flesh."

"But you told us...."

"I told you many things, Tony. Now get out. Maybe you will make it. After all, the good news is, there are people in Iraq who love you."

"Yes?"

"Yes. The bad news, they all are in this room now, and none of them are Iraqis. Go now."

Chaos erupts. All the Americans realize the jig is way up, and rush for the doors. But in their shock, they move like ants in mollasses. And it is too late, anyway. Always was. The entire rear wall of the press room gently falls flat like the stage set it always has been, to reveal a six-deep cordon of the Republican Guard, with AK-47s leveled at the stunned, panic-stricken, would-be escapees. Just as they all expect to die, and as the unmistakable odor of ca-ca running down Tony Snow's well-dressed legs begins to permeate the room, alternate rows of the soldiers bend to the right at the waist, while the ones behind them bend to the left, all in highly-choreographed unison worthy of a Vegas chorus production, while huge speakers blast mega-decibel, well-chosen tunes from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

"Youuuuuuuuuuuuu..... were such foooooooooooools..... Youuuuuuuuuuuuuu...... were such
fo-oooooooooooooooooools....."

Well, more upon request, but I really am ready for the final surprise now because now I truly have seen it all. The degree to which and the scale upon which George W Bush has been chumped by his handler-in-chief Cheney pales anything seen before in history, I believe. The Bushes do not take this kind of thing lightly, or passively. I believe Dick Cheney has seen his last Easter, if not his last Christmas. In fact, I believe that in the next few weeks, we will see the Slipperiest Dick being given a Hobson's choice of exquisite design and uniqueness: he can fly to Iraq to participate in that news conference, and be free to go anywhere in the world and live for a year, if he makes it out of Baghdad, or he can take his chances at Bellevue, going the Lee Atwater route, in what will soon be dedicated and built as the Karl Rove Memorial Wing of Bellevue for the Criminally Insane.

Well, it's late and I'm no longer a night owl.

Later,
"Hunter"

Channelled through David Hamilton.

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Singin' On Sunday?

I wracked my brain and watched umpteen videos on You Tube. I found this a few weeks ago and really had no intention to use it, but I just didn't find anything good to use. Sorry ...

Update: I forgot to mention what this guy is doing -- this is a homemade standup bass made from a cardboard box and some off-the-shelf wire. Pretty inventive fella ... You can read about it here.

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How Many?

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a lightbulb?

The Answer is SEVEN:

1. One to deny that a lightbulb needs to be replaced,
2. one to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who has questions about the lightbulb,
3. one to blame the previous administration for the need of a new lightbulb,
4. one to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of lightbulbs,
5. one to get together with Vice President Cheney and figure out how to pay Halliburton Industries one million dollars for a lightbulb,
6. one to arrange a photo-op session showing Bush changing the lightbulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag,
7. and, finally, one to explain to Bush the difference between screwing in a lightbulb and screwing the country.

h/t to Raed

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US Death Squads

Government Death Squads Ravaging Baghdad
Ali Al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail

BAGHDAD, Oct 19 (IPS) - Death squads from the Ministry of Interior posing as Iraqi police are killing more people than ever in the capital, emerging evidence shows.

The death toll is high - in all 1,536 bodies were brought to the Baghdad morgue in September. The health ministry announced last month that it will build two new morgues in Baghdad to take their capacity to 250 bodies a day.

[snip]

A UN human rights report released September last year held interior ministry forces responsible for an organised campaign of detentions, torture and killings. It reported that special police commando units accused of carrying out the killings were recruited from Shia Badr and Mehdi militias, and trained by U.S. forces.

Retired Col. James Steele, who served as advisor on Iraqi security forces to then U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte supervised the training of these forces.

Steele was commander of the U.S. military advisor group in El Salvador 1984-86, while Negroponte was U.S. ambassador to nearby Honduras 1981-85. Negroponte was accused of widespread human rights violations by the Honduras Commission on Human Rights in 1994. The Commission reported the torture and disappearance of at least 184 political workers.

The violations Negroponte oversaw in Honduras were carried out by operatives trained by the CIA, according to a CIA working group set up in 1996 to look into the U.S. role in Honduras.

The CIA records document that his "special intelligence units," better known as "death squads," comprised CIA-trained Honduran armed units which kidnapped, tortured and killed thousands of people suspected of supporting leftist guerrillas.

Read it here.

