Where would you put it, beq? *eg*
I can’t view these videos because I’m on a dial-up servie. PeoplePC!! $10.95/month
Cox cable here in Tucson approaches $60/month.

Posted by: jake | Aug 12 2007 20:10 utc | 4

i can see you tube, no problem.
At least eight Iraqi electricity workers were killed and two others were wounded when a US aircraft fired at their vehicle, local news reports said Saturday.
According to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), an Iraqi police source said that the workers were installing electricity wires and cables in a power station when their vehicle was hit by a US rocket.
The attack reportedly occurred in the southern neighborhood of al-Jalisiya in Samarra, capital of the Salah al-Din province, 100 kilometres north of Baghdad.
The US military could not be reached for comment.

Posted by: annie | Aug 12 2007 20:57 utc | 6

“in ceremonies of the horseman
even the pawn must hold a grudge”
bob dylan

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 12 2007 22:03 utc | 8

Amerikans should consider Alexander Cockburn’s incisive:
How the Democrats Blew It in Only Eight Months
yeah yeah I know Cockburn can be annoying when he gets pretty close to the same sort of conspiratorial fantasy about Global Warming that he has highlighted and debunked brilliantly when it occurs in other obsessions of the left. This article has the good sense to stay away from global warming and should be regarded as a follow up to the great Support Their Troops? article back in July.
Excerpts from How the Democrats blew it should convey the tenor:

Led by Democrats since the start of this year, the US Congress now has a “confidence” rating of 14 per cent, the lowest since Gallup started asking the question in 1973 and five points lower than the Republicans scored last year.
The voters put the Democrats in to end the war and it’s escalating. The Democrats voted money for the surge. They voted for the next $459.6 billion military budget. Their latest achievement is to provide enough votes in support of Bush to legalize warrantless wire tapping for “foreign suspects whose communications pass through the United States.” Enough Democrats joined Republicans to make this a 227-183 victory for Bush. . .
. . .The row over the U.S. attorneys and the conduct of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has always been something of a typhoon in a teaspoon. . .

You get it pretty much what some of us have been saying here at MoA for a while. The difference is Cockburn is far more succinct and less likely to be distracted by the side issues.
The kicker in Cockburn’s article is here:

People didn’t like it when I write that the antiwar movement was at a low ebb. They invoke the polls showing 70 percent of Americans want the troops to come home. This is presumptuous, like a barking dog claiming it made the moon go down. It didn’t take an antiwar movement to make the people antiwar. People looked at the casualty figures and the newspaper headlines and drew the obvious conclusion the war is a bust.

So people hate the war, Blind Freddy can see it aint working yet the political system has demonstrated that there is zero chance of the war being ended through traditional democratic processes like election. Yet how do people react?
They seem to either get caught up in side issues about who committed the worst ‘war crime’ and how that person should be punished which is pure fantasy given the attitude of both political brands as well as being totally pointless.
Cockburn has his take on that but more simply put, what is the point of pursuing war crimes that have been committed, when doing so is diverting energy from preventing further crimes. The million plus are dead. Dead, over, kaput, finished.
So how about concentrating on stopping any more deaths first then rounding up the crims, instead chasing your tails going after the perpetrators of yore thereby allowing new perps to commit fresh crimes?
As Cockburn says:

“Why all this clamor to launch a proceeding surely destined to fail, aimed at a duo who will be out of the White House in sixteen months anyway? Pursue them for war crimes after they’ve stepped down.
Mount an international campaign of the sort that has Henry Kissinger worrying at airports that there might be a lawyer with a writ standing next to the man with the limo sign. Right now the impeachment campaign is a distraction from the war and the paramount importance of ending it.”

