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Latest Articles: War, War, War
A Spineless Opposition: Democrats Continue to Capitulate on Iraq
Post Date: 2007-12-23 06:01:23 by Kamala
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A Spineless Opposition: Democrats Continue to Capitulate on Iraq By ANTHONY DiMAGGIO For those who might still be harboring some doubts, it is now official: the Democratic Party has officially abrogating any responsibility for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Tuesday, December 18, 2007 marked a milestone for the party, as its leaders in the Senate administered a massive slap to the face of an American public that has favored a timetable for withdrawal for the last two and a half years, and has consistently deemed the Iraq war not "worth it" since at least the November 2004 election. The Democratically controlled Senate has voted to grant another $70 billion in funding toward ...
It's Common Sense, Not Pacifism
Post Date: 2007-12-22 08:53:01 by Zoroaster
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December 22, 2007 It's Common Sense, Not Pacifism by Charley Reese I should clarify something during this season when everyone hopes for peace and good will: I am not a pacifist. If war is forced upon us, we have no choice but to fight it. Ernest Hemingway said it well when he observed that there are several things worse than war, and they all come with defeat. I have opposed and still oppose the war in Iraq because, knowing something about the Middle East, I knew it would be futile. I knew we weren't threatened by Iraq. I knew that the war would be a war of aggression on our part. I knew that no clear-cut victory would be possible. Even though there has been some diminution ...
Nothing Can Morally Justify the Invasion of Iraq
Post Date: 2007-12-22 08:40:44 by Ada
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Where is Our Tacitus? Neo-con supporters of the U.S. government's war of aggression against Iraq are undoubtedly holding their collective breath in the hope that U.S. military forces have finally smashed any further violent opposition to their conquest of Iraq. The attitude would then be, "You see, this shows that we were right after all to invade and occupy Iraq and kill and maim hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people." Meanwhile, the Associated Press is reporting that U.S. soldiers have found mass graves next to a torture center north of Baghdad. In the torture center, chains were attached to blood-spattered walls while a metal bed was attached to an electrical shock ...
How Dirtbag Bush Supported
Post Date: 2007-12-22 02:42:06 by robin
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How Dirtbag Bush Supported Our Troops In 2007 Rolling Stone Magazine 12-20-7 1. Required that soldiers discharged early because of battlefield injuries repay their enlistment bonuses. 2. Sent the longest-serving National Guard unit home after 729 days of combat in Iraq - one day shy of the 730 that the soldiers needed to qualify for education benefits. 3. Omitted 20,000 cases of brain trauma from the official tally of troops injured in Iraq. 4. Denied medical benefits to 22,000 veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress by discharging them for having enlisted with "pre-existing personality disorders". http://www.RollingStone.com Rolling Stone Magazine December 27 - ...
Secret Air War Confirmed
Post Date: 2007-12-22 02:37:34 by robin
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A recent (typically apologetic) study by the CSIS of US bombing raids in Iraq and Afghanistan has produced figures that confirm what many of us have been arguing - that the US has drastically escalated its aerial assault on Iraq and Afghanistan, below the radar of the corporate media. You may not have realised by how much, though. These are the figures (click to enlarge):Which statistics, fed into Excel, produce this (click to enlarge):As you can see, both countries have taken a hammering, but Afghanistan in particular has taken the brunt of a massive series of air attacks in part due to the 'risk-transfer' conception of war, in which civilians are to bear the brunt of death and ...
Military Evangelism Deeper, Wider Than First Thought
Post Date: 2007-12-22 02:17:22 by robin
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Military Evangelism Deeper, Wider Than First Thought By Jason Leopold t r u t h o u t | Report Friday 21 December 2007 Soldiers at Fort Jackson Army Base pose with their rifles and Bibles. A Hamas suicide bomber posing with a rifle and a copy of the Koran. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says the two photos show how the infiltration of fundamentalist Christianity in the US military is starting to mirror Islamic fundamentalism. For US Army soldiers entering basic training at Fort Jackson Army base in Columbia, South Carolina, accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior appears to be as much a part of the nine-week regimen as the vigorous physical and mental exercises ...
