Some news & views …
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May 23, 2007
OT 07-38
Comments
Is there anything “new” in this new strategy? The now officially prolonged timeframe of the “surge” is the only thing I find …
New Strategy for War Stresses Iraqi Politics
Top U.S. commanders and diplomats in Iraq are completing a far-reaching campaign plan for a new U.S. strategy, laying out military and political goals and endorsing the selective removal of hardened sectarian actors from Iraq’s security forces and government.
The classified plan, scheduled to be finished by May 31, is a joint effort between Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior American general in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
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[A] rapid transition “was derailed as a strategy,” said one person involved with the plan. Instead, he described the focus of the next 18 to 21 months as “a bridging strategy” to set the necessary conditions for a handover.
Finally, the campaign plan aims to purge Iraq’s leadership of a small but influential number of officials and commanders whose sectarian and criminal agendas are thwarting U.S. efforts. It recognizes that the Iraqi government is deeply infiltrated by militia and corrupt officials who are “part of the problem” and are maneuvering to kill off opponents, install sectarian allies and otherwise solidify their power for when U.S. troops withdraw, said one person familiar with the plan.
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Nine U.S. warships enter the Straights of Hormuz
I still maintain we will not attack Iran out right until, A) Bushco is on the way out the door, or B)unless it gets to hot at home. Note fat chance on that one, w/the dems playing suck ass.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 23 2007 6:09 utc | 2
Good long story on the perils of running a government like a company:
Changes Spurred Buying, Abuses
In February 2005, an auditor at the General Services Administration presented evidence to agency leaders that one of the government’s top technology contractors was overcharging taxpayers.
GSA auditor James M. Corcoran reported that Sun Microsystems had billed the government millions more for computer software and technical support than it charged its commercial customers.
If true, the allegation was grounds to terminate the contract and launch a fraud investigation. Instead, senior GSA officials pressed last summer to renew the contract.
That decision meant the government’s leading contracting agency would be able to continue collecting millions of dollars in what are called industrial funding fees from Sun under rules that permit the GSA to take a percentage of every sale made to the government. It also meant that taxpayers would pay millions more than necessary, according to congressional investigators.
“We thought of ourselves as being, not a part of the government, but as being a business, and we looked to profit on our customers,” said GSA contracting officer Herman S. Caldwell Jr., who warned his superiors against renewing the Sun contract. “When a government buying office becomes a profit center, then bad things are likely to happen.”…
Another “plant” piece in the Guardian. I guess this is a trial balloon (by Baker?):
Bush may turn to UN in search for Iraq solution
The Bush administration is developing plans to “internationalise” the Iraq crisis, including an expanded role for the United Nations, as a way of reducing overall US responsibility for Iraq’s future and limiting domestic political fallout from the war as the 2008 election season approaches.
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The former official, who is familiar with administration thinking, predicted Mr Bush would instead ask Congress to agree a six-month extension of the surge after Gen Petraeus presented his “progress report” in early September.
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Mr Bush will sweeten the pill by pursuing a series of steps intended to “hand off” many current US responsibilities to the international community, the former official said. The president would try simultaneously to placate congressional and public opinion by indicating willingness to talk about a future troop “drawdown”.
The US plan is expected to call for:
· Expanded UN involvement in overseeing Iraq’s full transition to a “normal” democratic state, including an enhanced role for UN humanitarian agencies, the creation of a UN command, and possibly a Muslim-led peacekeeping force
· Increased involvement in Iraq policymaking of UN security council permanent members, Japan and EU countries – in particular, the new conservative government of French president Nicolas Sarkozy
· A bigger support role for regional countries, notably Sunni Arab Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, and international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF
· Renewed efforts to promote Iraqi government self-reliance, including attainment of national reconciliation “benchmarks”
· The accelerated removal of US troops from frontline combat duties as the handover to Iraqi security forces, backed by an increased number of US advisers, proceeds.
Swiss authorities question U.S. counterfeiting charges against North Korea
Swiss police who closely monitor the circulation of counterfeit currency have challenged the Bush administration’s assertions that North Korea is manufacturing fake American $100 bills.
President Bush has accused North Korea of making and circulating the false bills, so perfect they’re called supernotes, and in late 2005 the U.S. Treasury took measures to block that country’s access to international banking.
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The Swiss police noted that before charging North Korea with counterfeiting, U.S. officials had mentioned Iran, Syria and East Germany as possible manufacturers. North Korea’s capacity for printing banknotes is extremely limited, because its banknote printing press dates from the 1970s. Its own currency is of “such poor quality that one automatically wonders whether this country would even be in a position to manufacture the high-quality `supernotes,’ ” the report says.
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Come on, we must attack Iran, they are ready to strike Europe in 45 minutes redux.
A European security analyst told British lawmakers on Tuesday that Iran may be drawing up plans to strike targets in Europe, and has conducted reconnaissance of European nuclear power stations in particular.
Claude Moniquet, president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, a private think-tank in Brussels, told a meeting of lawmakers and analysts in London’s House of Commons that his organization also had evidence Tehran has increased numbers of intelligence agents across Europe.
Posted by: Cloned Poster | May 23 2007 8:39 utc | 6
No attack on Iran. Though I’d give credence to Uncle’s B) condition.
I haven’t been keeping up, so maybe this outrageous Guardian article was posted, and it is what b was referring to? “(Iran’s secret plan for summer offensive..”.link)
This, from Global Research, May 23, 2007, may have been posted as well, if so, sorry… New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power
Posted by: Noirette | May 23 2007 15:12 utc | 7
McClatchy’s D.C. Bureau Claims It’s Barred From Defense Secretary Plane
Staffers at McClatchy’s Washington, D.C., Bureau — one of the few major news outlets skeptical of intelligence reports during the run-up to the war in Iraq — claims it is now being punished for that coverage.
Bureau Chief John Walcott and current and former McClatchy Pentagon correspondents say they have not been allowed on the Defense Secretary’s plane for at least three years, claiming the news company is being retaliated against for its reporting.
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“The Department of Defense took the outlets they were able to influence, the wire [services] and the big newspapers. I don’t think they really care about anyone outside the Washington Beltway.”
