Left I on the News  

Jim Lehrer wins the Left I on the News Question of the Month prize

"I kept waiting for the one question I'd like to ask Kerry, but it never came - 'How do you ask someone to be the last person to die for a mistake?' Someday, somewhere, someone is going to get to ask Kerry that question."

Allawi - Puppet or ventriloquist's dummy?

"White House spokesman Scott McClellan, asked Tuesday about similarities between Bush's statements about Iraq and Allawi's speech to Congress last week, said he did not know of any help U.S. officials gave with the speech. 'None that I know of,' he said, adding, 'No one at the White House.' He also said he did not know if the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad had seen the speech.

"But administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the prime minister was coached and aided by the U.S. government, its allies and friends of the administration. Among them was Dan Senor, former spokesman for the CPA who has more recently represented the Bush campaign in media appearances. Senor, who has denied writing the speech, sent Allawi recommended phrases. He also helped Allawi rehearse in New York last week, officials said. Senor declined to comment.

"The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and British Foreign Service officials also helped Allawi with the text and delivery of his remarks, said administration officials who were involved."

Political humor of the day, Part II

"'I don't think we've had as clear-cut a difference between two presidential candidates on international issues since 1980."

- Richard Holbrooke, a top adviser to Kerry., commenting on tonight's debate

Political humor of the day

"There is no occupation. The US, the UK and other countries' forces can only be in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government. It is their call. If they ask us to leave, we leave."

- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, speaking to the Labor Party conference shortly before the 4-1 defeat of a motion calling for Britain to name an early date for withdrawal from Iraq

The wheels of justice

"The FBI must turn over the remaining secret files on Beatle John Lennon to a University of California, Irvine professor who has waged a 21-year legal battle to get the documents, a judge ruled.

"U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi rejected government arguments Tuesday that releasing the last 10 pages would pose a national security risk because an unnamed foreign government secretly provided the information.

"UC, Irvine Professor Jonathan Wiener wrote a 1984 book on the late rock star. He sought the files under the Freedom of Information Act and sued the government to get the documents in 1983. In 1997 he received 248 pages of the documents as part of a settlement with the FBI.

Making the world safer, one radio station at a time

"Guns drawn, agents of the U.S. Marshals Service served a warrant on a tiny Santa Cruz pirate radio station early Wednesday, rousting and frisking the pajama-clad residents of the co-op house from which the station had been broadcasting. No one was arrested.

"The target was Free Radio Santa Cruz, an FM micro-station boasting 35 to 40 watts of power and offering round-the-clock music, activism and other local programming, in addition to such national programming as Radio Pacifica's 'Democracy Now' -- all in defiance of federal licensing laws.

"The blue-jacketed marshals, along with agents of the Federal Communications Commission, dismantled the station's equipment and carried it to a waiting pickup with a camper shell as a crowd of perhaps 60 people yelled 'Shame! Shame!' and 'Go home!'"

Quote of the Day

"In an interview with Fox News, George W. Bush said that he always 'prays for wisdom.' This constitutes the strongest evidence that there is indeed no God."

- the Angry Arab

Jews attack Christians

One place you cannot read or hear about the incident is in the American corporate media; as of this writing none of them has breathed a word about it, although it's quite clear that CPT is doing its best to publicize the attack. This just might be a little too much of the unvarnished reality of Israeli oppression of Palestinians and their supporters than the American corporate media can handle.

Freedom of the press belongs to you know who...

"L.A. Weekly has learned that CBS, NBC and ABC all refused Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD advertising during any of the networks' news programming. Executives at Sony Pictures, the distributor of the movie for the home-entertainment market, were stunned. And even more shocked when the three networks explained why.

"'They said explicitly they were reluctant because of the closeness of the release to the election. All three networks said no,' one Sony insider explains. 'It was certainly a judgment that Sony disagrees with and is in the process of protesting.'"

Gratuitous insult of the day

"Guevara's legacy is intensely controversial...From one political perspective, he was a martyr for social justice. From another, he was a ruthless, United States-hating killer."

Hasta la victoria siempre!

The cost of war

But one thing for sure is that there are not only present costs, but future costs as well, as discussed today by Knight-Ridder:

"The secretary of veterans affairs said Tuesday that the violent guerrilla tactics used by insurgents in Iraq will take a considerable toll on the mental health of troops, resulting in a lifetime of disability payments for many of them.

"Of 168,000 service members who had served in Iraq and been discharged as of July 22, about 28,000 had sought medical care at a VA hospital, according to the department's most recent statistics. Of those, about 5,400 had mental health problems and nearly one in three of those suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which results from a serious traumatic event and can cause debilitating flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety and uncontrollable anger. The disorder may not show itself for years."

"While the exact cost of compensating those injured in fighting in Iraq is uncertain, the Department of Veterans Affairs already expects to pay $600 billion over the next three decades in disability payments to veterans of earlier wars."

Computers. Stupider than we thought, or smarter?

"In what some political insiders are calling an attempt to lower expectations in the days leading up to the first presidential debate, the White House today announced that President George W. Bush has an IQ of 67."

"'The president is far, far less intelligent than is commonly thought,' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. 'Even the simplest tasks remain well beyond his reach.'

"Reinforcing the impression that the president will be overmatched in Thursday's debate with Sen. John Kerry, McClellan showed reporters never-before-seen footage of Bush oafishly tumbling from his mountain bike.

"'What a moron,' McClellan said."

Hell, no, we won't go!

"Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time, prompting the Army to threaten some with punishment for desertion.

"The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Of the 1,662 ready reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson, S.C., by Sept. 22, only 1,038 had done so, the Army said Monday. About 500 of those who failed to report have requested exemptions on health or personal grounds.

"Several of those who received recall notices have already been declared AWOL (absent without official leave) and technically are considered deserters. 'We are not in a rush to put someone in the AWOL category,' Masters said. 'We contact them and convince them it is in their best interests to show up. If you are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life.'

Oil prices and gasoline prices

Does this prove anything? Of course not, I'm speculating. Is it possible? Are you kidding? Anyone want to bet against it?

Can't get no respect (and doesn't deserve any)

The Fog of War Criminals, Part II

"I analyzed bombing operations and how to make them more efficient, i.e., not more efficient in the sense of killing more, but in the sense of weakening the adversary."

The film isn't a great film, largely because one tires of McNamara's self-serving comments and evasiveness, but definitely includes a lot of worthwhile information and footage. There's been a lot of talk in the recent Presidential campaign about how people are tired of hearing about Vietnam, and want to hear about current issues, including the current war in Iraq. Watching this movie makes one all the more aware of how much talk of Vietnam (not Kerry's service or Bush's non-service, of course, but the actual war) is totally relevant to what is happening today. McNamara talks about "Vietnamization," largely as a P.R. effort designed to deflect criticism of the war; shades of "Iraqization" (too bad that's so hard to pronounce or it would probably be more in common currency). There are some very interesting taped conversations between Lyndon Johnson and McNamara, such as this one from Johnson:

"Not a damn human thinks that 50,000 or 100,000 or 150,000 [U.S. troops] is going to end this war. We're not getting out but we're trying to hold what we've got. We're doing bad...we're losing at the rate we're going."

In more shades of today's war, the newscaster also says "Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, on each of his seven inspection trips to Vietnam, has found some positive aspect to the course of the war there." Well, of course!

Another Johnson quote is priceless for its combination of bravado and bullshit explanations for the reasons for the war:

"America wins the wars that she undertakes, make no mistake about it. And we have declared war on terrorism tyranny and aggression. If this little nation goes down the drain and can't maintain [!] her independence, ask yourself what's going to happen to all the other little nations?"

