UnFairWitness

Here's the Next Smear Tactic

Here's the Next Smear Tactic from the Bushistas

From NewSmacks - Cleland: Kerry Won't Release Vietnam Medical File Particularly ridiculous assertion:

When he ran for president in 2000, George Bush released his full medical file, a disclosure so complete that it came to include Bush's 1970s dental files this year.

Bush's disclosures were so complete in 2000 that he just released a dental record in 2003.

What was in that infamous Friday evening document dump again? A room that reporters were allowed into for 20 minutes that contained...never before released medical records.

Dumbya wants to meet with

Dumbya wants to meet with pro sports organizations to "discuss steroid use and photo ops."

The White House is seeking a summit of representatives from the four major sports leagues and the U-S Olympic Committee to discuss steroid use by athletes.

President Bush used part of his recent State of the Union address to call on leagues to adopt tougher drug policies.

Campaign, pander, campaign, pander, smear, smear, smear, pose, campaign, pander,campaign, pander.

Chavez calls Dumbya an Asshole

Chavez calls Dumbya an Asshole

Chavez, who often says the U.S. is backing opposition efforts to topple his leftist government, accused Bush of heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief 2002 coup against him.

"He was an asshole to believe them," Chavez roared at a huge rally of supporters in Caracas.

Well, OK, I thought he was an asshole then, too. And lots of times since.

US troops 'made Aristide leave'

US troops 'made Aristide leave'

From correspondents in Paris March 1, 2004

HAITIAN leader Jean Bertrand Aristide was taken away from his home by US soldiers, it was claimed today.

A man who said he was a caretaker for the now exiled president told France's RTL radio station the troops forced Aristide out.

"The American army came to take him away at two in the morning," the man said.

"The Americans forced him out with weapons.

"It was American soldiers. They came with a helicopter and they took the security guards.

Could this be true? I have no doubt that the Bush administration might well do something this stupid and then lie about it. Amazing.

UPDATE:

OK, here's the American story:

A SENIOR US diplomat has vehemently denied a French radio report that ex-Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide had been forcibly removed from his residence by US troops.

The diplomat, familiar with the circumstances of Aristide's departure, said the president, under heavy US and international pressure to step down, had resigned voluntarily and politely requested Washington's protection as he left the country for an as-yet undetermined home in exile.

Same article, the Haitian story:

Shortly after word of Aristide's resignation and departure spread, a man who said he was a caretaker at Aristide's residence told France's RTL radio that the president had been taken away by US soldiers.

"The American army came to take him away at two in the morning," the man said. "The Americans forced him out with weapons. It was American soldiers. They came with a helicopter and they took the security guards.

"(Aristide) was not happy. He did not want to be taken away. He did not want to leave. He was not able to fight against the Americans," the man said.

The RTL journalist who carried out the interview described the man as a "frightened old man, crouched in a corner" who said he was the "caretaker of the residence".

The US is saying it "facilitated (Aristide's) safe departure from Haiti"

GloboCop goes to Haiti

GloboCop goes to Haiti

Bush Touts Drug-Testing and Faith-Based

Bush Touts Drug-Testing and Faith-Based Treatment

President Bush, claiming an election-year victory in the government's battle against illegal drug use, pledged more money on Saturday for faith-based treatment programs and schools that randomly test teenagers for drugs.

In his weekly radio address, Bush said a report due on Monday would show that the National Drug Control Strategy his administration launched in 2002 had exceeded a goal of reducing drug use among American youth by 10 percent over two years.

Which is a lie. This article even admits, "But the organization said more youngsters were using prescription drugs such as the painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin for recreational purposes. It also found no evidence of a statistically significant decline in the use of crack cocaine, heroin or marijuana."

So, once again, black is white and up is down. Par for this administration. They lie in the face of evidence, like Baghdad Bob denying the invaders were in Baghdad as an Abrams tank drove by.

Random urine tests in school for teenagers. How Police State.

"Random drug-testing gives students a strong answer to the social pressure to try drugs. It helps schools identify those using drugs so they can intervene with counseling and treatment before experiments turn into addictions," the president said.

"And because I know a good way to change a person's behavior is to change their heart, faith-based treatment programs will always be an option," he said.

Hypocritical bastard!

Newsday endorses Kerry The nation

Newsday endorses Kerry

The nation is in a state of war or, at the very least, on constant alert for another terrorist attack. Our troops are being shot at every day in Iraq and Americans have no sense that an exit strategy exists. The budget deficit is mushrooming and now baby boomers have been told that it imperils their Social Security benefits. The number of people without health insurance is increasing even while health care costs soar. And that's just the short list.

In 1992 it might have been OK to take a chance on the governor of a small, Southern state who had no experience in world affairs and watch him learn on the job. Even in 2000, the world seemed to be a calmer, more predictable, more benign place than it is now. The question then was: Who would you rather have as your next door neighbor?

But this year is different. That's why we believe that Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts should be the choice of New York Democrats in Tuesday's presidential primary. He may not be the best campaigner, or a particularly charismatic figure, but over a long period in public life he has proven himself to be a serious, well grounded and intelligent public official who would have the background and the gravitas to lead the nation in a time of peril.

Read the rest...

A pretty good article. I like the way they explained the Kerry vote against the last supplemental spending request as being against "a blank check for the Bush administration," which is exactly what it turned out to be. They describe Kerry as having a "complex mind" which contrasts nicely with the shallow simpleton soon to be ousted from the White House.

Another quote:

Kerry has a rationale for all of his actions. In some ways his decisions suggest an intelligent person trying to work through difficult issues. He certainly doesn't reduce issues to black-and-white, good-and-evil, either-for-us-or-against us terms.

Aristide Leaves Haiti Washington Post

Aristide Leaves Haiti

Washington Post reports:

Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, faced with an armed rebellion and pressure from the United States and France, left Haiti this morning, according to numerous reports.