(sorry B I will try not to paste the entire article here)
The most frustrating thing I have found about contributing to a blog which concerns itself with this appalling war is the way we go round in circles, over increasingly shorter time spans. After the same argument has been had over the ‘real reasons’ for this illegal intemperate and totally inhumane invasion for the 57th time, what is the point? It becomes an exercise in avoidance at best or piss weak attempt at evading personal responsibility at worst.
I fully realise that it is not for me to say this as well as the pointlessness of pushing people into defending the indefensible – yet every time the issue of what do do rears it’s ugly head the same thing happens.
The vast majority of people ignore the issue in favour of some dem inspired ’cause de jour’ (eg fitzy, impeachment, will Iran be next), others wallow in naivity asking “what can I do” while the rest turn the discussion into yet another debate on whether the war was about empire and oil or global terror.
It has been more than 4 years. Much longer than amerika spent involved in either of the so-called ‘world wars’, yet everytime the debate gets serious people go back to tors and want to debate issues that may have been important four years ago but are now ancient history. Totally irrelevant and a distraction from the one over-arching issue. What can be done to stop people being murdered in Iraq?
Just hang on for a moment and just for once accept the simple fucking truth that has been out there since day 1. The slaughter will continue for as long as foreigners remain in Iraq
-so the only question is: What can I do to get my society to get the fuck out of there?
I don’t wanna be saying this. I would much prefer those whose society is in Iraq to be framing this debate but it aint happening. Truth be told I know what will most likely happen here now. This post will be ignored until something deemed ‘big enough’ provides the excuse for stepping around it like the steaming dog turd it is.
It is apparent that no one around MoA wants to be involved in direct action on those vicious fucking pricks who perpetrated this horror, and that’s fine. Violence is a tool which must be used very carefully because the chances of it blowing back if mismanaged exceed the chances of anything positive coming from it. I had a minor epiphany during my self enforced absence when this low life scum sucker was staying within reach of my anger.
Maybe the old saws are correct, that we can only put ideals ahead of family when we are young. If that is the case there is the problem with resistance to this slaughter right there.
The protest movement as a whole is seen by most young people as a relic of a former era.
OK no one can see a cure by way of direct action.
However on reflection that applies in the main to the sort of opposition that gets you rendered into some despot’s dungeon or in lockdown solitary 24/7 in one of the new federal deprivation centres sarcastically called ‘prisons’.
There are other ways, yet no one really ever seems to give them any thought. I’m not going to pass judgement on why not, yeah well that’s a change some may say, and that’s true it is very easy to sit on the outside judging those within, but why is no one even trying to mount an alternative to the cardboard cut-outs slated to run in 08?
Not just the prez’s gig, but those legislative positions that are up for grabs as well. Cockburn’s article has the figures which articulate much better than I could, exactly how pissed off amerikan voters are about this farce, yet in all probability the major paries of Tweedledum and dee won’t allow the Iraq atrocities to be a meaningful issue during the campaign.
“Iraq is last year. ’06 stuff. Let’s move on to the really important stuff.”
Yeah. Like whether the tiny percentage of gay people who want to get married can do so, or how much medical research is being stymied by federal prohibitions based on religion. Bullshit issues that should have been dealt with and got over a long time ago. Some may consider some of those ‘defining issues’ important for them but none have the life and death impact on so many millions of people that Iraq’s horror does.
At this precise point in info tech development, a small group of web savvy citizens do have the power to effect a change if they really get stuck into it. That power will be negated within a few years. It won’t be easy now, but it is possible.
If a group of amerikans got together and formed a non-partisan social network dedicated to getting the invaders out of Iraq, above anything else especially the old left right divide, they could do so.
I have considered this and come up with one workable model. No don’t worry I won’t make you read it now.
Not because I’m scared of being shot down in flames. Sorta the reverse. In the unlikely event many have read this far down, I doubt many would read much more let alone respond.
The thing would be ignored then grow old and be dismissed without being discussed at all. Anyway it would be far better for amerikans themselves to develop a model for effecting a change at election 08.
Maybe if any are interested B could dedicate a thread.
Do not dismiss this as too outrageous though. It could be done and needs to be done. If you don’t have a crack at changing the current inevitability, who is going to?

Posted by: Debs is dead | Aug 12 2007 22:36 utc | 10

Dr. Yueh, this seems to be the Major work on the subject. googling dying trees california also brings up interesting stuff. It’s not just Southern Ca., it’s also NCal, Mich, Germany, etc. And, we’ve discussed the Amazon being very close to the tipping point.

Posted by: jj | Aug 12 2007 23:35 utc | 12

conchita
american political life has been so debased – so irretrievably diminished – i see nothing can be done through a parliamentary politics so impoversihed
but i respect your courage for giving it a try
this whole political class will have to be defeated in the middle east & like all reactionary suicides it will take a lot of people down with them
all political action has to be based on community not on this or that functionary or politician whom are arevealed at every congressional hearing as the bags of shit they are

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 13 2007 1:29 utc | 14

but we have to see behind all them, there is something
behind the traitors and the gnawing rats
an empire which sets the table
and serves up the nourishment and the bullets
pablo neruda

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 13 2007 2:34 utc | 16

my 2 cents
it’s probably impossible to get nadler & any his team to break away from adhering tightly to the party line of focusing only on getting one of their own into the pilot seat nov ’08. they do not actually represent “the people” in any honest reflection of what that concept should mean to the rest of us, so intellectual appeals are likely to fall on dear ears muffling already-occupied minds. the dems sole reason for existing right now, as conyers has made clear, is to be the winners of the next election, at whatever cost — more dead in iraq, more $$$ wasted, more civil rights & constitutional guarantees evaporated — they do not care about that. and that should be very clear to everyone watching, by thier actions & by the insanity of their arguments & positions.
the dems have so many opportunities to be heroes right now. heroes in the eyes of the nation & the world-at-large. heroes for the history books of the future when the u.s. will be judged more accurately for what transpired, what it actually did & not just what officials said. landmark opportunities to be heroes by starting right now to hold blatant criminals & corrupt institutions accountable. but they won’t be b/c they are just as complicit in the crimes of this empire as are their friends across the aisle & quite incapable of making honest assessments & rendering responses based on ethical & moral principles. you cannot use rational appeals on irrational people.
what we really need to do is impeach the system.
debs is dead –
It is apparent that no one around MoA wants to be involved in direct action on those vicious fucking pricks who perpetrated this horror, and that’s fine.
when those situations/opportunities come about, hopefully those involved won’t be/aren’t openly discussing it in electronic communications. small, established, closely-knit cells w/o a track record of public stmts is the key to efficacy & preservation in direct tactics. even should regulars in the blogosphere find themselves outside the rules of the game as it’s expected to be played, its only one discrete part of a larger continuum of options in cutting off the supply lines at their source. sounds interesting. do share.

Posted by: b real | Aug 13 2007 3:35 utc | 18

@Debs – Maybe if any are interested B could dedicate a thread.
Sure! Mailto moonofa _at_ aol.com

Posted by: b | Aug 13 2007 6:03 utc | 20

The numbers of weapons is staggering …
Italy delivers deadly weaponms to Iraq killing U.S. troops Italy probe unearths huge Iraq arms deal