The nominee for the most inane line of the film comes from McNamara, attending a recent conference in Vietnam to discuss the war, and talking with the former Vietnamese foreign minister. McNamara says (to the filmmaker), "I formed a hypothesis that each of us could have achieved our objectives without the terrible loss of life," and then (as if to the foreign minister), he says:

"You didn't get any more than we were willing to give you at the beginning of the war. You could have had the whole damn thing - independence, unification..."

How many is too many?

"Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron Boyles was coming home from Iraq in two weeks. His wife, Prabha, expects their first baby in three.

"But Aaron called Prabha on Wednesday to say that one last military mission would delay his homecoming. She held the phone to her big belly. Overseas, he smooched loudly, kissing a baby he will never see.

"Aaron Boyles, 24, a graduate of Newark [California] Memorial High School, was killed Friday, along with two other Marines, in a battle in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq."

Barack Obama - the great liberal hope

On bombing other countries without provocation:

"U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama suggested Friday that the United States one day might have to launch surgical missile strikes into Iran and Pakistan to keep extremists from getting control of nuclear bombs."

"Democratic Senate candidate Barack Obama said Saturday he would be willing to send more soldiers to Iraq if it is part of a strategy that the president and military leaders believe will stabilize the country and eventually allow America to withdraw."

With liberal hopes like Obama, who needs conservatives?

More "positively identified" targets in Iraq

"U.S. jets pounded suspected Shiite militant positions in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City on Monday, killing at least five people and wounding 46.

"The U.S. military said the strikes in Sadr City, a hotbed of insurgents loyal to renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, struck several 'positively identified' militant hideouts.

"Residents said explosions lit up the night sky for hours before dawn. Mangled vehicles, debris and shards of glass littered the streets.

"Dr. Qassem Saddam of the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City said five people were killed and 40 were wounded - including 15 women and nine children. At least two children wrapped in bloodstains bandages could be seen lying in hospital beds and one man suffered burns from head-to-toe.

"'While maintaining security is a primary concern, we are also very concerned about minimizing collateral damage and putting the innocent residents of eastern Baghdad at risk,' [Lt. Col. Jim ] Hutton said. 'The enemy shows no concern for the Iraqi people.'"

Of course, if the U.S. military were really "very concerned about minimizing collateral damage," they would be fighting this war from the ground, not from the air. What they're really "very concerned about minimizing," as everyone knows, is their own losses; they couldn't give a toss about the innocent residents of eastern Baghdad (or anyplace else in the country).

In Florida, the election strategy was to disenfranchise as many people as possible who were likely to vote "the wrong way." In Iraq, it's the same strategy, only the disenfranchisement comes in a more lethal form. Are they really going to hold election in January in a place they're bombing at the end of September? Get real. This is beyond a joke.

Victory for the antiwar movement in Britain

"The Labour conference will debate the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq this week, after local party delegates voted for it to be included on the agenda.

"The result of the party's priorities ballot could be profoundly embarrassing for Tony Blair if delegates vote for an early pullout after Iraq's January elections."

"Supporting the troops"...by arresting their mothers while they're exercising the right to free speech

"Laura Bush brought her charm to New Jersey Thursday and reminded a zealous Republican crowd of about 1,200 packed inside a firehouse built for 1,000 why her husband deserved a second term as president.

"She drew applause several times during her 40-minute speech. But halfway through, she was drowned out by hecklers who had sneaked into the firehouse and chanted, 'No more years! No more years!' - a mockery of the Republican crowd's 'Four more years!'

"Secret Service agents made a beeline toward the hecklers. Loudest among them was Sue Niederer, wearing a T-shirt with the words 'President Bush You Killed My Son.' She demanded to know why her son, Army First Lt. Seth Dvorin, 24, had been killed in Iraq. Niederer was escorted out, handcuffed, and placed in a police wagon.

"During Laura Bush's speech in New Jersey last Monday, Susan Niederer was arrested for demanding toknow why her son was killed in Iraq. Niederer interrupted Laura to ask, 'If this war is so righteous, why don't you send your children?' She was escorted out and started talking to reporters --which was when she was handcuffed and led away. Niederer was wearing a shirt with her dead son's picture and the words, 'President Bush, you killed my son'. The official White House transcript of the speech notes applause 39 times, laughter once and four chants of 'Four more years,' but not the interruption."

Out of control and under the radar

"Israeli army bulldozers have torn down the homes of more than 200 Palestinians in the Gaza refugee camp of Khan Yunis, United Nations aid officials say.

"The Israeli military says the operation - a day after mortars fired from Khan Yunis killed a Jewish settler - targeted buildings used by militants.

"Shortly after midnight Israeli troops, tanks and bulldozers moved into Khan Yunis and began tearing down buildings.

"The UN agency which cares for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said 60 families - around 230 people in total - had lost their houses or shelters.

"One man said he ran with his children as the bulldozers closed in and gunfire sounded in the darkness."

"The army said most of the demolished structures in the Khan Younis camp were uninhabited and served as cover for militants shelling the nearby settlement of Neve Dekalim.

"However, after troops withdrew Saturday, dozens of Palestinians pulled clothes, kitchen utensils, schoolbooks, mattresses and other belongings from the rubble."

"Some 20,000 homes have been destroyed and about 130,000 Palestinians have been made homeless by Israeli house demolitions in Gaza and the West Bank in the past four years of fighting, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights."

Postponing attacks in Iraq?

"U.S. warplanes, tanks and artillery units struck the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Saturday, killing at least eight people and wounding 15 in a day that saw new violence across the country. The U.S. military announced the deaths of four Marines and a soldier.

"The U.S. military said the Fallujah strikes targeted a meeting point in the center of the city for fighters loyal to Jordanian-born terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. 'Intelligence sources reported that Zarqawi terrorists were using the site to plan additional attacks against Iraqi citizens and multinational forces,' the military said in a statement.

"Dr. Dhiya al-Jumaili of Fallujah General Hospital said at least eight people were killed and 15 wounded, including women and children."

Quote of the Day

CNN interviewer Paula Zahn: Is the world a safer place because of the war in Iraq?

Pakistanti "President" Pervez Musharraf: No. It's more dangerous. It's not safer, certainly not. (Source)

The U.S. government makes Iraqis sick (and me too)

"A virulent form of hepatitis that is especially lethal for pregnant women has broken out in two of Iraq's most troubled districts, Iraqi Health Ministry officials said in interviews here this week, and they warned that a collapse of water and sewage systems in the continuing violence in the country is probably at the root of the outbreak. Five deaths have been reported over all.

"Another ominous set of statistics suggests that the quality of water supplies around the country has deteriorated since the American-led war began last year, Dr. Salmani said. In 2003, 70 percent more cases of hepatitis of all types were reported across Iraq than in the year before, he said. During the first six months of 2004, as many cases were reported as in all of 2002.

"In yet another indication of the deteriorating safety of water and food in Iraq, the number of reported cases of typhoid fever is up sharply this year, said Dr. Nima S. Abid, the ministry's director general of public health and primary health. Hospitals across the country are also full of children with severe forms of diarrhea, Dr. Abid said."

Dept. of un(?)intentional irony

"If Saddam Hussein was in power, our security would be threatened. There would still be mass graves and torture chambers."

- George Bush, speaking yesterday

"Operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis - most of them civilians - as attacks by insurgents, according to statistics compiled by the Iraqi Health Ministry.

"According to the ministry, the interim Iraqi government recorded 3,487 Iraqi deaths in 15 of the country's 18 provinces from April 5 - when the ministry began compiling the data - until Sept. 19. Of those, 328 were women and children [children are defined as anyone under the age of 12 by the ministry]. Another 13,720 Iraqis were injured, the ministry said."

"The Americans keep criticizing Saddam for the mass graves. How many graves are the Americans making in Iraq?"

"Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, an American military spokesman, said the insurgents were living in residential areas, sometimes in homes filled with munitions. 'As long as they continue to do that, they are putting the residents at risk,' Boylan said. 'We will go after them.'"

"Anyone who hates America has come here to fight: Saddam's supporters, people who don't have jobs, other Arab fighters. All these people are on our streets. But everyone is afraid of the Americans, not the fighters. And they should be."

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

Every year at the United Nations we go through the same ritual. We attend the general debate knowing beforehand that the clamor for justice and peace by our underdeveloped countries will be ignored once again. However, we persist. We know that we are right. We know that one day we will accomplish social justice and development. We also know that such assets will not be given away to us. We know that the peoples will have to seize them from those who deny us justice today, because they underpin their wealth and arrogance on the disdain for our grief. But it will not be always like this. We say so today with more conviction than ever before.

Having said this and knowing -- as we do -- that some powerful ones, just a few, present here will be chagrined, and also knowing that they are shared by many, Cuba will now tell some truths:

First: After the aggression on Iraq, there Is no United Nations Organization, understood as a useful and diverse forum, based on the respect for the rights of all and also with guarantees for the small States. It is living through the worst moment of its already forthcoming 60 years. It pales, it pants, it feigns, but it does not work.

Who handcuffed the United Nations named by President Roosevelt? President Bush.

Second: US troops will have to be withdrawn from Iraq.

After the life of over 1,000 American youths was uselessly sacrificed to serve the spurious interests of a clique of cronies and buddies, and following the death of more than 12,000 Iraqis, it is clear that the only way out for the occupying power faced with a revolting people is to recognize the impossibility of subduing them and to withdraw. In spite of the imperial monopoly over information, the peoples always get to the truth. Someday, those responsible and their accomplices will have to deal with the consequences of their actions in the face of History and their own peoples.

Third: For the time being, there will be no valid, real and useful reform to the United Nations.

It would take the superpower, which inherited the immense prerogative of governing an order conceived for a bipolar world, to relinquish its privileges. And it will not do so.

Since now, we know that the anachronistic privilege of the veto will remain; that the Security Council will not be democratized as it should or expanded to include Third World countries; that the General Assembly will continue to stand ignored and that at the United Nations there will be more actions driven by the interests imposed by the superpower and its allies. We, as non-aligned countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United Nations Charter - because, otherwise, it will be redrafted with the deletion of every trace of principles such as the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention and the non-use or the threat to use force.

Fourth: The powerful collude to divide us.

The over 130 underdeveloped countries must build a common front for the defense of the sacred interests of our peoples, of our right to development and peace. Let us revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement. Let us strengthen the G-77. Fifth: The modest objectives of the Millennium Declaration will not be accomplished. We will reach the fifth anniversary of the Summit in a worse situation.

• We endeavored to halve by 2015 the 1.276 billion human beings in abject poverty that existed in 1990. There had to be a yearly reduction of 46 million poor people. However, excluding China, between 1990 and 2000 extreme poverty rose by 28 million people. Impoverishment does not decline, it grows.
• We wanted to halve by 2015 the 842 million starving people recorded in the world. There had to be a yearly reduction of 28 million. However, there has barely been a reduction of 2.1 million hungry people per year. At this rate, the goal would be attained by 2215, two hundred years after what was envisaged - and only if our species survives the destruction of its environment.
• We proclaimed the aspiration to achieve universal primary education by 2015. However, more than 120 million children, 1 in every 5 in that school age, do not attend primary school. According to UNICEF, at the current rate the goal will be accomplished after 2100.
• We endeavored to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in children under five years of age. The reduction is symbolic: out of 86 children who died per 1,000 live births in 1998, now the figure is 82. Every year, 11 million children continue to die of diseases that can be prevented or cured, whose parents will rightfully wonder what our meetings are for.
• We said that we would pay attention to Africa's special needs. However, very little has been done. African nations do not need foreign advice or models, but financial resources and access to both markets and technologies. Assisting Africa would not be an act of charity, but an act of justice; it would be tantamount to settling the historical debt resulting from centuries of exploitation and pillage.
• We undertook to put a halt to and start reverting the AIDS pandemic by 2015. However, in 2003 it claimed nearly 3 million lives. At this rate, by 2015 some 36 million people will have died of this cause.

Sixth: Creditor countries and the international financial agencies will not seek a just and lasting solution to the foreign debt.

They prefer to keep us in debt; that is, vulnerable. Therefore, even though we have paid off US$ 4.1 trillion in debt service over the last 13 years, our debt increased from US$ 1.4 trillion to US$ 2.6 trillion. It means that we have paid three times what we owed and now our debt is twice as much.

Seventh: We, as underdeveloped countries, are the ones that finance the squandering and the opulence of developed countries.

While in 2003 they gave us US$ 68.400 billion in ODA, we delivered to them US$ 436 billion as payment for the foreign debt. Who is helping who?

Eighth: The fight against terrorism can only be won through cooperation among all nations and with respect for International Law, and not through massive bombings or pre-emptive wars against "dark corners of the world."

Hypocrisy and double standards must cease. Sheltering three Cuban-born terrorists in the United States is an act of complicity to terrorism. Punishing five Cuban youths who were fighting terrorism, and punishing their families, is a crime.

Ninth: General and complete disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, is Impossible today. It is the responsibility of a group of developed countries that are the ones that most sell and buy weapons. However, we must continue to strive for it. We must demand that the over US$ 900 billion set aside every year for military expenditures be used on development; and

Tenth: The financial resources to guarantee the sustainable development for all the peoples on the planet are available, but what is lacking is the political will of those who rule the world.

A development tax of merely 0.1% on international financial transactions would generate resources amounting to almost US$ 400 billion per annum.

The cancellation of the foreign debt incurred by underdeveloped countries would allow these to have available for their development no less than US$ 436 billion on a yearly basis -- money which is currently used to pay off the debt. If developed countries complied with their commitment to set aside 0.7% of their Gross National Product as ODA, their contribution would increase from the current US$ 68.400 billion to US$ 160 billion per annum. Finally, Excellencies, I want to clearly express Cuba's profound conviction that the 6.4 billion human beings on this planet -- who have equal rights according to the United Nations Charter -- urgently need a new order in which the world is not left in suspense, as is the case now, awaiting the outcome of the elections in a new Rome in which only half the voters will participate and nearly US$ 1.2 billion will be spent.

There is no discouragement in our words, I must say so clearly. We are optimistic because we are revolutionaries. We have faith in the struggle of the peoples and we are certain that we will accomplish a new world order based on the respect for the rights of all; an order based on solidarity, justice and peace, resulting from the best of universal culture and not from mediocrity or gross force.

About Cuba, which cannot be detoured from its course by blockades, threats, hurricanes, droughts or human or natural force, I will not say anything. Next 28 October, for the 13th time, this General Assembly will debate and vote on a resolution about the blockade imposed against the Cuban people. Once again, morality and principles will defeat arrogance and force.

I would like to conclude by recalling the words spoken right here 25 years ago by President Fidel Castro:

"The noise of weapons, of the menacing language, of the haughtiness on the international scene must cease. Enough of the illusion that the problems of the world can be solved by nuclear weapons. Bombs may kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant, but bombs cannot kill hunger, disease and ignorance. Nor can bombs kill the righteous rebellion of the people..."

"Every year at the United Nations we go through the same ritual. We attend the general debate knowing beforehand that the clamor for justice and peace by our underdeveloped countries will be ignored once again. However, we persist. We know that we are right."

Donsense rises to new levels

"We had something like 200 or 300 or 400 people killed in many of the major cities of America last year. Is it perfectly peaceful? No. What's the difference? We just didn't see each homicide in every major city in the United States on television every night. It happens here in this city, in every major city in the world. Across Europe, across the Middle East, people are being killed. People do bad things to each other."