Nancy Youssef, a former McClatchy Baghdad bureau chief who took over the Pentagon beat April 9, said Gates has been on four trips since she arrived and she has been denied access to all of them. “They just sort of brushed it off,” she said. “I bring it up every time, and every time it doesn’t happen.”
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The Pentagon’s Whitman contends that McClatchy does not reach as many readers as some news outlets, adding that they are not as actively covering the Pentagon as some other news agencies:
McClatchy papers have higher circulation than the NYT or Washington Post and a dedicated Pentagon reporter …
Three great pieces from Asia Times:
Resistance, not terror
Interview with the Grand Ayatollah Ahmed Alhasani al-Baghdadi
Baghdadi is one of Iraq’s more outspoken Shi’ite clerics, against the occupation, against the United States’ “puppet” government in Baghdad, and, surprisingly, against a “dumb devil” fellow grand ayatollah with whom he disagrees.
Militants from the recently formed Fatah al-Islam have emerged with guns blazing; they are now in their third day of fighting against the Lebanese Army. The al-Qaeda-inspired group has dramatically raised the stakes in Lebanon’s parlous political landscape, threatening a complete breakdown of the country. And the Lebanese government’s blaming Syria will not help matters.
The second coming of Saladin – by Pepe Escobar
Political repression, social inequality and economic disaster across the Middle East are the consequences of decades of “divide and rule” imperialist meddling followed by rapacious rule by local elites. Yet the potential for unity in the Muslim world is not a chimera. Who will be the 21st century equivalent of Saladin, the greatest warrior of Islam? Such a one is needed to reunite the ummah.
Posted by: Alamet | May 23 2007 17:20 utc | 10
Invent the disease…Sell the cure. It is the American way. Pay attention.
Bush declassifies Al Qaeda intelligence
Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 23 2007 17:39 utc | 11
while the u.s.a. govt may have decided to move on to supporting the electoral farce in nigeria, at least one group of more sentient & intelligent beings aren’t ready to give in
48 Nobel Laureates call for fresh polls in Nigeria ….Soyinka claims Obasanjo sabotaged Ige as minister
FORTY-EIGHT Nobel Laureates have called for a National Conference as a way out of the logjam arising from the April national elections. They called for electoral reforms and fresh elections within 18 months
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The Nobel Laureates decried what they described as the electoral fraud in Nigeria during the April 2007 general elections.
Their words: “International and domestic monitors have determined that Nigeria’s recent elections fell far short of acceptable standards, having failed the test of a free and fair ballot. We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, are concerned that the new government’s lack of legitimacy increases prospects for violent conflict with serious consequences for Nigeria and the region.
“Therefore, we recommend a Conference of National Unity involving government officials, civil society, religious and business leaders to discuss the current crisis and set a date within 18 months for early elections, along with electoral reform. Our recommendation is offered in all responsibility, to help consolidate Nigeria’s transition to democracy after decades of military dictatorship.
“It is made without prejudice to potential legal recourse by aggrieved candidates. Nor does our recommendation obviate the need for a credible enquiry into the electoral process that has undermined confidence of Nigerians in constitutionalism and the rule of law.”
they are worried that the likelihood of violence & civil unrest increases if nothing is done & the “transfer” of power goes through, despite a general acceptance from all corners that the elections were a massive scam.
the resistance groups in the niger delta have increased their attacks on the oil facilities over the past month — reportedly the reason for recent surge in gas prices at the pump in the u.s. — and the MEND spokesperson has stated that this is, in part, to embarras the outgoing president obasanjo.
this unrest in nigeria could very well play into u.s. interests, as it legitimizes their tasked objective of “stabilizing operations” and an increased presence in the area.
soyinka also struck a blow against obasanjo during the press conference, where he announced the laureates stmt, and took on the inspector-general of police, calling him a “a trained bully [who] thinks because he has an army of kill and go, he can ignore rational voices, ignore the constitution and trample on the law”. see — How Obasanjo sabotaged Ige – Soyinka
Posted by: b real | May 23 2007 18:45 utc | 12
re colombia
counterpunch: Colombia’s Civil War and the US
Colombia’s civil war is the United States’ war in the Western Hemisphere. Each year the US provides over a half billion dollars to the Colombian police and military, and trains thousands of Colombian soldiers. Colombia is the largest recipient of US aid outside the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq. The US has nurtured the war in Colombia over many years, for the specific purpose of controlling the resources and politics of this rich nation.
Civil war has been the history of Colombia for over 40 years – poverty and/or dislocation remains the condition of the majority of its people. There are over 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia and many more have fled the country for the US, Canada, Europe and other nations in South America. Every day, 20 are killed for political reasons, and hundreds become refugees in a war that simmers and boils over periodically in massacre.
reporters sans frontiere: Paramilitary “black eagles” poised to swoop down on press
Reporters Without Borders today released a report about the 30,000 paramilitaries who were once recruited as auxiliaries in the army’s war on far-left guerrillas and who were supposedly “demobilised” by President Alvaro Uribe in a three-year process ending in March 2006.
In fact, very few of these militiamen have been properly reintegrated into civil society and many of them, now involved in drug trafficking, continue to spread terror, especially in the local media. At the same time, a “Justice and Peace” law adopted in July 2005 that envisages five to eight years in prison for the most serious crimes, guarantees them almost total impunity.
The so-called “demobilised” paramilitaries were responsible for murdering two journalists last year, including Gustavo “El Gaba” Rojas Gabalo of Radio Panzenú on 4 February 2006 in the northwestern city of Montería. Re-formed groups such as the “Black Eagles” have a strong presence in the Caribbean coast departments and their operations designed to intimidate the media have forced 10 journalists into internal exile.
