Washington, You're Fired!

What's coming in Iraq

Things are calmer in Iraq, and have been through the month of July 2008 and into August. That is clear to see from my readings and from collection of photos of Iraqis that I place on the Faces of Grief blog. I am happy that violence is down, but I am currently working on another Iraq video called “This is Baghdad” – which shows that things are not great there in the city of Baghdad.

And there is talk of pulling out some of the US troops (not ALL of them, just SOME). Meanwhile, the air power still keeps on going – bombing who knows who – although there is more bombing in Afghanistan these days. But I found this article today:

Air Force Looks to A New Drone to Keep Peace in Iraq

Well, the first question comes to mind is: why does the US have to keep the peace? And the next question is: Weren’t they at peace before the US forces arrived? Well, of course they were. And the stated reason (one of them, anyway) for staying was to protect Iraq from neighboring countries (after making them democratic, for their own good).

And the major question is – how will putting drones over Iraq make things more peaceful?

All this talk about peace is just a lie, of course. They don’t care one whit about Iraqis having peace or security – they want control of that oil. They want to keep permanent bases there, to ‘project’ their power around the area. They want to bomb people whenever they feel threatened in those two areas. Here is what Lt. General Gary North said:

Today we are in an environment where we may not need the large number or persistence of manned aircraft," he said in an interview by telephone Friday with AFP from a base in the region. "We can put unmanned aircraft -- Predator, Reaper, and other assets -- overhead for long endurance periods. We call that persistent stare.

"And with the Reaper, armed with Hellfire and 500-pound precision weapons, we'll be able to have a deadly stare if needed," he said. The Reaper was deployed in Iraq for the first time July 17 from Balad Air Base, and has been flying in Afghanistan since September. "We have turned a corner in warfare by bringing in this new platform that complements -- and I stress complements -- our incredible manned capacity today," he said. "So my task is to figure out which asset you use, where and why to get the best effect in the battlespace," he said.

I don’t suppose that Gary North even questions why we are making that country into a battlespace – he just does it. And I would bet he is quite good at killing people, and it does not cross his little mind to go back and talk to the people he bombed (if they survived) to see if his bombing did anyone any good. I doubt that he even cares.

He’s a human drone himself, and quite clever and quite evil, just like his masters.

Fermenting that wine……

Photo: Family members and residents in the district of Mekeshefa, 20 kms northeast of the city of Samarra, participate in the burial ceremony of a mother and her two sons. US soldiers killed three unarmed Iraqi civilians, including a woman, near the central city of Samarra, the American military said Wednesday. (AFP)

A commenter on Daily Kos made the statement that the US is not responsible for the sectarian violence in Iraq, since all the US troops did was uncork the bottle – they did not ferment the wine. He also commented that the US troops are not responsible for most of the violence in Iraq! Well, that is nonsense, and here is my response:

The US forces in the country did A LOT TO FERMENT THAT "WINE" that was formally grape juice. Imagine how Americans would act if the electricity was cut, water not available, toilets not working, sewage in the streets, jobs gone, health care and education decimated, and some foreign occupying power (who does not speak English or Spanish) put the Crips & Bloods in charge of the west side of town, Hispanic gangs in charge of the south part of town, the KKK in charge of part of the north side of town, and Black Nationalists in charge of the east side of town..... with no screening done, of course.

We would have a blood bath of biblical proportions.

That is what the US invasion and occupation of Iraq did, and I am leaving out the black ops and covert ops done that we don't even know about yet. (But where Negroponte goes, death squads follow.)

BUT, as to what percentage of deaths are caused by what, here is my take on the situation:

25% are dead as the rest of direct US action

25% are dead in the crossfire with US troops

25% are dead from Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence (some of whom were surely working for the USA)

25% are dead from UNKNOWN.

This is just my informed opinion - no one really knows for sure. But I have been reading about the daily events in Iraq on Today in Iraq blog (now closed) and Iraq Today blog (which replaced the first blog). And I have blogged on it on both those blogs. And one 5th year anniversary report by an Iraqi staff member of McClatchy - where he listed the 44 people he knew that died from violence since the US invasion - the causes of the violence fit into my speculations above.

