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July 8, 2005
Open Thread
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More Hawkish Than Bush – Democrats in Full Battle Cry
If there were any doubt where leading Democrats stand on the war in Iraq, it was totally dispelled by their reaction to Bush’s speech. The war may or may not have been a mistake in the first place; that the Dems can debate at least now that their support for the war lies safely in the past where no amount of debate can reverse it. But for the present and future, the Democratic elites are resolved as one to continue the killing and even to escalate it. The Democratic Party has emerged beyond any doubt as “the other war party.”
The Democrats’ response to Bush’s lies was so strikingly at odds with the role of an opposition party that it drew attention even in some quarters of the mass media. Joan Vennochi, for one, ordinarily a mild-mannered columnist for the Boston Globe, took note in a column, “Democrats Buy into Bush’s War”(1). Vennochi was right on target when she concluded that: “If you listen carefully, you realize Democrats like Kerry and Biden are saying that this war is being fought the wrong way, not that this is the wrong war. They have bought into the Karl Rove argument that might makes right.”
…
I have asked several times in this space why the anti-war movement is not making more headway given the popular hostility to the Iraq disaster. One reason, but not the only one, is that too many progressives and “liberals” blindly follow the Democrats who wish us to see the issue of the war as a partisan one. It is “lesser evil politics” in part which guarantees that the war will grind on. So what is to be done? These Democrats respect only power and cringe only at the prospect of losing elections. There is no reason for any of us to give them one dime or one minute of time in 2006. And we have a moral obligation to deny them both. If some Democrats take an unequivocal and strong position to get out of Iraq at once and completely, then they can claim our support. But not otherwise.
I completely agree with that reasoning.
Good catch Bernhard.
As I’ve posted before, when are people going to realize that the dems gorge at the same trough.
Our supposed two party system is really only a ONE party system that takes turns playing a facade of ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’. Wake up.
Posted by: Outraged | Jul 8 2005 13:55 utc | 2
G8 issues $50 billion aid package for Africa
Right, $50 billion over 10 years, with innumerable caveats and conditions.
So the 8 wealthiest nations will graciously grant $5 billion a year, or even more simply, a mean of $625 million/year each … WTF ?!
Contrast this to only one of the G8, $312 billion (at least) spent by the US in Iraq in just two years, for fucking what, what ?
This is all PR smoke being blown up our collective asses !
Posted by: Outraged | Jul 8 2005 14:22 utc | 3
I’ve long entertained the fantasy of Patrick Fitzgerald working up an indictment of the Bush administration, the Republicans, the Democrats, the MSM, and AIPAC. This indictment would read like the TO and cash-flow-chart of a mid-cap corporation, shedding light on everything around us. It would dim down quickly, like the Surgeon General’s report back in 1964–no one would be indicted, everything would be settled out of court, and the wars would proceed as usual. But the indictment would be translated into sixty or seventy foreign languages, and become required reading in schools around the world for the next fifty years. It would affect things. America would be read through the lens of that indictment. Bush, Kerry, Lieberman, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Biden, the NYTimes–these names would only be recognized as cited by that indictment….
Posted by: alabama | Jul 8 2005 14:29 utc | 4
(CBS) Heavily armed SWAT teams put on a show of force in New York’s subway and Coast Guard boats escorted the Staten Island Ferry across the harbor.
How is this deterring anyone from anything? – except terrorizing little old ladies and forcing the rest of us to remain silent and extra obedient.
Posted by: Frank Kelly | Jul 8 2005 14:54 utc | 5
democrats regroup!
Correction: In last week’s newsletter, the title of our lead article, “ the democrats: here do we go from where ?,” contained errors caused by faulty typesetting. We at Democratic Party headquarters deeply regret any misunderstanding this caused. The correct title should have read, “ the democrats: do we where go here from is this right lorenzo ?”
Posted by: annie | Jul 8 2005 15:52 utc | 6
WOW! is the only comment that comes to my mind. Iraq calls for ‘new page’ in relations with Tehran – Bold plans for greater military cooperation discussed between old foes
TEHRAN, Iran – Iraq’s defense minister said Thursday that ousted leader Saddam Hussein was the aggressor in the 1980-88 war against Iran, as the two former enemies announced plans for closer cooperation between their militaries.