Not only is Rumsfeld's statement obscene in its disregard for Iraqi life, it's patently ridiculous as well. Everyone who watches television news knows that practically every homicide which occurs in our local major city is splashed across our screens - "if it bleeds, it leads." If there is anyplace where the danger of living someplace is exaggerated by what's on TV, it's America, not Iraq.

There was a time I found Rumsfeld amusing. Now, he's just a buffoon.

Followup: In the companion inane headline of the day, the San Jose Mercury News offers us this: "Iraqi Leader Offers Upbeat Assessment - He Vows Elections Will Proceed In 2005, Despite Threats Of Violence, Instability." Threats of violence?

A dime's worth of difference? A nickel? A penny?

John Kerry has a plan for success:

• Get allies involved
• Speed up the training of Iraqis
• Take essential steps to get a free election next year

On Iraq, it's time for a new direction.

George W. Goebbels

"We went into Iraq because Saddam Hussein defied the demands of the free world. We went into Iraq after diplomacy had failed."

And this is not just any old lie, one of dozens told by Bush on a daily basis, but the "big lie." It's the "big lie" not just in the Goebbels sense of constant repetition, but also because of its centrality in the justification for the invasion itself. Bush can talk all he wants about "making the world (or the U.S.) safer" or "bringing democracy to the Middle East" or "freeing the Iraq people from a terrible dictator" or other bogus justifications; he knows very well that if Colin Powell had gotten up in the U.N. and tried to urge a vote to invade Iraq on those bases (that's the plural of "basis," by the way; I had to look that up to be sure), he would have been laughed out of the auditorium. It was only the equally bogus claim of "enforcing U.N. resolutions" that allowed Bush to claim the slightest fig leaf (and we're definitely not talking about a fig leaf large enough to satisfy John Ashcroft) for the invasion.

Followup: Please don't confuse George W. Goebbels with George Gobel. The latter often appeared as clueless and ill-acquainted with the English language as the former, but wasn't responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people.

Stressed on the job? Maybe it's not you.

"U.S. employees who have taken civilian jobs in Iraq face anxiety, isolation from family, gunfire and grueling work.

"A number of employers are trying to alleviate the strain.

"Some are bringing in on-site mental-health counselors who travel the country in Black Hawk helicopters. Others are providing online counseling sessions to those on the ground or granting employees a month or more off when they return.

"Angie Stephens is an employee assistance counselor at KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton. She recently returned from a three-month assignment as an on-site counselor in Iraq, where she traveled by convoy or helicopter to meet with civilian workers.

"'You're sitting there with a bulletproof vest and a Kevlar helmet on and talking to them about what's going on,' Stephens says."

Israel - that "model of virtue" in the Middle East

"A British MP who was held in an ambulance at an Israeli military checkpoint for more than an hour after he suffered a stroke is to ask the Foreign Office to protest at his treatment.

"Ian Gibson, the Labour MP for Norwich North, said that soldiers stopped him for about 90 minutes as they demanded he leave the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance taking him to an Arab-run hospital in East Jerusalem and take an Israeli ambulance.

"'I was being quite violently sick at the time. I was pretty ill and I think they knew I was pretty ill. They could see I was vomiting and yet they insisted on this kind of treatment,' he said at a Jerusalem hospital yesterday. 'We had to keep waiting for a more senior officer to appear and so on. The feeling was that humanitarian care of the patient was way down the list and that they were making a point.'

"Palestinian ambulances are frequently delayed or turned back at checkpoints. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights says at least 43 people have died in the past four years because ambulances were stopped or delayed. More than a dozen women have been forced to give birth at checkpoints, resulting in at least five stillbirths.

Newspeak of the Day II

"We know that the enemy will come at us very, very tough."

- Gen. John Abizaid, speaking about the alleged stepup in attacks by insurgents in Iraq preceding the Iraqi (and American) elections

Newspeak of the Day

"We'll secure the country. Inshallah (God willing), we hope Iraqi forces will go into Fallujah soon."

- appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, speaking to American television

Turning a phrase

"His tone-deaf speechwriters achieved a perverse kind of alchemy, transforming a golden opportunity into a lead balloon."

Followup: TV news just described Bush as following his UN speech with a series of "diplomatic meetings" with other world leaders. Based on his speech at the UN, wouldn't "undiplomatic meetings" likely be more descriptive?

How ignorant are Americans?

"On 'Letterman,' Kerry endured some tough but respectful questions about his shifting explanations of his position on the war in Iraq. Then came the comedic payoff: Kerry got to read the 'Top 10 Bush Tax Proposals.' No. 3 was 'Cheney gets to claim Bush as a dependent,' referring to Vice President Dick Cheney.

U.S. to murder 10,000+ Palestinians (and some Iranians too)

"The United States will sell Israel nearly 5,000 smart bombs in one of the largest weapons deals between the allies in years, Israeli military officials said Tuesday."

The Palestinians aren't the only targets, however, since 500 of those bombs will be "bunker buster" bombs, with essentially one purpose in mind - blowing up Iran's nuclear facilities.

The Israeli button men will be pulling the trigger in these hits. But it will their American Godfather, the capo di tutti capi, who is equally guilty, both legally and morally, of the deaths which result.

Building democracy in Iraq

" Iraqi officials in charge of rebuilding their country's shattered and decrepit infrastructure are warning that the Bush administration's plan to divert $3.46 billion from water, sewage, electricity and other reconstruction projects to security could leave many people without the crucial services that generally form the backbone of a stable and functioning democracy."

Doublespeak Quote of the Day

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Bush was not being "as straight as maybe we'd like to see" with the American people about Iraq. (Source)

The soldiers speak

"'Nobody I know wants Bush,' says an enlisted soldier in Najaf, adding, 'This whole war was based on lies.' Like several others interviewed, his animosity centered on a belief that the war lacked a clear purpose even as it took a tremendous toll on US troops, many of whom are in Iraq involuntarily under 'stop loss' orders that keep them in the service for months beyond their scheduled exit in order to keep units together during deployments.

"'There's no clear definition of why we came here,' says Army Spc. Nathan Swink, of Quincy, Ill. 'First they said they have WMD and nuclear weapons, then it was to get Saddam Hussein out of office, and then to rebuild Iraq. I want to fight for my nation and for my family, to protect the United States against enemies foreign and domestic, not to protect Iraqi civilians or deal with Sadr's militia,' he said.

"Other US troops expressed feelings of guilt over killing Iraqis in a war they believe is unjust.

"'We shouldn't be here,' said one Marine infantryman bluntly. 'There was no reason for invading this country in the first place. We just came here and [angered people] and killed a lot of innocent people,' said the marine, who has seen regular combat in Ramadi. 'I don't enjoy killing women and children, it's not my thing.' [Ed. note: gosh, I hope not, for his family's sake if nothing else]"

"Specialist Swink, who comes from a family of both Democrats and Republicans, plans to vote for Kerry. 'Kerry protested the war in Vietnam. He is the one to end this stuff, to lead to our exit of Iraq,' he said."

American war crimes in Iraq

The following post, lifted wholesale from TalkLeft, isn't about a bombing, it's about an arrest, but it illustrates precisely this point. As well as illustrating the consequences - what happens to Iraqis when their American captives are at best indifferent to their fate, and at worst, well, a lot worse:

"Huda Alazawi was one of the few females imprisoned at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. She was a wealthy businesswoman, blackmailed by a lowlife informant who falsely dropped a dime on her and her brothers, claiming they were supporters of the Iraqi resistance after she refused to meet his demand for money. Recently released after several months at Abu Ghraib, she recounted her ordeal to The Guardian.

