Kevin Ryan was U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of
California until he was purged in December 2006. Bush’s
replacement is Joseph Russoniello, who's been one of the
most gung ho drug warriors since the early 1980s.
According to
this article, the Senate hasn’t yet voted on
Russoniello’s confirmation. But according to
this story, Russoniello WAS confirmed by the Senate in
mid-December. Left hand meet the right hand…
Russoniello was a cofounder of California’s infamous CAMP
(Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) program: Every harvest
season, government helicopters come swooping in on
California’s pot farmers (and anyone else who happens to be
in the wrong place at the wrong time). Where are all those
anti-tax “taxpayers’ rights” groups when shit like this
happens? The same people who go ballistic over libraries and
every other “waste of tax dollars” suddenly develop mass
laryngitis when it comes to Iraqmire and the War on Drugs.
Russoniello has been one of the ringleaders of the
Republican approach to crime for the past 25 years: Let’s
quit dithering over white collar crime and start going after
those small-time drug users instead.
In 1994 he told an interviewer that marijuana growers in
California were “like an open wound on our prayer hand.”
Oooookay.
With the medical marijuana issue heating up in California —
most Californians are in favor of it; Dumbya and his
puppetmasters are against it — you can guess what this
douchebag’s top priority will be. Let’s crack down on these
whiny cancer patients; enough of this “waaaaaaahhh!!! I’m
nauseous from chemotherapy.” Stand up and take it like a
man!
Russoniello is a perfect example of our government's
schizophrenic approach to drugs. He goes for the jugular
when it comes to pot growers and small-time drug users, but
he's been surprisingly lenient with major cocaine dealers.
In the 1980s he was “investigating” the connection between
cocaine and Ronald Reagan’s rightwing terrorists (the
“Contras”) in Nicaragua. Several Contra-affiliated dealers
were arrested with huge amounts of cocaine. Russoniello
“declined” to investigate any further; he insisted these
dealers couldn’t possibly have any connection with the
Contras.
Check out some of the
links here on the Nicaraguan Contras/cocaine connection.
It's a dark chapter in America's history; one of many.
And so another shitstain joins the Bush Administration;
another grain of sand on Jones Beach.
How Bush Is supporting
Darfur Genocide
From
TomCat for Politics Plus
Yesterday, President Bush signed the Sudan
Accountability and Divestment Act, which makes it
easier for “states, local governments and private
investors to cut investment ties with Sudan as a way
to pressure the Khartoum government into ending
violence in the country’s Darfur region.”
Both the House and the Senate passed the bill
unanimously.
Bush has claimed an intense interest and outrage
at the situation in Sudan, going so far as to call
killings in Darfur “genocide” in 2005. Yet his
signature on the legislation yesterday was
accompanied by a signing statement, in which
he reserved the right to “overrule” divestment
decisions if they conflict with administration
foreign policy. The New York Times
notes:
But the administration has expressed
reservations about the bill, and Mr. Bush’s
signature was accompanied by a proviso known as
a signing statement, in which he said he was
reserving the authority to overrule state and
local divestment decisions if they conflicted
with foreign policy.
The statement said the
measure “risks being interpreted as insulating”
state and local divestment actions from federal
oversight.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration’s foreign
policy hasn’t always put pressure on Sudan. In May,
the State Department released its 2006 terrorism
report, in which it called Sudan a “strong
partner in the War on Terror“:
The Sudanese government was a strong
partner in the War on Terror and
aggressively pursued terrorist operations
directly involving threats to U.S. interests and
personnel in Sudan.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died in
Darfur, and 2.5 million more have been forced to
flee their homes. Twenty-two states and more than
fifty universities have already “passed divestment
measures from problematic companies in Sudan.” [emphasis
added]
Hasn't this Neocon
Nincompoop seen that his backing of oppressive
governments, just because they cooperate with him on
terrorism, is causing untold human suffering?!!?
Look at the mess Bush and the GOP have made in
Pakistan!
Furthermore, how states
manage their pensions and investments is not subject
to federal oversight, except where criminal
corruption is concerned.
D-List Diva Dishes
Dangerous Dogma, Denigrates Decider
From Joh Padgett for
Monticello
In
what was undoubtedly the
most politically incorrect
moment of New Year's Eve
coverage anywhere, celebrity
snark specialist comedienne
Kathy Griffin, invited to
appear with CNN's Anderson
Cooper in what had to be the
poorest guest booking
decision of 2007 in any
media outlet let loose with
some politically charged
humor which was obviously
unexpected by her co host
and object of celebrity
obsession: (h/t
Bilerico Project)
For those who didn't
catch the politically
incorrect moment on CNN
last night — here's what
happened. CNN had to
know they were bringing
a loose cannon on board
when they invited
Griffin to be a special
guest with Anderson
Cooper on the "New
Year's Live" coverage.
And not just because
Griffin allegedly has
the hots for Cooper and
might blurt something
personal like she did on
Larry King Live.
After some minutes of
cheery banter that were
appropriate for the
city-wide party mood of
Times Square, Griffin
suddenly stared into
Cooper's eyes, still
smiling, and shifted
gears. But it wasn't a
romantic blurt. She
said, "When do we get to
talk about politics?"
When Cooper smilingly
demurred, she pressed
on, still smiling, and
asked. "What member of
the Bush administration
would you like to
waterboard?"
You could feel the
little gasp by 20
million viewers. Still
holding onto his own
party smile, The Coop
stared back and said,
"Kathy, you've gone over
the line."
Not missing a beat,
La Griffin fired back,
"That's what I'm here to
do."
Can We
Handle
the
Truth of
Torture?