7 British soldiers killed by the same gun
Post Date: 2007-12-21 19:45:06 by richard9151
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Thursday, December 20, 2007 A single trained marksman is suspected of killing seven British soldiers in separate attacks in Iraq, an inquest heard on Thursday. The sniper's victims are thought to include Cpl Rodney Wilson, who was killed when he was shot in the back while trying to rescue an injured colleague in Basra. Analysis of the bullet which struck him showed it was fired from the same American-made weapon which has been involved in the deaths of six other servicemen in the city. (Oh, this one is hard to figure out alright..... American made weapon, Mossad sniper..... build hatred up....... REAL hard to figure out.) Cpl Wilson's father, Richard, said: 'It's almost ...
Declaring Forever War: Giuliani has surrounded himself with advisors who think the Bush Doctrine didn’t go nearly far enough.
Post Date: 2007-12-21 11:35:08 by aristeides
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Declaring Forever War Giuliani has surrounded himself with advisors who think the Bush Doctrine didn’t go nearly far enough. By Michael C. Desch Like most Americans, I knew little about Rudolph Giuliani, save that he had been the very successful mayor of New York City catapulted to iconic status for his cool-headed demeanor after the Sept. 11 attacks. I was curious about where he stood as a presidential candidate, so in April 2007, I joined nearly 3,000 other Texas A&M faculty and students to hear him speak. After saying some nice things about his host, President George H.W. Bush, Rudy launched into a stemwinder about the “war on Islamic fundamentalist terrorism” ...
Clash of the Worlds (Episode 1 of 3): Mutiny
Post Date: 2007-12-21 11:23:18 by richard9151
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Broadcast October 28th Exploring how past conflicts between a Christian West and Islam can help explain more recent violence. This series looks at three great clashes between a Christian British Empire and Islam. the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the Mahdi uprising in 1880s Sudan and the creation of the state of Israel in the first half of the twentieth century. The first programme tells the story of the Indian uprising in which both sides committed atrocities in the name of their faiths Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 Click for Full Text!
Military Intervention against Iran? -- Implications of the National Intelligence Estimate
Post Date: 2007-12-21 11:18:03 by richard9151
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12/20/07 "ZNet" -- -- The findings of the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) which state "with high confidence" that Iran halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003 clearly represent a major set-back to those arguing for military intervention against Iran in the coming months. However, if unchallenged, it is possible that the report might strengthen the case for military action against Iran in the coming years. By recognising that Iran has no current nuclear weapons programme the findings undermine the central argument of those arguing for tougher sanctions and precipitant military strikes. But the claim that Iran had a nuclear weapons programme in the past not ...
No More Slam Dunks: A reality-based assessment of Iran’s nuclear capability (PHILIP GIRALDI)
Post Date: 2007-12-20 17:18:15 by aristeides
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No More Slam Dunks A reality-based assessment of Iran’s nuclear capability By Philip Giraldi The bombshell National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear program asserted with a “high degree of certainty” that Tehran had abandoned its nuclear weapons in 2003 due to international pressure and as part of a negotiated agreement with the Europeans. The report stated that even if Tehran were to restart its program, it would not have enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon until 2010 at the earliest. The NIE is widely seen as a decisive blow to the neoconservatives and Bush administration hawks who have been advocating a preemptive attack on Iran, depriving them of ...
AP Special Report: Soldier Who Killed Himself in Iraq Had Been Ignored and Mistreated
Post Date: 2007-12-20 16:02:25 by robin
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SANFORD, N.C. -- Pvt. 1st Class Jason Scheuerman nailed a suicide note to his barracks closet in Iraq, stepped inside and shot himself.“Maybe finaly I can get some peace,” said the 20-year-old, misspelling “finally” but writing in a neat hand.His parents didn’t find out about the note for well over a year, and only then when it showed up in a government envelope in his father’s rural North Carolina mailbox.The one-page missive was among hundreds of pages of documents the soldier’s family obtained and shared with The Associated Press after battling a military bureaucracy they feel didn’t want to answer their questions, especially this: Why did Jason ...