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Who Are They Trying To Kid Convince?

U.S. Envoy Cites American 'Stupidity' in Iraq
By HAMZA HENDAWI, AP

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Oct. 21) - A senior U.S. diplomat said the United States had shown "arrogance" and "stupidity" in Iraq but was now ready to talk with any group except Al-Qaida in Iraq to facilitate national reconciliation.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera television aired late Saturday, Alberto Fernandez, director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department offered an unusually candid assessment of America's war in Iraq.

"We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," he said.

"We are open to dialogue because we all know that, at the end of the day, the solution to the hell and the killings in Iraq is linked to an effective Iraqi national reconciliation," he said, speaking in Arabic from Washington. "The Iraqi government is convinced of this."

Read the rest of it here.

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More "War On Terror"

US 'War of Terrorism' extends to Venezuela
By Andy Goodall
Oct 20, 2006, 13:20

On October 17th U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (TX), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations, released a report on border violence in the Southwest. The bulk of the report – 38 pages out of 39 - deals with the increasing violence and influence of Mexican drug cartels operating on the US southern flank and is obviously of great concern for US security and the health of its population from the increasing “drug menace” which is being pushed by more narcotics consumption at home. (See page 32 of the report, and footnote 117)

On October 17th Fox News interviewed McCaul and the next day CNN followed suit. Both interviews allowed McCaul to bring Venezuela into the mix alleging that the Venezuelan government has been issuing ID documents to potential terrorists from Colombia, Cuba and the Middle East, countries which host foreign terrorist organizations.

The source for these revelations is an article written by one Linda Robinson in US News and World Report on October 6th 2003 and can hardly be classified as " "intelligence information." This article is a mix of hearsay and innuendo and when it was published three years ago was part of the campaign to discredit the democratically elected and constitutional government of President Hugo Chávez, who called the article “sewage and disgusting” when questioned about it in 2003.

Robinson provides no hard evidence for her claims in the article which was long since discredited in 2003. The US taxpayer should be asking the question why millions of dollars are spent producing House Subcommittee Reports based on spurious allegations from a paid hack?

At this time in 2003 Venezuelan authorities were issuing ID documents to millions of Venezuelans and foreign residents who did not possess such documents, since it is a constitutional right for everyone to have a legal identity in Venezuela and hence the right to vote in elections. In this context, unidentified US officials stated at that time: “The list easily totaled several thousand," the official says. "Colombians were the largest group; there were more than a thousand of them. It also included many from Middle Eastern `countries of interest' like Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon." The official adds: "It was shocking to see how extensive the list was."

What is not mentioned is that there are at least four million Colombians historically living in Venezuela and the other countries mentioned also have large populations in Venezuela as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. None of this is new. However, it was twisted into a red herring in 2003 and has now been revived by McCaul in his October 17th report.

Read the rest of it here.

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American Elections Are Suspect

California Candidate's Office, Home Raided
Republican's Campaign Sent Intimidating Letters to Hispanics
By PETER PRENGAMAN, AP

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (Oct. 21) - State investigators on Friday searched an office of a Republican congressional candidate whose campaign mailed thousands of intimidating letters to Hispanic immigrant voters.

About 10 uniformed California Department of Justice agents arrived with a search warrant and could be seen opening cabinets, scouring desks and packing up a computer inside the storefront campaign office of Tan D. Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant trying to unseat a popular Democratic incumbent.

Nguyen has acknowledged that his campaign sent the letter, which wrongly said immigrants could be jailed if they voted. He blamed a campaign worker he said he has fired.

Nguyen has resisted calls from leaders in his own party to quit the race, saying he did not approve the letter and did not know about it.

State and federal officials have been investigating the mailing for possible violations of election or civil rights law. "We're aggressively pursuing our investigation to determine exactly who is responsible for the letter," Nathan Barankin, spokesman for the state attorney general's office, said Friday.

Nguyen was not in the Garden Grove office when agents arrived. A volunteer had said he planned to return for a mid-afternoon news conference, but instead his attorney, David Wiechert, arrived and cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"A search doesn't mean the person whose office is being searched is guilty," Wiechert said as about 200 people including journalists, illegal immigration protesters and local Democratic candidates milled outside the office. "This is a political firestorm of high-ranking Republicans and Democrats speculating about an investigation they have no knowledge of."

Here's the rest.