At a time when President Uribe’s government is embroiled in a scandal about its links with paramilitaries – in some cases confirmed by such paramilitary chiefs as Salvatore Mancuso – Reporters Without Borders wanted to assess the real impact of the demobilisation process on the work of the press. Taking advantage of World Press Freedom Day celebrations in Medellín, the organisation made a fact-finding trip to Colombia from 28 April to 5 May, spending much of it in Montería, in the region where the paramilitaries first emerged.
colombia journal online: The Best-Laid Plans of Presidents and War Criminals: The Unintended Outcome of Colombia’s Demobilization Process
It was supposed to be simple, a straightforward process of re-inserting the leaders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) into Colombian society, thereby allowing them to enter the political arena. The original plan involved paramilitary leaders revealing the locations of mass graves and naming a few dead or jailed “rogue” politicians and military officers who had collaborated with them. Such “revelations” would be passed off as confessions and with the years spent on a farm in northern Colombia during negotiations considered as “time-served,” the AUC leaders would spend less than two years in prison, most likely at a semi-luxurious country estate. But from the perspective of the Uribe administration, the much-heralded demobilization of Colombia’s largest paramilitary organization has gone terribly wrong. In fact, the entire process now threatens to provide Colombia with its most far-reaching political cleansing ever and offers the possibility of making a serious dent in the impunity traditionally enjoyed by the country’s political and military elites.
Posted by: b real | May 23 2007 18:53 utc | 13
Wolfie lost his job, so now he is below her pay grade: WOLFOWITZ AND GAL PAL SPLIT UP
Sources say Riza, a brilliant feminist with a promising diplomatic career, was upset by all the publicity and the implication that she was getting ahead with the help of a powerful man. “She was furious about the embarrassment,” said one source.
Well, the sources are dubious, anyway …
New Artist-in-residence at commondreams.org, daily images.
“Natasha would also like to find and present images about current events by other artists. We hope to expand the collaboration in the coming months.”
Beq? Annie? anna missed? who else?
Posted by: catlady | May 24 2007 1:04 utc | 15
btw, Hail Eris on the Discordian High Holy day, 5-23. We Discordians gotta stick apart for the most beautiful one, wholy chao.
Posted by: catlady | May 24 2007 5:12 utc | 16
Google Admits Joining Universe of Totalitarianism:
Google, the world’s biggest search engine, is setting out to create the most comprehensive database of personal information ever assembled, one with the ability to tell people how to run their lives.
In a mission statement that raises the spectre of an internet Big Brother to rival Orwellian visions of the state, Google has revealed details of how it intends to organise and control the world’s information.
The company’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said during a visit to Britain this week: “The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?’.”
Speaking at a conference organised by Google, he said : “We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms [software] will get better and we will get better at personalisation.”
Google’s declaration of intent was publicised at the same time it emerged that the company had also invested £2m in a human genetics firm called 23andMe. The combination of genetic and internet profiling could prove a powerful tool in the battle for the greater understanding of the behaviour of an online service user.Google is watching you
**UNCLE, Turth, ALERT*** What other search engine should we use.
Posted by: jj | May 24 2007 8:44 utc | 19
Amnesty condemns Israeli strikes
Israeli troops killed more than 650 Palestinians, including 120 children, last year, a threefold increase on 2005, the human rights group Amnesty International said yesterday.
Israel was criticised for air and artillery strikes on Gaza, continuing to build the West Bank barrier and restricting the movement of Palestinians with checkpoints. “Israeli soldiers and settlers committed serious human rights abuses, including unlawful killings, against Palestinians, mostly with impunity,” the annual report said.
Israeli troops in the West Bank arrested more than 30 senior Hamas members Thursday, the army said, including a Cabinet minister, legislators and mayors.
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The most prominent Hamas politician to be arrested was Education Minister Nasser Shaer, considered a pragmatist in the movement.
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Soldiers also arrested former Cabinet minister Abdel Rahman Zeidan, legislators Hamed Bitawi and Daoud Abu Ser, the mayors of the towns of Nablus, Qalqiliya and Beita – Adli Yaish, Wajih Qawas and Arab Shurafa – as well as the head of the main Islamic charity in Nablus, Fayad al-Arba.
google = the oracle @ delphi????
use scroogle.org
it scrapes the google crap off your searches
Posted by: jcairo | May 24 2007 9:18 utc | 21
John Edwards, seemingly the best of a loathsome lot, gave Extremely Impt. Speech to CFR today, saying about the only thing worthwhile we’re likely to hear – says war on terra is a merely a rhetorical device that should be tossed in the trash. So, he’s less bellicose than other Sewer Rats running, but of course, still supports build a Neo-Feudal State.
It is now clear that George Bush’s misnamed “war on terror” has backfired—and is now part of the problem.
The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It’s a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world. As a political “frame,” it’s been used to justify everything from the Iraq War to Guantanamo to illegal spying on the American people. It’s even been used by this White House as a partisan weapon to bludgeon their political opponents. Whether by manipulating threat levels leading up to elections, or by deeming opponents “weak on terror,” they have shown no hesitation whatsoever about using fear to divide.
But the worst thing about this slogan is that it hasn’t worked. The so-called “war” has created even more terrorism—as we have seen so tragically in Iraq. The State Department itself recently released a study showing that worldwide terrorism has increased 25% in 2006, including a 40% surge in civilian fatalities.
By framing this as a “war,” we have walked right into the trap that terrorists have set—that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war against Islam.
The “war” metaphor has also failed because it exaggerates the role of only one instrument of American power—the military. This has occurred in part because the military is so effective at what it does. Yet if you think all you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail.
There’s an emerging consensus inside the armed forces that we must move beyond the idea of a war on terror. The Commander of the U.S. Military’s Central Command recently stated that he would no longer use the “long war” framework. Top military leaders like retired General Anthony Zinni have rejexcted the term. These leaders know we need substance, not slogans—leadership, not labels. Edwards Addresses CFR
a little rational neo-feudalism, sans cronyism…but nothing to challenge the power of the Predators…
We also need fundamental reform of our privatization policies. Almost half of Defense Department contracts are now awarded on a noncompetitive basis, giving companies like Halliburton with millions of dollars. To end this, I will direct my Secretary of Defense to overhaul the rules governing privatization, to punish mismanagement, and to reform DOD bonus policies to reward performance.
And a draft, couched as involuntary servitude by all, though most direct statement of it isn’t here.
Calls for getting out of Iraq, so expect him to be trounced by AIPAC stooges, Saudi Symps, etc…
My plan calls on Congress to use its funding power to stop the surge and force an immediate withdrawal of 40,000 to 50,000 combat troops from Iraq, followed by an orderly and complete withdrawal of all combat troops in about a year.