His destination is undisclosed at this time.

Bush Down in CBS Poll

Bush Down in CBS Poll - Job Approval Below 50%

• Some 47% of Americans now approve of the way the President is handling his job, while 44% disapprove
• Poll shows a John Kerry/John Edwards ticket beating one headed by Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the fall election, by a margin of 50 percent to 42 percent.
• Voters said they expect a Bush win in November, although that view is less pervasive than it was in early January. Now, 48% expect Mr. Bush to win, and 42% see a Democrat winning the presidency. In January, 55% expected the president to be re-elected, and just 31% thought the Democratic candidate could prevail.
• Kerry holds a wide lead over Edwards in the poll as the choice of Democratic voters nationwide (57% to 18%), as well as in the ten states that vote on Tuesday (61% to 15%).

UPDATE: A poll for Florida shows Bush 47 - Kerry 42 - 10 undecided.

WorldNut Daily Exclusive! Iran can

WorldNut Daily Exclusive!

Iran can produce nuke warhead in days!!

Where have we heard this before.

"Repatriation" = Left on the

"Repatriation" = Left on the Dock in Haiti

Mark Kleiman posts about the Bush administration's Un-Policy for the situation in Haiti. I'd just like to make one point about his otherwise excellent post. Mark writes:

-- Do we have a plan to prevent a recurrence of a situation in which thousands of Haitians risk their lives in open boats, headed for Florida, to get away from the thugs?

-- And if not, what are we planning to do when the boats start coming?

Once the regugees start to pour in, there's no really good option.

AP report from yesterday:(EDIT:Adding the damn link that Mark Kleiman points out that I neglected to include....!!!...Grrr!)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 531 Haitian boat people at a dock near the capital Friday in a bid to choke off a tide of refugees from the troubled country.

It was the first repatriation since Haiti's uprising began Feb. 5 and underscored President Bush's determination not to allow the rebellion to lead to a mass exodus, despite pleas from human rights groups and three Florida lawmakers to allow them refuge.

The Haitians - including infants - were left on the dock on the southern outskirts of the tense capital.

So, can we deduce that this is the compassionate conservative response to refugees fleeing for their lives, babies and all?

From the article:

U.S. officials have said the number of Haitian boat people has not increased substantially since the uprising began, but they are on the lookout for a surge.

Right. They repatriate over 500 Haitians every day. No big deal. No "surge."

Bush and Tom Ridge Approve

Bush and Tom Ridge Approve New TV Show

So, you know it has to suck.

Anti-war movement to sue Bush,

Anti-war movement to sue Bush, Blair over Iraq

A coalition of groups opposed to the US-led invasion of Iraq says it intends to take legal action for "mass murder" against British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

"What has happened is the mass murder of 20,000 or so Iraqis," Chris Coverdale said, a spokesman for the Stop the War coalition, told Sky News.

"We have to ensure that Bush and Blair and all the others associated with that decision to attack and kill Iraqis are held to account for it."

Good luck!

Women cheering the demise of

Women cheering the demise of Directive 137 prompt Shi`ite walkout

The disagreement stemmed from a decision to vote on a resolution introduced by some Shi'ites that would have imposed Islamic sharia law in adjudicating divorces, inheritances, and other family matters. When the resolution was rejected by Sunni members and a few liberal Shi'ites, two dozen women who had been invited into the council chamber applauded, prompting the eight Shi'ite members, some of them visibly angry, to leave.

"They didn't like it," council member Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd, said. "The women were cheering, so they got upset and they walked out."

The departure deprived the 25-member council of a quorum and halted work on the drafting of the interim constitution, which was scheduled to begin after the vote. Although it was viewed by some in the chamber as political theater, the walkout was the latest in a series of tense disagreements between Shi'ites and Sunnis about the shape of Iraq's interim government.

Credit for this link to Patridiot Watch who writes:

It's another setback for the US plan to handover power to an Iraqi government on June 30. Right now there is no interim Constitution, no plan for selecting the government, no basic security for commerce or family life, and no functioning Iraqi police or military.

Don't expect that to stop the Bush Administration from declaring success. They have a history of calling a bullet wound a birthmark, and this looks no different. The Washington Post reports that Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd, the Bush administration has asked the Governing Council to present something today so Bush can claim a success. "They're pushing us to declare something," Othman said. "They told us we can resolve other issues later on."

Juan Cole reports on the ramifications of the defeat of Directive 137:

Raghida Dergham reports in al-Hayat that the representatives on the Interim Governing Council of the Islamist tendency suffered a political defeat on Friday when the IGC abrogated Directive 137, which it had issued in late December, and which put personal status law in the jurisdiction of religious courts. If implemented, the order would have abrogated the uniform civil personal status law of 1959.

An informed source reported to Dergham that IGC member Raja' al-Khuza'i, a maternity physician who missed the first vote, was the one who insisted that the directive be reconsidered in light of the angry public response to it. (Many women's groups had mounted protests). After a heated discussion, the measure went to a vote of the 24-member council, and the directive was voted down 15 to 9. In the late December meeting, held when Raja'i and another woman member, Songol Chapouk, were absent, the directive had passed 11 to 10.

Here's a bit posted yesterday on The Corner (so consider the source-I'm not vouching for it's accuracy) by KLJ (Who is that anyway?):

The council vote to repeal decree 137 was passed by 15 in favor and 10 against (the full council of 25 was there). The women who had lobbied against decree 137 ululated and shouted for joy at the end of the vote.