The Associated Press has learned that Iraqi government officials were involved in the deal, apparently without the knowledge of the U.S. Baghdad command — a departure from the usual pattern of U.S.-overseen arms purchases.
Why these officials resorted to “black” channels and where the weapons were headed is unclear.
…
Investigators say the prospect of an Iraq deal was raised last November, when an Iraqi-owned trading firm e-mailed Massimo Bettinotti, 39, owner of the Malta-based MIR Ltd., about whether MIR could supply 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles and 10,000 machine guns “to the Iraqi Interior Ministry,” adding that “this deal is approved by America and Iraq.”
The go-between — the Al-Handal General Trading Co. in Dubai — apparently had communicated with Bettinotti earlier about buying night visors and had been told MIR could also procure weapons.
…
The Interior Ministry’s need at that point for such a massive weapons shipment is unclear. The U.S. training command had already reported it would arm all Interior Ministry police by the end of 2006 through its own three-year-old program, which as of July 26 has bought 701,000 weapons for the Iraqi army and police with $237 million in U.S. government funds.
…
By December, the Italians, having found a Bulgarian broker, were offering Russian-made goods: 50,000 AKM rifles, an improved version of the AK-47; 50,000 AKMS rifles, the same gun with folding stock; and 5,000 PKM machine guns.
…
Citing the names of “friends” in top U.S. military ranks in Iraq, al-Handal said his company has fulfilled scores of supply and service contracts for the U.S. occupation. Asked why he claimed U.S. approval for the abortive Italian weapons purchase, he said he had a document from the U.S. Army “that says, ‘We allow al-Thuraya Group to do all kinds of business.'”
In Baghdad, the Interior Ministry wouldn’t discuss the AK-47 transaction on the record. But a senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity, acknowledged it had sought the weapons through al-Handal.
Asked about the irregular channels used, he said the ministry “doesn’t ask the supplier how these weapons are obtained.”
Although this official refused to discuss details, he said “most” of the 105,000 weapons were meant for police in Iraq’s western province of Anbar. That statement raised questions, however, since Pentagon reports list only 161,000 trained police across all 18 of Iraq’s provinces, and say the ministry has been issued 169,280 AK-47s, 167,789 pistols and 16,398 machine guns for them and 28,000 border police.

Posted by: b | Aug 13 2007 6:52 utc | 22

Did you know about the Algiers Accords?

Posted by: Malooga | Aug 13 2007 7:26 utc | 24

Bill Lind on how to win in Iraq. Makes (nearly) perfect sense, so its no doubt off the table.

Posted by: anna missed | Aug 13 2007 8:22 utc | 26

Checkpoint checking

We drove to Neve Yunis, where two Palestinian men were stranded after receiving fines from the police. Thanks to yet another malicious trick on the Israeli authorities’ behalf, a Palestinian who gets a speeding ticket, for example, will have his papers confiscated until he pays the fixed penalty at the appropriate office. Except, of course, he can’t get to the offices without his papers, since the army won’t let any Palestinian through a checkpoint without his ID documents. No payment, no papers; no papers, no payment – ..
…
“I’ve been put on the Shabak list”, he cried, “and I don’t know why. They say I’m banned from entering Israel, and they won’t give me a hearing to put my case to them. I’ve got six children to feed, and all my work’s in Israel – I don’t know where to turn”.
…
Afterwards, she told me that often Shabak wait until people like him are on the verge of penury, and then approach them quietly and tell them all their troubles could be over – if they’ll just provide them a name of a terrorist in their village. Even though their quarry might not have a clue who is or isn’t on the extremists’ books, he’ll often give any name just to get his papers back and regain the chance to work – and thus the cycle continues.
As we drove back to Jerusalem, Ruti waxed lyrical about the status quo that is allowing such criminal deeds to occur. “Occupation has to involve dehumanisation,” she told me. “If you have feelings, you can’t kick someone down – so we’ve conditioned our soldiers to have no feelings for the Palestinians. We’ve brought up this third generation [of Israelis] to act like conquerors, and to have contempt for the conquered.”
I suggested that the plight of the Palestinian workers is similar to that of battery chickens. No one likes to think of the conditions battery chickens are forced to live in; instead they prefer not to dwell on the issue at all, so long as they get their cheap meat (or cheap labour, in this case). Ruti agreed, saying “Israelis just don’t want to know what goes on, they don’t want to see themselves as the bad guys. People need to feel good, so they simply close their eyes to reality.”

Posted by: b | Aug 13 2007 8:59 utc | 28

It touches me that Rove cares so much for his family that he puts them ahead of powermongering.
One can only assume that something so completely heinious is about to break open that he has to run and duck for cover.

Posted by: ralphieboy | Aug 13 2007 9:10 utc | 30

Sorry. Subscription only. Frank Rich, take two.

Posted by: beq | Aug 13 2007 9:40 utc | 32

In a month?
Maybe nothing’s gonna break. Maybe Bush’s term is winding down, and elections are coming, and Karl wants to make some real money again doing what he does best.
I used to read TPM religiously several years ago, because JM always had me thinking that “something big was about to break” which would “change everything.” Well, it never did. The temperature of the water just gets turned up a little higher each day.
Besides you can’t break what is already broken.

Posted by: Malooga | Aug 13 2007 10:02 utc | 34

Hillary, you silly!

Posted by: Malooga | Aug 13 2007 10:34 utc | 36

That uppity dark person from Caracas is getting even more uppity.
At the summit, Chavez also proposed building an oil refinery in Guyana and urged the government of Dominica to accept his offer of a 10,000 barrel-a-day refinery, a project currently awaiting environmental analysis. He said Venezuela’s restoration of the Cienfuegos refinery in Cuba will complete in November.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 13 2007 13:01 utc | 38