…
“We’ve come here to open a new page in our relations against the painful page of the past,” al-Duleimi told reporters at a press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani.
Shamkhani said Iran and Iraq would form joint committees to work out cooperation on cleaning minefields and “modernizing Iraq’s army.”
“No one can prevent this cooperation,” Shamkhani insisted, without elaborating on the extent of the cooperation.
The United States — Iran’s No. 1 enemy — is helping build Iraq’s military and security forces and would likely oppose any Iranian intervention.
But the warm talk reflected the sympathies toward Tehran from the new Baghdad government, where several parties long tied to Iran hold sway.
Posted by: Fran | Jul 8 2005 16:40 utc | 7
London Mayor Ken Livingstone comdemns attackers, praises open immigration:
Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.
I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others – that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don’t want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.”
Posted by: mats | Jul 8 2005 16:47 utc | 8
Asian leaders organize for “great game”
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — The leaders of Russia, China and four Central Asian states held a two-day …
Evidence of covert prison network mounting
DIEGO GARCIA — On a secluded atoll in the Indian Ocean, the United States has created a floating aircraft carrier that houses 1,700 personnel who call it Camp Justice. But intelligence analysts …
U.S. prison news:
Posted by: Outraged | Jul 8 2005 16:48 utc | 9
Teen pregnancy rate rises as funds dwindle
For the first time since 1997, the state’s teen birth rate did not decline in 2003, the last year for which data is available, and some towns saw increases of 15 percent and more. And this comes just as funding for teen pregnancy prevention plunges.
…
“It’s not rocket science,” she said. “If they aren’t getting the information, they aren’t going to make good choices. That’s why we are seeing the rate go up.”
Posted by: Fran | Jul 8 2005 16:49 utc | 10
I also noted that Iran-Iraq deal. Would have been a big deal on a day without London bombs, Miller in jail, hot spec on the SC, etc., etc.
Year of the Jackpot, anyone?
Posted by: sm | Jul 8 2005 17:40 utc | 11
On 15th February 2003, some two million people gathered in London to demonstrate against the imminent attack on Iraq. I remember speaking to a neighbour who told me proudly that he was going on the march his first ever protest march because he was damned if he was going to let Tony Blair endanger his children’s lives by making London a prime target for attack.
Whether we like it or not, we must admit that Terror is a message and we better learn to listen to it attentively.
Unless the American and British people want a 30-year or a 100-year war with domestic police states for “security” reasons and a draft that will bleed their populations dry, this war needs to be wound up quickly with due apologies and reparations.
Posted by: DM | Jul 8 2005 18:39 utc | 12
Iran Contra II?
This an old story but very relative to Now.
I can now say that I tracked down and interviewed the Iran Contra arms merchant Manucher Ghorbanifar for it, earlier this month. Why should you care? Because over the past three years, Mr. Ghorbanifar has been part of a secret back channel with a small group of neoconservative hardliners, including two who work for Doug Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy. One of the Pentagon officials involved in the back channel, Larry Franklin, is now reportedly the subject of an FBI investigation for allegedly passing classified US documents to Israel, via the lobbying group, Aipac.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 8 2005 19:13 utc | 13
Iran Contra II?
This an old story but very relative to Now.
I can now say that I tracked down and interviewed the Iran Contra arms merchant Manucher Ghorbanifar for it, earlier this month. Why should you care? Because over the past three years, Mr. Ghorbanifar has been part of a secret back channel with a small group of neoconservative hardliners, including two who work for Doug Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy. One of the Pentagon officials involved in the back channel, Larry Franklin, is now reportedly the subject of an FBI investigation for allegedly passing classified US documents to Israel, via the lobbying group, Aipac.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 8 2005 19:17 utc | 14
Iraq is VietNam revisited on crack alrighty. 2008 looks to be 1972 revisited, a kindler gentler version with a thousand points of light. Laser points, with new & improved napalm backing them.
Anybody catch that the new head of the NSA is the same D.o’D. Intelligence op that organized Abu Ghraib?