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Cold, Hard Facts, Episode II

We like Today in Iraq at least partly because their motto is:

"There are some who, uh, feel like that, you know, the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is: Bring 'em on. We got the force necessary to deal with the security situation." - George W. Bush, July 2, 2003

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The Saturday Snapshot, and Why

Republican's bin Laden Ad Sparks Furor
Party Hopes to Focus Election on National Security
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Oct. 21) - Republicans unveiled an advertisement on Friday featuring the image and words of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a warning to voters that "these are the stakes" in the November 7 election.

The Republican National Committee ad, first shown on its Web site and scheduled for airing on cable television early next week, also includes images of al Qaeda fighters in training and other al Qaeda leaders.

"What is yet to come will be even greater," the ad quotes bin Laden as saying, before concluding with the words: "These are the stakes. Vote November 7."

[snip]

The bin Laden ad recalls one of the most famous American political ads, the 1964 "Daisy" ad used by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in his race against conservative Republican Barry Goldwater.

It featured a small girl picking a daisy and a countdown to nuclear explosion before an announcer says, "These are the stakes."

Read more about the necessary fear-mongering tactics of the national political parties to defeat the American people and win the election (this year, it's the Repugnican's turn) here.

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Why Do We NOT Believe That Diplomacy Works?

Justifying War with Iran: A False Strategy for Nuclear Nonproliferation
by Patrick McElwee

Six nations have been most frequently mentioned in discussions of nuclear non-proliferation in recent years. Four are known to have nuclear weapons and do not allow U.N. inspections of active nuclear weapon sites. Israel's nuclear stockpile is an open secret. India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons; they conducted highly publicized nuclear tests in 1998, creating a very tense moment between the rivals. This month, North Korea tested a nuclear device.

Another frequently mentioned country, Iran, does not now have nuclear weapons. It actually signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), the international legal foundation of nonproliferation. Iran allows U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities, which it claims will be used solely for civilian power plants – legal under the NPT – and never to create a weapon. No proof has ever been offered that Iran is taking steps to produce a nuclear weapon.

The sixth country, Iraq, was invaded on the pretext of having a serious program to produce nuclear weapons, as well as other weapons of mass destruction, which are now known not to have existed since soon after U.N. inspections began there in 1991.

Yet, leaving out occupied Iraq, the only one of these countries the U.S. is threatening to attack is Iran -- despite the lack of proof that Iran is even seeking a nuclear weapon. In fact, of those five countries, Iran is the only one currently playing by the rules.

The use of nuclear nonproliferation as justification for threats to attack Iran looks like a sham, just as it was shown to be a sham in Iraq.

[snip]

... diplomacy has been shown to work with North Korea. From 1994 to 2002, North Korea actually shut down its nuclear weapons program under an agreement with the United States. However, the United States failed to meet its side of the agreement – shipments of fuel oil to replace nuclear energy until completion of construction of two light-water reactors that could not produce material for a weapon. Yet the North Koreans kept their program shut down until early 2003. They kicked out U.N. inspectors, withdrew from the NPT and began enriching plutonium again. Diplomacy is the only way to defuse the current crisis.

Diplomacy has also been shown to be capable of dissuading Iran from pursuing even peaceful nuclear technology. In July 2004, Iran announced the suspension of uranium enrichment as a sign of good faith in negotiations with the European Union. Those negotiations failed to deliver for Iran, and they resumed uranium enrichment early this year. Even so, Iran has offered ideas for resolving the stand-off, including having a French company conduct the enriching process for Iran. There is every reason to think that there are diplomatic solutions to this situation.

Read the rest of the article here.

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Micael Priest's Birthday Celebration

Saturday, October 21st, is Micael Priest's birthday celebration at the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture. The fabulous MaryAnn Price performs her musical wonderfulness and following that the blazing Three Balls of Fire! Come on out, wish Mr. Priest a happy birthday and have a great time with us at the Museum. Please remember to park on Collier Street and walk over to the Museum. It starts at 7:09 p.m.

For more info, contact the Museum:
South Austin Museum of Popular Culture
1516-B South Lamar Blvd
Austin, Texas 78704

tel: 512.440.8318 email: info@samopc.org url: samopc.org

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Oh, Really?

Troops' Debt a Growing Security Concern
By THOMAS WATKINS, AP

SAN DIEGO (Oct. 20) - Thousands of U.S. troops are being barred from overseas duty because they are so deep in debt they are considered security risks, according to an Associated Press review of military records.