@ Did #10
Thank you very much for this fine post. It is “in your face” in a way that is helpful, not harmful.
But look; “It is apparent that no one around MoA wants to be involved in direct action…” Not true. My guess is almost every single one of the people who post and read here want direct action. We, at least I am, afraid.
I am involved in various groups confronting the government in many ways, and feel like I have barely escaped physical harm and/or incarceration – so far. I think most of us expect to see the Camps, sooner rather than later.
The problem is how to link up with others. I know others right here in my town that would gladly join, but we can’t telephone or email. Those are monitored. There are plants in every group here that is capable of acting (and some of these phonies are absolutely absurd, sticking out like sore thumbs). Point is, it is already dangerous to go further. Already there are strange people with strange objects doing strange things to protesters. Bursts of light, etc. Some friends have been harmed by these guys (mainly guys). They look like marshals, and there are a LOT of homeland defense guys here. Overall it leaves one feeling vulnerable.
So, the problem is communicating.
Well, I’m off to a pretrial hearing. You see, ALL of the military “intelligence” people are trained here at Fort Huachuca. So when two priests tried to deliver a letter to the commanding officer asking her to stop teaching torture they were arrested and charged with criminal trespass. One of the priests has already spent six years in solitary confinement for his Plowshares activity. Now they are trying to nip this protest in the bud….
We need a new nation. This will take communication and organization. That is difficult. I know that just saying what I have just said is going to increase my negative value to those watching. Well, I had to spend a little of my invisibility to say something. I believe the barflies here want to do more. The question is how. We’ve not done this before.

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 13 2007 14:38 utc | 40

human rights watch rpt out today on
Somalia: War Crimes in Mogadishu

Ethiopian, Somali and insurgent forces are all responsible for rampant violations of the laws of war in Mogadishu, causing massive suffering for the civilian population, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch urged the UN Security Council during its current deliberations on Somalia to include a strong civilian protection mandate in any peacekeeping mission.
The 113-page report, “Shell-Shocked: Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu,” is the first independent, on-the-ground investigation of the fighting that wracked Mogadishu in March and April 2007, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of 400,000 people.
“The warring parties have all shown criminal disregard for the well-being of the civilian population of Mogadishu,” said Ken Roth, executive director for Human Rights Watch. “The UN Security Council’s indifference to this crisis has only added to the tragedy.”
Human Rights Watch documented numerous war crimes among many other violations of the laws of war by all parties to the armed conflict in Mogadishu.
…
The launch of the report coincides with today’s UN Security Council deliberations on Somalia. The Security Council is due to discuss the 1,500-member African Union mission in Somalia and proposals to turn the mission into a UN force.

some context that i didn’t see mentioned in a quick scan of the background in the rpt

The thing that made encouraging the Ethiopians so easy is that Somalia didn’t really have a central government in place, which made breaching its sovereignty so easy. In fact, the Ethiopians tried to consolidate a government in exile that would be internationally recognized. So, Somalia was a unique situation from the standpoint of international law. [source]

Pentagon Sees Covert Move in Somalia as Blueprint

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — Military operations in Somalia by American commandos, and the use of the Ethiopian Army as a surrogate force to root out operatives for Al Qaeda in the country, are a blueprint that Pentagon strategists say they hope to use more frequently in counterterrorism missions around the globe.
Military officials said the strike by an American gunship on terrorism suspects in southern Somalia on Sunday showed that even with the departure of Donald H. Rumsfeld from the Pentagon, Special Operations troops intended to take advantage of the directive given to them by Mr. Rumsfeld in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.

and

When the invading Ethiopians quickly enjoyed unexpected success, Centcom’s plan became elegantly simple: Let the blitzkrieging Ethiopian army drive the CIC, along with its foreign fighters and Al Qaeda operatives, south out of Mogadishu and toward the Kenyan border, where Kenyan troops would help trap them on the coast. “We begged the Kenyans to get to the border as fast as possible,” the Centcom source says, “because the targets were so confused, they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”
Once boxed in by the sea and the Kenyans, the killing zone was set and America’s first AC-130 gunship went wheels-up on January 7 from that secret Ethiopian airstrip. After each strike, anybody left alive was to be wiped out by successive waves of Ethiopian commandos and Task Force 88, operating out of Manda Bay. The plan was to rinse and repeat “until no more bad guys,” as one officer put it.
“We could have solved all of East Africa in less than eight weeks,” says the Centcom source, who was involved in the planning. Central Command was extremely wary of being portrayed in the media as Ethiopia’s puppet master. In fact, its senior leaders wanted to keep America’s participation entirely secret. The goal was for Ethiopia to get all the credit, further bolstering America’s controversial but burgeoning military ties with Meles Zenawi’s increasingly authoritarian regime. [source]

Posted by: b real | Aug 13 2007 14:54 utc | 42

Oh, I wouldn’t relax if I were you for several reasons…
Care to share? I would like to hear them…
thanks

Posted by: Bea | Aug 13 2007 16:16 utc | 44

Three things about Rove.

Rosy speculation abounds that he will go to some presidential campaign like he didn’t blow the 2006 election and isn’t most probably about to go radioactive. That nobody on television this morning has mentioned any of the above is both remarkable and telling.

Posted by: beq | Aug 13 2007 16:54 utc | 46

Interesting thougth from Froomkin:

Rove and Cheney have been Bush’s two most intimate and important advisers, more or less splitting the presidential portfolio — with Cheney taking lead on foreign policy, intelligence and energy and Rove taking the lead on most everything else.
Rove’s departure can’t help but increase Cheney’s clout at the White House. In fact — who knows? — Cheney may even have engineered it.
To me, one of the great White House mysteries has been how Rove and Cheney get along.
You may recall that at the obstruction of justice trial of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the defense argued that Libby and Cheney at one point believed that some of Bush’s top aides were trying to “scapegoat” Libby, rather than let top Bush political strategist Karl Rove take the fall.
So it’s possible they don’t get along at all.