From
Glenda for
The
Peace
Train
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has rejected Taxi’s poster, displayed to the right, as being not suitable for all audiences. The poster for the film simply shows two soldiers walking away from the camera, holding a hooded detainee between them. Variety notes that the military has also tried to censor the photo on the poster:
The "Taxi" ad art is actually an amalgam of two pictures. The first, taken by Corbis photographer Shaun Schwarz, features the hooded prisoner and one soldier. Another military figure was added on the left. Ironically, the original Schwarz photo was censored by the military, which erased his camera’s memory. The photographer eventually retrieved the image from his hard drive.
According to ThinkFilm, which produced the documentary, the MPAA objected to the image of the hood. Last year, the MPAA also censored the poster for the documentary The Road to Guantanamo, because it showed a detainee "hanging by his handcuffed wrists, with a burlap sack over his head and a blindfold tied around the hood."
The image that ran afoul of the MPAA is tame by the standards set by the amateur photographers of Abu Ghraib. It shows a man hanging by his handcuffed wrists, with a burlap sack over his head and a blindfold tied around the hood. It appeared in advertisements for the new film "The Road to Guantanamo," a documentary with some reenacted scenes, that follows the fate of three British men imprisoned at Guantanamo for more than two years before being released with no charges ever filed against them.
Cohen says he understands why the MPAA exercises control over advertising materials -- he's a father himself. But that doesn't diminish his frustration with the decision.
"This is a film with a serious purpose, and this is the subject of the film itself, and the marketing materials were appropriate to the subject," he said. And, he added, horror flicks and slasher movies are often advertised with images far more suggestive of graphic violence. He cited a poster for the film "Hard Candy," about Internet predators, which showed a small child framed by a bear trap. His argument is supported by advertisements for last year's horror flick "Hostel," which left little doubt about the blood, gore and decapitation that audiences could expect.
"When you look at standards for horror movies, their standards are not consistent," he said. "What is implied in horror movie posters is way worse than what's in this movie."
Wow, maybe we need some people with the MPAA sensiblilities at the Pentagon who would outlaw all kinds of graphic violence and torture against any prisoners under our control.
Taxi to the Dark Side is from the military report about a young Afghan man who was dying before them, as his American jailers continued to torment him.
The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.
Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.
"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"
At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.
"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.
Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.
Like a narrative counterpart to the digital images from Abu Ghraib, the Bagram file depicts young, poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse. The harsh treatment, which has resulted in criminal charges against seven soldiers, went well beyond the two deaths.
In some instances, testimony shows, it was directed or carried out by interrogators to extract information. In others, it was punishment meted out by military police guards. Sometimes, the torment seems to have been driven by little more than boredom or cruelty, or both.
Although incidents of prisoner abuse at Bagram in 2002, including some details of the two men's deaths, have been previously reported, American officials have characterized them as isolated problems that were thoroughly investigated. And many of the officers and soldiers interviewed in the Dilawar investigation said the large majority of detainees at Bagram were compliant and reasonably well treated.
"What we have learned through the course of all these investigations is that there were people who clearly violated anyone's standard for humane treatment," said the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Larry Di Rita. "We're finding some cases that were not close calls."
By doing this to others, we have tacitly approved it being done to us.
As Gibney notes, Taxi is “not a horror film.” It is “a documentary and that image is a documentary image.” ThinkFilm plans to appeal the MPAA’s ruling.
The standards for movie posters are not consistent, just look at some of the posters the MPAA has approved as “suitable for all audiences”:
If the spread of torture techniques suggests a blurry line between “us” and “them,” it also teaches that there’s no real boundary between “there” and “here.” It would be ignoring history to assume that what happens in an American-run prison in Iraq will stay in Iraq. Soldiers who learn torture techniques abroad get jobs as police when they return, and the new developments in torture you read about today could yet be employed in a neighborhood near you.
In Chicago, in the decade after Vietnam, the use of magnetos and other clean tortures left a disaster: At least 11 men were sentenced to death and many others given long-term prison sentences based on confessions extracted by torture, and in 2003, Governor George Ryan of Illinois commuted the death sentences of all 167 death row inmates. Earlier this month the City of Chicago agreed to pay nearly $20 million to settle lawsuits filed by four former death row inmates who claimed they were tortured and wrongly convicted.
The reality is that people are being tortured by the U.S. govt. They doctor the news, doctor their press conferences, doctor the intelligence… if this poster is a recreation of the facts that would make it even more appropriate. The only thing that detracts from that appropriateness is that the poster still reflects reality… something that rarely comes out of the Bush administration. But at least all of this controversy will just make the movie more watched.
Creating a fuss about the poster will only generate interest in the poster and the movie. If this movie has anything to say, I only hope they slap an X-rating on it and try to ban it. This will ensure that it becomes a cultural icon and everyone from coast to coast will pay to see it.
Know a blog that
deserves to be featured on the Blog World Report? Contact Robert.
Ron Paul vs. Terrorist
Nations
From Ron Chusid for
Liberal Values
This ad shows yet another reason why Ron Paul is a right winger,
not a libertarian. The text of the ad is:
Today, illegal immigrants violate our borders and overwhelm
our hospitals, schools and social services. Ron Paul wants
border security now. Physically secure the border. No amnesty.
No welfare to illegal aliens. End birthright citizenship. No
more student VISAs for terrorist nations.
Even the libertarian
Reason
accuses Paul of pandering on this one. They quote from Justin
Raimondo’s response at
Anti-War.com:
Ron Paul’s Disgraceful Ad
This new Ron Paul ad is absolutely, outrageously, tragically
wrong:
(Video of ad)
“No visas for students from ‘terrorist nations’”?