The number of clearances revoked for financial reasons rose every year between 2002 and 2005, climbing ninefold from 284 at the start of the period to 2,654 last year. Partial numbers from this year suggest the trend continues.

The number of troops held back has climbed dramatically in the past few years. And while they appear to represent a very small percentage of all U.S. military personnel, the increase is occurring at a time when the armed forces are stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are seeing an alarming trend in degrading financial health," said Navy Capt. Mark D. Patton, commanding officer at San Diego's Naval Base Point Loma.

The Pentagon contends financial problems can distract personnel from their duties or make them vulnerable to bribery and treason. As a result, those who fall heavily into debt can be stripped of the security clearances they need to go overseas.

While the number of revoked clearances has surged since the beginning of the Iraq war, military officials say there is no evidence that service members are deliberately running up debts to stay out of harm's way.

Read the rest of it here.

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An Autumn Stew for Foodie Friday - R. Jehn

Cabernet Stew and Drop Biscuits (13 October 2001)

The biscuits make a fine complement for the stew, which needs no thickener for three reasons: floured meat, mustard powder, and potatoes.

Cabernet Stew

1 pound beef stew meat, trimmed of excess fat
3 tablespoons flour
Onion salt to taste
Fresh-ground pepper to taste

Put the flour, onion salt, and pepper in a paper bag, shaking a little to mix it. Add the meat in 2 or 3 batches and shake the bag to coat the meat with flour. Shake off excess flour.

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Half a large red onion, chopped
Fresh garlic to taste, minced
1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon wine

Heat the oil on medium-high heat, then add the floured meat. Turning frequently, brown the meat on all sides, then add the onion and garlic. Sauté until the onions are transparent, then add the wine. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup and the alcohol odor is gone.

1 to 1-1/2 cups rich beef stock*
1 large rib celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
5 small Yukon gold potatoes, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons Keen’s mustard powder
1 tablespoon summer savory
Another touch of onion salt and pepper to taste
10 Brussels sprouts, cleaned

Add remaining ingredients, except sprouts, mixing everything thoroughly. Simmer stew for a bit less than 1 hour, covered and stirring occasionally. After the hour, place sprouts on top of stew and simmer for another 20 minutes.

*Note: Two points about beef stock: (1) the stock should be deep brown, and (2) it should be more similar to a thin jelly than a liquid.


Sour Cream and Dill Drop Biscuits

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
3 tablespoons sour cream
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh dill
2% milk (or whole milk) to create a biscuit dough

Preheat oven to 425° F. Mix dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or 2 table knives, cut butter into dry ingredients until thoroughly incorporated. Add sour cream and dill, combine, then add milk to create a sticky biscuit dough.

Grease a baking sheet with butter, then place two-tablespoon “drops” of dough on the sheet, leaving at least one inch between each biscuit. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

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Another (Chilling) Trip to the Archive

The Nuremberg Principles

Principle I. Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment.

Principle II. The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law.

Principle III. The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law.

Principle IV. The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.

Principle V. Any person charged with a crime under international law has the right to a fair trial on the facts and law.

Principle VI. The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:

(a) Crimes against peace:

(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;

(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).

(b) War Crimes:

Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation of slave-labour or for any other purpose of the civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.

(c) Crimes against humanity:

Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.

Principle VII. Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity as set forth in Principle VI is a crime under international law.

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Cold, Hard Facts, Episode I

From Xymphora:

If you take the Lancet study numbers and add to it the Afghanistan numbers, and a few more people dead here and there due to the Bush Administration, and remember that Bush is only three quarters done, you are left with the inescapable conclusion that George Bush is one of the greatest mass murderers in modern times, up there with guys like Pol Pot. Americans finally have something to be proud of!

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Bringing Democracy to the Middle East ...

Iraqi Judge Sentences U.S. Citizen To Death After U.S. Military “Demanded” the Man Be Executed

An Iraqi-born US citizen is in a battle to save his life as he tries to avoid execution in Baghdad. But he’s not up against insurgents groups – he’s up against the Iraqi and US governments.

The man, Mohammad Munaf, was arrested by US troops last year. He was charged with kidnapping three Romanian journalists and holding them hostage for nearly two months. Last week, Munaf was sentenced to death. He’s being held in a US-run prison at the Baghdad airport.

