Connect these dots:

• The U.S. army is building a large wall to seperate one area in Baghdad from its neighbor areas. This to control everything going in and out from the area and against the wishes of the inhabitants. The effort started on April 10 but was only reported yesterday.
• One of the main arteries between that area and its neighbor areas is a large bridge crossing the Tigris.
• On April 12 said bridge got blown up by a "truck bomb." 
• Retired military experts immediately doubted the "truck bomb" story and suspected a professional demolition job.
• When the news about the separate and control wall got out on April 19, the spokesman for the army tried to obfuscate the issue.

Who most likely did blow up the bridge?
Where does the "walling off" idea come from?
How are the chances for this to work?

Yeah, that’s what I thought too.

More after the jump.

Cont. reading: Iraq’s “Gated Communities” And The Sarafiya Bridge

News & views …

Gonzales, or Frodo Fredo as Bush calls him, has a big day in Congress today. Unfortunately I’ll not have time to watch the show. If anyone does, please let us know your impressions.

When asked, he will try to hardly remember anything but his name. But some good questions may break him one way or another.

Gonzales published his hearing opening remarks on Sunday. I thought that was a silly move as people immediately could start to shoot holes into his truthiness. ABC News did so stating that Gonzales Contradicts His Own Testimony.

Meanwhile the White House sent a letter to the RNC and asked it not to turn White House emails over to Congress as demanded by Conyers. One could probably make the case – as some do – that this is already obstruction of justice.

In the end, after many twists and turns which we will certainly watch with some interest, there will be one or another Supreme Court decision about the realms of executive privilege. But that will take some time and Bush may well be back home in Texas before such a judgement comes down.

The NYT’s Nicholas Kristof has written dozens of columns about genocide in Sudan. Yesterday he added another mixture of limited personal observations, unscrutinized rumors and calls for U.S. bombing of Darfur: Driving Up the Price of Blood (liberated version).

In his current column Kristof uses the word "tribe" nine times, the word "African" seven times and the word "black" four times. None of these words in connection with the "enemy" – which is "Arab."

This is, as he says, "systematic slaughter of […] members of black African tribes." The enemy of these "black African tribes" are Arabs like in "Arab attackers routinely shouted racial epithets against blacks."

There is no mentioning of the skin color of such "Arabs" (it is black), nor mentioning of the social structures of Arab communities in Sudan (it is tribal) and no mentioning of their continental heritage (it is African).

Kristof does not know of "black Arab tribes." There are only "black African tribes" who somehow miracuously get "slaughtered" by "Arabs." That is the scheme that is running through each of his columns – it’s always "black African tribesmen" against "Arabs."

But now, suddenly, after only three years of reporting and some 63 pieces in the NYT by him on Darfur as well as countless other media appearences, Mr. Kristof has learned something new:

Perhaps the most surprising thing about President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan isn’t that he has presided over the systematic slaughter of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are members of black African tribes.

It is that President Bashir’s own family appears to come from an African tribe.

Cont. reading: Kristof’s Darfur “Arabs”

Christopher Hitchens sees nothing wrong with Mr. Spit-Comb getting his sweetie a mysterious new job and a hefty payrise. He thinks it’s just Sliming Wolfowitz:

I ought probably to say at once that I know both Wolfowitz and Riza slightly, and have known the latter for a number of years. […] The relationship between the two of them is none of my damn business (or yours), but it has always been very discreet, even at times when Wolfowitz, regularly caricatured as a slave of the Israeli lobby, might perhaps have benefited from a strategic leak about his Arab and Muslim companion.