In protest at their behavior, the following 8 IGC members walked out:

Ibrahim al-Ja'fari (Dawa Party, Shi'a Islamist)
'Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim (Scriri, Shi'a Islamist funded by Iran)
Muhammad Bahr al-'Ulum (Shi'a Islamist)
'Abd al-Karim Mahmud al-Muhammadawi (Shi'a, Hizbullah, aka Abu Hatem the Lord of the Marshes)
Ahmed Chalabi (INC)
'Izz al-Din Salim (Shi'a, Islamic Dawa of Basra
Ahmad Shya'a al-Barak al-Bu Sultan (Shi'a, Iraqi Lawyers union)
Salam al-Khafaji (Shi'a woman, ex-Ba'athist, replaced the late Aqila al-Hashemi)

Bremer then called off the meeting as there was no longer a quorum. To ease the tensions he invited the IGC to his residence for this evening's meal.

The 17 IGC members who had stayed in the room after the vote was taken went to Bremer's.

At present, the 8 named above who walked out in protest at the repeal of decree 137 are at Ahmed Chalabi's residence and are boycotting dinner with Bremer.

This is attributed to "a source." Interesting that Chalabi was among the Islamist walkouts, isn't it?

Saudi-American Woman runs for House

Saudi-American Woman runs for House seat in California on the Dem Ticket

AlJazeera Info reports:

Faryal Al-Masri hopes to be the first Saudi-American to enter the US Congress, contesting elections in California to become a member of US House of Representatives.

Al-Masri is running on a Democratic Party ticket in the 37th electoral district in California, which has been a Republican stronghold for over half a century. But Democrats have high hopes for her. "They are optimistic as they see my birth in Makkah as a good omen," she said.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News' sister publication Al-Majalla, which hits the stands today, Al-Masri said it is going to be a tough fight but she is ready for it.

"Ours has been a Republican constituency for more than 50 years. So if I win, I'll be the first Democrat to get elected in five decades, and people are eagerly looking forward to this election," she said. Standing against her are three other candidates, including the wife of a former Congressman.

She described herself as well prepared to counter any Republican smear tactics.

"I am ready to counter any attack because of my Saudi, Arab and Muslim background. If they say I am getting oil money for the campaign, I'll tell them that I don't accept any donations from outside the United States," she said.

"If they accuse me of having links with terrorism, I'll tell them they are lying because I am a staunch opponent of terrorism. I don’t have any connection with terrorists, and terrorism is not limited to a particular people.

"If they try to attack me because I am a Muslim, I'll tell them: 'I am proud of my religion, which is a religion of peace and urges people to worship God and fear Him.'"

Her position on Palestine/Israel is that there should be two states and that the US must pressure both parties "as Presidents Carter and Clinton did during their tenure." I don't know anything else about this race, but I would imagine that the neocons, bushbots and fundies will come out with all guns blazing over her background.

From the Angry Arab News

From the Angry Arab News Service:

US colonial authority in Iraq publishes names and ages of some 8447 Iraqi prisoners in US custody in Iraq (list does not include all prisoners): Ages: 13-99

You'll have to take his word for it unless you can read this.

While you're at the Angry Arab site, read As'ad's account of his appearance on al-Jazeera and his meeting with the Amir of Qatar, to which he says he wore his "Angry Arab uniform" in defiance of protocol.

Sistani throws the Occupation a

Sistani throws the Occupation a crumb and sends them crawling to the UN

Andrew Greeley writes:

The best laid plans of mice and men . . . And of generals and secretaries of defense. . . No one has ever wanted a long war. Those who start wars assume that they will win quickly and easily. But war has a dynamism of its own that captures those who launch it and drives them where they never wanted to go. As someone has said of the 1939 renewal of the Great War, the half-truth fought the lie.

Very few Americans have noticed the irony and the humiliation of the Bush administration's seeking the help of the United Nations to pull our chestnuts out of the fire in Iraq. A year ago our swaggering, smirking president and our cocksure Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld embraced a unilateralist foreign policy. The United States was the only superpower. It could do whatever it wanted. It did not need the U.N., it did not need NATO, it did not need many of our former allies. We would clean up the mess in Iraq all by ourselves before Saddam Hussein created a mushroom cloud. Now the administration pleads with Kofi Annan to make a deal for us about Iraqi elections -- elections that will surely not produce the democratic Iraq we promised.

Not only have "Very few Americans have noticed the irony and the humiliation of the Bush administration's seeking the help of the United Nations....", some, like Andrew Sullivan, actually think Sistani's agreement to "postpone" elections was a "coup" for Shrub & Co.! Sullivan writes:

BREAKTHROUGH IN IRAQ: There are still many pitfalls - not least of which is the nature and shape of an interim Iraqi government after June 30. But Sistani's agreement to extend the deadline to the end of this year for national elections strikes me as a real coup for the Bush administration. I'm still an optimist.

Sistani has forced the Occupation to bow to his wishes on every issue. The very fact that the Iraqi elections are considered "postponed" illustrates al-Sistani's power, since he's the one who called for the immediate elections that are now "postponed!" How can this be a coup for Dumbya?! If this is an example of a "coup, I'm sure Sistani would be happy to arrange a few more coups for the American neocons to feel good about. For example, the US, as a condition of this coup, must now go to the UN and acquire a resolution guaranteeing that the Interim Puppet Council will have no power other than to oversee the elections and that the elections are "guaranteed" by the UN to be held no later than November!

Jim Lobe: Bush Lies Uncovered

Jim Lobe: Bush Lies Uncovered

Did false information from Iraqi nationalists help sell a nondefensive war?

It appears that Chalabi, whose family has extensive interests in a company that has already been awarded more than $400 million in reconstruction contracts, is signaling his willingness to take all of the blame, or credit, for the faulty intelligence.

Butt other statements made by Jay Garner this week in an interview with The National Journal suggest that the administration had its own reasons for the war. Asked how long U.S. troops might remain in Iraq, Garner replied, "I hope they're there a long time," and then compared U.S. goals in Iraq to U.S. military bases in the Philippines between 1898 and 1992.