Munaf maintains his innocence. Just weeks ago, it appeared he would be set free. Munaf’s attorneys say the presiding judge promised to dismiss the charges after he concluded there was no material evidence to support a conviction.

But then came a strange intervention. Two US military officers appeared in court to advocate giving Munaf the death penalty. One of the officers claimed to be acting on behalf of the Romanian embassy and said Romania “demanded” Munaf be put to death. The two officers then held a private meeting with the judge – without the defense in the room. When he returned, the judge ruled Munaf was guilty and ordered his execution.

Read it here.

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A Report From 'On the Ground'

This comes from A Star From Mosul, where things haven't been very nice today. She is a young Iraqi blogger whose life has turned upside down from the military action in that country. Further on in her post, she is particularly critical of Iraq the Model, a blog I've long suspected of being a mouthpiece of the US administration. It is interesting to see this independently corroborated.

What's happening?

Mosul is a mess today.. I woke up late today to know that a fuel tanker exploded near the university: A place full of people and shops and cars waiting in the long gas station line, with a police station nearby.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A suicide bomber driving a fuel tanker struck a major police station in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday, killing 12 people and wounding 25, many of them motorists waiting to buy gas at a nearby station, police said.

In the meanwhile, two big explosion happened in my neighborhood today. Many explosions and shooting in several other areas. A total of six car bombs as reported in the news..

In the most sacred month, most sacred day, some people have the heart to kill and orphan and widow.

At least 12 families in Mosul will have sorrow and sadness in Eid, instead of happiness, because someone decided to kill himself in a way many won't forget..

Read the rest here.

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Funeral March to Protest the War in Iraq - Austin, TX

Date: Saturday, Nov. 4th, 1 -3 pm. Rain date is Sunday, Nov. 5th, 1 pm.

Description of Protest: mock, silent, solemn funeral procession (single file) with everyone dressed in funeral black with some women wearing long black veils (we furnish) and some marchers carrying signs (CP to make) saying messages such as "Today We Mourn, Tomorrow We Vote" and "Troops Home Now."

Location: Meet at City Hall Plaza. Route will begin there and head to Congress Avenue bridge where it will go the extent of the bridge to Barton Springs and loop back to city hall. Lots of parking under City Hall.

For more information: Call Deborah of CodePink at 448-3090.

NOTE: To everyone coming: must wear black -- dress like going to a funeral -- no shorts. Dont bring signs -- we furnish them. Please come on time, because the people in the funeral march have to be lined up, veils need to be put on and signs dispersed before we can begin to march -- this takes time. We provide black veils, but you (women) don't have to wear one or you can bring a black hat or scarf if you like. We will put the women in veils up front.

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Kerry Awn

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Army of One

Isn't there a category of Darwin Award for this? Our thanks to Charlie Loving for the illustration.



Lawmaker Wounded in Iraq Wants to Go Back
AP

PARKVILLE, Mo. (Oct. 17) - A state lawmaker shot in the lung while serving in Iraq said he was eager to finish his tour of duty.

"I know without a doubt that it worries my wife," said Rep. Jason Brown, R-Platte City, during a news conference Tuesday at VFW Post No. 7356 in Parkville. "But you know we started something, and years ago I volunteered for service; I joined the Army Reserves. It's a responsibility, and it's a duty that I have.

"I want to go back. I want to be with my team again. I want to complete the tour of duty and then I want to come home."

Read it here, if ya wanna bother.

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The Iraq Trap - D. Hamilton

We are in the midst of the second Iranian hostage crisis. This time the Iranians hold 150,000 or so US and UK troops and assorted cohorts hostage in Iraq. They are abetted in this enterprise by the non-reality based US government policy of "stay the course," which guarantees that the Bush regime won't even consider their only possible way to avoid a humiliating defeat -- "redeployment" to Kurdistan and Kuwait. It calls forth the image of General Pickett urging his men to "stay the course" as they began their assault on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg.

The current situation in Iraq is a ballooning disaster for the US military and it's going to continue to go downhill. They have a matrix-like, self-regenerating dragon by the tail and a delusional commander-in-chief who thinks he's St. George.

It is likely that the US/UK coalition is no longer the largest military force in Iraq. That honor now probably resides with the al-Sadr's Shiite militia. So far, the US is just fighting a Sunni minority-based insurgency while exacerbating a three-cornered civil war raging around it, with a few foreign terrorists in training thrown in. Even with that limited agenda, this month is on track to be the bloodiest month since the invasion for both Iraqis and US forces. Attacks on US forces are rising to several hundred a day. Ten US soldiers were killed in five separate incidents yesterday (Tuesday).