Ben Bernanke (AKA Ben bin Counterfeit, former Fed Bank head and Chief of US Council of Economic Advisors) was interviewed on Squawkbox this morning, “Sir, do you think US wages and salaries are keeping up with the 2% (sic) official inflation rate?”
“Yes, the growth in hours worked, new workers hired and lower Fed taxes is sufficient to offset inflation.”
Say *WHAT*!??
Since when does a feeble insufficient employment recovery translate into higher wages and salaries? Since when is working more overtime hours at straight rate an increased wage and salary? And surely the local and State tax increases, fees and tariffs more than offset Fed income tax reductions. Ergo net real wages and salaries have *FALLEN*!
Yet the DJIA rose 127 points anyway, behind the London bombing, Ben Bernanke’s babbling, H4 Dennis and Gulf oil production cutbacks, and anemic US employment results. Why? Because the Fed is also in the business of pumping up the US stock markets, to the tune of $1B (+) per day of your ever-devaluating tax dollars!
“Hmm, London Bombing = Better buy $1.5B QQQQ today!” That spurious triple-digit runup just came out of your Federal income taxes!
Maybe that’s what Bernanke means by “keeping up with inflation”?
Insane Clown Posse + Staggering Deficit Account + Two SCOTUS Retirements + Republican Control of Federal Government = <%P
ظش H.A.N.D.!
Posted by: lash marks | Jul 8 2005 19:57 utc | 16
@Fran, good catch! I’m posting this anyway ’cause I already had it written… (hope the formatting is correct, I can’t preview)
—————-
If those Conservative Talkers Taking Radio Shows On Road To Iraq are looking for good news, look no further!
We all know how the “liberal media” focuses on negative news like the following:
Iran, Iraq Pledge New Era Of Military Cooperation
Miami Herald, July 8, 2005
Iraq called for a ‘new page’ in relations with Tehran, with plans for closer military cooperation.
By Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press
TEHRAN– Iraq’s defense minister said Thursday that ousted leader Saddam Hussein was the aggressor in the 1980-88 war against Iran, as the two former enemies announced plans for closer cooperation between their militaries.
Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun al Duleimi’s visit to Iran marked a new effort to build ties between Iraq and mainly Shiite Muslim Iran after a Shiite-dominated government came to power in Baghdad this year.
”We’ve come here to open a new page in our relations against the painful page of the past,” Duleimi said at a news conference with his Iranian defense counterpart, Ali Shamkhani.
Shamkhani said Iran and Iraq would form joint committees to work out cooperation on such issues as cleaning minefields and “modernizing Iraq’s army.”
”No one can prevent this cooperation,” Shamkhani insisted, without elaborating on the extent of the cooperation.
The good news? There’s a member of the Axis of Evil that the new Iraqi government is NOT planning military cooperation with!
Abducted Egyptian Envoy Killed In Iraq
Washington Post, July 8, 2005
By Andy Mosher, Washington Post Foreign Service
Defense Minister Announces Pact With Iran for Military Training
BAGHDAD, July 7 — Kidnappers said Thursday they had killed Egypt’s top diplomat in Iraq, Ihab Sherif, who was abducted six days ago in Baghdad as part of a declared effort by insurgents to seize a large number of envoys.
The Egyptian government confirmed the killing, which was reported in a posting on a Web site, purportedly by the insurgent group al Qaeda in Iraq. The statement said that “the judgment of God Almighty on the ambassador of the apostates, the ambassador of Egypt, has been consummated with the praise of God.”
In another development, Iraqi officials said Thursday they had signed an agreement with Iran to receive military training for their fledgling armed forces, a function that has been supervised by the United States.
…Asked whether the accord might anger officials in Washington, Defense Minister Sadoun Dulaimi said, “Nobody can dictate to Iraq its relations with other countries,” the Reuters news agency reported.
The good news? There were numerous foreign diplomats who were NOT kidnapped and killed by insurgents! And let it be emphasized once again, Iraq is NOT planning military cooperation with North Korea!
Hussein’s Top Attorney Quits, Criticizes Americans On Team
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 8, 2005
By Jamal Halaby, Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan – Saddam Hussein’s chief attorney said yesterday that he had quit the former Iraqi ruler’s legal team and that some of the team’s American members were trying to run the defense and soft-pedal the U.S. occupation of the country.