Posted by: b | Aug 13 2007 19:17 utc | 48

ethiopian forces add their own exclamation point to today’s hrw report on war crimes in mogadishu (see #42 above)
Somalia: 16 killed in Mogadishu

Mogadishu 13, August.07 ( Sh.M.Network) At least 11 people, including two policemen, have been killed in north Mogadishu, the Somali capital, on Monday afternoon.
Witnesses told Shabelle that a roadside bomb which was detonated by a remote control targeted a government military pickup truck, killing two soldiers on board.
Shafi Omar, a witness, told Shabelle that a contingent of Ethiopian troops was based closer to the site of the explosion when the government car was passing.
“When the landmine blasted, there were two commuter buses moving along the street and the Ethiopians riddled the buses full of passengers with bullets. Seven passengers instantly died in the first bus while three were killed in the next one,” he said.
Omar also pointed that he was the first civilian to rush to the area to help the victims after the incidents. “It was horrible; a large number of people have been wounded. There was blood everywhere inside the buses,” he said.
The wounded were rushed to the hospital and the Ethiopians went back to their base, he said.
The Somali government could not be reached for comments.

—
anon @43 – too many westerners actually do think that they’re battling AQ in the horn & northern africa. it doesn’t help that many of the recruits who were brought to afghanistan in the early 1980’s to engage in a new ‘international jihad’ against soviet imperialism & which later became what was called al qa’idah — “the database” — were from north africa (esp algeria). or that UBL spent some time in the area. but, specfically wrt somalia, attempts to tie the islamic courts in somalia or al-ittihad to an international jihad have been shown to be baseless. most u.s. intel — if not based on suspect intel offered by potential allies seeking u.s. help in neutralizing their own opposition/obstacles, exaggerating rhetoric of smaller local groups who captialize on that brand name, or being conjured entirely from whole cloth — seems to rely on tenuous associations to alleged individuals thought to have AQ ties, combined w/ a good dose of ignorance and/or racist paranoia. mostly, though, it provides a pretext for acheiving objectives & goals that can then remain out of the public realm. some even suggest that there’s a tactic of manufacturing terrorism in this approach, in a self-fulfilling manner, to justify a continued presence & all the lucrative expenditures & careers that result from such a perceived threat.
and thanks for the kind words.

Posted by: b real | Aug 13 2007 19:25 utc | 50

secrecynews: American War Casualties: Lists and Statistics

Comprehensive data on U.S. military deaths from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through Operation Iraqi Freedom were presented in a recently updated report from the Congressional Research Service.
“This report is written in response to numerous requests for war casualty statistics and lists of war dead. It provides tables, compiled by sources at the Department of Defense (DOD), indicating the number of casualties among American military personnel serving in principal wars and combat actions.”
For the more recent military actions beginning with the Korean War, information on specific cause of death and demographic data are provided.
The Congressional Research Service does not make its publications directly available to the public. A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News.
See “American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics,” (PDF, 164KB) updated June 29, 2007.

Posted by: b real | Aug 13 2007 21:00 utc | 52

Call for a US General Strike Sep 11 07

The General Strike is a national call to action, from citizens to other citizens. It is not about a single issue. It is not an anti-war protest, a civil rights protest, an election fraud protest. It is not about torture, surveillance, corporate media, the 9/11 coverup, or the environment. This strike is about all these issues and more.
We all have different concerns, but we all have the same concern: we are being lied to and this government does not represent us. Join other Americans in demanding truth, justice, and accountability.
This is our country.
And our world.
We just have to stand up.

Posted by: DeAnander | Aug 13 2007 22:20 utc | 54

I Just spent several minutes spreading the news far and wide…DeAnander , it’s time. Thanks.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 14 2007 0:26 utc | 56

Not this Tick.

Posted by: catlady | Aug 14 2007 1:11 utc | 58

@catlady #58:
Tick/Arthur ’08!!!

Posted by: Dr. Wellington Yueh | Aug 14 2007 2:20 utc | 60

hey, i have thought about doing this (a) for a long time because i am lazy.
annie

Posted by: a | Aug 14 2007 3:19 utc | 62

this is not a knock against Western intellect:
but the West has been too slow to come to terms with the fact that its historical dominance of the means & channels for propagating intellect is no longer the powerful tool it once was.
in the past, the framing of intellect was always in the Wests favor & to its major advantage. This was the norm so much so that it became instutuitional, sacred & unquestioned.
but this is no longer the case & the West needs to catch up with the reality that others now see things differently and are arriving at the understanding that many of these intellects can be more slanted than sacred.

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Aug 14 2007 5:40 utc | 64

I forgot: Repeal the “Patriot Act”, the Mil. Commissions Act, the confiscation of assets of protestors,… and any other of these bills I’ve forgotten about.

Posted by: jj | Aug 14 2007 7:11 utc | 66

Interesting portrait of Hariri junior, billonaire and U.S. acclaimed ruler over Lebanon:
To Live and Die in Beirut

It is not a job he wanted. Saad Hariri had been living a rewarding life in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, running the family’s $8 billion construction, banking, and telecom group, Saudi Oger. The Hariris are one of the wealthiest families in the Middle East, if not the wealthiest non-oil clan. They are part owners of the $37.5 billion Arab Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the region. Their construction arm, second only to the bin Ladens’, is taking part in a $1.5 billion rebuilding project in downtown Amman, Jordan. Their purchase of Türk Telekom last year for $6.55 billion, spearheaded by Saad, was the biggest private deal in Turkey’s history.
…
Yet despite their vast wealth and investments across several continents, no real estate is more valuable—or more meaningful—to the Hariris than Lebanon itself. There is loyalty to the homeland, to be sure, as well as Rafik’s legacy. But there is also the $2.5 billion of the nation’s debt the Hariri bank holds (debt Rafik helped run up as prime minister). And there are billions more in development projects, including an $18 billion downtown Beirut rebuilding effort, which could be in jeopardy should Hez­bollah seize power.