''One of the most important things we can do right now is start getting basing rights with [the Iraqi authorities]," he said. ''And I think we'll have basing rights in the north and basing rights in the south ... we'd want to keep at least a brigade."

Garner added, "Look back on the Philippines around the turn of the 20th century: they were a coaling station for the navy, and that allowed us to keep a great presence in the Pacific. That's what Iraq is for the next few decades: our coaling station that gives us great presence in the Middle East."

While U.S. military strategists have hinted for some time that a major goal of war was to establish several bases in Iraq, particularly given the ongoing military withdrawal from Saudi Arabia, Garner is the first to state it so baldly. Until now, U.S. military chiefs have suggested they need to retain a military presence just to ensure stability for several years, after which they expect to draw down their forces.

If indeed Garner's understanding represents the thinking of his former bosses, then the ongoing struggle within the administration over ceding control to the United Nations becomes more comprehensible. Ceding too much control, particularly before reaching an agreement establishing military bases, will make permanent U.S. bases much less likely.

Can somebody please get rid

Can somebody please get rid of these people before they destroy anything else?

First, the Bushites inflict that stupid Al_Hurra satellite channel that is being received with well-deserved contempt in the ME according to reports from people like Riverbend, blogging from Baghdad:

I wish everyone could see Al-Hurra- the new 'unbiased' news network started by the Pentagon and currently being broadcast all over the Arab world. It is the visual equivalent of Sawa- the American radio station which was previously the Voice of America. The news and reports are so completely biased, they only lack George Bush and Condi Rice as anchors. We watch the reports and news briefs and snicker… it is far from subtle. Interestingly enough, Asa'ad Abu Khalil said that Sawa and Al-Hurra are banned inside of America due to some sort of law that doesn't allow the broadcast of blatant political propaganda or something to that effect. I'd love to know more about that.

A channel like Al-Hurra may be able to convince Egyptians, for example, that everything is going great inside of Iraq, but how are you supposed to convince Iraqis of that? Just because they broadcast it hourly, it doesn't make it true. I sometimes wonder how Americans would feel if the Saudi government, for example, suddenly decided to start broadcasting an English channel with Islamic propaganda to Americans.

Now, this:

The document, published by an Arabic-language paper in London, calls on the G8 countries - the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, the UK and Russia - to "forge a long-term partnership with reform leaders in the GME . . . to promote political, economic and social reform in the region".

The scheme has, however, been floated without consultation with Arab leaders. It provides no extra financial help beyond the meagre $120m (£64m) already provided in the existing Middle East Partnership Initiative.

*snip*

"This has to be handled extremely carefully," one G8 diplomat said. "The US mustn't upset the Europeans, and the plan can't be seen as something imposed by the US, or as a case of the West patronising the Arab world."

But, judging by the reaction in the Middle East, that is exactly the view being taken. The Bush administration was behaving "as if the region and its states do not exist, as if they had no sovereignty over their land", President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, one of Washington's Arab allies, said this week.

The US blueprint aims to address the three "deficits" identified in the now celebrated 2002 and 2003 Arab Human Development reports issued by the United Nations: of freedom, knowledge, and economic development. If these are not tackled "we will witness an increase in extremism, terrorism and international crime", the US paper says.

Of course, this is the same ignorance that casued them to misjudge with 100% accuracy, everything about the Iraqis or the ME so far. They'll never learn. Get them out.

Turkmen begin rights hungerstrike in

Turkmen begin rights hungerstrike in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - Around 100 ethnic Turkmen began a hungerstrike in Baghdad on Friday aimed at drawing attention to their political rights as Iraqi leaders worked to finish a temporary constitution.

The hungerstrikers, who included intellectuals, writers, students and a number of women, were gathered in and around about half a dozen large tents erected outside the main US military headquarters in the Iraqi capital.

"Today a pen and a strike, tomorrow a Kalashnikov to kill those who would deny us our rights," said a banner strung up in front of their encampment.

Don't these people know there's an election campaign underway in the States? They're making the Bushistas look bad after they liberated them and everything.

Muqtada al Sadr Ready to

Muqtada al Sadr Ready to Compromise?

Probably not:

"America has come to harm Iraqis, but it must understand that it can never destroy Islam," said Moqtada Sadr, a young firebrand cleric, at Friday prayers in Kufa, near the holy Shiite city of Najaf south of Baghdad.

"I call on all believers to remain prepared, while awaiting orders from the Hawza (Shiite religious authority), to confront the occupation," he said.

"I will follow this path even at the risk of being killed or arrested," he vowed.

He also urged Iraq's US-installed executive body to protest.

"I call on the Governing Council to declare a revolt against Bremer's decision and I call on Bremer to take back his remarks," he said.

Tagged on to the end

Tagged on to the end of an AP story:

Thousands of Shiites gathered near the Imam Kadhum mosque in Baghdad ahead of Friday prayers chanting "death to the occupiers, death to Zionists." The crowd was angry about an alleged attack on the Shiite mosque, the city's biggest, and the death of cleric Mahmoud al-Timimi. He was shot in Baghdad on Thursday, allegedly by U.S. soldiers after his car failed to stop at a checkpoints.

You'd think this might be news, but this is the only place I've seen it mentioned.

Compassionate Conservative Landmines and yet

Compassionate Conservative Landmines and yet another spending hike

Reversing the Clinton Administration's decision to ban all anti-personnel landmines by 2006, President George W Bush has decided to convert it into a partial ban, a media report said on Friday.

US officials were quoted as saying by The Washington Post that Bush will allow US forces to continue to employ more sophisticated mines that the administration claims pose little threat to civilians.

