killing civilians for sport

a disgusting, blood curdling report in the washington post: a rogue army platoon with a penchant for "hashish and alcohol," charged with randomly targeting and killing afghan civilians for sport, dismembering and photographing corpses, and hoarding a skull and other human bones.

will this do for afghanistan what abu ghraib did for iraq?

it's easy when you don't feel the heat

not enough has been made of the fact that the anti-islam, muslim bashing that's been ratcheted up over the last few weeks could actually put our fighting men and women in more danger. this is often the cry from the right, when liberals or moderates question things like the reasons for going to war, for continuing to support war, for not ending war: "they don't support the troops!"

now, huffington post reports that some of those fighting men and women are sounding off against that rhetoric

A small but growing group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have signed onto an open letter which calls on the American public to respect "the values we risked our lives to protect" and to avoid endangering the mission -- and safety -- of U.S. forces in the Mideast.

"America, you gotta have our back," reads the letter. "Those who would vilify and target Muslims on grounds of their religious belief not only show a deep disrespect for American values, but put American lives at risk. It's easy to burn a Koran when you won't feel the heat."

confession of a war criminal

andrew sullivan reports that during an interview with abc new's jonathan karl sunday morning, former vice president dick cheney confessed to a war crime which has no statute of limitations and for which the penalty under law is either death or life in prison.

These are not my opinions and they are not hyperbole. They are legal facts. Either this country is governed by the rule of law or it isn't. Cheney's clear admission of his central role in authorizing waterboarding and the clear evidence that such waterboarding did indeed take place means that prosecution must proceed.

the revolution will be televised twittered

this is why i twitter. there was a major news story happening all day today, but you would never have known from watching cnn, msnbc, or fox news. in fact, the most current, up-to-the-minute information could be found via twitter.

while cnn was airing a pair of waterskiing squirrels, and larry king's in depth interview with the crew from american chopper, an election in iran was more than likely stolen, there were massive riots in the streets, reports of 50-100 dead, major clashes with police, and the opposition candidates were placed under house arrest.

and some of the best coverage of the day came not from the mainstream media, but from blogger andrew sullivan.

"...and every indecency."

“The mere description of these pictures is horrendous enough, take my word for it."

so says major general antonio taguba, the former army officer who conducted the 2004 inquiry into the prison at abu ghraib. taguba retired in january 2007 and says he supports president barack obama's decision to not release the additional photos.

taguba is correct. the descriptions alone are horrendous.

mancow-ard gets "water on his face"

conservative chicago shock jock erich "mancow" muller gets waterboarded to prove that waterboarding isn't torture. "i wanted to prove it wasn't torture," muller said. "they cut off our heads, we put water on their face... i really thought 'i'm going to laugh this off.'"



whatever you think of muller, he gets credit for actually going through with this, unlike a certain fox news personality.

things we now know we didn't know

"It is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."

1 peter 2:15

that bible passage appears under the title secretary of defense – worldwide intelligence update and over a photograph of saddam hussein on one of many similar department of defense intelligence briefing memos generated during donald rumsfeld's tenure as secretary of defense. many in the pentagon privately worried that "if these covers were leaked during a war conducted in an Islamic nation, the fallout—as one Pentagon staffer would later say—'would be as bad as Abu Ghraib.'”

that and much more on rumsfeld, his relationship with george w. bush, the war in iraq, and the administration's response to hurricane katrina in a new must-read in GQ magazine.

the first in eighteen years

air force personnel carry the remains of staff sgt. phillip a. myers on dover air force base, deleware, sunday april 5. myers, of hopewell, virginia, died on april 4th from injuries suffered from an i.e.d. near helmand province in afghanistan. this scene has played out nearly 5000 times since the beginning of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. eighteen years ago, george h.w. bush banned the media from photographing the caskets of u.s. soldiers.

no outcome but victory will be accepted

on wednesday, march 19, 2003 u.s. president george w. bush announced that war against iraq had begun.

"We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people. "

unhappy, table for two

yesterday, obama pissed off the right. today, he's pissed off the left. sounds to me like things are going along swimmingly.

war v. art

the $50 million in the stimulus package, designated for the national endowment for the arts (undoubtedly one of the first things that will be cut this week, as the bill gets reshaped in the senate) is less than 1/6 of what we spend in iraq per day.

in fact, the cost of the iraq war to the taxpayers of milwaukee, wisconsin alone could have provided that community with 14,135 music and arts teachers for one year, 127,384 scholarships for university students for one year, or 552,407 people with health care for one year.

the tricks of war

a frightening piece in today's new york times reveals some of the tricks and traps of war:

"Hamas, with training from Iran and Hezbollah, has used the last two years to turn Gaza into a deadly maze of tunnels, booby traps and sophisticated roadside bombs. Weapons are hidden in mosques, schoolyards and civilian houses, and the leadership’s war room is a bunker beneath Gaza’s largest hospital, Israeli intelligence officials say.