When al-Sadr fought the US in Najaf in 2004, he had tens of thousands of followers. Now he has hundreds of thousands. It would be silly not to assume they are increasingly well-armed by the Iranians and, given the overlap between the Iraqi auxiliary to the US army and the Shiite militias, far better trained by the Americans. al-Sadr's is only the largest of several Shiite militias. So far, except in isolated incidents, the US has not had to fight these increasingly powerful Shiite militias. As a sign of that power, yesterday, the US military was forced to cough up a senior aide to al-Sadr who they had been holding. The recent raids into Baghdad neighborhoods have left Sadr City alone. al-Sadr's boy is the prime minister of the Green Zone "government". al-Sadr is on record as saying that were Iran attacked, his forces would unite in common cause with Iran.

If the Shiite militias ever attacked the US forces, the position of those forces in Iraq would become instantly untenable outside heavily fortified bases supplied by air. How do they say Dien Bien Phu in Arabic? They don't attack now largely because the US remains locked in combat with their traditional enemies, the Sunnis. But that can change.

The most likely potential cause for this de facto non-aggression pact to be broken would be a US or Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. There have been reports of the US moving additional naval battle groups into the area of the Persian Gulf. There have been reports of Israeli politicians exclaiming that Iran poses an "existential threat" to Israel that must be eradicated soon. Add to the intensity of the moment the impending GOP electoral debacle.

Attacking Iran with no cover from the UN seems so insane as to be improbable. No one outside Israel and the Saudi ruling family really likes the idea. The Bush regime knows UN approval is unlikely at any time and they are composed of desperate ideologues whose time is running out, whose version of history isn't playing out as they planned and who are committed to a policy of military preemption based on already existing Congressional approval of the "war on terror." With the Democrats in control of at least one house of Congress and armed with subpeona power, presidential approval ratings stagnant in the 30's and Iraq collapsing on Bush's head, the Bush regime's level of desperation will become unsustainable over the next two years. Their dreams of a new Middle East made over in their image became their worst nightmare where their only real choice is whether to leave before they're forced to do so. Their ideology has trapped them in the embrace of an unwinable cause. We're entering the golden age of Bush bashing, but wounded animals can be the most dangerous and this beast has nuclear weapons galore at the tip of its claw.

The most crucial goal for humanity at this moment in history is to constrain the Bush regime and its Israeli quislings from the desperate act of attacking Iran. That act would insure war in multiple manifestations, some possibly nuclear, from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean and beyond, with domestic repercussions including terrorist attacks to match. While one might wish for the opportunity to watch the empire in its death throes, the potential for collateral damage is without limit.

David Hamilton

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Olbermann on the MCA

'Beginning of the end of America'
Olbermann addresses the Military Commissions Act in a special comment
SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann, Anchor, 'Countdown' MSNBC

We have lived as if in a trance.

We have lived as people in fear.

And now—our rights and our freedoms in peril—we slowly awake to learn that we have been afraid of the wrong thing.

Therefore, tonight have we truly become the inheritors of our American legacy.

For, on this first full day that the Military Commissions Act is in force, we now face what our ancestors faced, at other times of exaggerated crisis and melodramatic fear-mongering:

A government more dangerous to our liberty, than is the enemy it claims to protect us from.

We have been here before—and we have been here before led here — by men better and wiser and nobler than George W. Bush.

We have been here when President John Adams insisted that the Alien and Sedition Acts were necessary to save American lives, only to watch him use those acts to jail newspaper editors.

American newspaper editors, in American jails, for things they wrote about America.

We have been here when President Woodrow Wilson insisted that the Espionage Act was necessary to save American lives, only to watch him use that Act to prosecute 2,000 Americans, especially those he disparaged as “Hyphenated Americans,” most of whom were guilty only of advocating peace in a time of war.

American public speakers, in American jails, for things they said about America.

[snip]

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has said it is unacceptable to compare anything this country has ever done to anything the terrorists have ever done.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has insisted again that “the United States does not torture. It’s against our laws and it’s against our values” and who has said it with a straight face while the pictures from Abu Ghraib Prison and the stories of Waterboarding figuratively fade in and out, around him.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens “unlawful enemy combatants” and ship them somewhere — anywhere -- but may now, if he so decides, declare you an “unlawful enemy combatant” and ship you somewhere - anywhere.