Under the new policy, there will be no limits on the use of "smart" landmines, which have timing devices to automatically defuse the explosives within hours or days. The ban will apply only to mines without self-destruct features.

Considering that this administration continues to deny not only the use of cluster bombs on civilians in Iraq, but also the obvious deaths and injuries caused by unexploded bomblets to this day, I have little confidence that their landmines will end up being any "smarter" than they are now. Oh, and Shrubbie needs to spend another little chunk of your money on the dumb American landmines already all over the planet:

Bush will also propose a 50 per cent increase in spending, up to 70 million dollars in fiscal 2005 for a State Department programme that provides mine-removal assistance to more than 40 countries, officials said.

From skippy: texas reporter not

From skippy:

texas reporter not awol in stating facts awol about awol

A post about the Mimi Swartz op-ed in the NYT on the incomplete press coverage and investigation of Shrubbie's Guard record in years past. skippy has transcribed several good quotes from the piece into small letters as well as adding insightful commentary, so go read the post.

Blix, Butler 'bugged' The British

Blix, Butler 'bugged'

The British or US intelligence services monitored former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix's mobile phone whenever he was in Iraq, sources have told the ABC.

A key Australian official at the heart of attempts to locate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, Richard Butler, has also told the ABC that he was bugged while carrying out delicate international negotiations with the Iraqis.

The revelations come after former British cabinet minister Clare Short said the British intelligence service had spied on United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan as the United States and Britain tried to win UN support for invading Iraq.

Andrew Fowler from the ABC's Investigative Unit says sources have told him that Australia's Office of National Assessments has read transcripts of Dr Blix's phone conversations in Iraq.

"That's what I'm told, specifically each time he entered Iraq his phone was targeted and recorded and the transcripts were then made available to the United States, Australia, Canada, the UK and also New Zealand," Fowler said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister John Howard refused to comment on the claims. Mr Howard's spokesman says the Government does not confirm nor deny matters relating to intelligence.

Well, ABC apparently turned over that rock. Now, where else are they hiding?

Fundie Hypocrite BushBot FReepers smear

Fundie Hypocrite BushBot FReepers smear Andrew Sullivan

Read the link and try not to puke on your keyboard. Now that Sullivan has said a negative thing about the Leader of the Cult of Dubya, they turn on him like rabid dogs.

They dredge up "evidence" that purports to prove that Sullivan cannot take a principled stand on a moral issue as long as they can impeach him in any way. It's a pure ad hominem bash.

It worked on David Brock, and its working with Andrew Sullivan. He's now back in the good graces of the gay police, -- but Andrew remains as his our own little "Typhoid Mary" spreading HIV (and poisonoud ideas) while he mounts the pulpit preaching to the American public that gays are wholesome and "just want to be loved", meaning they just want to get married and live normal monogamous lives.

And now he's a different kind of hypocrite -- one that pretends that gays are actually interested in marriage, whereas he knows that gays are gays because they are running away from monogamy and that a fulfilled gay life is one filled with hundreds of partners, not one partner.

And he's the #1 case-on-point to prove it.

Welcome back to the dark side, Andrew. I hope you'll consider that we just might have been right about a couple of other things, too.

Perle and Frum...On the Run?

Perle and Frum...On the Run?

And this was written before Perle resigned got booted from the Defense Policy Board.

Ideology informs the book like an iron spine. The authors seem less interested in imparting new information than in reminding the faithful about what they should be thinking. This may be the book's most interesting aspect, in as much as the authors betray a mild note of panic. They write that "the will to win is ebbing in Washington" and warn against "a reversion to the bad old habits of complacency and denial." It is as though they fear that, given the so-far fragile progress in both Afghanistan and Iraq and in their misconceived recommendations for North Korea, their 15 minutes of fame may be coming to an end. They are right to worry. The twilight of neoconservatism has arrived.

Damn, I'm REALLY going to miss those guys.

Atrios the Mysterious Who is

Atrios the Mysterious

Who is that turtlenecked man?

The Unknown Blogger
by Jason Fagone
From the March 2004 issue.

An anonymous Philly flamethrower is having a major impact on the national agenda

At the bar of Marathon on the Square, a quiet man in a gray turtleneck sweater sips a martini. It's the night of the Iowa caucuses, and a gaggle of Philly media and political types is watching the returns on a large TV screen. By Philadelphia standards, it's a solid B-list party -- reporters, mayoral spinners, admen. But the most powerful person in the room may be the man in the turtleneck sweater. And no one knows who the hell he is.

Are bloggers suddenly being catapulted to the front of the political scene, or what? Everywhere you click, there's another journalist shaking their head in amazement at a blogger or prominent netizen. It's a bit disorienting for those of us who've practically lived on the net for years but it's also energizing to see The Real World begin to sense a disturbing yet undeniable presence emerging that they really can't afford to ignore anymore.

An interesting Debate on Daily

An interesting Debate on Daily Kos and Eschaton

On the Herseth ( South Dakota Dem House candidate ) waffle over the gay marriage amendment.

Daily Kos:

I've been impressed with our Senate delegation -- so far only the turncoat Miller has endorsed the Hate Amendment. Other conservative Dems like Breaux, Nelson, and even Bayh have indicated their opposition (qualified as necessary for political expediency). You can be a Democrat and oppose the amendment. So did Daschle, who faces a tight reelection battle against an extremely strong opponent. That Herseth did not is a problem. A serious one.

Atrios:

However, I'm quite disappointed in the respone by the Herseth campaign to this issue. It's both offensive and legal gibberish. Herseth first came out strongly in support of the preznit on this issue:

Herseth backs the president on both counts.

'I agree with the president on this issue. Marriage is between a man and a woman,' she said."

which sounds like an endorsement of the FMA.