Is this a great country

for investment bankers or what?

It is exactly like a big game of ‘heads, I win: tails, you lose’! Or another way to put it is: privatize gains, socialize losses! That way, the investment bankers can take big, big risks and if it pans out, GREAT for them! They make lots of money. And if it does not pan out, the US taxpayers can come to their rescue. No reason for them not to take extravagant risks, or dabble in crime…. Because there is no penalty – the feds will bail them out!

"Our first priority today is the stability of the capital markets, the stability of the system." ~ Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

Well, I personally wonder about the fact that if we bail them out time and time again, some day the problem may be so huge that the US taxpayers can no longer bail them out. What happens then?

Well, here is what William Greider has to say about the current situation:

The Federal Reserve's dereliction of duty is central to the financial failures. It betrayed the purpose for which the central bank was first created, in 1913, abandoning the sense of balance the Fed had long pursued and that Congress requires. Most politicians, not to mention the press, are too intimidated to question the Fed's daunting power, but their ignorance is about to compound the problem. Instead of demanding answers, the political system is about to expand the Fed's governing powers--despite its failure to protect us. Treasury Secretary Paulson proposed and Democratic leaders have agreed to make the insulated Fed the "supercop" that oversees not only commercial banks and banking conglomerates but also the largest investment houses or anyone else big enough to destabilize the system. This "reform" would definitely reassure club members who are already too cozy with the central bankers. Everyone else would be left deeper in the dark.

The political system, once again, is rewarding failure. The Fed is an unreliable watchdog, ideologically biased and compromised by its conflicting obligations. Is it supposed to discipline the big money players or keep them afloat? Putting the secretive central bank in charge, with its unlimited powers to prop up troubled firms, would further eviscerate democracy, not to mention economic justice.

Yes, he pretty well covers what is going on currently, and demolishes that idea that the “free hand of the market” will make everything okay…… except right now the market’s ‘free hand’ is getting a helping hand from the US taxpayers. He also points out how we are bailing out the big investment firms, but won’t do anything for our cities and urban areas in need of maintenance (more bridges and levees to fail!).

Our current policies, coming from the US Congress, does nothing about the immoral loans being handed out to the Americans who are foolish enough to take them on. These are loans that are impossible to repay. This all came about because for the last few decades, our government has allowed more and more de-regulation. And, as a result, we got criminals gone wild.

Yeah, that “trickle-down” Reaganomics really didn’t work out so well – except for the very rich. But instead of blaming this disaster on those policies which made the rich, richer – they will try to pin it on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other social programs.

And it is going to get much worse before it starts to get better. Some people are saying that we will be facing the Greater Depression.

Events in Asheville This Week

Photo: This is from All Souls Episcopal Church on Biltmore Avenue in Asheville. They have been holding a vigil for peace nearly every Sunday for over five years now.

The events around peace and justice are listed on the WNC Peace Coalition blog. There are two movie nights this week, and two memorial services. This week is the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Once again: Our Priceless Media

Well, yesterday we found out that the main suspect in the anthrax investigation is now dead. He reportedly died from suicide. One has to wonder why they just didn't make him an 'enemy combatant' and lock him up...... but my guess is that treatment is just for brown people, and this guy was white.

But here is what we know: the anthrax came from Ft. Detrick, right here in the USA. It was weaponized anthrax.

We know the letters were sent to people in the media and to Democratic Senators (the ones who could have stopped the US Patriot act, I have been told). We know the accompanying letters tried really hard to make a connection between the anthrax and Islamic terrorists and 9/11.

We know that five Americans died on US soil from this anthrax.

And here is something else we know, thanks to Glenn Greenwald:

During the last week of October, 2001, ABC News, led by Brian Ross, continuously trumpeted the claim as their top news story that government tests conducted on the anthrax -- tests conducted at Ft. Detrick -- revealed that the anthrax sent to Daschele contained the chemical additive known as bentonite. ABC News, including Peter Jennings, repeatedly claimed that the presence of bentonite in the anthrax was compelling evidence that Iraq was responsible for the attacks, since -- as ABC variously claimed -- bentonite "is a trademark of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program" and "only one country, Iraq, has used bentonite to produce biological weapons."