Posted by: jj | May 24 2007 9:39 utc | 22
sheldon rampton: Has the Internet Changed the Propaganda Model?
In their groundbreaking 1988 book, Manufacturing Consent, professors Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky not only explained, but documented with extensive case studies, how mass media and public opinion are shaped in a democracy. Twenty years later, can their “propaganda model” still be used to explain modern media distortions? That was one of the main questions discussed last week at a conference in Windsor, Ontario, titled “20 Years of Propaganda?” Organized by Dr. Paul Boin, the conference drew hundreds of scholars and activists including myself, and more than 1,000 people attended a closing speech by Chomsky on May 17.
The “propaganda model” that Herman and Chomsky put forward in Manufacturing Consent has made the book notable (some would say notorious) as the most influential book by serious academics to challenge the common dogma of media objectivity in the United States. When it first appeared, it was almost unheard-of to suggest that U.S. media such as the New York Times, Time and Newsweek magazines and CBS News were propaganda vehicles.
Today things are somewhat different. Across the political spectrum, there is a widespread belief that disinformation, deception and propaganda pervade the media. On the internet, the initials MSM have become a standard term of disparagement for untrustworthy “mainstream media.” The right has in fact far surpassed the left at denouncing the myth of media objectivity and has developed an entire industry of think tanks, media watchdogs and pundits such as Michelle Malkin or Anne Coulter who devote themselves to discovering and denouncing purported instances of media bias — while enjoying privileged media access themselves.
Posted by: b real | May 24 2007 14:43 utc | 25
ah come on DS, we no longer need unions as “we’ve progressed”, or at least that’s what I’m repeatedly told
Posted by: jcairo | May 24 2007 14:53 utc | 26
#13 b real, incredible best laid plans link. what is it w/these billions spent on right wing death squads. i swear, it seems never ending.
Posted by: annie | May 24 2007 15:04 utc | 27
A great daunting interview with Sibel Edmonds
Sibel names names. Grossman, Feith, Perle, Hastert.
My case has been known to a certain degree because of the activities that I have been engaging in, in terms of going to courts, going to Congress, etc. There are similar cases we are not hearing about. For example, the Larry Franklin case, with the espionage case that they pursued with AIPAC. And what the American public doesn’t know is the fact that there were other counter-intelligence operations within the FBI that obtained far more information not only limited to Mr. Franklin. Other operations were shut down in 2000 and 2001 because they ended up going to higher levels and involving way too many people. I’m talking about individuals who are breaking the law, misusing the trust and abusing their power, and in some cases I would even say engaging in treason.
Sibel tells us what motivates her. When she became a citizen some 18 years ago she took an oath, as do all new citizens, to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. It seems she takes that oath seriously. The people who have gagged her have taken similar oaths, which they have betrayed.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 24 2007 16:38 utc | 29
In light of recent developments…
Naomi Wolf : Fascist America, in 10 easy steps
From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all
George Bush administration and imo generations of his ilk are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society”. She goes on to list the ten tactics, which included invoking a “terrifying internal and external enemy”, establishing a surveillance system and suspending the rule of law.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 24 2007 16:59 utc | 30
Steve Clemons tries some reporting – don’t know how much he is tool in this:
The thinking on Cheney’s team is to collude with Israel, nudging Israel at some key moment in the ongoing standoff between Iran’s nuclear activities and international frustration over this to mount a small-scale conventional strike against Natanz using cruise missiles (i.e., not ballistic missiles).
This strategy would sidestep controversies over bomber aircraft and overflight rights over other Middle East nations and could be expected to trigger a sufficient Iranian counter-strike against US forces in the Gulf — which just became significantly larger — as to compel Bush to forgo the diplomatic track that the administration realists are advocating and engage in another war.
There are many other components of the complex game plan that this Cheney official has been kicking around Washington. The official has offered this commentary to senior staff at AEI and in lunch and dinner gatherings which were to be considered strictly off-the-record, but there can be little doubt that the official actually hopes that hawkish conservatives and neoconservatives share this information and then rally to this point of view. This official is beating the brush and doing what Joshua Muravchik has previously suggested — which is to help establish the policy and political pathway to bombing Iran.
The zinger of this information is the admission by this Cheney aide that Cheney himself is frustrated with President Bush and believes, much like Richard Perle, that Bush is making a disastrous mistake by aligning himself with the policy course that Condoleezza Rice, Bob Gates, Michael Hayden and McConnell have sculpted.
Hmm – Israeli cruise missiles on Iran would need to come from subs. Those subs (Made in Germany) have the capacity, but not the leg to get near Iran without substantial logistic support. Only the U.S. can deliver such (the subs can not go through the Suez channel and would have a 10,000 mile run around Africa – far beyond their fuel capacity.)
I doubt that point and several others…
Sounds to me as though b- in #31 is being too rational. Consider it this way – have you ever known Cheney to consider a diplomatic solution when violence was available? If so, when? Try explaining this to Paul Wellstone’s children.
Does anyone really think that we can survive intact until ’08 election? Aren’t these Mobsters so dangerous that the only option is Impeachment?
Posted by: jj | May 25 2007 2:08 utc | 33
latest PINR analysis of somalia sitch
Somalia: The Dynamics of Post-Intervention Political Failure
After a year’s political roller coaster ride attended by many casualties, Somalia now and for the foreseeable future appears to be running along a bumpy track that has become familiar in Afghanistan and Iraq, on which a weak and dependent central government imposed by external powers and insufficiently supported by them attempts to preserve itself against a fragmented opposition and disparate local power centers, and strives to concede as little as possible to its protectors and donors, each of which has its own interests and none of which has the political will to change the situation.
and this sounds like quite a cache for yusuf’s home-away-from-home
Weapons stolen from Somali president’s second home
BAIDOA, Somalia May 24 (Garowe Online) – Soldiers protecting the transitional Somali president’s headquarters in the southwestern town of Baidoa stole an assortment of weapons Wednesday night from the compound, local police officials said.
The stolen weapons included nearly 70 AK-47s, BKM and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, according to security sources.
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Security officials said they were investigating the crime at Baidoa’s presidential palace, which serves as President Yusuf’s second home.