The campaign then released a statement to Kos which sort of backed off, but really makes no sense at all:

Stephanie and her campaign team understand the reaction to yesterday's news. Stephanie's position on the amendment is consistent with her position of the Defense of Marriage Act -- she believes the issue ultimately should be left to the states, whether they decide it individually under federal legislation or collectively within the ratification process. In this election year, we truly hope this issue doesn't distract from important discussions on issues like lowering the cost of health care, creating jobs, and getting our economy moving in the right direction.

the "federal legislation" part means in the context of being subject to DOMA. But, as for the amendment she's taking a non-position. I support the right of the states to participate in the amendment ratification process too, but it doesn't mean I support or reject any particular amendment.

My position is that the state (if you must have one) has no business meddling in the marriage business in the first place, but this is still an interesting debate to watch.

Log Cabin Republican Revolt From

Log Cabin Republican Revolt

From The Advocate:

Gay conservatives are so angered by President George W. Bush's support of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage that they are launching their own protest in swing states that are key to Bush's reelection bid, including Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Ohio, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The gay political group Log Cabin Republicans is considering a grassroots voter campaign to be broadcast on television and radio that would cater to conservatives, moderates, and independents. Their message? The White House is "playing politics" with the Constitution. "A constitutional amendment is a call to arms for gay conservatives," Patrick Guerriero, Log Cabin's executive director, which is planning its annual convention in Palm Springs in April, told the newspaper. "A lot of gay conservatives who have been extraordinarily loyal will not remain silent. This is a breach."

*snip*

Some gay conservatives who work in the Bush administration or who hold political office say they feel a special sense of betrayal. They remember when Bush met with them and when vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney--who has an openly lesbian daughter--talked of leaving this issue to the states.

"The day word came out that he was going to support a constitutional amendment, my phone was ringing off the hook, with straight Republican friends saying, 'He just lost my vote,' " Rebecca Maestri, a lesbian activist who works on Iraqi redevelopment issues for the U.S. Agency for International Development, told the Times.

Jack Shafer fires up the

Jack Shafer fires up the Perle Libel Watch Again

14 Days to Go!

This column would like to thank Richard N. Perle for his recent efforts to breathe new life into the Perle Libel Watch, which was just 14 days from termination. No, Perle hasn't filed libel proceedings against Seymour M. Hersh in England, as he promised almost one year ago, in response to Hersh's unflattering profile of him in The New Yorker. According to an ABC News report from yesterday, Perle resigned his seat on the Pentagon advisory group, the Defense Policy Board, for proactive legal reasons outlined by his lawyer, Samuel Abeday. Unshackled from the board, Perle will now be able to sue news organizations that "falsely accused him of conflicts of interest," said Abeday.

Sistani will drop demand for

Sistani will drop demand for early polls in exchange for a UN resolution...

The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shia majority on Thursday dropped his insistence that elections be held before June, when the US is due to surrender sovereignty, but sought instead a UN guarantee that a vote would be held by the end of the year.

After meeting fellow Shia leaders in Najaf, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani demanded "clear guarantees through a resolution by the UN Security Council on the organisation of elections by the end of 2004".

The last thing the Bush Administration wants is to go back to the UN for a resolution.

Remember this?

"The coalition, having invested this political capital and life and treasure into this enterprise (is) going to have a leading role for some time," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters on April 11. "(The suggestion) that now that the coalition has done all of this and liberated Iraq, thank you very much, step aside and the Security Council is now going to become responsible for everything, is incorrect, and they know it and they were told it."

Drumbeats From the RightWhat the

Drumbeats From the Right

What the Pubbies, Neocons, Bushbots and Fundies are saying

Horowitz's Frontpage features an article misleadingly titled "When John Kerry Slandered Me." You might expect that Kerry had actually said something about the author of the piece, one Ken Sherman, but it turns out that Sherman has decided to take everything Kerry said in opposition to the Vietnam War and particularly about the incidents described by vets in the Winter Soldier investigation personally. Sherman considers himself slandered because he was in 'Nam committing heroic and brave deeds while Kerry was testifying about atrocities to Congress. He labels this a "blood libel."

Sherman closes his piece by taking umbrage at the aspersions cast on Dubya's Guard service record for which he blames Kerry, saying, "Mr. Kerry dragged Vietnam into this campaign...." It appears Mr. Sherman is one of the few Americans who missed Dubya's faux-fighter-pilot May Day Mission Accomplished strut across an aircraft carrier in a flight suit. In keeping with the polemical style of FrontPage, Sherman concludes that Kerry is "stained" and "pitiful" and should apologize to practically everyone. FrontPage thanks Sherman for "...This first-person perspective on the shameful anti-war activities of John Kerry." There's no explanation of what exactly is "shameful" about being antiwar, but then at FrontPage, they're preaching to the choir.

WorldNetDaily offers up a Green Beret named Don Bendell who says Kerry is a liar because Bendell did not personally witness any atrocities in Vietnam. Bendell establishes his credentials as a hero and model soldier who won hearts and minds at least as well as the Americans in Baghdad. Then he becomes outraged over the possibility that someone might think Kerry had been talking about him, "My children and grandchildren could read your words and think those horrendous things about me, Mr. Kerry...." Bendell says there were "some bad apples" in Vietnam, but he didn't see any. Maybe he should tell that one to his kids and grandkids.

The Chicago Tribune carries an informative piece about a couple of the Anti-Kerries that we'll undoubtedly be hearing from as the campaigns hot up.

Now, as the Bush campaign targets Kerry's Vietnam-era record, Burch, a Vietnam vet too, appears poised to re-enter the campaign fray.

Last year, he registered the Internet domain names veteransforjohnkerry.org and veteransforjohnkerry.com.

Neither Web site is up and running—it is not clear if Burch registered them to prevent Kerry from having the names or for some other reason. Burch did not respond to requests for comment.

Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade said he assumes this was an attempt to make mischief with the senator's campaign.

"I suspect they plan to fill cyberspace with all kinds of vicious lies," Wade said. "The same gang that slandered John McCain is going to try the same, under-the-radar-screen sneak attacks to mislead veterans and distort John Kerry's record."

One thing is certain: Burch has been a longtime foe of the Democratic contender.

Burch's gig is National Vietnam Veterans Coalition Foundation Inc., a tax-exempt charity designed to raise awareness on veterans issues. The Tribune reports that, "The foundation raised $7.7 million from 1999 through 2002, mostly through telephone solicitations, according to its public charity tax filings. But most of that money - $5.8 million - was spent on professional fundraising fees, the filings show." Hmmm.

Meet Ted Sampley:

Kerry has already been under attack from an ad hoc group that calls itself Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry, run by Ted Sampley, a longtime conservative activist. A self-styled advocate for Vietnam prisoners of war, Sampley has gone to extraordinary lengths to tar Kerry and McCain, saying they did not do enough to locate POWs in the 1990s. In one early-1990s incident, Sampley published a fake photo of Kerry shooting an American war prisoner in Vietnam with the caption: "Kerry eliminates another MIA from his discrepancy list."

He alleged that McCain was brainwashed by communists while a prisoner in Hanoi, and told The Boston Globe this month: "We will do what is politically necessary to stop John Kerry and draw attention to the hypocrisy of his campaign."

Speaking of fake photos, Corbis is threatening FreeRepublic proprietor Jim Robinson with a lawsuit over the Kerry/Fonda fake photo created by a Freeper and disseminated across cyberspace by FR posters. The Corbis action is being demanded by the photographers holding the copyrights, with similar action being considered by the Associated Press, whose logo was photoshopped onto the fake.

The major antiKerry memes at FreeRepublic are still centered around Kerry's antiwar activities, with the FReeps' ostensibly separate FreeRepublic Network having set up up a website to publicize their view of the Winter Soldier investigation. Since it went public, they've had to remove numerous inaccuracies and exaggerations so that the homepage is reduced to a few paragraphs now and most of the information left on the site promotes Kerry's '70s book, The New Soldier, with some interesting scans of rare photos.

Posted by Tex MacRae at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

God So Loved the World

God So Loved the World that He Did What?

Roderick Long on The Passion

Perle resigns His public excuse:

Perle resigns

His public excuse:

"We are now approaching a long presidential election campaign, in the course of which issues on which I have strong views will be widely discussed and debated," Perle wrote. "I would not wish those views to be attributed to you or the President at any time, and especially not during a presidential campaign."

Nine Eleven Commission says Condoleezza

Nine Eleven Commission says Condoleezza Rice needs to speak publicly

Washington-AP - The panel investigating the September Eleventh attacks says National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice should tell the public what she knows.

The commission today issued a statement expressing disappointment with Rice. While she has met with the commission, Rice refuses to testify in public about the attacks and the nation's terrorism preparedness.

It matters to some of the families of attack victims. That's because eight months after September Eleventh, Rice commented that the Bush administration had no idea that terrorists might attempt suicide hijackings. Later reports showed intelligence officers had considered the possibility.

Meanwhile, the commission is continuing to question other top officials. The panel is set to meet with President Bush and Vice President Cheney, as well as former President Clinton and former Vice President Gore in March.

Oh, the pressure.....

Joel Mowbray touts the Freeper

Joel Mowbray touts the Freeper Kerry-bash site on ClownHall

But if the wealth of information found at WinterSoldier.com gains any traction, Kerry's past could come back to haunt him.

VVAW was a media favorite: war veterans who were anti-war. Quite a sales pitch. But the more realistic characterization would have been Americans who were anti-American.

The FReeps and other unprincipled neocons would like nothing better than to convince the electorate to share their narrow-minded and ahistorical views of who is "anti-American." Ignorant of history and blissfully unaware of the unconformist revolutionary roots that linger still in the American memory, they turn the concept of patriotism and loyalty to country upside down and replace it with hypocritical flag-waving, worshipful adulation of their man in the Oval Office (during Clinton's presidency, it was de rigeur for FReeps and Pubbies to hate the president), and the parroting of jingoistic truisms (you're with us or with the terrorists....)

Mowbray:

Since Kerry's comrades seem so eager to judge President Bush's character by whether or not he fulfilled a handful of National Guard obligations, the door may already have been opened to attacks on the Democratic front runner's own conduct from those days.

Voters could have plenty of versions of Kerry from which to choose: the communist sympathizer who gleefully defamed America and millions of American soldiers, the war hero too cowardly to throw away his own medals, or the anti-war activist who was so eager to claim he had committed war crimes.

Communist sympathizer, coward, war criminal? One boggles at the audacity, and the tin-eared stupidity of these people. Do they really have no clue to the American mood of the days of the antiwar protests they're writing about? The millions of people participating in the protests, the sense of urgency in the effort to stop the war that became a national imperative? For the FReeps and neocons, there is no Bush war they don't love, no Bush war could possibly be unjust or illegal or a war crime in itself. In their herd-animal simplicity, they project their mindless follower version of "patriotism" into the past and judge accordingly. Apparently, working to stop a war is "unpatriotic".

As for Mowbray, nothing has changed since Justin Raimondo of AntiWar.com wrote Joel Mowbray, total as*hole on the occasion of Mowbray viciously smearing yet another American military man, General Anthony Zinni. As Justin said, "don't get too close: rats are often rabid, and they bite, as in the case of Joel Mowbray's recent column smearing General Anthony Zinni....."

Background on the WinterSoldier site

Alan Caruba asks, "Why Do

Alan Caruba asks, "Why Do People Hate Bush?"

It's getting pretty bad when even your most brainwashed neocon supporters notice people hate you.