NEW YORK CITY, NOV. 25, 1783, EVACUATION DAY (U.S. ARMY ANTICIPATES, FORESTALLS LOOTING IN CAPTURED CITY)
Post Date: 2007-12-20 15:36:35 by aristeides
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General Washington spent most of November at West Point, waiting for General Carleton to set a date for the final withdrawal from New York. The general was a commander in chief with only the ghost of an army – about eight hundred men. He was harassed by Governor George Clinton, who was anxious to make it clear that New York State, not that bankrupt entity, the Continental Congress, was taking possession of New York City and its environs. Having wrecked Congress’s hopes of revenue by voting down the impost, Clinton was acting more and more like the head of an independent state. Washington had to reassure the impatient governor (whom he liked personally) that he would send him ...
Ex-detainees sue Abu Ghraib contractor over notorious torture
Post Date: 2007-12-19 21:40:32 by robin
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Ex-detainees sue Abu Ghraib contractor over notorious torture12/18/2007 @ 11:19 am Filed by Jason Rhyne Alleged torture victims faced no charges; were later released More than 250 former detainees from Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison have filed an amended lawsuit against a private US military contractor they say participated in a conspiracy to commit torture. The head of a human rights group involved in bringing the case told RAW STORY that unchecked abuses of contractors in Iraq are tantamount to a "license to kill." The class action lawsuit, submitted Monday to a Washington, DC, federal court, asserts that employees from contractor CACI International Inc. routinely ...
UPDATE: Blackwater in Another Deadly Baghdad Attack -- on 'NYT' Dog
Post Date: 2007-12-19 15:55:57 by robin
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UPDATE: Blackwater in Another Deadly Baghdad Attack -- on 'NYT' Dog By E&P Staff Published: December 18, 2007 3:40 PM ET updated 10:00 PM BAGHDAD The U.S. embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards -- this time of the New York Times' dog, "Hentish," Reuters is reporting today. The Times was silent about the matter until just after 5:00 p.m. when it reported the incident on its The Lede blog. But staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau told Reuters that Blackwater bodyguards shot Hentish dead last week before a visit by a U.S. diplomat to the Times compound. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said ...
Hearing opens on ex-KBR worker's rape allegation (2ND VICTIM COMES FORWARD AT HEARING)
Post Date: 2007-12-19 15:26:18 by aristeides
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Hearing opens on ex-KBR worker's rape allegation WASHINGTON — A House committee has opened a hearing on a woman's allegations that she was raped and detained while working in Iraq for a contractor. Jamie Leigh Jones was in the House hearing room along with a second woman, Tracy Lee Barker, to tell their stories. Jones, who used to live in Conroe, Texas, says says she was raped by her colleagues and held against her will while working for KBR Inc., a former subsidiary of Halliburton and a large contractor in Iraq. Several members of Congress have criticized the Justice Department and other agencies in the case. They say the agencies failed Jones by not properly investigating ...
What the Jamie Leigh Jones Case Teaches Us (SCOTT HORTON ON CONTRACTOR RAPE CASE)
Post Date: 2007-12-19 15:10:43 by aristeides
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What the Jamie Leigh Jones Case Teaches Us Prepared remarks delivered before a hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary on December 19, 2007. Is America establishing a culture of impunity among its contractors operating in areas of armed conflict? This is the question which a proliferation of reports out of Iraq invites. When I addressed this committee on June 25, I noted that there was a troubling potential that certain categories of contractors would escape accountability altogether because of some issues that exist with the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. I also noted concern that the Department of Justice might not be giving sufficient resources ...