Well, Hitchens might have forgotton (too much Whiskey does this to you) that there has been such a strategic leak. The benefit in that case was a bit dubious though. Chris Nelson cited by Sean Paul Kelley relays the story:

Recall the early days of 2001, when “job lists” were the name of the game here in Washington, you would find Wolfowitz on everyone’s short list for the CIA, not for DOD. Something happened which knocked Wolfowitz off the intelligence side of the equation. What you might have forgotten (if you ever knew) is why:

Cont. reading: Wolfowitz’ Beneficial Adultery

Via Danger Room a piece from an official U.S. military paper, the Freedom Watch Afghanistan (pdf), made for and about troops in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Headline:

Three night revival rocks Bagram Airfield

Caption:

Army Chaplain (Maj.) Terry Simmons anoints Army 2nd Lt. Rosilyn Woodard as part of the Enduring Faith Prayer Ministry during Spring Revival services.

The article quotes a participant:

"It is time to take a stand. A stand for faithfulness, a stand for understanding,
a stand for guidance, a stand for love, a stand for learning and doing God’s will," Thompson said. "No
longer is it our will, but
allow His will to be done."

Enduring Freedom, Enduring Faith …

Other military news that rocked Afghanistan:

In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped a guided bomb unit-31 and GBU-38s on an anti-coalition militia firing position near Kajaki. A joint terminal attack controller confirmed all weapons hit the desired targets.

In the absence of any pictures of the horrible white shark attack on Sanjaya Malakar’s illegitimate baby with Anna Nicole Smith we will have to do with this:

As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on Monday, April 16, 2007 by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff …
White House

Roundup of violence in Iraq – 16 April 2007
Baghdad

– 3 civilians were killed and 17 injured when mortar shells fell in Mahmoudiyah town south Baghdad around 2,00 pm.

– Rasha Hameed a female student was killed by a sniper in Um Al Ma’alif neighborhood south Baghdad around 2,15 pm.

Cont. reading: Important News

there’s no question the security threat of cho seung-huism in america requires an unpleasant, illiberal solution: surveillance, deportation, ghettoization.

News and views … an open thread …

A diary by Converger at Daily Kos and a brief by Steve Clemons at The Washington Note tackle the mystery of the Foundation for the Future.

That is the place where Paul Wolfowitz’s darling Shaha Riza currently works and earns nearly $200,000 a year tax-free World Bank money.

Let me add a bit to the public research on that mysterious foundation after the jump.

Before she came to the World Bank in 1997 Shaha Riza worked at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a Reagan legacy, which through intermediaries is funding democratic regime changes and US friendly foreign political parties.
According to rightweb:

Cont. reading: Wolfowitz, CIA, Lebanon – Get the picture?

by John Francis Lee

This year is my fifth cycle through the animal years from pig to pig to pig to pig to pig. Here in Northern Thailand the pig’s place is taken by the elephant. I prefer the elephant.

HM the King of Thailand, Bhumipol Adulyadej, had already been King for a year when I was born. Most Thais know no other King. Everyone loves the King, myself included. He’s seen 15 coups and 19 constitutions come and go. He’s the only one in Thailand perceived to be above the self-serving mass of bureaucrats and politicians and generals that carry on the spectacle of government here.

Cont. reading: A Thailand “Write Up”

there’s no question the security threat of islamism in europe requires
an unpleasant, illiberal solution: surveillance, deportation,
ghettoization.

The above was written in a recent valuable comment here. In my view the diagnosis therein as well as the prescribed therapy is wrong. But of course, that is discussable.

There have been and are threats to security all my life. Lots of bacteria and viruses, my smoking addiction, a cold war that by accident could have gone hot, whatever. But let’s assume the "security threat of islamism" is somehow supposed to be more related to terrorism by a non-state actor than to the driving style of my next door shopkeeper who was by some chance born in Pakistan.

There has been terrorism in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere throughout my life. There have been IRA bombings in Ireland and the UK, the Red Brigades in Italy, Action Direct in France, ETA in Spain, Palestinian actions against Israelis at the Olympics 1968 in Munich, RAF and various neo-nazi groups in Germany, the Oklahoma bombing, 9/11, some British folks of Pakistani descent in London’s tube and daily lots of such stuff is happening in Iraq.