Unwilling to take Israel’s bait and come into the open, Hamas militants are fighting in civilian clothes; even the police have been ordered to take off their uniforms. The militants emerge from tunnels to shoot automatic weapons or antitank missiles, then disappear back inside, hoping to lure the Israeli soldiers with their fire."

and the israelis are resorting to their own tricks.

the special relationship

i am reluctant to comment on anything i don't fully understand. however, i am moved by the honesty and clarity of a recent bill moyers commentary on war, death, israel and palestine:

"...this week, the U.S. Army sent letters to the 7,000 family members of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every letter began, "Dear John Doe."

For too much of the world at large the names of the dead and wounded in Gaza might as well be John Doe too."

glenn greenwald has more on the moyers piece, and further commentary on the current situation in gaza:

"...more than 1/3 of overall Palestinian deaths are children, and a similar percentage of the more than 3,000 wounded are also children.

The Russian invasion of Georgia -- which was vehemently and universally condemned in the U.S. as an excessive and brutal response to Georgia's assault on South Ossetia -- resulted, according to the Georgian government, in total deaths on the Georgia side of 405 (220 of whom were civilians) and total number of civilians wounded between 200-250.

Of course, all of that pales in comparison to the duration, destruction and carnage created by the U.S. as a result of the Iraq War (the most unprovoked of all of these conflicts)."

and in newsweek, aaron david miller lays out the situation (as well as what he feels might be a way ahead for the obama administration) most clearly:

"The issue at hand is to find the right balance in America's ties with Israel. Driven by shared values and based on America's 60-year commitment to Israel's security and well-being, the special relationship is rock solid. But for the past 16 years, the United States has allowed that special bond to become exclusive in ways that undermine America's, and Israel's, national interests."

watch the entire moyers piece below.

want more war?

then vote mccain.

"From his knee-jerk Cold War posture over Georgia to his Rovian campaign tactics... McCain's trigger-happy temperament, shallow understanding of the complexities and passion for military force as the answer to everything... is a recipe for more, wider and far more destructive warfare..."

– andrew sullivan, the daily dish

"His instincts are always toward force and the people advising him come squarely from the Cheney wing of the current administration. In comparison to Bush he's not just more of the same. There's every reason to believe he'd be much worse. The current situation in Georgia and his response should make clear to everyone how dangerous a president John McCain would be."

– josh marshall, talking points memo

which is it?

"We haven't turned any corners. We haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle's been pushed to the back of the refrigerator."

-- general david petraeus, in testimony to congress last week.

"Fifteen months ago, Americans were worried about the prospect of failure in Iraq. Today, thanks to the surge, we've renewed and revived the prospect of success."

-- president george w. bush, two days later.

how long?

WASHINGTON — President Bush, saying that "normalcy is returning back to Iraq," argued Thursday that last year's U.S. troop "surge" has improved Iraq's security to the point where political and economic progress are blossoming as well.

-- mcclatchey newspapers, march 27, 2008

BAGHDAD — The American military conducted airstrikes Thursday and Friday to back up stalled Iraqi forces in Basra and battle Shiite militias in Baghdad as continued violence and political infighting worsened the prospects for any timely reconciliation among Iraq’s warring factions.

-- new york times, march 29, 2008

how long before someone blames the democrats for the recent bad news coming from iraq?

four thousand

four thousand. 4000. the associated press is reporting a roadside bomb killed four u.s. soldiers in baghdad today, bringing the total of u.s. military casualties in iraq to four thousand.

here's my question: who cares?

why should we care if four more soldiers died? lots of us haven't seemed to care much about those other 3,996, what's another four? i'm sure those four families knew this was a possibility, right? we'll never have to see their flag draped coffins, so we can continue talking about how bill clinton is joe mccarthy, or how barack obama's pastor hates america (p.s. hating america is so 2006.)