"Alazawi was imprisoned with two of her brothers and a sister. One brother was brutally sexually assaulted -- hours later he was thrown at her and her sister's feet, bleeding from his head, knees and between his legs. He was dead.

"The torture, abuse and degradation of Alazawi and other prisoners went on for months. She was able to document some of the abuse in a Koran. Other aspects of her report match those of other prisoners.

"A few bad apples? No way. If even just half of Alazawi's account is true, common sense dictates that the abuse and torture were not merely condoned, but organized, planned and authorized. Almost equally disgusting is this U.S. miltary spokesman's indifferent response to her allegations:

"She and her sister, which [sic] were the last two females we detained at Abu Ghraib, were separated from the male detainees in keeping with the cultural sensitivities." He added, "The fact that abuses occurred isn't really news any more. We know they did and those who are accused are being prosecuted for it."

How about the prosecution of those who authorized it?

Capitalist health care

"For patients and their doctors these days, the rising cost of prescription drugs is often the fabled elephant in the room — a looming presence, unacknowledged.

"Both parties know that a drug's cost and an insurer's reimbursement rate affect whether patients will follow their physicians' advice and take medications as prescribed. After all, patients often skimp — or skip out — on taking the drugs because they are having trouble paying for them.

"Now a study has found that, in two-thirds of these cases, patients do not tell their doctor in advance. And more than a third of those who skimp never tell their doctors at all, even during a later visit.

"Chronically ill patients — people with conditions like asthma, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and ulcers — are the ones who most need to take their medications regularly and in the doses prescribed. The vast majority of those patients surveyed were on three or more prescription drugs when they started to skip doses or delay on refills to save money.

"In May, a Rand Corp. study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., found that when the co-pay shouldered by younger patients with chronic illnesses doubled, those patients cut back on their medications by as much as 23%. And the health results were striking: As these patients scaled back their medications, their visits to emergency rooms rose 17% and hospital stays went up 10%."

"There are, however, many inexpensive computer-based tools and programs that can help doctors initiate a decision-making process in which patient and doctor can compare trade-offs in a drug's effectiveness, side effects, convenience and cost.

"That's new territory for most doctors, who have been trained to prescribe the medication or therapy that is probably best to treat a patient's illness, not to consider a potentially less effective or convenient one that might be cheaper or more likely to be covered.

"In light of the new evidence, Mangione said, it's time to get over that.

"'The most expensive drug might be the best choice,' said Mangione, who has been seeing patients for 15 years, 'but not if it's being taken half the time.'"

Congratulations to Left I on the News readers!

9/11

September 11… he sat there, reading the paper. As he reached out for the cup in front of him for a sip of tea, he could vaguely hear the sound of an airplane overhead. It was a bright, fresh day and there was much he had to do… but the world suddenly went black- a colossal explosion and then crushed bones under the weight of concrete and iron… screams rose up around him… men, women and children… shards of glass sought out tender, unprotected skin … he thought of his family and tried to rise, but something inside of him was broken… there was a rising heat and the pungent smell of burning flesh mingled sickeningly with the smoke and the dust… and suddenly it was blackness.

9/11/01? New York? World Trade Center?

No.

9/11/04. Falloojeh. An Iraqi home.

"We have 9/11’s on a monthly basis. Each and every Iraqi person who dies with a bullet, a missile, a grenade, under torture, accidentally - they all have families and friends and people who care. The number of Iraqis dead since March 2003 is by now at least eight times the number of people who died in the World Trade Center. They had their last words, and their last thoughts as their worlds came down around them, too."

Open thread

Casualties

Some of these evacuees have just short-term problems. But the really serious issue is that a substantial number have problems which will affect them for a long time, if not forever, and I'm not talking about the portion of the 7,245 wounded who have returned with missing eyes, legs, arms, or severely disfigured in some other way. I'm talking about this:

"Among veterans from Iraq seeking help from the VA, 5,375 have been diagnosed with a mental problem, making it the third-leading diagnosis after bone problems and digestive problems. Among the mental problems were 800 soldiers who became psychotic.

"A military study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July showed that 16 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq might suffer major depression, generalized anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. Around 11 percent of soldiers returning from Afghanistan may have the same problems, according to that study."

Hello, McFly!

"Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said today that the Bush administration's request to divert more than $3 billion from reconstruction work in Iraq to security measures was a sign that the American campaign in Iraq is in serious trouble."

By the way, it may just not be making the news, but it sure seems to me like the flow of members of Congress over to Iraq to witness the "progress" that's being made for themselves has completely dried up. They may be dumb, but they're not stupid.

The Bush National Guard memos

• Marian Carr Knox, Killian's secretary, doesn't remember typing these memos. Ms. Cox is an 86-year-old woman and these memos were typed 30 years ago! I guarantee there are plenty of things I've written this year, or at least in the last decade, nevertheless 30 years ago, that I have no memory of writing, and I'm a lot younger than Ms. Cox.
• Linda James, one of CBS's document experts, now says "that she noticed indications that the two documents she inspected were the product of a word processor and relayed that to the producers." What indications? That there was a superscript "th" in the document. But Ms. Cox has testified that the typewriter she used had a special superscript "th" key, something she would more likely remember since it was used in every memo she wrote, and is also confirmed by other memos of unquestioned authenticity. So this document "expert" is "self-disproving," and yet it still being quoted as somehow relevant.
• Killian's son and other family members are frequently cited as claiming that they "knew" their father would never write such a thing, and didn't have any "personal" files. The first half of this claim is simply silly; how many of us know everything about what our fathers are doing at work? And the second half is disproven by Knox, Killian's secretary, who has said that "Mr. Killian had her type memorandums recording the problems, she said, and he kept them in a private file under lock and key." Again, something someone would remember, even while not remembering one particular memo.

Again, my point is not to claim that I know whether these memos are fake or not; I haven't even looked at them online, nevertheless the originals (or the "original copies"). But the coverage of this issue in the press, and their acceptance and repetition of totally specious claims as useful for discrediting the memos, deserves to be spotlighted. Remember, this is the same media which day after day hammered home the "conventional wisdom" that Iraq had stockpiles of WMD. When "conventional wisdom" is involved, be sure to look the other way.

Comfortably numb

I am deeply saddened by the following. This is no longer a country I fully recognize.

Y'know how gradual changes, which can eventually become radical transformations, are sometimes only obvious to people who weren't around much? Aunts and uncles are always saying the kids have grown so much -- which, of course, they have.

I've only been gone for almost a month. Maybe it was like this before I left and I'm just now noticing...

Yesterday, I'm working and unpacking, and I've got CNN on in the background. And I hear Wolf Blitzer, barking in that constant breathless get-the-kids-excited-for-Christmas, here-comes-another-shiny-pebble pacing of his, mentioning a video of a civilian journalist, Mazen al-Tumeizi, and about a score of other civilians (reports vary) getting killed in a U.S. airstrike . About 60 other civilians were injured.

I didn't actually see the report live -- Wolf had already moved on to his next story -- but I was struck by how casual this was: innocent civilians killed in a U.S. airstrike, and it wasn't even the news hook; the death of the reporter was. (CNN doesn't have a transcript up for the report I saw. They do, however, have one for a later , similar report. Scroll down, or just search for the words "I'm dying." The entire mention of the U.S. inflicting over 70 civilian casualties is exactly four sentences long. The Batman guy, meanwhile, got thirty.)

So, through the miracle of TiVo, I rewound. And there it was.

Video.

Civilians.

Being killed by a U.S. airstrike.

Non-combatants. Celebrating on a disabled U.S. vehicle, granted. But civilians nonetheless. Certainly not in combat against any U.S. troops.

In the foreground, a reporter just doing his job, frowning over some little technical glitch, maybe something he forgot to do...