Posted by: b real | May 25 2007 3:32 utc | 34
@jj:
Our only option is Impeachment/Their only option is Iran. As is a brand new war, following some new trrrrrrrrist (growled, not spoken) Incident on US soil?
Posted by: catlady | May 25 2007 4:07 utc | 35
Agreed, catlady.
Looks like the Navy is resisting. 6 Commanders Sacked in 6 wks. Bonus – Scroll down in comments (~#9) to discussion of sacking of Gen. Byrnes!!!
Posted by: jj | May 25 2007 6:38 utc | 37
Fun with Milbank In the Rose Garden, It Was All Al-Qaeda
Bush invoked the terrorist group 19 times and even suggested it was going after individual reporters’ kids.
“They are a threat to your children, David,” he advised NBC’s David Gregory.
“It’s a danger to your children, Jim,” Bush informed the New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg.
This last warning was perplexing, because Rutenberg has no children, only a brown chow chow named Little Bear. It was unclear whether Bush was referring to a specific and credible threat to Little Bear or merely indicating there was increased “chatter in the system” about chow chows in general.
Speaking of little bear, there is currently a rumor on our island (a real island) about a (real) bear on the prowl here. At low tide they occasionally swim over here from the west/olympic peninsula. Anyway, the schools circulated this photograph of the bear crossing a road — that just happened to be my road in front of my house. And the bear in the picture just happened to bear an uncanny, no, a striking resemblance, to our dog named Tank. Little Bear not, but just goes to show what people are capable of in the name of fear. Ha Ha.
Posted by: anna missed | May 25 2007 8:18 utc | 39
Army and Air Force Deny Formal Links To Christian Event
The Memorial Day weekend “Salute to the Troops” celebration at Stone Mountain Park is sponsored by Task Force Patriot USA, a private group that says its purpose is “sharing the fullness of life in Jesus Christ with all U.S. military, military veterans and families,” and whose Web site says “Christ is our Commander-in-Chief.”
In recent days, both the Task Force Patriot USA Web site and the newspaper of Robins Air Force Base, Ga., described the celebration as “an official U.S. Air Force 60th Anniversary event.” Along with speeches by evangelical ministers, church services and distribution of Bibles, the published schedule promised “hourly flyovers” by Air Force jets, performances by military bands, color guard presentations, a parachute demonstration by the Army’s elite Silver Wings jump team from Fort Benning, Ga., and exhibitions of Air Force equipment.
just happened to bear an uncanny, no, a striking resemblance, to our dog named Tank.
lol!
Posted by: annie | May 25 2007 9:35 utc | 43
Try explaining this to Paul Wellstone’s children.
jj, didn’t wellstone’s family died in the plane crash also?
Posted by: annie | May 25 2007 9:39 utc | 44
reports of the Cheney conversations suggest this, is try and market a scheme in which it would, in effect, offer the Sunni resistance free rein to take back Iraq in the context of a US bombing campaign against Iran.
from badger
Posted by: annie | May 25 2007 10:28 utc | 45
if anybody has more information on the changes this month at al jazeera – i would be most interested – they appear to be bending over backwards to accomodate the u s -especially in a moment – where everything the u s touches is turning to shit – is ther a shift? is it being made for economiv/political reasons?
Posted by: remembereringgiap | May 25 2007 17:53 utc | 47
another blow for the OAS
AP: Colombia’s Congress seeks peace observer’s removal for ignoring paramilitary orgies
BOGOTA, Colombia: Lawmakers have called for the dismissal of the head of the Organization of American States’ peace mission in Colombia, accusing him of standing by as paramilitary warlords held orgies in a government-granted safe haven set aside for peace talks.
Congress’ lower house voted overwhelmingly late Wednesday to request President Alvaro Uribe “immediately remove for incompetence” Sergio Caramagna, head of the OAS mission in Colombia.
The Washington-based OAS facilitated the 2004 talks by verifying security, providing logistical support and making sure paramilitary members abstained from criminal acts in the 230 square mile (600 sq. kilometers) safe haven in northern Colombia.
Jose Castro Caycedo, the pro-government legislator who sponsored the nonbinding resolution, told The Associated Press that paramilitaries made a mockery of the peace talks by “holding orgies on the negotiating table,” excesses which he said Caramagna should have denounced.
The resolution referred to media reports that paramilitaries held all-night, whiskey-fueled orgies with costly prostitutes and which soccer players and famous Mexican mariachi bands also attended.
Posted by: b real | May 25 2007 19:16 utc | 48
AP: Security Council drops urgent peacekeeping appeal to Sudan
May 25, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — The U.N. Security Council dropped an appeal Friday urging Sudan to quickly allow a robust peacekeeping force in violence-wracked Darfur, approving instead a watered-down statement that took the focus off the Sudanese government.
The U.S. had drafted a presidential statement calling on Sudan, “to cooperate fully in … the expeditious start-up and implementation,” of a highly mobile and robust hybrid force of African Union and U.N. peacekeepers.
The A.U. and U.N. proposed Thursday tripling the number of peacekeepers in Darfur with the force of at least 23,000 soldiers and police allowed to launch pre-emptive attacks to stop violence.
But after lengthy discussions among council experts and ambassadors Friday, the council eliminated all references to the Sudanese government, which has not given a green light to the deployment of the hybrid force.
The presidential statement, read at a formal meeting by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the current council president, demanded that all parties “meet their international obligations.”
…
When Khalilzad read the presidential statement the first time, it included a demand for all parties to “abide by the cease-fire, including the cessation of aerial bombardment.” The U.S. had proposed this language but it had been dropped in the final text and Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin could be seen on in-house television getting up, apparently to protest.
After about 15 minutes, Khalilzad called a second council meeting and read the correct statement.
Council diplomats said he was handed the wrong statement to read. “It was late in the day, Friday, administration under a degree of stress – but you know, we’re all human beings. It happens,” Khalilzad said afterwards.
Posted by: b real | May 26 2007 4:41 utc | 49
long, detailed, interesting essay on what’s going on in zimbabwe & the role of the neocolonialist USuk
An Investigation of Zimbabwe’s Different Path
Zimbabwe’s different path and the penalty it has incurred: The academic and media framing of Zimbabwe’s difficulties, and an investigation of external and internal causes.