Rarely has a more ignorant proposal been advanced – and it is
made even worse by the fact that this is Ron Paul we’re talking
about.
To begin with, it is odd, indeed, for a libertarian to be
invoking the concept of collective guilt: is every citizen of
these unnamed “terrorist nations” to be declared persona non
grata on account of the actions of a minuscule number of their
countrymen?
Secondly, just which nations is Rep. Paul talking about?
Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia: two were
from the United Arab Emirates, one was Egyptian and another one
hailed from Lebanon. Is Paul seriously saying that we should
deport the thousands from these countries studying in the US?
And why stop there? Why allow anyone from these so-called
“terrorist nations” entry into the US for any reason whatsoever
– just to be on the safe side?
This is pandering to the worst, Tom Tancredo-esque paranoia
and outright ignorance (or do I repeat myself?) and is not
worthy of Dr. Paul. I have the utmost respect for the candidate,
but in using this unfortunate term, “terrorist nations,” the
Good Doctor undermines his non-interventionist foreign policy
stance. If these are, in truth, “terrorist nations” – which most
will take to mean all predominantly Muslim nations — then why
not invade them, kill the terrorists, and be done with it? This
phraseology gives the War Party carte blanche – and, believe you
me, they’ll use it.
As Murray Rothbard
explained, the anti-interventionist conservatives of the
1950s made the same mistake when they jumped on Joe McCarthy’s
bandwagon. The “red scare” was payback for the “brown scare” of
the 1940s in which prominent conservatives were basically run
out of public life on a rail for not getting with the program
until Pearl Harbor. The original McCarthyite movement was
directed against domestic reds, and was a sweet revenge for
those conservatives who had been targeted as “subversive” and
even “pro-Hitler” for being anti-interventionist during the
Roosevelt era. However, it wasn’t long before the domestic
witch-hunt spilled over the border and became an international
armed crusade that roped us into NATO, lured us into Korea, and
got us bogged down in Vietnam.
Thousands of students from the Middle East, North Africa, and
the Muslim countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, and elsewhere come
to this country and bring home with them the ideas of liberty,
tolerance, and fair play that are the predominant themes of our
culture. Barring them would be politically foolish, economically
counterproductive, and a prelude to much worse.
It saddens me to write this, and yet I cannot be silent in
the face of such a brazenly ugly attempt to cash in on barely
disguised anti-Muslim sentiment, especially since his proposal
would penalize large numbers of perfectly innocent people, young
people whose only “crime” is to want to come to America. The
Paul campaign should scrap the ad, pronto.
When Bhutto was killed a few days ago in Pakistan and the
government issued a statement saying the autopsy showed she died
from bumping her head on the sunroof rather than gunshot wounds,
everybody knew that was totally preposterous. There were witnesses,
and the legitimate doctors at the hospital had issued no such
statement.
And I thought...hmmmm...Musharraf is a vile military dictator,
friend of Bush, but not that stupid. Who told him to say that?
Doesn't that sound like the sort of denial people in the Cheney/Bush
administration do all the time?
And then this morning I read the story in the newspaper about how
the CIA had given Bhutto and her staff some information about
thwarting attacks on her life. Fine. But...as the story said, the
CIA also gave that same information to Musharraf. And, Bhutto was
all set to meet with some trusted Americans, Senators Arlen Spector,
a Republican, and Patrick Kennedy, a Democrat, to pass on a report
indicting Musharraf for his plans to rig the election. What if that
report also named some Bush administration people?
With that damning report coming out, Musharraf had to have her
killed. Or, in keeping with the way things are done at high levels,
he had to do nothing to interfere with her assassination. Sort of
reminiscent of the 9-11 report that came out a month before the
attack detailing that there was going to be an attack, and the
Bushies did nothing. There are definite parallels there.
And there is precedent for the CIA going after populists in other
countries. Look at Chile. Look at their attempted murder of Chavez
in Venezuela. And of course the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion. Oh
yeah, don't forget about Haiti. The CIA does not work for democracy
in other countries. Rather, it does the dirty work of the
corporate-controlled government, whether it's Republican or
Democratic. Our government almost always supports the dictators,
especially in China, Indonesia and various Latin American countries.
Saudi Arabia too. And don't forget Saddam Hussein--we supported him
for many years.
Musharraf is a strong ally of the Cheney/Bush cabal. They have
given him several billion, yes billion with a B, dollars to do with
as he wants. Allegedly the money was to fight terrorists, but in
typical Neocon Republican fashion there has been no accounting, and
Musharraf used the money to shore up his own power by buying
weapons, etc. Of course it's true the Bushies made kissup motions to
Bhutto--like, what if the worst happened and she won! They had to do
that, but their backing has been and will be for Musharraf.
Editor's Choice
Hi
folks, Robert
here. I am
choosing this
story from Doug
Masson of
Masson's Blog
as my Editor's
Choice.
This story gave
me a chill of
things that
might come.
It's the story
of Republican
who refuses to
give up his
office - even
after losing!
Ousted
Anderson
mayor, Kevin
Smith,
refuses to
relinquish
power
after having
lost the
most recent
mayoral
election. He
is citing
his own
challenge to
elected
mayor, Kris
Ockomon’s
residency as
a basis for
serving
beyond his
elected
term.
Look,
pal. Unless
you have a
court order,
get the hell
out. This is
a democracy.
It only
works when
officials
relinquish
power
voluntarily
at the end
of their
terms. If
you want to
file a court
challenge,
fine. But
unless and
until you
win an order
extending
your term,
get out. We
don’t need
to turn into
some third
world
country
where
leaders make
up ad
hoc
excuses to
stay in
power.