Cont. reading: Terrorism Requires Police States?

The editors at the Washington Post are either dumb, or the most reliable Karl Rove shills imaginable. Ignoring the reporting  in their own paper they today write:

THE STORY of the missing White House e-mails is at that strange moment in the arc of a Washington uproar where it’s not clear whether it will turn out to be scandal or sideshow. There was legitimate reason for the White House to seek to comply with Hatch Act strictures and separate political from official business. But it’s clear — indeed, the White House has acknowledged — that officials there received sloppy guidance about when to use their official White House e-mail accounts and when to use other accounts supplied by the Republican National Committee.

But on Wednesday the White House explained the guidance during a press conference call with White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. Dan Froomkin reported for the Washington Post:

[W]hen I asked Stanzel to read out loud the White House e-mail policy, it seemed clear enough to me: "Federal law requires the preservation of electronic communications sent or received by White House staff," says the handbook that all staffers are given and expected to read and comply with.
…

Cont. reading: Sloppy Guidance?

Who is running U.S. foreign policy? It certainly isn’t the Secretary of State.

The Washington Post writes about 5 Iranians the U.S. captured in the Iranian consulate in Irbil.

After intense internal debate, the Bush administration has decided to hold on to five Iranian Revolutionary Guard intelligence agents captured in Iraq, overruling a State Department recommendation to release them, according to U.S. officials.

Cont. reading: Rice The Display Dummy

It is, of course, clear that U.S. military forces are currently the
most capable in the world and are likely to remain so for a long time
to come.
Shock and Awe — Achieving Rapid Dominance by Ullman and Wade

A woman charged with running a prostitution ring in the nation’s capital made good on her threat to identify high-profile clients, listing a military strategist known for his "shock and awe" combat theories as a regular customer in court documents Thursday.
Alleged "D.C. Madam" Names A Name

Cont. reading: Shocked and Awed

Breaking News:

Washington D.C. (RBN) – Paul Wolfowitz is stepping down from his position as head of the World Bank effective immediately. In a press statement the White House thanked Wolfowitz for his personal achievement of bringing the World Bank to the same ethic level the President and his staff are proud to hold on to.

Wolfowitz will be remembered for his energetic fight against corruption. As he expressed in a speech in October 2005: "Perhaps the most important is leadership with accountability.
Corruption benefits the privileged and deprives the poor, draining
resources and discouraging investment."

President Bush is expected to nominate Douglas J. Feith to succeed Wolfowitz. Feith is currently teaching at Georgetown University.

A senior administration official described Feith as "committed to development" and "a compassionate, decent man." He added that as No. 3 at the Pentagon, Feith had demonstrated skill for managing a large institution and was "without question one of the most brilliant individuals in government."

Related stories:
Pressure grows on Wolfowitz to resign
Wolfowitz must be told to resign now
Riza Failed to Get Approval for Working at SAIC

News & views …

U.S. soldiers will now stay in Iraq on regular tours of 15 months and then will have 12 months at home. The original policy back in 2003 was 12 months deployment and 24 months home – 33% deployment time is now up to 56%. Over the years, that breaks all personal relations.

Not that I do care so much for U.S. soldiers’ personal relations, but pissed off GIs will vent their anger somewhere and the lengthened deployment time will lead inevitably to more killed Iraqis.

How does that happen you may ask. ACLU has a file of Iraqi claims of civilians killed by U.S. soldiers. As the NYT reports:

Cont. reading: Rambling War Post

After the Bushies conquered the White House with the help of some friendly Supreme Court judges, Karl Rove’s main project was to cement a permanent GOP majority. Not, mind you, by implementing a sustainable policy that would get longterm agreement of the majority of voters, but by manipulating the voting system.

To achieve this, several coordinated lines of advance were taken.

Cont. reading: Rove’s Voting Projects

When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is ‘So it goes’.

Kurt Vonnegut,
Slaughterhouse-Five