Bang, boom. No warning. Just an incoming U.S. aerial attack. "To prevent looters from stripping the vehicle," the Pentagon later says, classifying everyone within thirty feet as "looters" and sentencing them to summary execution.

Blood splashes on the lens. The camera spins. Tiny glimpses of terrible carnage.

Without a beat, without reflection, without even a moment of minimal thought, Wolf Blitzer moves on. As do we, collectively.

And that's that. America kills innocent civilians. Lots of them. And it's no big deal now. Not controversial. No reason to ask questions or rationalize or even pretend to soul-search like the national media once did. America kills civilians. Lots of them. Just part of the fabric of things now.

Happens every day.

The military isn't pressed and can't be bothered for a detailed explanation about the incident, other than to blame the victims themselves. "Great care should be taken by all to avoid and keep a safe distance from any active military operation as unpredictable events can occur," the U.S. spokesman says.

"Unpredictable events," they say. Like an earthquake or a lightning strike. Like an unprovoked attack from an Apache helicopter, firing on unarmed civilians, on tape, recorded for all the world to see.

Nobody's responsible. These are "unpredictable events."

I say this next as the most articulate, precisely-worded response I can muster right now, summing up all my emotions quite clearly: F**K.

And yet there's no sizeable outrage in this country I can find. Not in the mainstream, and not even much in the blogosphere, except for a few posts.

We are numb now.

We are killing. We are killing in large numbers. And we are numb to what we are doing.

That's it. Game over. We have lost.

Not the war. Ourselves.

The war and much more will follow, soon, if we can't wake up from our savage numbness.

"Israel has cranked up efforts to eliminate militants to prevent them proclaiming victory once Sharon carries out his plan to 'disengage' from the conflict by evacuating more than 8,000 settlers from Gaza and the northern West Bank in 2005."

Quote of the Day

"Rotten imperialist reactionary culture...is like a drug making the sound mind of the people anemic."

- North Korea's official news agency, commenting on the attempt of U.S.-based Korean groups to float tiny radios into North Korea by balloon.

Hurricane evacuations

Now the hurricane is headed for New Orleans. The situation warrants a mandatory evacuation there too, but there's a problem:

"The mayor said that he would 'aggressively recommend' people evacuate, but that it would difficult to order them to do so, because at least 100,000 in the city rely on public transportation and would have no way to leave."

"Ivan could ...[send] water pouring over the levees, flooding to the rooftops and turning streets into a toxic brew of raw sewage, gas and chemicals from nearby refineries."

Followup: The following could have appeared in some left-wing publication, but actually it appeared in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

"Civil Defense Lt. Angel Macareno...credited Cuba's evacuation program for ensuring no one died. He said nearly 1.9 million of the nation's 11.2 million people [Ed. note: nearly one-fifth of the population!] - rather than the 1.3 million earlier reported - were evacuated before Ivan struck.

"Evacuations here are widespread and mandatory. Civil defense plans are highly developed, with preparedness education programs for the entire population.

"'The Cuban way could easily be applied to other countries with similar economic conditions, and even in countries with greater resources that do not manage to protect their population as well as Cuba does,' Salvano Briceno, director of the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, said in Geneva. [Ed. note: of course this applies to a lot more than just hurricane preparations]

"In 1998, only four people died during Hurricane Georges, while 600 died elsewhere. This year, Hurricane Charley killed four people in Cuba, but 27 in Florida."

Quote of the Day

"Does there seem to be significant progress being made on a day to day basis in terms of Iraqi security personnel, taking over the main responsibility for their country's security?"

- Wolf Blitzer, on CNN, responding to a report from Iraq featuring the following news

"Assailants Tuesday launched two deadly assaults at Iraqi police targets -- killing 47 people in a car bombing at a police recruit line in Baghdad and 12 police officers in a drive-by shooting in Baquba."

More economic blather

"Silicon Valley's unemployment rate fell nearly a full percentage point to 5.5 percent in August. Yet the valley also lost 1,500 jobs.

"The numbers show the two faces of the local economy right now -- depending on how you look, the jobs picture is either bleak or brightening."

And you'll be pleased to know that things are going really well. Well, except for workers, that is:

"The numbers suggest things were a bit better in August than in July. But even if the worst is over, economists say the recovery still isn't trickling down to workers.

"'It looks to me like we're bouncing along the bottom,' said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy. 'Most of the elements of a recovery are in place, except jobs. And it's a big except.'"

"Democracy" is in the eye of the beholder

Putin uses war on terrorism to tighten grip on democracy

Of course this was explained as an "anti-terrorism" measure. Because those darned Russian voters kept insisting on electing pro-terrorist governors, don't you know. Well, I suppose we should thank President Putin for demonstrating what a complete and utter fraud the "war on terrorism" is.

Seymour Hersh speaks

Followup: Another interesting (albeit similar) interview on today's Democracy Now!

More media and Iraq

The article makes things worse:

"American warplanes made what the military called a precision strike on a meeting place of terrorists believed linked to Al Qaeda in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja today, killing an estimated 25 militants.

"The military said in a statement that the attack was on a base intelligence officers had confirmed was used by rebels loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant believed by American officials to be Al Qaeda's most senior leader in Iraq."

And then of course we have the claim that the dead were "rebels loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." An interesting claim since, aside from the pretty much discredited claim that it was Zarqawi himself in the Nick Berg beheading video, there isn't a single credible sighting of Zarqawi in ages, so how anyone would be able to recognize people as associates of this phantom is quite beyond me. And even if Zarqawi were known to be in Iraq, or even in Fallujah, how exactly did the intelligence [sic] officers "confirm" that these people were loyal to him? No doubt the U.S. has informants or even actual spies in Fallujah who alleged that that was the case. But how exactly did they "confirm" it? Did they sneak in at night and find their membership cards? Overhear them talking about Zarqawi? The last of these is actually possible, but I'm highly skeptical it actually occured. No, I think we can rest assured that this "confirmation" was about as firm as the "confirmation" that Iraq had stockpiles of WMD. But it's something we'll never learn from the New York Times, who, like the rest of the media, will continue to print U.S. government propaganda as it is fed to them.

Followup: As if to confirm my analysis, the Times has now changed their headline. It now reads:

U.S. Attacks Rebel Base in Falluja; 20 Are Killed

Roads for the rich

The media and Iraq

But then it gets worse. Here are the first three paragraphs of the story:

"An intense, well-coordinated and widespread series of mortar blasts, rocket attacks and suicide car bombings rocked Baghdad on Sunday in some of the worst violence inflicted by insurgents in the Iraqi capital.

"The attacks alarmed government officials and left at least 59 people dead across the nation, including 37 Iraqis in Baghdad.

"U.S. soldiers battled insurgents for at least two hours in central Baghdad, where Iraqi crowds swarming over a charred U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle were fired on by a U.S. helicopter, wounding dozens and killing 13, including a journalist for an Arab satellite TV station."

Politicization of the exploitation of women

Now the 2004 report is out, and guess what country has been added to the notorious Tier 3 (Taiwan, one of the major destinations for sex tourism in the world, remains in Tier 1, the "good" countries)? Yes, that's right, Venezuela.

Read the report for yourself. Basically, it amounts to a series of mild criticisms of a country where these problems do exist, but are hardly major problems. Regardless of the extent of the problem, the U.S. government thinks it is its right to tell the Venezuelans what their law enforcement priorities should be. And this is no mere academic exercise. As a result of the fact that Venezuela doesn't run its country the way the U.S. government wants them to, the U.S. is now opposing an international loan of $250 million to Venezuela. Yes, that's the same U.S. which has a far larger involvement with international human trafficking in persons than Venezuela will ever have.

32 more reasons: Out Now!