Overall, this essay argues that, plagued by continuous Western intervention, the ZANU-PF hegemonic party has constructed a shield around itself, magnifying its presence in the rudimentary civil society, using relations of patronage, and a defiant, ‘anti-colonial’ platform in order to remain in power. Developing in a manner consistent with other NLMs [national liberation movements], ZANU-PF is centralizing, state-interventionist, and jealous of electoral competition. More modern sectors of the economy, and minority regions, have developed limited class opposition to the ZANU-PF. Divisions among these sectors, however, and dependence on foreign backing, have prevented this opposition from consolidating itself in government. This domestic battle between a rural party-movement, on the one side, and some disgruntled urban and elite sectors, on the other, occurs within a political sphere where the government generally follows the law, but the law favours the government. The entire struggle is complicated by both sides’ external allies. In short, Zimbabwe’s present political and economic situation should be understood in terms of the country’s peculiar colonial and post-independence development. Zimbabwe’s ‘crisis’ is not simply the result of voters electing Robert Mugabe, as many Western reports imply. The problem is that Zimbabwe has not been allowed to choose its own course free from interference. Rather, Zimbabwe is a victim of intervention by an entire system of political and economic domination, and bears the scars of the U.S. and Britain’s clear and well-documented attempts to circumscribe Zimbabwe’s post-independence development in a manner befitting local elites and foreign interests.
Posted by: b real | May 26 2007 5:20 utc | 50
@Annie, I believe Paul, his wife & their daughter were killed. Their 2 sons survived.
P.C. Roberts new article makes Impt. Point, though I think he’s off the mark on Demos calculations. Nevertheless, I’m posting this ‘cuz I hadn’t thought of this & it’s most plausible explanation I’ve seen for Iranian goofiness.
The problem with the Democrats’ cynical logic is that allowing Bush to prolong the war in Iraq increases the chances that Cheney, Israel, and the neoconservatives can contrive a war with Iran. Most experts, and many in our own military, think that a war with Iran would go very badly for us, endangering our troops in Iraq by exposing them to more intense attacks from the more numerous Shi’ites, who would be armed with Iranian weapons that can neutralize our tanks and helicopters, leaving our fragmented and divided troops isolated and cut off from supplies and retreat routes.
The pending disaster would play into Cheney’s hands. With America faced with the loss of an army, Cheney and the neoconservatives would likely succeed in convincing Bush to nuke Iran. Cheney and Rumsfeld have already changed US war doctrine to permit preemptive nuclear attack against non-nuclear powers. Surprised by the inability of the US military to prevail in Iraq and by Israel’s military failure against Hezbollah, the neocons concluded that the only way to establish US/Israeli hegemony over the entire Middle East is to nuke Iran. The neocons believe that using nuclear weapons against Iran will demonstrate to the Muslim world that they have no alternative but to submit to US hegemony.How Can Bush Free Iraq When He Brings Tyranny to America?
{Sounds like the same old radical rightwing nut crap we heard in Vietnam – see if only we’d nuked ’em…This is the trouble you run into when you call Fascists & Assorted Right-wing extremists “conservatives”. Same as w/calling Monica Goodling & the Theocrats religious “conservatives”.}
Posted by: jj | May 26 2007 5:47 utc | 51
b @ 42,
Thanks for the interesting link.
Just back from 17 days in China, where, using a colleague’s computer at a university in Beijing, I was able to connect to WaPo, NYT, TPM, but not Eschaton or Moon of Alabama. Got a !message! in Chinese, but have no clue what it said.
Hamburger
Posted by: Hamburger | May 26 2007 13:50 utc | 52
The headline is missleading – it is about the illegality of the colonies, not the war:
Secret memo shows Israel knew Six Day War was illegal
A senior legal official who secretly warned the government of Israel after the Six Day War of 1967 that it would be illegal to build Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories has said, for the first time, that he still believes that he was right.
The declaration by Theodor Meron, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser at the time and today one of the world’s leading international jurists, is a serious blow to Israel’s persistent argument that the settlements do not violate international law, particularly as Israel prepares to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the war in June 1967.
The legal opinion, a copy of which has been obtained by The Independent, was marked “Top Secret” and “Extremely Urgent” and reached the unequivocal conclusion, in the words of its author’s summary, “that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes the explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
…
Despite the legal opinion, which was forwarded to Levi Eshkol, the Prime Minister, but not made public at the time, the Labour cabinet progressively sanctioned settlements. This paved the way to growth which has resulted in at least 240,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank today.
able to connect to WaPo, NYT, TPM, but not Eschaton or Moon of Alabama
wow, the chinese are afraid of this site and the rightwing trolls don’t even come around. where exactly does that put us?
Posted by: dan of steele | May 26 2007 17:32 utc | 54
and the rightwing trolls don’t even come around
Hey dan – did you really missed the resident troll sloth postings here …
how about a little respect, b? i’ve contributerd a lot here. if you want me to stop posting here, just say it, and i’ll stop.
Posted by: slothrop | May 26 2007 21:20 utc | 56
& felicitations to the people of venuezala for kicking out the elite media & beginning a new public station that will represent the people instead of the oligarchy
oh! to hear all those ‘journalists’ wailing for the freedom of press – something they are normally totally unconcerned by
i’d suggest they do some remedial work & watch irish tv’s ‘ the revolution will not be televised’ which details graphically exactly the role the oligarchy’s media played
Posted by: remembereringgiap | May 27 2007 1:18 utc | 57
well slothrop, you drive me nuts sometimes but this place wouldn’t be the same w/out you. i would have to agree you’ve contributed a lot here, i mean who could argue w/that? what you’ve contributed THATS ANOTHER STORY ALTOGETHER. anyway, lets not part ways over an argument that ended up producing tons of great links. i mean if you don’t mind hanging around getting your ass beat up by the likes of those who are so much more rational, and all that.
i can only speak for myself of course, and i’ve been rude to the best of em when i get a tick up my you know what. b being b and all, he was talking to dos, probably just chidin’ ya w/a backhand. don’t get all serious, it’s not as if you don’t ask for it w/your radical sliding on reality.
well, i just couldn’t let your comment pass w/no response and after all, this is the ot thread. don’t want it to get clogged up with speechless mooners.
just speaking for myself.