The Bill of Rights Under Bush: A Timeline
Post Date: 2007-12-19 14:56:44 by ghostdogtxn
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Facing Backlash, Blackwater Has a New Business Pitch: Peacekeeping (Is It April First Today?)
Post Date: 2007-12-18 20:23:44 by tom007
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Facing a growing backlash over its operations in Iraq, the private security firm Blackwater is formulating a new business pitch -- to expand into U.N.-style peacekeeping and humanitarian aid. The company is buying a fleet of aircraft and ground vehicles, including its own airship, hoping to win contracts to secure failed states before the U.N. arrives. "We can give what we call one-stop shopping, turnkey solutions," says John Wrenn, who heads Global Stability Initiatives at the newly re-branded Blackwater Worldwide. Linked to several violent incidents in Iraq, including the Sept. 16 shootings in Baghdad that sparked an international media furor and congressional hearings, the ...
'The President Has Accepted Ethnic Cleansing' (Seymour Hersh)
Post Date: 2007-12-17 20:58:17 by tom007
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'The President Has Accepted Ethnic Cleansing' Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has consistently led the way in telling the story of what's really going on in Iraq and Iran. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke to him about America's Hitler, Bush's Vietnam, and how the US press failed the First Amendment. 12/16/07 "Spiegel" --- - SPIEGEL ONLINE: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was just in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Once again, he said that he is only interested in civilian nuclear power instead of atomic weapons. How much does the West really know about the nuclear program in Iran? Seymour Hersh: A lot. And it's been underestimated how ...
Bush to start video chats with Karzai
Post Date: 2007-12-17 20:12:31 by richard9151
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2 hours, 11 minutes ago WASHINGTON - President Bush will soon start holding periodic videoconferences with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a move that reflects growing concern over continued violence that is making this the deadliest year in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. The videoconferences, over a secure link, go along with reviews that the Bush administration and its NATO allies are conducting of their mission in Afghanistan. The reassessments point out a need to find better ways to coordinate the fight against al-Qaida and the hardline Taliban, help Karzai gain greater control outside the Afghan capital of Kabul and curb opium cultivation that bankrolls insurgents. ...
US Army loses another 12,000 guns and trucks
Post Date: 2007-12-17 18:48:22 by richard9151
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The US military in Iraq has lost track of another 12,000 weapons, including more than 800 machine-guns, and everything from 2100 new electricity generators to half a dozen garbage trucks. The latest gap in record-keeping follows a report by the US government's accountability office in the summer which revealed that 190,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and automatic pistols earmarked for Iraqi government forces had gone astray in 2004 and 2005 and could be in insurgent hands. The US Defence Department said an audit between March and May this year could trace only £41m-worth of armoured vehicles and other equipment worth more than £500m which was supposed to be part of ...
Happy Christmas (War Is Over)
Post Date: 2007-12-17 18:04:06 by Ferret Mike
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General urges caution in Baghdad pullout
Post Date: 2007-12-17 17:53:04 by richard9151
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7 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Though violence in Iraq has declined, withdrawing U.S. troops too quickly would spell failure in some parts of the capital, a top general said Monday. Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, commander in Baghdad, said progress made toward securing the city in recent months is "fledgling, fragile and not guaranteed." He said that although violence is down, it has dropped because the troop buildup ordered by President Bush in January has made it possible to have a "force presence that is almost throughout the city" — that is, coalition and Iraqi forces, supplemented by so-called "Concerned Local Citizens." "There is absolutely a risk of ...
U.S. and allies review Afghanistan war as attacks soar
Post Date: 2007-12-17 17:49:57 by richard9151
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Mon Dec 17, 2:27 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faced with a strengthened Taliban and signs al Qaeda is regrouping in its former stronghold, the United States and NATO are conducting a wide-ranging review of operations in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said on Monday. The reviews touch on all areas of the U.S. and NATO missions, including counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics operations, U.S. officials said. One of the reviews is being conducted by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. But some officials warned against comparing these reviews to last year's comprehensive U.S. military review of the Iraq ...
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