Suddenly
I’ve got the
Stones,
Street
Fighting Man
going
through my
head:
Everywhere
I hear
the
sound of
marching,
charging
feet,
boy
cause
summer’s
here and
the time
is right
for
fighting
in the
street,
boy
Patty Davis asks
the Reaganites:
“Can’t anyone be
their own man
(or woman)?”
From
Kay in Maine for
White Noise
Insanity
Yep. The daughter of Ronald & Nancy Reagan is asking the republic candidates why they can’t be themselves and why they have to be the ‘new Reagan’. Love it! Awwwww, poor babies.
Many years before my father was governor of California, when America began naming things after John F. Kennedy, I remember thinking how really weird it must have been for his children to have highways and airports named after their father. Now, all these years later, I can say from experience that it truly is a surreal experience. “A traffic accident on the Ronald Reagan freeway…” “Delays at Reagan National Airport…” Believe me, you never really get used to it.
>
But that’s not nearly as strange as seeing the 2008 presidential candidates try to imitate my father and proclaim themselves more Reaganesque than their competitors. Where is Lloyd Bentsen when you need him? “I knew Ronald Reagan… Senator [or Governor], you’re no Ronald Reagan.”
It is rather hysterical that ANYONE in their right mind would want to be just like Ronald Reagan, because if you think about it, what good did that man do for our country? Oh yes, he rode his horses, made the reporters and our citizens laugh with his quirky one-liners, but really, how much corruption and crime came out of his tenure? Hell, the man started his Regime on making deals with the IRANIANS and from there IT GOT MUCH WORSE!
Well, one thing is for sure: REPUBLICS CAN’T RUN ON THEIR PERSONAL MORALS & VALUES, because it always bites these hypocrites in the ass, so they HAVE TO EMULATE SOMEONE OTHER THAN THEMSELVES to win an election for crying out loud. Or, they’ll do what George Bush & Dick Cheney did and that is to steal the election instead. If what Musharraf did to Bhutto a few days is any indication, the reich wingers of the American Taliban (the GOP) will kill their opponent to win! See?
I'm not saying the U.S. government killed Bhutto. But...I think
it's worth considering. Look at what the CIA has done in the past.
Look at how they manipulated data and outright lied so the
Republicans could invade Iraq and kill thousands of people. What's
one more assassination in the grand scheme of things arcane?
Saudi Blogger Detained for
'Purposes of Interrogation'
From
Polishifter for Pissed on
Politics
Saw this over at C&L...
New York Times Article....Requires Registration....
Use Bug Me Not
to get a username and password or try:
By KATHERINE ZOEPF
Published: January 2, 2008
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — An outspoken Saudi blogger is being held
for “purposes of interrogation,” the Saudi Interior Ministry
confirmed Tuesday.
Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached
by telephone, said that the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was “being
questioned about specific violations of non-security laws.” Mr.
Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of
the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Farhan, a 32-year-old Jeddah resident, was arrested at
his office on Dec. 10, local news sources reported. Two weeks
before the arrest, Mr. Farhan wrote a letter to friends warning
them that his detention was imminent.
“I was told that there is an official order from a
high-ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior to
investigate me,” read the letter, which is now posted in English
and Arabic on Mr. Farhan’s blog.
Since his arrest, friends of Mr. Farhan have continued to
blog on his behalf under a banner that reads “Free Fouad” and
features his picture. The blog’s Web address is
www.alfarhan.org.
“The issue that caused all of this is because I wrote about
the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia, and they think I’m
running an online campaign promoting their issue,” the letter
continued, noting that Mr. Farhan had been asked to sign a
statement of apology.
“I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that,” Mr. Farhan wrote. “An
apology for what? Apologizing because I said the government is a
liar when they accused those guys to be supporting terrorism?”
Ahmad al-Omran, a fellow blogger and friend of Mr. Farhan’s,
said that Mr. Farhan was the first Saudi blogger to be detained
by state security. The arrest has created widespread anxiety
among other Saudi bloggers and activists, he said.
As C&L mentioned, how much would the Bush Administration love
to round up some liberal progressive bloggers right about now?
With William
Kristol's
new gig at the
New York Times
we continue to
see those who
have been
consistently
wrong about the
invasion and
occupation of
Iraq fail
upwards. But
what about those
who were right?
People like
Scott Ritter.
Ritter was
trying to tell
America that
Iraq was little
if any threat
before the
invasion but
could not get on
television or in
the major
newspapers to do
so. Well nothing
has changed.
Those who have
been wrong, like
Bill Kristol,
are seen almost
daily but to
read what Scott
Ritter has to
say you must go
to place like
Truthdig. If
you want to know
what's going on
in Iraq that is
what you should
do. In
The Five
Iraqs
Ritter points
out that not
only the Bush
administration
but those
running to
replace it are
still clueless
as to what is
going on in
Iraq.
.....nothing
the surge
has
accomplished
so far
remotely
approaches a
solution to
these
enormously
destabilizing
realities: a
largely
disaffected
Sunni
population
which finds
the current
Shiite-dominated
government
of Iraq
fundamentally
unacceptable;
a decisively
fractured
Shiite
population
torn between
an
Iranian-dominated
government
on the one
hand
(controlled
by the
political
proxies of
the
Supreme
Council for
the Islamic
Revolution
in Iraq,
SCIRI,
itself an
Iranian
proxy) or an
indigenous
firebrand,
Muqtada al-Sadr;
and a false
paradise in
Kurdistan,
where the
dream of an
independent
Kurdish
homeland
corrupts a
viable
Kurdish
autonomy and
threatens
regional
instability
by provoking
Turkish
military
intervention.