ABC News' claim -- which they said came at first from "three well-placed but separate sources," followed by "four well-placed and separate sources" -- was completely false from the beginning. There never was any bentonite detected in the anthrax (a fact ABC News acknowledged for the first time in 2007 only as a result of my badgering them about this issue). It's critical to note that it isn't the case that preliminary tests really did detect bentonite and then subsequent tests found there was none. No tests ever found or even suggested the presence of bentonite. The claim was just concocted from the start. It just never happened.

That means that ABC News' "four well-placed and separate sources" fed them information that was completely false -- false information that created a very significant link in the public mind between the anthrax attacks and Saddam Hussein. And look where -- according to Brian Ross' report on October 28, 2001 -- these tests were conducted:

And despite continued White House denials, four well-placed and separate sources have told ABC News that initial tests on the anthrax by the US Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland, have detected trace amounts of the chemical additives bentonite and silica.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I wanted to leave some space after that - to emphasize it.

We know that the anthrax came from Ft. Detrick, as did letters (false statements, it turns out) claiming that the anthrax came from Iraq. Those false letters promoting war with Iraq, like the anthrax, came from Ft. Detrick. That means that people working at Ft. Detrick were really working to promote war on Iraq, and threaten the US Congressional Democrats along the way. And they managed to kill off five Americans on US soil in 2001 to further their aims.

That means they are murderers.

Now, what is the likelihood that our priceless, priceless corporate media will actually cover this story and report on it? (I am not including McClatchy in "corporate media" since they actually are journalists.) My guess is slim to none. I don't know if it is because they are lazy, or just bed-wetters who cannot handle some fear.

ABC News is not protecting their "sources" here. They are protecting MURDERERS. They, of course, will play the WE'ZZ BEEZ STOOPID card, yet again, if anyone calls them on it.

Now, don't go and actually call the corporate media 'journalists' stupid - they will be offended.

Of course, they are not stupid.

Iraq - the weapons have been found!

Iraq - the power of the surge!

Iraq - peace begins with justice!

These are the names of the children who were killed early in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The names came from the work of CIVIC, who did a survey of civilian deaths in 2003 and has since worked to provide aid to civilian victims of war. Obviously, these little ones are beyond needing help.

Iraq - no flag is big enough

.... to cover our shame.

Iraq - end of my world

Iraq - in daddy's hands

This past week and next...

This past week saw some movement on the impeachment front. There was a hearing in Congress on Friday. I didn't see any evidence that this will make a difference, which is really sad because we need to hold the criminals to account.

How much longer are American pundits, politicians, and "journalists" going to pretend that all the stuff they said about WMDs in Iraq was "just us folks being dumb" instead of a pack of lies?

And there is an update on upcoming public events this week (not a lot happening locally on the peace and social justice scene, at least for public events) over at the WNC Peace Coalition blog. There are things happening behind the scenes.

Iraq - 7 days in the real Iraq

I recently did my first You Tube video on Iraq - there will be more coming - but I found out recently that a guy named Tom, who lives in Australia, has been using the photos I put on Faces of Grief blog to make videos, too. He has actually made quite a few of them. Here is one, and I will be posting more on this blog. They will all start with the word "Iraq".

Fundamentals of our economy July 2008

Move On put this together - well done.

The world's biggest asshole......

At the end of the G8 summit in Japan earlier this month, bush had a special statement to the rest of the world’s leaders as he was leaving:

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He’s not only the world’s biggest polluter; he’s the world’s biggest asshole too. And apparently, he is proud of it.