as i write this, surpassing the big 4000 is still the third story on the new york times website (behind more eliot spitzer news, and 13 dead iraqis.) cable news media has shifted it's coverage of the iraq war too: a year ago it accounted for 24% of their programming. this year, only 1%. (in the last fifteen weeks, only four minutes per week!)

so let's keep those troops over there for another hundred years! as long as we don't have to think about it, there's no draft, and our kids or brothers or nieces or nephews don't have to go -- hey, let's party!

you know, maybe this is the true turning point in the war. remember the others? the death of saddam's sons, the capture of saddam, the taking of fallujah, the death of zarqawi, blah-blah-blah, zarquawi-schmarqawi, they were all turning points, right?

well, maybe reaching 4000 dead soldiers is the turning point we've all been waiting for. maybe now -- finally -- we can let go of our war guilt and let those darn soldiers fight and die without it interrupting our day! i mean, i can't watch american idol while i'm thinking about IEDs!

the best response of all to 4000 dead soldiers, i think, would be to quote the vice president: so?

lots of the numbers and figures here (as well as entire sentences!) were taken directly from wnyc's on the media: 5 years of covering iraq. give it a listen. and if you haven't forgotten we're a nation at war:

• post a message of support to soldiers.
  
• send a uso care package via the uso site.
• ideas from the usps on how you can support a soldier.

torture makes you love america!

from john mccain's appearance tonight on hannity's america (i watch so you won't have to.) first, about his pledge to eliminate earmarks:

"there's $35 billion in earmark projects in the last two big appropriations bills. that could have been a $1,000 tax credit for every child in america."

how big would those tax credits be if we hadn't gone to war in iraq?

and this, regarding mccain's time as a prisoner of war. hannity asked what effect two years in solitary confinement has on a someone. mccain's response:

"i think it makes you a better person. obviously, it makes you love america."

i'm not sure what to make of that. honestly.

i must say however, that hannity goaded and egged mccain on about every possible obama / clinton controversy. mccain handled pretty much every one with respect.

isn't it romantic

"I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you…in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks."

a quote from united states president george w. bush, via video conference with military and civilian leaders in afghanistan about the challenges of war.

i guess vietnam wasn't quite so romantic.

check your briefs

hillary clinton doesn't know what it's like to be a black man in america!

that news flash from barack obama's "controversial" chicago pastor rev. jeremiah wright jr. i'm guessing it's probably true. unless...remember the eddie murphy sketch from the old saturday night live, when with extensive make-up he "became" a white man? maybe clinton's already done that! maybe she's become a smart, black woman (or man, for that matter!) gone out there and tried to get a car loan!

first of all, if you took the text one of wright's sermons and put it in the mouth of a "calmer" white man, would anyone be discussing it? would anyone notice? and aren't they topics we should be discussing?

and why is the wright stuff back out there? these are comments made quite some time ago, and suddenly they're being covered like breaking news on all the media outlets. "will barack distance himself from these remarks?" hasn't he already?

five severed fingers have been delivered in iraq.

they belong to five prisoners / hostages in iraq. four u.s. security contractors, and one austrian. apparently receiving fingers in the mail is proof that a hostage is alive. (couldn't you chop fingers off a dead hostage?) maybe this horrible express mail package will remind us that we're still at war, and we're closing in quickly on 4000 men and women killed in iraq. are any of us even aware that these five hostages have been in captivity for more than a year?

the iraqis can deliver severed fingers correctly, but my omaha steaks consistently get sent to the wrong address.

president bush appears in green and white mini-skirt with pom pons!

he's about to hold a news conference at the economic club in new york, to tell the country (again) that our economy is in good shape! he's going to tell americans to have confidence in the economy! u-rah-rah con-fi-dence! isn't this close to saying "it's your fault our economy is in the tank! you don't have confidence in it!"

as i write this, the dow jones is down 172.50 points, families are in forclosure across the country, the fed may slash interest rates again next week, oil prices have consistently been hitting record highs, and the dollar is at record lows. go-ooooooooooh economy!!

is there anyone else out there that finds it absolutely beyond belief that this man is going to give a speech to the leaders in business, industry, and finance?

"seems like i showed up at...an interesting moment...he-he-he," bush just said, standing at the podium and snickering.

less than 30 seconds into the speech and bush has already mentioned 9/11 and confronting terrorists. he also says that after "natural disasters" like katrina, the economy has bounced back like never before. really? aren't there people still living in the superdome?

UPDATE 3/17/08 -- former federal reserve chariman alan greenspan in today's financial times:

"The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the second world war.