There are,
in fact,
five Iraqs
that must be
dealt with
by a
singular
American
policy. The
first is the
Iraq of the
Green Zone,
and by that
I mean the
Iraqi
government
brought
about by the
“purple
finger
revolution”
of January
2005. Those
sham
elections
produced a
sham
democracy
which lacks
any
viability
outside of
the
never-never
land of the
U.S.-controlled
Green Zone.
This lack of
centralized
authority
has led
some, like
Sen. Joe
Biden and
the U.S.
Senate, to
advocate the
division of
Iraq into
three de
facto
states, one
Sunni, one
Shiite and
one Kurdish,
lumped
together in
a loose
federation
overseen by
a weak
central
authority.
Given that
the 2005
elections
were
designed to
prevent this
very sort of
Iraqi
breakup to
begin with,
one can
begin to
understand
the fallacy
of any
policy that
contradicts
the very
foundation
upon which
it is built.
But this
sort of
behavior
defines the
entire Iraq
fiasco, one
contradiction
built upon
another,
until there
has been
woven a web
of
contradictions
from which
no clarity
can ever be
found. That,
in a
sentence, is
the reality
of the
current
Iraqi
government.
It is almost
as if by
design the
Bush
administration
has cobbled
together a
wreck
incapable of
governance.
How does
Hillary
Clinton
propose to
deal
“quickly and
responsibly”
with such a
mess?
The second
Iraq is the
one being
managed from
Tehran. This
Iraq,
stretching
from Basra
in the south
up into
Baghdad,
exists
outside of
the reach of
the
compromised
disaster
that is the
current
government
of Iraq, and
is instead
dominated by
SCIRI and
its military
wing, the
Badr
Brigade.
Here one
finds the
unvarnished
reality of
the dream of
the
pro-Iranian
Iraqi
Shiites,
those who
reached
political
maturity
festering in
the
anti-Saddam
ideology
cooked up in
the
theocracy of
Iran. Given
the roots of
this
political
movement,
bred and
paid for by
the
reactionary
mullahs of
Iran, the
politics of
revenge that
it embraces
should come
as no
surprise.
However,
whereas the
mullahs in
Tehran seek
long-term
political
stability
guaranteed
by a
friendly,
compliant
government
in Baghdad,
the
Iranian-backed
Iraqi
Shiites seem
more focused
on rapidly
reversing
decades of
inequities,
real and
perceived.
Revenge is
not a policy
that breeds
stability,
and yet it
is the
politics of
revenge that
dominates
the mind-set
of SCIRI.
Serving as a
major
domestic
counterweight
to SCIRI is
the
indigenous
grass-roots
Iraqi Shiite
movement
controlled
by Muqtada
al-Sadr, the
third Iraq.
Possessing
similar
geographic
reach as
SCIRI, the
Iraq of the
“Mahdi Army”
is one which
rejects the
SCIRI proxy
government
operating
out of the
Green Zone
as but a
tool of the
American
occupation,
and the
SCIRI
movement
itself as a
tool of
Iran. While
maintaining
close
relations
with Tehran,
al-Sadr
mocks those
who would
govern in
south Iraq
as having
Farsi, vice
Arabic, as
their first
tongue. The
movement
headed by
al-Sadr
bases its
credibility
on its pure
Iraqi roots,
derived as
it is from
the Shiites
of Iraq who
actually
lived under
the rule of
Saddam
Hussein.
Surprisingly,
these
Shiites are
more
inclined to
find common
cause with
their fellow
Iraqis,
including
Sunnis who
are
disaffected
with the
current
government,
than with
their SCIRI
co-religionists.
While much
has been
made of the
Sunni-Shiite
divide, the
fact is that
one of the
most serious
threats to
stability in
Iraq is the
emerging
Shiite-versus-Shiite
conflict
between al-Sadr
and SCIRI.
The fourth
Iraq is the
Iraq of the
Sunni. The
first three
years of the
American
occupation
were
dominated by
violence
emanating
from the
Sunni
heartland as
those
elements
loyal to
Saddam, and
those
opposed to
Shiite
domination,
worked
together to
make the
American
occupation,
and any
affiliated
post-Saddam
government
derived from
the
occupation,
a failure.
To this
extent,
elements of
the Sunni of
Iraq, drawn
primarily
from the
intelligence
services of
the Hussein
regime,
facilitated
the creation
and
operation of
al-Qaida in
Iraq. The
work of this
Iraqi
al-Qaida has
been
successful
in
destabilizing
the country
to the point
that the
United
States has
been
compelled to
fund, equip
and train
Sunni
militias in
an effort to
confront
al-Qaida, as
well as to
make up for
the real
shortfalls
of the
central
Iraqi
government
when it
comes to
security and
stability in
the Sunni
areas. The
newfound
relationship
between the
Sunni and
the United
States,
especially
in Anbar
province, is
cited as a
major factor
in the
success of
the surge.
The fifth
Iraq is that
of the
Kurds. Long
hailed as a
poster child
of stability
and
prosperity,
the
fundamental
problems
inherent in
post-Saddam
Kurdistan
are coming
to a head.
The inherent
incompatibility
between the
“sanctuary”
created by
the United
States
through the
northern
“no-fly
zone” and
post-Saddam
Iraq is more
evident
today than
ever. The
Kurds,
pleased with
their status
as a
“special
case” in the
eyes of the
Bush
administration,
have made no
honest
effort to
assimilate
into a
centralized
system of
government.
Furthermore,
the false
dream of an
independent
Kurdish
homeland has
not only
poisoned
relations
with the
U.S.-backed
government
in Baghdad
(witness the
conflict
over oil
deals in
Kurdistan
and the
Iraqi
national oil
law), but
also between
the U.S. and
its NATO
ally,
Turkey. The
Iraqi Kurds’
ongoing
support of
Kurdish
nationalist
groups in
Turkey and
Iran has led
to increased
instability,
the most
current
manifestation
of which are
the ongoing
cross-border
attacks
into Iraqi
territory by
the Turkish
military.