Read the rest here.

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The Last Post Is Nothing ...

... compared to this. I didn't know they made any drug this strong.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) Says That Being In Baghdad Is ‘Like Being In Manhattan’

On Feb. 9, 2006, House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-NY) spoke at the Merrick Jewish Center in Merrick, NY. King told his constituents that “the situation [in Iraq] is more stable than you think.” He cited “bumper to bumper traffic,” shopping centers, restaurants, video stores, vendors, and hotels to conclude that being in Baghdad is “like being in Manhattan.”

Life in Baghdad is nothing like life in Manhattan. There have been 441 murders in New York City so far this year. In contrast, approximately 14,458 Iraqis have died in the war this year according to iCasualties, which counts casualties based on media reports. A study in the British medical journal Lancet suggests the real number may be much higher.

When they think the media aren’t watching, politicians like King are willing to grossly distort the facts on Iraq to their constituents for political purposes.

To read all of it and to see a video of it, click here.

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Absolutely Unfathomable

What planet does this dumb rat bastard live on?

“It is difficult, no question about it, but we’ve now got over 300,000 Iraqis trained and equipped as part of their security forces. They’ve had three national elections with higher turnout than we have here in the United States. If you look at the general overall situation, they’re doing remarkably well.” – Richard B. ‘Dick’ Cheney, interview by Rush Limbaugh, October 18, 2006

Thanks to Matt at Today in Iraq for the quote.

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Riverbend Lives

It was so long that Riverbend was offline that I was truly apprehensive that she'd been killed, arrested, imprisoned, kidnapped ... I am grateful, after reading this young Iraqi woman for over three years, that she is alive. Now we just need to give her her life back.

The Lancet Study...

This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also.

It's very difficult at this point to connect to the internet and try to read the articles written by so-called specialists and analysts and politicians. They write about and discuss Iraq as I might write about the Ivory Coast or Cambodia- with a detachment and lack of sentiment that- I suppose- is meant to be impartial. Hearing American politicians is even worse. They fall between idiots like Bush- constantly and totally in denial, and opportunists who want to use the war and ensuing chaos to promote themselves.

The latest horror is the study published in the Lancet Journal concluding that over 600,000 Iraqis have been killed since the war. Reading about it left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it sounded like a reasonable figure. It wasn't at all surprising. On the other hand, I so wanted it to be wrong. But... who to believe? Who to believe....? American politicians... or highly reputable scientists using a reliable scientific survey technique?

[snip]

For American politicians and military personnel, playing dumb and talking about numbers of bodies in morgues and official statistics, etc, seems to be the latest tactic. But as any Iraqi knows, not every death is being reported. As for getting reliable numbers from the Ministry of Health or any other official Iraqi institution, that's about as probable as getting a coherent, grammatically correct sentence from George Bush - especially after the ministry was banned from giving out correct mortality numbers. So far, the only Iraqis I know pretending this number is outrageous are either out-of-touch Iraqis abroad who supported the war, or Iraqis inside of the country who are directly benefiting from the occupation ($) and likely living in the Green Zone.

Read her full post here.

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From the AFSC

This is a beautiful tune from Robert Cray, one of our all-time great blues musicians. The video is on a theme we can relate to -- please go listen to it here. Here's a snip from the American Friends Service Committee Web site where you can find the Cray video.

New Music Video Features "Eyes Wide Open" Boots

Last November 1, as the sun rose over a farm near Dover, New Hampshire the Eyes Wide Open crew once again began laying out more than two thousand pairs of boots representing the U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq. But this was not a standard stop on the nation-wide tour of AFSC’s acclaimed anti-war exhibit.

The boots were being prepared to play a role in a music video for blues musician Robert Cray’s poignant new song, "Twenty," telling the story of a young soldier, who questions his mission in Iraq, but is killed before his deployment is up.

The video, directed by Robert Cray’s wife, Susan Turner-Cray stars Aidan Delgado, a 23-year-old Iraq-war veteran who served in Nasiriyah and at Abu Ghraib prison, before securing conscientious objector status and returning to the U.S. David Goodman, one of the Eyes Wide Open tour managers, has a cameo role in the video as a Vietnam Veteran.

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