The Hariri robbery in Lebanon was one of the biggest in world history.
Downtown Beirut was destroyed in a civil war throughout which Hariri payed several sides. After the war the land in downtown Beirut was taken away from the owners and they were given shares of a “reconstruction company”. Later when Hariri was prime minister that company went public and the shares were deluted so that most of the value for the original owners is gone.
The state of Lebanon under Hariri lended billions, from Hariri, to contract Hariri’s construction companies to rebuild downtown Beirut now mostly owned by Hariri. The pesants grandchildren will have to carry the debt …

Posted by: b | Aug 14 2007 13:02 utc | 68

A few interesting analyses of the executive orders Bush issued last week criminalizing anyone who “undermines democracy” in Lebanon or Iraq:
After Downing St:

Syrian meddling in Lebanon constitutes an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” Bush asserted, adding, “I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
This executive order is even more sweeping.
Where the one on Iraq applies to people who engage in violent acts or pose a significant risk of engaging in violent acts, this one doesn’t even bother to limit it to that. Anyone who engages in any act-violent or nonviolent-against the government of Lebanon can now have his or her property frozen.
And it also gives the Treasury Secretary the authority to freeze the assets of “a spouse or dependent child” of any person whose property is frozen.
What’s next? Impounding the family dog?
The executive order on Lebanon also bans food, medicine, and humanitarian aid to anyone whose property is frozen-and that includes the “dependent child” mentioned above.

In short, insanity. Since when does the president of one country have the right to declare a citizen of another country who merely supported a particular political line an enemy of the United States?
Does Bush’s Order Criminalize Lebanon’s Democratic Opposition? (Views and context from Lebanon)

Bush’s most recent executive order adds nothing to Washington’s ability to freeze Hizbullah funds. What it does do is make it possible to go after Aoun [the popular Christian politician who has crossed traditional “sectarian” lines and aligned his powerful bloc with Hizbullah against the US-supported Siniora government] and his supporters. On August 1, Bush issued an executive order, entitled, “Blocking Property of Persons Undermining the Sovereignty of Lebanon or Its Democratic Processes and Institutions.”Syrian meddling in Lebanon constitutes an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” Bush asserted, adding, “I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”This executive order doesn’t limit sanctions to people involved in violent acts. Anyone who engages in any act-violent or nonviolent-against the government of Lebanon can now have his or her property frozen.And it also gives the Treasury Secretary the authority to freeze the assets of “a spouse or dependent child” of any person whose property is frozen.

Article in the (Lebanese) Daily Star: Thursday, August 09, 2007BEIRUT: The US is preparing a list of the names of wealthy Lebanese businessmen known to have various political and religious backgrounds, and identified with partaking in suspicious activity, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported Wednesday. The CNA added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had opened an inquiry into a relative of a prominent Christian Lebanese leader who recently purchased land in North Carolina worth more than $10 million. The FBI charged that the salary of the man being investigated could not support such expensive real estate and is aiming to find the source of the funds.
In comments to Arab journalists on Monday, Under-Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch discussed last week’s executive order signed by President George W. Bush that aims to block property of persons undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon or its democratic process and institutions, according to a White House statement. The US would examine “any information there is about persons who may be engaged in anti-democratic actions,” he said. [God, the hypocrisy of this statement is just heart-stopping!!] “It is not a matter of opposition to one person in government, or to the government, it is not personal in that sense. And there are a variety of people who I think should receive scrutiny right away because their loyalty does not lie either to the Constitution or to the country,” added Welch [Note the imperial “I” — on his word alone, these people will stand or fall…] without naming specific parties or people.
Welch was then asked how the executive order would affect the main members of Lebanon’s opposition, namely the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Hizbullah if they refused to partake in a parliamentary election to elect a successor to President Emile Lahoud. Welch’s answer concentrated on the laws already in place targeting Hizbullah and pointedly avoided mentioning if or how this would be used against the FPM. The daily An-Nahar on Tuesday, citing prominent sources, said “any citizen is subject” to the executive order issued by US President George Bush which aims at blocking property of persons undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty or its democratic process and institutions. An-Nahar said the move reflects the US administration’s “never-ending concern” over the possibility of Aoun’s participation in any activity that could lead to the emergence of dual governments or hinder upcoming presidential elections if he figured he was not going to win. A member of the FPM told The Daily Star that any attempt to charge the FPM of undermining Lebanese sovereignty was “ridiculous.” “The FPM as a member of the opposition is participating in a very democratic manner.

Posted by: Bea | Aug 14 2007 15:41 utc | 70

Iraqi Interior Ministry Buying Arms from the Mafia; US Unaware

The aborted shipment comes only a week after a congressional investigation team found that the Pentagon could not account for 190,000 US-supplied weapons that had gone missing in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. It would have been another spectacular lapse to add to a growing list that began immediately after the invasion when the US failed to protect Iraqi army weapons dumps from looting and disbanded the Iraqi army complete with weapons.
The anti-Mafia investigators stumbled on the deal, which had not been authorised by the Italian government, while shadowing a group of suspected Italian drug traffickers. Expecting to find drugs during a covert search of the luggage of a suspect boarding a flight to Libya early last year, police instead found helmets, bullet-proof vests and a weapons catalogue.