And, given
the high
level of
emotion
attached to
matters
pertaining
to Kurdish
nationalism,
the
likelihood
of the
situation
de-escalating
anytime soon
is remote.
Current US
policy and the
policy of the
major candidates
don't represent
a solution to
anyone of the
situations in
Iraq much less
all five. The
goal of the Bush
administration
is now simply to
pass the mess
they have
created along to
the next
president, one
reason I suspect
that the
Republican power
brokers would
not mind seeing
a Democratic
president
elected in 2008.
With the
exception of Ron
Paul the
Republican
candidates are
advocating "stay
the course". The
Democratic
candidates are
advocating a
change in policy
without really
spelling out
what that might
be. Violence in
Iraq is down so
it has been
possible to sell
"the surge" as a
success but as
Ritter explains:
History will
show that
this period
of relative
“calm” we
attribute to
the surge is
but the
pause before
the storm.
Hillary
Clinton is
correct to
label the
surge a
failed
strategy.
But her
motivation
for doing so
rests more
with her
desire to
position
herself
politically
on the
domestic
front than
it is a
reflection
of a
thoughtful
Iraq policy.
So long as
American
politicians,
regardless
of political
affiliation,
seek to
solve the
problem of
Iraq from a
domestic
political
perspective,
then the
problem that
is Iraq will
never be
resolved,
either
“quickly” or
“responsibly.”
Iraq is an
unpopular
war. There
are,
therefore,
no “popular”
solutions,
only
realistic
ones.
The
five-dimensional
problem
embodied in
post-Saddam
Iraq cannot
be bundled
up into a
neat
package.
America, and
its leaders,
must do the
right thing
in Iraq, not
for Iraq,
but for
America,
even when
doing so
requires
making some
tough
decisions.
Narrow the
problem set
from five
dimensions
to two, and
the problem
becomes more
manageable.
For my
money, I
choose
working with
the Sunnis
and al-Sadr
to create a
viable
coalition,
and then
cutting a
deal with
Iran that
trades off
better
relations in
exchange for
encouraging
the current
failed Iraqi
government
to step
aside in
favor of new
elections.
And the
Kurds?
Autonomy or
nothing.
Ritter addresses
the
contradiction in
US policy here.
While SCIRI is
little more than
an Iranian proxy
al-Sadr is an
Iraqi
nationalist who
is willing to
work with the
Sunni and is the
one who is most
likely to unite
Iraq. Of course
he is
anti-occupation
and would not
allow US
influence in
Iraq so he is
unacceptable to
those who want
control of
Iraq's oil and
permanent
military bases
in the region.
Control of the
oil and
continued
influence are
far more
important than a
stable Iraq to
the powerful in
the United
States, both
Democrat and
Republican, than
a stable Iraq
and region.
The
Texas
Bush
left
behind
leads
the
nation
in
crime,
pollution
and
poverty.
It
trails
the
nation
in
education,
quality
of life,
and the
environment.
Texas
was once
the
largest
state in
the
nation.
Now
--thanks
to Bush
--it is
the
largest
disaster
area
outside
of New
Orleans.
Tom
DeLay is
remembered
as the
pro-typical
Texas
politician
defined
by
graft,
arrogance
and
deceit.
Voting
in the
Texas
legislature
is a
symptomatic,
sophomoric
free for
all.
Their
motto:
vote
early
and
often!
There is
precedent.
It was
in 1948
that one
Luis
Salas
wrote in
the
names of
dead
people
in order
to get
LBJ into
the US
Senate.
Still
--one
would
think
politicians,
even
Texas
politicians,
would at
least
maintain
the
pretense
of
integrity.
Nope!
Voting
Means
Nothing
in
Texas
Nothing
will be
done
about it
if the
public
doesn't
scream
bloody
murder.
It would
be easy
enough
to
program
a system
that
would
require
a unique
ID. But,
lawmakers
would
simply
pass
their
ID/passwords
around.
Perhaps
a
fingerprint
scan!
To put
this all
in
perspective,
it's
small
stuff
when you
consider
this
state's
recent
record.
Texas is
the
scene of
the
murder
of JFK.
Texas is
home to
the big
oil
companies
that
have
partnered
with
crooked
Saudis
to screw
the
world.
Tom
DeLay
perfected
his
gerrymandering
and
"fund
raising"
(read:
shakedown)
skills
in
Texas.
I don't
believe
in GOP
coincidence
theories.
There
are
reasons
for the
sorry
state of
nation
and
state
--GOP
incompetence,
criminality,
and
endemic
dishonesty.
Let's
put it
in
perspective.
The
United
States
holds
the
dubious
distinction
of
having
the
largest
incarcerated
population
in
the
world,
with
2
million
people
behind
bars
as
of
year-end
1999.2
With
only
5%
of
the
world's
population,
the
US
holds
a
quarter
of
the
world's
prisoners
In
the
1990s
alone,
more
persons
were
added
to
prisons
and
jails
than
in
any
other
decade
on
record.
In a
continued
examination
of
those
states
that
lead
the
national
trend
in
increasing
levels
of
incarceration,
the
Justice
Policy
Institute
turns
a
focus
on
the
state
of
Texas.
The
Lone
Star
State's
criminal
justice
system
is
particularly
worthy
of
scrutiny
at
this
time,
as
the
Bureau
of
Justice
Statistics
(BJS)
reported
in
August,
2000
that
Texas,
for
the
first
time,
leads
the
nation
in
imprisoning
its
citizens:
Texas
now
has
the
nation's
largest
incarcerated
population
under
the
jurisdiction
of
its
prison
system.