Posted by: annie | May 27 2007 3:29 utc | 58
fair: Coup Co-Conspirators as Free-Speech Martyrs: Distorting the Venezuelan media story
The story is framed in U.S. news media as a simple matter of censorship: Prominent Venezuelan TV station RCTV is being silenced by the authoritarian government of President Hugo Chávez, who is punishing the station for its political criticism of his government.
According to CNN reporter T.J. Holmes (5/21/07), the issues are easy to understand: RCTV “is going to be shut down, is going to get off the air, because of President Hugo Chávez, not a big fan of it.” Dubbing RCTV “a voice of free speech,” Holmes explained, “Chavez, in a move that’s angered a lot of free-speech groups, is refusing now to renew the license of this television station that has been critical of his government.”
Though straighter, a news story by the Associated Press (5/20/07) still maintained the theme that the license denial was based simply on political differences, with reporter Elizabeth Munoz describing RCTV as “a network that has been critical of Chávez.”
In a May 14 column, Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl called the action an attempt to silence opponents and more “proof” that Chávez is a “dictator.” Wrote Diehl, “Chávez has made clear that his problem with [RCTV owner Marcel] Granier and RCTV is political.”
In keeping with the media script that has bad guy Chávez brutishly silencing good guys in the democratic opposition, all these articles skimmed lightly over RCTV’s history, the Venezuelan government’s explanation for the license denial and the process that led to it.
…
The Venezuelan government is basing its denial of license on RCTV’s involvement in the 2002 coup, not on the station’s criticisms of or political opposition to the government. Many American pundits and some human rights spokespersons have confused the issue by claiming the action is based merely on political differences, failing to note that Venezuela’s media, including its commercial broadcasters, are still among the most vigorously dissident on the planet.
When Patrick McElwee of the U.S.-based group Just Foreign Policy interviewed representatives of Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists — all groups that have condemned Venezuela’s action in denying RCTV’s license renewal — he found that none of the spokespersons thought broadcasters were automatically entitled to license renewals, though none of them thought RCTV’s actions in support of the coup should have resulted in the station having its license renewal denied. This led McElwee to wonder, based on the rights groups’ arguments, “Could it be that governments like Venezuela have the theoretical right to not to renew a broadcast license, but that no responsible government would ever do it?”
McElwee acknowledged the critics’ point that some form of due process should have been involved in the decisions, but explained that laws preexisting Chávez’s presidency placed licensing decision with the executive branch, with no real provisions for a hearings process: “Unfortunately, this is what the law, first enacted in 1987, long before Chávez entered the political scene, allows. It charges the executive branch with decisions about license renewal, but does not seem to require any administrative hearing. The law should be changed, but at the current moment when broadcast licenses are up for renewal, it is the prevailing law and thus lays out the framework in which decisions are made.”
Government actions weighing on journalism and broadcast licensing deserve strong scrutiny. However, on the central question of whether a government is bound to renew the license of a broadcaster when that broadcaster had been involved in a coup against the democratically elected government, the answer should be clear, as McElwee concludes:The RCTV case is not about censorship of political opinion. It is about the government, through a flawed process, declining to renew a broadcast license to a company that would not get a license in other democracies, including the United States. In fact, it is frankly amazing that this company has been allowed to broadcast for 5 years after the coup, and that the Chávez government waited until its license expired to end its use of the public airwaves.
coha: Rethinking Cuba – Taking Off Those Miami Sunglasses May Help Clear Up the Picture
The recent politicized dismissal of the indictment against Luis Posada Carriles by federal judge Kathleen Cardone has brought the historically thorny relationship between the U.S. and Cuba once again to the forefront of the news. With both governments presenting wildly contradictory scenarios in a confrontation that defies easy resolution of this case against one of the most ill-reputed mass terrorists of the day, it is difficult to reach an informed and unbiased opinion on the matter. The same can be said for generating educated insights on almost all other aspects of U.S. relations with Cuba. At the behest of White House ideologues and their Miami colleagues, information about life in Cuba has long been filtered and strained for public consumption, resulting in a general perception of Cuba that is massively distorted and divorced from reality.
Washington’s standard take on Cuba is that long-time ruler Fidel Castro has always been an oppressive dictator and the country a veritable prison. As recently as April 29, President Bush yet again propagated this science fiction at a commencement address in Miami, calling Cuba’s political system a “cruel dictatorship that denies all freedom in the name of a dark and discredited ideology.” Yet there are a growing number of scholars and analysts who approach the subject of the Castro-era in much more measured terms, insisting that careful research would turn up any number of divergent findings from the White House’s conclusions. Approaching what will be fifty years of bitter hostility between Cuba and the U.S., it seems a highly appropriate moment to re-examine what has to be seen as Washington’s failed Cuba strategy – one that hasn’t produced meaningful rewards on either side.
castro: Bush expects everything to be solved with a bang
A word popped up in my mind. I looked it up in the dictionary and there it was; it’s an onomatopoeic word and its connotation is tragic: bang. I’ve probably never used it in my life.
Bush is an apocalyptic person. I observe his eyes, his face and his obsessive preoccupation with pretending that everything he sees on the “invisible screens” are spontaneous thoughts. I heard his voice quaver when he answered criticism from his own father about his Iraq policy. He only expresses emotions and constantly feigns rationality. Of course he is aware of the impact of every phrase and every word on the public he addresses.
…
Whom are they going to convince now that the thousands of nuclear weapons in their possession, the missiles and the precise and exact delivery systems they have developed are just to combat terrorism? Could it be perhaps that the sophisticated submarines being constructed by their British allies, capable of circumnavigating the globe without surfacing and reprogramming their nuclear missiles in mid-flight, will be used for that as well? I would never have imagined that one day such justifications would be used. Imperialism intends to institutionalize world tyranny with these weapons. It aims them at other great nations which arise not as military adversaries capable of surpassing their technology with weapons of mass destruction, but as economic powers that would rival the United States whose chaotic and wasteful consumerist economic and social system is absolutely vulnerable.