Posted by: Bea | Aug 14 2007 16:03 utc | 72

This may have already been posted here, I am not sure, but if not, it is well worth reading. It is a long, in-depth look at the similarities between US policy in Palestine and Lebanon, written by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese scholar of political science, who is staunchly opposed to those policies.
The contours of what she covers have been mostly covered here, but the depth and some of the analytical perspective is insightful and worth the read.
Washington in Lebanon and Palestine: Fatal Manipulation
Here is a little excerpt:

Lebanon and Palestine combine democratic traditions with the experience of having seen resistance groups, inimical to US and Israeli interests, sweep to or close to power. The Bush administration, accordingly, has abandoned all pretence at democracy-promotion there and engaged in stark de-democratisation of Palestine and Lebanon. The measures the US has used (to be elaborated below) to shake the foundations of democracy and the internal stability of these nations include undermining their national unity, infringing on their sovereignty, refusing to recognise the popular will, and attempting to mask their government’s loss of popular and constitutional legitimacy: in short, promoting failed states rather than encouraging state-building.
This enterprise has been intensified since the victory of Hizbollah over Israel in the war of July-August 2006, and Hamas’s routing of Fatah in Gaza in June 2007. Both events propelled the Bush administration to scramble for ways to support Fouad Siniora (Lebanon’s prime minister) and Mahmoud Abbas (Palestine’s president) against their rivals. In contrast to its “moderate” Arab friends of an autocratic mould, with whom the US seeks partnership at a state level – Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – the US’s support for its allies in Lebanon and Palestine is defined through particular leaders and/ or factions, not nationwide institutional entities.
But by thus taking sides, Washington engages in the dangerous exercise of falsely presenting political factions – which do not represent true popular majorities, far less overwhelming ones – as truly national forces. In fact, the US’s declared intent to “prop” and “boost” Abbas and Siniora indicates its acknowledgment of widespread internal popular discontent with their regimes. Washington’s obfuscation here obscures the fact that had it not been for Hamas’s and Hizbollah’s alliances with these forces in the past, the latter would not have been able to come to dominate state structures.

Posted by: Bea | Aug 14 2007 17:08 utc | 74

@Bea – 75 – every move the Nazi’s made in Germany after 1933 was covered by the rule of law. If it wasn’t, they made a new law. If that wasn’t sufficient, the leader issued an emergency order, if that wasn’t sufficient, the judges ruled the way that was needed.
It was all legal.

Posted by: b | Aug 14 2007 18:22 utc | 76

re the owner of horn afrik killed in mogadishu on saturday, this connection sounds interesting… would certainly like to learn more about it.
NED condemns the murder of two Somali journalists

It is with grief and outrage that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) learned of the targeted assassination of our esteemed colleague, Ali Iman Sharmarke, the director of Horn Afrik radio.

sharmarke was a somali who had fled to canada in the mid-90’s and then returned in 1999 w/ two biz partners to set up a couple media outlets in somalia.
how long was he an NED “colleague” & what was the role of that relationship? just curious…

Posted by: b real | Aug 14 2007 19:57 utc | 78

Foolish myths by a drunk, bet Giap can nail this fucker to a cross.

If I am right about this, an enormous prize is within our reach. We can not only deny the clones of Bin Ladenism a military victory in Iraq, we can also discredit them in the process and in the eyes (and with the help) of a Muslim people who have seen them up close. We can do this, moreover, in a keystone state of the Arab world that guards a chokepoint—the Gulf—in the global economy. As with the case of Afghanistan—where several provinces are currently on a knife-edge between an elected government that at least tries for schools and vaccinations, and the forces of uttermost darkness that seek to negate such things—the struggle will take all our nerve and all our intelligence. But who can argue that it is not the same battle in both cases, and who dares to say that it is not worth fighting?

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 14 2007 20:41 utc | 80

Surge progress in Iraq – At least 175 killed in north Iraq bombings: army

At least 175 people were killed when three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers attacked a town, home to an ancient minority sect, in northern Iraq on Tuesday in one of the worst single incidents in the four-year-old war.
Iraqi army Captain Mohammad al-Jaad said at least another 200 people were wounded in the bombings in separate Yazidi neighborhoods in the town of Kahtaniya, west of Mosul.

Posted by: b | Aug 14 2007 21:04 utc | 82

manifesto so you don’t have to.

Posted by: ran | Aug 15 2007 2:38 utc | 84

I just listened to the.Commonwealth Club inteview of June 2, 2006
2004 and lots of things are missing from Markos’ world. But his head is full of the horse race details of politics and he gives seven-minute answers to questions.
That’s common among people who think they are political because they know lots of overt stuff.
His comments on his applying for the CIA and what liberal internationalists they are runs from 12:15 through 16:45.
Around 62:00 he spends a few minutes talking about protecting his blog’s credibility and disses TruthOut’s Jason Leopold for jumping on a false story that Rove had been indicted. He sounds like he’s competing with Will Pitt’s TruthOut.org.
Markos says early in the interview that the reason he’s mad at the Dems is “they lose.”
So he is remaining willfully ignorant (?) of the fact that a Democratic presidential candidate won in 2000 and 2004.
He plays up the Conservative media machine as a force to be countered but makes no recognition of Operation Mockingbird CIA/State Department control of mainstream media.
He might be just another ignorant dupe instead of a perp. There are lots of dupes who really don’t know anything about spook media and have that James Bond agent or Robert Redford analyst image of CIA.
And those well-informed dupes make perfect idiots for perpetuating public theater that masks a National inSecurity State military junta.
_________________

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 15 2007 5:22 utc | 86

Uncle $cam, this one is for you:
UK police suspect murder in death of Egyptian ex-Mossad agent.

One reason for believing that the Egyptian businessman was either murdered or committed suicide is the missing manuscript of a book he was writing on the Middle East between 1969 and 1978. The book was scheduled to be published later this year.

Times Online
Good background piece in Egypt Today
Great background piece that was in the NYT a month or two ago: Who Killed Ashraf Marwan?