Ziad al-Khasawneh, a Jordanian, also said that Hussein’s eldest daughter, Raghad, favored the Americans and non-Arabs on the defense team “because she thinks they will win the case and free her father.”
Khasawneh said he resigned Tuesday in a telephone call to Hussein’s wife, Sajida, who is believed to be in Yemen.
“I told her I was resigning because some American lawyers in the defense team want to take control of it and isolate their Arab counterparts,” said Khasawneh, an Arab nationalist who has often expressed support for Iraqi resistance.
The Americans on the team include former Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Khasawneh said Clark and Curtis Doebbler, another American lawyer helping defend Hussein, “have often asked me to refrain from criticizing the American occupation of Iraq and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.”
The good news? We got Saddam! We still got Saddam! Did I mention that we got Saddam?
(After all, America would never stand for a head of state going unpunished who initiates wars of aggression and disappears and tortures people … would we?)
Good news just abounds! Look how our allies are supporting Great Leader, here:
Seoul Vows To Bar U.S. Strike At North
International Herald Tribune, July 8, 2005
By Choe Sang-Hun, International Herald Tribune
SEOUL – President Roh Moo Hyun declared Thursday that under no circumstances would South Korea allow the United States to resort to a military attack against North Korea.
President George W. Bush insists that he wants to resolve the nuclear crisis through diplomacy, but he has not officially ruled out a military option, which he has called a “last choice.”
Roh made the comment while blaming the nuclear deadlock on the uncompromising attitudes of both North Korea, which he called “the most stubborn country in the world,” and the United States, which he described as the “most opinionated country in the world.”
And here:
Uzbeks Threaten To Evict U.S. From An Air Base Near Afghanistan
New York Times, July 8, 2005
By Ethan Wilensky-lanford
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, July 7 – Uzbekistan on Thursday threatened to evict the United States military from an important air base near the border with Afghanistan.
The United States was allowed to use the Soviet-era base, in Karshi-Khanabad after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and continues to use it to support the continuing military efforts in Afghanistan.
The statement on Thursday from Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry said it had allowed the base, where 800 American troops are stationed, to be established for the sole purpose of ousting Taliban rulers from Afghanistan.
“Any other prospects for a U.S. military presence in Uzbekistan were not considered by the Uzbek side,” The Associated Press quoted the statement as saying.
The statement was released two days after a meeting of the Russia- and China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which called for the United States to set a timeline for withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Please, no more good news. Isn’t there any bad news? We want to be Fair and Balanced, after all.
Judge: No Gov’t Money For Boy Scout Trip
New York Times, July 8, 2005
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has ruled the Pentagon can no longer spend millions in government money to ready a Virginia military base for a national Boy Scout event typically held every four years, the American Civil Liberties Union announced Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning’s June 22 order stems from a 1999 lawsuit by the ACLU of Illinois that claimed the Defense Department sponsorship violates the First Amendment because the Scouts require members to swear an oath of duty to God.
…ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said no other youth organization receives millions of dollars in government support, and that the injunction is the latest step toward ending the Scouts’ unfair advantage.
That’s more like it.
Posted by: OkieByAccident | Jul 8 2005 20:27 utc | 17
Perhaps someone noted this in a previous thread and if so I apologize.
I am a huge Billmon fan, and do understand his ‘give it a rest’ point. But in his previous post about London he says,”The babbling heads of cable news will babble even louder. Conservative con artists will figure the angles and work out the attack lines to use against the liberals — whatever it takes to drown out the fact that, nearly four years after 9/11, Bin Ladin still lives and Al Qaeda is back in business. Mission unaccomplished.”
That’s pretty much armchair quarterbacking, ain’t it? ..and I totally agree with his statement.
To me the difference is if you are trying to score political points or if you are so pissed off at the way things have gone and the ever so predictable outcome that you have to say something.
And I won’t be giving anything a rest. And I do that out of anger about the policies AND respect for the victims. If it were someone in my family…. I can’t imagine the anger..
(I’d email him if i had his email address – I couldn’t find it on his site)