Since
1990,
Texas
has
lead
the
nation's
50
states
with
an
annual
average
growth
rate
of
11.8%,
about
twice
the
annual
average
growth
rate
of
other
state
prison
systems
(6.1%).
Even
more
important
to
the
national
context,
since
1990,
nearly
one
in
five
new
prisoners
added
to
the
nation's
prisons
(18%)
was
in
Texas.
The back
to back
GOP
regimes
of
Bush/Perry
have
been
disastrous.
The
state
itself
has
become
an
environmental
disaster
where
the
deteriorating
air
quality
is
linked
to
increased
incidences
of
respiratory
diseases.
[See
Toxic
TexasThe
Environmental
Legacy
of
Governor
George
W. Bush]
The GOP
played
politics
with the
education
of
children,
perpetrating
a
deliberate
fraud
called
the "Houston
Miracle".
It would
become
the
blueprint
for
"No
Child
Left
Behind",
a scam
involving
phony
test
scores
and book
cooking,
an
educational
"Enron".
When
nominated
to
serve
in
Bush’s
cabinet,
many
marveled
at
Paige’s
triumphs
as
Houston’s
superintendent
of
public
schools
in
Houston
from
1994
to
2000.
Usually
near
the
top
of
Paige’s
list
of
accomplishments
was
his
success
in
dramatically
bringing
down
dropout
rates
in
one
of
the
nation’s
largest
school
districts.
There
was
one
funny
thing
about
those
dramatically
curtailed
dropout
rates,
though.
They
weren’t
true.
In
Paige’s
last
year
as
Houston’s
superintendent,
the
school
district
reported
an
incredibly
low
dropout
rate
of
1.5%.
That
was
better
than
any
comparably-sized
school
district
in
America.
The
problem,
however,
is
that
the
district,
which
was
under
Paige’s
supervision,
cooked
the
books
and
failed
to
count
thousands
of
students
who
dropped
out
and
didn’t
return.
As
Cohen
explained
today,
“As
with
Enron,
[Houston’s]
school
system
has
kept
a
set
of
books
that
has
absolutely
nothing
to
do
with
reality.
Some
high
schools
reported
absolutely
no —
that’s
zero
—
dropouts.
That
these
schools
were
in
impoverished
areas
made
the
figures
either
preposterous
or a
miracle.
The
school
system
—
not
to
mention
George
Bush
—
preferred
to
see
a
miracle.
As the
GOP "Enronized"
the
great
state of
Texas,
an
assembly
line
criminal
justice
system,
in
cahoots
with a
medieval,
privatized
prison
system,
proved
to be an
oxymoron.
It was
"criminal"
but
hardly
"justice".
Despite
the GOPs
"worst"
efforts,
crime in
Texas,
always a
topic of
much
discussion
and
study,
has
gotten
worse.
Texas is
big on
capital
punishment,
but even
its
industrialized
application
of the
death
penalty
just
cannot
kill off
the
criminals
as fast
as they
procreate
and
multiply.
The GOP
may be
seeking
a "final
solution".
...by
year's
end
1999,
there
were
706,600
Texans
in
prison,
jail,
parole
or
probation
on
any
given
day.
In a
state
with
14
million
adults,
this
meant
that
5%
of
adult
Texans,
or 1
out
of
every
20,
are
under
some
form
of
criminal
justice
supervision.
The
scale
of
what
is
happening
in
Texas
is
so
huge,
it
is
difficult
to
contrast
the
size
of
its
criminal
justice
systems
to
the
other
states'
systems
it
dwarfs:
There are more Texans under criminal justice control than the entire populations of some states, including Vermont, Wyoming and Alaska.
According to Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates, one quarter of the nation's parole and probationers are in Texas. California and Texas, together, comprise half the nation's parolees and probationers.
The number of people incarcerated in Texas (in prison or jail) reached 207,526 in mid-year 1999. Only California, with 10 million more citizens, has more people in both prison and jail.
Texas has a rate of 1,035 people behind bars for every 100,000 in the population, the second highest incarceration rate in the nation (second only to Louisiana). If Texas was a nation separate from the United States, it would have the world's highest incarceration rate--significantly higher than the United States (682), and Russia (685) which has 1 million prisoners, the world's third biggest prison system. Texas' incarceration rate is also higher than China (115), which has the world's second largest prison population (1.4 million prisoners).
If the US shared the incarceration rate of Texas, there would be nearly three million Americans behind bars (2,822,300)--instead of our current 2 million prisoners.
The Texas prison population tripled since 1990, and rose 61.5% in the last five years of this decade alone. In 1994, there were 92, 669 prisoners in Texas. This number had increased to 149,684 by mid-year 1999.
The Texas correctional system has grown so large that in July 2000, corrections officials ran out of six digit numbers to assign inmates, and officially created prisoner number 1,000,000.
Texas is
called
the
gulag
state
for good
reasons.
Certainly,
justice
in Texas
is
applied
inequitably.
Minorities
--primarily
black
and
hispanic
--are
disproportionately
represented
in the
Texas
gulag
system
but
under
represented
in the
State
legislature,
the
various
city
councils,
and the
state
judicial
system.
For
example,
blacks
represent
only 12%
of the
Texas
population
but
comprise
44% of
the
total
incarcerated
population.
Whites
make up
about
58% of
Texas'
total
population,
but only
30% of
the
prison
and jail
population.