Posted by: Bea | Aug 15 2007 9:35 utc | 88

Siegman in the LRB: The Great Middle East Peace Scam

In fact, all previous peace initiatives have got nowhere for a reason that neither Bush nor the EU has had the political courage to acknowledge. That reason is the consensus reached long ago by Israel’s decision-making elites that Israel will never allow the emergence of a Palestinian state which denies it effective military and economic control of the West Bank. To be sure, Israel would allow – indeed, it would insist on – the creation of a number of isolated enclaves that Palestinians could call a state, but only in order to prevent the creation of a binational state in which Palestinians would be the majority.
The Middle East peace process may well be the most spectacular deception in modern diplomatic history. Since the failed Camp David summit of 2000, and actually well before it, Israel’s interest in a peace process – other than for the purpose of obtaining Palestinian and international acceptance of the status quo – has been a fiction that has served primarily to provide cover for its systematic confiscation of Palestinian land and an occupation whose goal, according to the former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon, is ‘to sear deep into the consciousness of Palestinians that they are a defeated people’. In his reluctant embrace of the Oslo Accords, and his distaste for the settlers, Yitzhak Rabin may have been the exception to this, but even he did not entertain a return of Palestinian territory beyond the so-called Allon Plan, which allowed Israel to retain the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank.
Anyone familiar with Israel’s relentless confiscations of Palestinian territory – based on a plan devised, overseen and implemented by Ariel Sharon – knows that the objective of its settlement enterprise in the West Bank has been largely achieved. Gaza, the evacuation of whose settlements was so naively hailed by the international community as the heroic achievement of a man newly committed to an honourable peace with the Palestinians, was intended to serve as the first in a series of Palestinian bantustans. Gaza’s situation shows us what these bantustans will look like if their residents do not behave as Israel wants.
Israel’s disingenuous commitment to a peace process and a two-state solution is precisely what has made possible its open-ended occupation and dismemberment of Palestinian territory. And the Quartet – with the EU, the UN secretary general and Russia obediently following Washington’s lead – has collaborated with and provided cover for this deception by accepting Israel’s claim that it has been unable to find a deserving Palestinian peace partner.

*Recommended*

Posted by: Bea | Aug 15 2007 11:28 utc | 90

This is so sad.
Principal at New NYC Arabic-Language School Forced to Resign

The principal of New York City’s first public school dedicated to the study of Arabic language and culture resigned under pressure after she was quoted explaining that the word “intifada” literally means “shaking off” in Arabic. Debbie Almontaser’s remarks were in response to a question over the phrase “Intifada NYC,” that was printed on T-shirts sold by AWAAM, a Brooklyn-based girl’s empowerment organization. The shirts have no relation to her school.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; send these, the homeless tempest-tossed, to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Give us our country back, goddammit. This is despicable!!!

Posted by: Bea | Aug 15 2007 11:57 utc | 92

kolko: An economy of buccaneers and fantasists
Weapons of mass financial destruction

Posted by: b real | Aug 15 2007 14:57 utc | 94

Oh dear, I am sorry for posting so many dud links. Let’s try that again:
Siegman in LRB: The Great Mideast Peace Scam
Principal at Arabic School Forced to Resign
Times Online re: Ashraf Marwan
Who Killed Ashraf Marwan?
Hopefully those work.
Thanks b real!

Posted by: Bea | Aug 15 2007 16:03 utc | 96

JJ’s arguments (against general strike) are good ones. But:
1) In some situations, anything that can be done should be done, and discussing the merits of this or that is pointless, or a waste of time. I know that sounds floppy, even silly, anti-clever-strategy, etc. but it still has weight imho. The left often gets bogged down in discussion (because of its plurality, sincerity, education, naiveté, etc.) where the Right just – gets on with it, and wins.
2) Activists need to be opportunistic, go with the flow, exploit the possible, while preferably correctly calculating the result and having some long term plan. (Rovian thinking.) I mean it all has to do with crowds and power, and relations to authority.
3) If there was a genuine possibility of a general strike in the US (I tend to doubt it but can’t really judge) it would certainly be number one on a good agenda. It would be a sharp new marker of collective solidarity, and break the bonds of powerlessness for many (as DeA also argues more eloquently than me) – it would be invigorating and exhilerating, explosive.
4) The danger of trying to organize it when it will not work are consequent, will make ppl for it even more miserable, hopeless, leading to withdrawal. You gotta go for what can fly, or lacking that, what may minimally satisfy the militants, pending future actions.

Posted by: Tangerine (ex Noirette) | Aug 15 2007 16:46 utc | 98

this goes along w/ b’s #76 above
secrecynews: Increased Domestic Role for Intelligence Foreseen

Spy satellites and other classified intelligence technologies are poised to play a greater role in domestic homeland security and law enforcement missions, challenging long-standing legal and policy barriers against their domestic use.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Director of National Intelligence recently authorized access to intelligence satellite products by officials of the Department of Homeland Security to help support border security. See “U.S. to Expand Domestic Use of Spy Satellites” by Robert Block, Wall Street Journal, August 15, p.1.
A comprehensive 2005 government study (pdf) of the use of intelligence capabilities for domestic applications concluded that “significant change is needed in policy regimes regulating domestic use of IC [intelligence community] capabilities” in order to permit their full exploitation.
“The use of IC capabilities for domestic purposes should be… based on the premise that most uses of IC capabilities are lawful rather than treating any use as an exception to the rule requiring a case-by-case adjudication,” the study said.
“There is an urgent need for a top-down, Executive Branch review of all laws and policies affecting use of intelligence capabilities purposes,” the report said.

it’s a bird! it’s a plane! aw shit, it’s just another frickin’ spy satellite

Posted by: b real | Aug 15 2007 17:43 utc | 100