"A U.S. helicopter gunship has fired at a crowd of Iraqis swarming round a burning U.S. vehicle in a Baghdad street and witnesses and officials say 13 people have been killed and 61 wounded in violence in the area.

"Elsewhere on Sunday, attacks in Baghdad killed nine other Iraqis on a day when insurgents fired more than a dozen mortars or rockets around the Green Zone compound housing the U.S. and other embassies, in one of the heaviest barrages in Baghdad in months.

"In the rebel-held city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, U.S. tanks and helicopters killed 10 Iraqis, including women and children, when they opened fire on a residential district, a doctor said. A U.S. military spokesman did not immediately have any information on the firing. [Ed. note: They never do]" (Source)

More followup: Make that 1000 more reasons.

The end of the Age of Oil

Now the Caltech alumni magazine, Caltech News, has published an extended article by Goodstein, based on a recent talk of his, which is essentially an extended summary of the book. In it, Goodstein discusses why and when the world is running out of oil, and examines all the possible alternatives - natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, and others - and argues that none of them are likely candidates to substitute for the present role of oil. The article is pretty technical, but still fairly accessible, and for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the subject, highly recommended.

Separate and definitely unequal

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Friday that will create the first toll lanes on a highway in the Bay Area.

"Solo drivers will be able to use carpool lanes on Interstate 680 between Fremont and Milpitas for a fee of up to $4."

Political humor of the day

"If we only included bake sales and how much money kids make at lemonade stands, this economy would really be cooking.”

- John Edwards, responding to Dick Cheney's claim that the unemployment rate and consumer spending indices don't properly register the "four hundred thousand people [who] make some money trading on eBay."

Language lessons

Last night on CNN, the reports on the American attacks in Tal Afar described them as targeted at "anti-Iraqi forces." "Anti-Iraqi"? One wonders if CNN's 18th century British counterparts described the American revolutionaries as "anti-American forces." The people in Tal Afar, like those in Fallujah, Najaf, Sadr City, Ramadi, Samarrah, and all over Iraq, are Iraqis fighting to free their country from a foreign occupation.

Simple fact checking

Capitalist health care claims another victim

By capitalist standards, HCA was of course "right" to close the hospital - after all, it's losing money. Three out of four patients in the hospital are either uninsured or underinsured, and payments from Medicare and Medi-Cal haven't kept up with their costs. And now, as a result of this totally irrational system which places profit before human needs, hundreds of people will soon be out of work, and medical care will be that much less accessible to tens of thousands of residents of downtown San Jose, this in the "richest country in the world," and in a country which doesn't think twice about spending hundreds of billions of dollars to kill tens of thousands of people. A country for which the Hypocritic Oath is more appropriate than the Hippocratic Oath.

Perhaps I'm singing an old tune here, but I feel comfortable in guessing that not a single hospital has been closed in Cuba since the Cuban revolution in 1959.

Political (un)humor of the day

"A right-wing petition signed by 185 Israel Defense Forces officers, former lawmakers, scholars and public figures is calling on police and IDF troops to disobey orders to evacuate settlements [in Gaza].

"The petition states that 'in light of the Sharon government's intention to destroy settlements in the land of Israel and hand them over to the enemy, uprooting their residents and violently expelling them, we hereby declare that expulsion and uprooting are a national crime and a crime against humanity, constitute evil, arbitrary, dictatorial behavior, aimed at depriving Jews of their right to live in their country.'"

Cowards continue their murderous ways in Iraq

"U.S. jets pounded the rebel stronghold of Fallujah on Thursday, and American and Iraqi forces entered the central city of Samarra for the first time in months to try to reseat the city council and regain control.

"Warplanes also hammered Tal Afar, a northern city suspected of lying on a smuggling route, in efforts to return the city to Iraqi government control."

"At least 27 people were killed and 70 were injured in Tal Afar, said Nineveh province health chief Dr. Rabie Yassin" (This source cites 57 killed).

"The US military said the assault was part of a 'precision strike' on an operating base for Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant Washington says is allied to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.

"'The target was a building frequently used by terrorists at the time of the strike. Three Zarqawi associates were reported to be in the area, no other individuals were present at the time of the strike,' the statement said.

"Twelve Iraqis, including five children and two women, were reported killed in the airstrike, a doctor said. Nine others were wounded."

As I wrote just two days ago, anyone who still thinks that the Iraqis will be worse off if American troops leave their country immediately should open their eyes. It couldn't possibly get any worse for the Iraqis than what's happening right now, with dozens of them being murdered every day by cowards flying overhead, dropping bombs on targets which they "suspect" (but in reality have no idea) might harbor opponents of their puppet regime, keeping themselves out of harm's way while they indiscriminately kill whoever happens to be in their way.

There was a time when John Kerry knew what a free-fire zone was, and had enough honor to correctly describe them as war crimes. Sadly, he's like a lot of old people, who can describe with clarity events of 30 years ago, but are fuzzy when it comes to events happening right in front of their eyes. As for George Bush, cowardice is right up his alley.

1000 dead in Iraq? Not the way I count

Donald Rumsfeld, strangely enough, remembers to count people from other countries when he's talking about people killed by terrorists, but conveniently forgets them when it comes to total up the cost of war (and it goes without saying that trying to balance the lives of the nearly 3000 people killed on 9/11, vs. 1000 soldiers killed fighting a war that nothing to do with 9/11, is an absurdity to begin with).

"Foreign fighters"

The Marquis de Lafayette	General Casimir Pulaski	General Friedrich von Steuben

Freeway blogging

Many readers of blogs have probably heard by now of the "Freeway blogger," who posts signs like the one above on freeway overpasses to get his message across. TalkLeft links to a very interesting article from the Los Angeles Times which gives you the inside scoop on his methodology, and perhaps some inspiration to do a little imitation.

"Official" count of U.S. dead in Iraq passes 1000. It's time to put an end to it.

There are many Americans who opposed, or at least now oppose, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, but still think the "out now" position is "unrealistic," that "we" have to "finish the job," that an American pullout now will see Iraq descend into chaos with Iraqis dying left and right. And, again as Left I has noted before, whatever happens after American troops leave couldn't possibly be as bad for Iraqis as what is happening to them right now.

Here are the headlines from from just the last few days:

• Item: "US Marines Say Up To 100 Insurgents Killed In Fallujah Air Strikes"
• Item: "40 killed in clashes in Sadr City"
• Item: "American forces arrest Ezzat al-Douri [sic], 70 men were killed trying to rescue him"

Some will say it is "unrealistic" to say "out now" because neither Bush nor Kerry (or even Nader, for that matter) are for that position. And that's true. The American people don't get a chance to vote for war, neither to start wars nor to end them. Only constant pressure from people opposed to the war and occupation can do that. Demonstrations, speakouts, actions, letters to the editor, talking to our neighbors, and in short doing everything we can to raise the din of voices shouting "out now" will ever accomplish that goal. So get started (or keep going)!

"Money for jobs and education, not war and occupation"

"[Cuba] has the largest number of teachers per capita in the world (one for every 36.8 inhabitants)...Children with disabilities...receive education in the 428 schools of this type and the 26 hospital classrooms in the country. 99% of school leavers [graduates] from these special education centers are employed."

The viewpoint Israelis think is too dangerous to be heard

"Tali Fahima served her time in the Israeli army, voted for Ariel Sharon as prime minister and took it as given that her country was struggling for survival against terrorism.

"Then last year, the 29-year-old legal secretary from Tel Aviv picked up a newspaper and read about Zakariya Zubeidi, the Jenin leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the group responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and shootings. Ms Fahima decided she would ask Mr Zubeidi why he killed Jews.

"On Sunday, the military placed Ms Fahima in detention without trial using a law applied to thousands of Palestinians over the past four years of intifada but rarely to Israelis.