While one out of every 20 Texas adults is under some form of criminal justice control, one out of 3 young black men (29% of the black male population between 21 and 29) are in prison, jail, parole or probation on any given day.
One out of every four adult black men in Texas is under some form of criminal justice supervision.
Blacks in Texas are incarcerated at a rate seven times greater than whites. While there are 555 whites behind bars for every 100,000 in the Texas population, there are an astonishing 3862 African Americans behind bars for every 100,000 in the state. This is nearly 63% higher than the national incarceration rate for blacks of 2366 per 100,000.
If Texas' black incarceration rate was applied to the United States, the number of blacks behind bars on a national level would increase by half a million. There are currently an estimated 824,900 African Americans in prison and jail in the US The new figure, 1,346,370, would increase the number of African Americans incarcerated in the US by 63%.
The GOP
are
consistent
to the
point of
boring.
Therefore,
what the
GOP has
done to
Texas is
a clue
to the
effect
Bush/GOP
rule has
had
nationally,
globally.
The GOP
modus
operandi
is
premised
as it is
upon
delusion,
lies,
spin,
claptrap
ideology
and
bullshit!
Failing
to wage
an
effective
"war
on
terrorism"
abroad,
the GOP
presides
over
rising
crime
rates at
home,
throughout
the
nation.
Predictably,
the GOP
will
blame
the
victims
of GOP
policies
of
disenfranchisement,
elitism,
and
discrimination.
The GOP
has
always
been
fond of
waging
wars on
crime
though
the
party
itself
is a
crime
syndicate.
It was
no
suprise
that
Bush,
like the
failed
Reagan
before
him,
waged a
failed
war on
terrorism,
thoughBuish
is the
world's
biggest
terrorist.
Five
years
of
crime
rates
show
that
murders,
robberies,
rapes
and
other
violent
offenses
last
year
were
returning
to
the
peak,
set
in
2002.
Crime
dropped
dramatically
after
that,
the
figures
show.
In
2006,
an
estimated
1,417,000
violent
crimes
were
committed,
a
sharp
increase
from
the
1,360,000
reported
in
2004
and
approaching
the
estimated
1,425,000
in
2002.
Those
stats
confirm
a trend
of at
least
two
years.
Yet,
Justice
Department
flack,
Brian
Roehrkasse,
called
the
report
"good
news", a
lie not
unlike
"we are
winning
in
Iraq". I
wonder
how
Roehrkasse
felt
about
the FBI
summary
of 2006
indicating
that
robberies
had
increased
9.7
percent
nationwide,
arson
6.8
percent,
murders
1.4
percent!
It is
the
situation
in
Texas,
Bush's
so-called
"homestate",
where
the
effects
of the
GOP's
medieval
policies
have
fallen
to Rick
Perry.
Reflecting
a
surge
in
crime
in
Texas
after
the
dislocations
of
Hurricane
Katrina,
Houston
recorded
a
sharp
increase
in
homicides,
to
202
for
the
first
half
of
2006,
up
from
158
in
the
comparable
prestorm
period
last
year.
Three
Texas
cities
ranked
among
the
nation’s
top
10
in
crimes
per
capita.
Homicides
in
Dallas
were
down
to
101
from
106
but
it
still
ranked
as
the
nation’s
most
crime-ridden
big
city,
with
3,985
overall
crimes
per
100,000
population,
followed
by
Houston
with
3,444.
After
Phoenix
with
3,436,
San
Antonio
was
4th
with
3,422.
FBI
statistics
prove
that
since
Bush
seized
the
White
House,
crime
rates
have
jumped.
Violent
crime
increased
at 2.5
percent
in 2005,
the
highest
rate in
15
years.
Nevermind!
Bush
favored
a
52
percent
cut in
law
enforcement
funding.
That's
not the
worst of
it. Bush
and the
GOP will
never
admit
that GOP
policies
prove
the
utter
failure,
the
moral
paucity,
the
complete
intellectual
inadequacy
of the
GOP as a
party,
as an
institution.
Utterly
predictable,
the GOP
will
cite
every
fact
proving
their
endemic
failures
as
reasons
to
compound
the
problem.
Having
replaced
ideas
with
propaganda,
plans
with
platitudes,
the GOP
will
simply
roll out
more of
the same
old GOP
eyewash,
claptrap,
and
bullshit!
We would
call a
doctor
an idiot
who
tells
you to
just
keep on
doing
whatever
it is
that's
making
you
sick.
Yet the
GOP does
that
repeatedly,
mistaking
the
illness
for the
cure and
making
it worse
with
greed
and
incompetence.
Confronted
with
rising
crime
and
swelling
prisons,
the GOP
will
propose
even
newer
programs
guaranteed
to raise
crime
rates
even as
they
enrich
cronies
which
privatized
prison
systems,
privatized
Blackwater
storm-troopers,
a
robotized
surveillance
system.
It is
but a
small
step
then to
privatizing
the
state
police
or even
the
In
what was undoubtedly the
most politically incorrect
moment of New Year's Eve
coverage anywhere, celebrity
snark specialist comedienne
Kathy Griffin, invited to
appear with CNN's Anderson
Cooper in what had to be the
poorest guest booking
decision of 2007 in any
media outlet let loose with
some politically charged
humor which was obviously
unexpected by her co host
and object of celebrity
obsession: (h/t
Alex Gibney’s new 
According to ThinkFilm, which produced the documentary, the MPAA objected to the 
Taxi to the Dark Side is from the military report about a young Afghan man who was dying before them, as his American jailers continued to torment him. 
At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling. 
Yep. The daughter of Ronald & Nancy Reagan is asking the republic candidates why they can’t be themselves and why they have to be the ‘new Reagan’. Love it! Awwwww, poor babies.