The International Criminal Court

An Open Letter to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
Fax: +31 70 515 8555
Email: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int

July 15, 2008

Dear Chief Prosecutor,

Congratulations on your request for an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan. When the rule of law cannot be justly enforced within a nation, it must be enforced internationally. In that regard, I would like to recommend that you seek an arrest warrant for the president of my nation, the United States of America. I have read your letter of February 9, 2006, in which you decline to seek prosecution of George W. Bush, and I believe new evidence compels another review.

With all due respect for the difficulty of your work, the case you have brought against the president of Sudan has followed quite different standards than those applied in your refusal to prosecute the president of the United States. In fact, you have refused to consider prosecution of George W. Bush because the United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court. But Sudan is also not a member of the International Criminal Court. Were you to consider the evidence of international crimes in Iraq as it exists today, and to consider the crimes committed on behalf of the president of the United States by members of the United States military and mercenaries employed by the United States, I believe you would find a case for prosecution that met the standards you applied, and applied well and admirably, to the president of Sudan.

While there is good reason to expect multiple prosecutions of George W. Bush and of his Vice President and top advisors by individual nations, the rule of law would benefit were the International Criminal Court to take the lead. Should it fail to do so, the entire idea of international law will suffer seriously.

In the time since your 2006 letter, Judge Baltasar Garzón of Spain, on March 20, 2008, has written these words in El Pais:

"Breaking every international law, and under the pretext of the war against terror, there has taken place since 2003 a devastating attack on the rule of law and against the very essence of the international community. In its path, institutions such as the United Nations were left in tatters, from which it has not yet recovered....We should look more deeply into the possible criminal responsibility of the people who are, or were, responsible for this war and see whether there is sufficient evidence to make them answer for it....There is enough of an argument in 650,000 deaths for this investigation and inquiry to start without more delay."

……………. In order to prosecute crimes against humanity, you write that you need to identify "widespread or systemic attack directed against any civilian population." The civilian population of Iraq has suffered as a result of the US-led invasion and occupation in numbers and proportion that can only be called widespread and systemic. Iraqi deaths as a result of the invasion and occupation, measured above the high death rate under international sanctions preceding the attack, are estimated at 1.2 million by two independent sources (Just Foreign Policy's updated figure based on the Johns Hopkins / Lancet report, and the British polling company Opinion Research Business's estimate as of August 2007). According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Iraqis who have fled their homes has reached 4.7 million. If these estimates are accurate, a total of nearly 6 million human beings have been displaced from their homes or killed. Many times that many have certainly been injured, traumatized, impoverished, and deprived of clean water and other basic needs.

ALL THE ABOVE came from After Downing Street and was written by David Swanson, who has never quit and never given up - in the effort to bring the bushie criminals to justice. He has my respect.

Asheville Bloggers Roundup

Straight from Blog Asheville

It's On - Friday, July 25th

We bloggers of Asheville have been getting together erratically for going on three years now. With our 3rd Annual Extrava only a couple of months away, I thought it would be good to collect ourselves to see what's up.

Friday, July 25th - The Wedge Brewery - 5pm until 8ish.

151 Roberts St., in the lower back level of the Wedge Gallery building, along the railroad tracks in the French Broad River Arts District.

All you veterans invite a noob. And all you noobs come out to see who you've been reading!

Thanks to Gordon for pointing it out! The photo above is a partial eclipse of the moon at UNCA... sometime this year (I forget when it happened!)

Send Karl Rove to jail!

From MoveOn.org: We call on the the House Judiciary Committee to cite Rove with contempt for failing to comply with a Congressional subpoena. Since Rove regards the law with such contempt, it's high time the law and Congress hold him in contempt as well. We demand the HJC let Rove know he can't decide which subpoenas he obeys and which he ignores.

Add your name to the petition here!

And here is a video they put together with Brave New Films:

Events in Asheville This Week

Photo is of Rusul, in Shriner's Hospital in Greenville. It was taken right after her surgery on Thursday, and she is talking to her friend Noor who is in Portland, Maine. She is just beautiful, and I hope to get to visit with her next weekend.

Upcoming events for this week is posted on the WNC Peace Coalition blog. Not a lot going on this week, but there are some actions that can be taken on line and on the phone.