"'I had to ask why a man goes ahead and does this,' she told Israeli television this year. 'There is a reason for this. A man doesn't wake up one morning and decide, 'OK, I'm going to carry out an attack.'"'

"After several meetings with the al-Aqsa brigade's commander, Ms Fahima described him as a freedom fighter and 'a kindhearted person whom I was lucky to meet'. She said she would be a human shield to protect him from Israeli assassination attempts.

"'It is hard for a 28-year-old girl who was brought up on certain values to find out one day that they are all wrong,' she told the Jerusalem Post in June. 'Who causes the occupation? The Palestinians? No. It is the Israelis and who am I? A Jew and an Israeli and by sitting at home and doing nothing I am also responsible.'

"'Zubeidi is not a terrorist, rather he is fighting against the occupation. Suicide bombers are also fighting the occupation. Put yourself in their place and see what happens. They are denied basic rights and freedom.'"

"The heads of West Bank yeshivas and members of the Yesha Council of Settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip's rabbinical council urged the government Tuesday not to avoid harming Palestinians if it means an effective war on terrorism.

"In a letter published Tuesday, the settler community leaders called on the government to toughen its policies in the territories even at the cost of civilian Palestinians lives. They also declared that the army should show less regard for the welfare of Palestinian civilians if terrorists are hiding in their midst.

"The rabbis' statement posed the question, 'Should the IDF fight the enemy, if civilians [on the other side] will be killed, or should the IDF refrain from fighting, and thus endanger our civilians?' The rabbis quote the sage Rabbi Akiva in responding that 'Our lives come first.'"

The (stripped totally) Naked (of civil rights) City

Tom Tomorrow passes on the story of two women who were just observing the protests, who were swept up in the police dragnet and spent more than two days in a very unpleasant custody.

Skippy passes on the story of a press person who was dragged off the floor of the Republican convention, held for an hour, and interrogated by five different security people and cops, because he refused to take an American flag and wave it when George Bush came on stage.

And for an extensive supply of such stories, occuring on every day of the convention, visit Democracy Now!.

Let's all be 100% clear on this. These kind of stories, repeated nearly 2000 times, had nothing to do with "fighting terrorism" or even "security." None of these people were breaking windows or even remotely threatening anyone. These arrests have to do, 100%, with restricting the right to free speech. They have to do with people being arbitrarily stripped of their constitutional rights, even the right to walk down a street, because George Bush was afraid it would make him look bad. And the story behind the story is the appalling lack of discussion, and protest, about these outrages, in the corporate media and by the corporate-owned politicians.

Followup: For an exception to the last sentence, read this article by a reporter who was not arrested, but still provides a chilling view of life in a police city state.

John Kerry: "Four more years!"

Especially considering that Kerry also said today "[Iraq] is the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Pretty strong description for a war he refuses to characterize as a "mistake." Of course a statement like that begs the obvious question. What was the "right" war? What was the "right" place? Iran? Syria? Saudi Arabia? What was the "right" time? Last April or last May? Last September? Next month? Next year?

And this is the man that George Bush and his Republican allies, and some in the media, have the unmitigated gall to refer to as an "antiwar" candidate.

Redefining "chutzpah"

Israel seeks funds for separate Arab roads
"Israel is pressing foreign donors to finance the construction of a web of roads through the occupied territories - made necessary by the building of the vast 'security' barrier and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

"The Israeli government seeks foreign funding to upgrade the back roads that Palestinians are forced to use - after being banned from routes used by Jewish settlers.

"It also wants funding to build new roads which take account of the barrier and its settlements. The plan envisages roads that would run parallel to each other - one for Jews, the other for Arabs."

U.S. casualties hit a new high

"About 1,100 U.S. soldiers and Marines were wounded in Iraq during August, by far the highest combat injury toll for any month since the war began and an indication of the intensity of battles flaring in urban areas."

Outrageous lie of the Day

"We went to the United Nations Security Council, which passed a unanimous resolution demanding the dictator disarm, or face serious consequences. Leaders in the Middle East urged him to comply. After more than a decade of diplomacy, we gave Saddam Hussein another chance, a final chance, to meet his responsibilities to the civilized world. He again refused."

- George Bush, justifying the invasion of Iraq in his speech to the Republican convention

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post recently published mildly self-critical articles criticizing their own coverage of the bogus "Iraq has stockpiles of WMD" allegations made before the invasion. Yet neither one, in today's lead editorials discussing Bush's speech (see previous links), even mentions this gross distortion, by which Bush seeks to rewrite history yet again. And my bet is that, for all the (justly deserved) criticism of Bush and his speech you'll hear from John Kerry and the Democrats, not one of them will point out this particular lie either.

And in the "ridiculous statement that isn't exactly a lie" of the day category, there was this line which Bush has used before: "Freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is the almighty God's gift to every man and woman in this world." Really? And what about the millions of people around the world who are still enslaved? Is God withholding his "gift" to them for some reason? Did God just decide to make this gift to the slaves in the United States in 1863? Weren't they worthy of this "gift" before that? As for the first half of the sentence, the less said the better (actually, it's a true statement, but I don't think Bush meant it that way).

Fallujah update

Political humor of the day

How dangerous is terrorism?

How not to argue against the "war on terror"

If the U.S. government really wanted to fight terrorism, they would have to target themselves, the biggest terrorists the world has ever known. That fight, however, will have to be left to those of us on the right side (i.e., the left side) of the barricades.

The "War on terror" and the war on Iraq

With this long prelude, I was appalled by John Kerry's much-touted speech to the American Legion yesterday. Because, long after Bush committed this intentional sin, and the media followed sheep-doggishly along, along comes Kerry doing the same thing. He goes from paragraph to paragraph speaking about how "we" are going to "win" the war against Iraq, and then immediately follows that talking about winning the "war on terror." He never exactly says that the war against Iraq is part of the "war on terror," any more than George Bush ever exactly said that there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, but the transitionless segue from one subject to the other certainly leaves the impression in the listener (or reader) that the two subjects are but one subject. Certainly Kerry never mentions once in his speech, despite extensive discussion about what he would have done differently in Iraq and what he will supposedly do differently in the future, just what the U.S. is doing there in the first place, so one is certainly left the impression that he doesn't disagree that that invasion was part and parcel of the "war on terror." Which is unfortunate. Because when the Republicans and Democrats agree on something, it's a sure bet you'll never hear another point of view in the corporate media.

Speaking for themselves

The beat goes on

"A U.S. airstrike on the city of Fallujah early Thursday killed nine civilians, including three children, and wounded six others, hospital officials said.

"The strike, which hit a residential house in the southern neighborhood of al-Jubail, came just after midnight, witnesses said."

Followup: And, needless to say, the killings of innocent Afghan civilians continue as well:

"Eight Afghan villagers were killed and an Afghan aid worker injured when US-led coalition planes bombed a northeastern village after a firefight with militants, a Danish aid group said."

Unintentional irony dept.

"In this country, it doesn't make any difference where you were born. It doesn't make any difference who your parents were."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger, addressing the Republican convention

Yes, it is possible for one or another individual born into poverty or with some other disadvantage, to "get ahead" in the United States. But for every one who does so, a thousand, or probably more like a hundred thousand or even a million, haven't the slightest chance of doing so. Because it very much does "make a difference" where you were born and especially who your parents were.

Followup: Just to be a little more rigorous in quantifying that last statement. 12% of people in the United States are below the poverty line. If it didn't "make any difference who your parents were," then 12% of the people admitted to Yale would have grown up in such families, and 12% of the members of the board of directors of Exxon, and 12% of the members of private golf clubs, not to mention 12% of the Presidents of the United States and 12% of the members of Congress. Needless to say, reality is far from that.