Posted by: b real | May 27 2007 4:05 utc | 59
No American could work without DHS approval?
ACLU Raises Concerns on Senate Immigration Bill; Proposed Legislation Would Harm Privacy, Due Process (5/25/2007)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@dcaclu.org
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed grave concerns about the due process and privacy implications of the Senate immigration bill. The proposed legislation would create a vast federal database to verify the work eligibility of all job applicants in America – including U.S. citizens; expand indefinite detention; and deny effective judicial review of Department of Homeland Security errors denying immigration status.
“The bill denies essential due process, seeks to overturn Supreme Court limits on detention and fails to guarantee meaningful judicial review,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. “Substantial changes must be made to ensure that the legislation adheres to the values of our country and our Constitution. Without effective judicial oversight, any new program enacted by Congress can be gutted by an overburdened, incompetent or hostile bureaucracy.”
The proposed legislation would require every job applicant in America to have their eligibility to work verified by the DHS, using the error-plagued Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS). EEVS creates a massive government database containing extraordinary amounts of personal information on everyone in America, tied to each individual’s Social Security number. If DHS makes a mistake in determining work eligibility, there will be virtually no way to challenge the error or recover lost wages due to the bill’s prohibitions on judicial review.
As a part of EEVS, every person in America would be forced to carry a hardened Social Security card perhaps containing biometric information about the cardholder – essentially a national ID – and present a Real ID-compliant driver’s license to get any new job. The proposed legislation also expands current practice of expedited removal. The ACLU noted that these policies do nothing to solve the problems of illegal immigration and violate the fundamental American value of due process.
“EEVS would be a financial and bureaucratic nightmare for both businesses and workers,” said Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Legislative Counsel. “Under this already flawed program no one would be able to work in the U.S. without DHS approval – creating a ‘No Work List’ similar to the government’s ‘No Fly List.’ We need immigration reform, but not at this cost.”
The State-all it has, it has stolen!
It even bites with stolen teeth!
~F.W. Niezsche
Posted by: Uncle $cam | May 27 2007 5:00 utc | 60
Glad to stop by to post notice that Americans will not be allowed to work w/out State Political Police, errr Dept. of Homeland Security, approval & see that Uncle has already done so…
This provision was in the bill passed by the DEMOCRATIC Senate this week. Ahhh…thank god the Dems are back in control….go kos…Let Freedom Ring….
Posted by: jj | May 27 2007 5:36 utc | 62
how about a little respect, b? i’ve contributerd a lot here. if you want me to stop posting here, just say it, and i’ll stop.
WOOHOO!
Posted by: DM | May 27 2007 6:41 utc | 63
Respect…? Maybe slothrop can just start writing some inflammatory posts and signing them with other people’s names. That would be respectful.
No, I’m not getting over that. I’m still waiting for an announcement that the blog is being shut down signed with a “b.” Maybe people wouldn’t think it were so trivial and cutesy at that point.
Posted by: Monolycus | May 27 2007 7:09 utc | 64
Pompus Ass Andrew Card accepts honorary degree while being booed for 2 solid minutes. And he smiled the whole time, but i guess he likes being a bottom man.
Posted by: anna missed | May 27 2007 7:51 utc | 65
American Way of Life destroys all energy sources. First, there was oil which is close to peaking. Now it turns out that even that American Trademark, Coca-Cola, is creating an energy crisis, as sodium benzoate, a preservative it uses, damages the DNA of the energy source of cells (mitochondria). It’s not only Am. Bombs That Destroy Everything They Touch
Posted by: jj | May 28 2007 5:28 utc | 68
looks like it’s no longer necessary to hide the u.s. role in sending ethiopia into somalia to restore the warlords to power.
McClatchy Newspapers: Ethiopia frees an American detained fleeing Somalia
Meshal was among some 160 people captured in mid-January in southern Somalia as they fled a U.S.-backed Ethiopian offensive that removed from power in Mogadishu a coalition of Islamic militias, known as the Council of Islamic Courts.
NYT: New Jersey Man Back Home After 3-Nation African Ordeal
When Mr. Meshal, of Tinton Falls, N.J., left for Somalia in December 2006, the African nation was on the edge of chaos.
Ethiopian troops, with backing from the United States, were preparing to invade Somalia to restore to power a transitional Somali government that had been forced from the capital, Mogadishu, by militants who wanted to establish a strictly Islamic state.
i’m guessing the reason for this general acknowledgement is that now enough “evidence” of islamic terrorist threats in the horn have been fabricated & repeated so that it’s okay to acknowledge that, yep, the u.s. was behind the invasion & regime change, but it’s also five months in the past now, so that, while we can acknowledge it in a passing reference, there’s no need to elaborate.
there’s some misinformation in both articles, more in the times piece. for instance, they report
The United States said then that it had no role in deporting Mr. Meshal to Somalia and that Kenya had done so without notifying the American Embassy.
However, the Kenyan government defended the deportation and dozens of others because it said the detainees had been engaged in a guerrilla war against a democratically elected government, referring to Somalia.
for one, the detainees were picked up among the masses of people fleeing from the invading forces, of which the u.s. military was leading the attacks in southern somalia. kenya, acting on u.s. instructions, closed the border to deny refuge to the somalians under attack, in direct violation of internationally recognized laws. this fella, meshal, hasn’t made any public stmt yet since his release on friday, but it will be interesting to see what he has to say about the ordeal, provided it wasn’t part of his release agreement to keep quiet (under the pretense of being national security interest or the like.) one of the swedes renditioned told the press that u.s. military personnel were involved in her detention, but that never really got picked up & investigated in the media.
and, secondly, you can tell the kenyan govt is not speaking truthfully b/c there is no “democratically elected government” in somalia. all it takes is a quick lookup at wikipedia to read that
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is the President of Somalia. He was elected not by a national popular election, but by a vote of the members of the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) on October 10, 2004.
it’s quite clear to me that the press is not a watchdog keeping govts honest, and it’s a damn shame that it’s left to the citizens to not only watch the govt to keep them accountable, but we also have to watch the frickin’ watchdogs!
Posted by: b real | May 28 2007 6:49 utc | 69