Here on Mount Olympus where poets and pundits like myself take dinner with the ancient gods (*rolling eyes*), it is easy to lose touch with what people are saying these days about George W. Bush.

Fortunately, there is email. And my email is filling up with various versions of the same message from conservatives. They fear and, in many cases, even hate him. This isn't everyone, of course. Lots of people still like and trust him, but in terms of getting re-elected, someone in the White House (Paging Karl...)ought to worry about those who should be his political base of support.

Ramble, ramble, ramble.....

These days, the President is trying to lead the nation into a world where American power is being used to transform the Middle East cesspool of violence and ignorance. (Who, Alan, a bigot? ) He's no great orator like Ronald Reagan and, in fact, he's not that good a communicator at all. He keeps the press at arm's distance most of the time. In short, he's not made a case for this paradigm shift from waiting to be attacked again to eliminating the problem at its source.

These days, too, there is a strong, subterranean flow of hot political lava that is reflected in many voices, some influential, some just ordinary citizens, all joined in a mutual fear of where Bush has taken the nation. It's more than just a disagreement over policy. It is a deep distrust and animus toward the man.

What Bush cannot afford is to have conservatives stay home on Election Day. The question must be asked, why are so many "fiscal" and "social" Republicans and/or conservatives inclined to abandon Bush? The answer is they think he has abandoned them.

Ramble, ramble, attack Kerry, ramble....

It's conventional wisdom that there's a long time to go before the national election and a lot can happen between now and then. What I am wondering is whether the animus, the hostility among a large sector of Republicans/conservatives toward Bush will diminish. If it does not, it may well be the independent vote that keeps him in office.

You wish, Alan. Problem is, independents hate him, too.

Misuse worries 'limit Iraq aid'

Misuse worries 'limit Iraq aid'

Security fears and worries over the misuse of funds are limiting the level of reconstruction aid reaching Iraq, the World Bank has said.

Iraq looks set to receive only $500m (£265m) of $33bn pledged last year before the 30 June deadline for the US-led coalition to hand over power.

John Speakman, a senior Bank official, told French news agency AFP that the rest of the money would have to wait.

The risk of it being misspent could undermine future reforms, he warned.

Did the World Bank just call the Bushies and their puppets in Iraq thieves and incompetents?

I think they did.

Is Gary Aldrich a Liar

Is Gary Aldrich a Liar or Just Ignorant?

Aldrich writes in TownHall, a Bushista haven:...(my italics)

I experienced something akin to humiliation when the President of the United States ordered subordinates to release his dental records to the public. President Bush acted in hopes of ending the ridiculous argument surrounding his National Guard service. (Hey Gary, most of America was laughing and rolling their eyes at the ridiculous notion that having a dentist's appointment in January 1973 was "proof" that Shrub fulfilled his Guard obligation in Alabama in 1972, which is when he claimed to have been there.)

Nothing is sacred in today's politics of personal destruction - invented and perfected by the Democrats. Not even the number of fillings in George Bush's teeth.(Wow, whining and lying at the same time. Shrubbie released one record of one appointment to "prove" he was in Alabama at the wrong time. Boo hoo.)

Thus, Senator John Kerry and his followers "opened the door." It’s only fair that many will now choose to walk through that door. No competent attorney would ever open a line of inquiry in the courtroom unless he knew how the same issue would impact his own client.

Democrats should not complain now if certain similar questions are asked of the good Senator.

1 minute with Google turns up this:

Releasing military records has become a time-honored tradition of presidential campaigns. During the 1992 presidential election, Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, called on his Democratic opponent, Bill Clinton, to make public all personal documents relating his draft status during the Vietnam War, including any correspondences with "Clinton's draft board, the Selective Service System, the Reserve Officer Training Corps, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Coast Guard, the United States departments of State and Justice, any U.S. foreign embassy or consulate." That, according to a Bush-Quayle Oct. 15, 1992, press release.

Uh, Gary, was it "politics of personal destruction" when Bush v.1.1 asked Clinton to release all his records? Presidential candidates have been "walking through that door" for years, Gary, haven't you noticed? Or does it suit your drama queen agenda better to pretend presidential politics began with the Shrub?

Uri Avnery: George Double-U, The

Uri Avnery: George Double-U, The Dancing Bear

Ariel Sharon plays games with the American bear. He makes him dance, jump, lie down and get up again, turn around and perform somersaults, much to the amusement of the Israeli public.

Every few months Sharon invents a new act. The bear applauds and does what he is commanded to do, until the performance loses its novelty. Then Sharon comes up with something new.

Field Institute Poll shows Bush

Field Institute Poll shows Bush losing to Kerry and Edwards in California

Excerpt:

President Bush would lose to either of the Democratic presidential front-runners in California if the general election were held today, according to a new poll.

The Field Institute poll also showed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, well ahead of fellow Democratic hopefuls in Tuesday's primary. Support for Kerry among likely primary voters grew from 7 percent to 60 percent in the past month. Sen. John Edwards' support grew from 3 percent to 19 percent.

Kerry and Edwards, D-N.C., both trailed Bush in hypothetical matchups in a poll conducted last month but surged in popularity after the Democratic field narrowed from 10 candidates to five. Now, Kerry leads Bush with 53 percent of the vote, and Edwards leads with 51 percent of the vote.

Another American Helicopter Down in

Another American Helicopter Down in Iraq

A U.S. military helicopter crashed Wednesday into a river west of Baghdad, police and witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The crash took place in the city of Haditha, 120 miles from the capital.

"We are aware of an incident with a coalition helicopter near al-Hadithah," the military command in Baghdad said.

UPDATE:

AP Reports:

US helicopter 'shot down'
AP
25 February 2004

An American military OH-58 Kiowa helicopter crashed today into a river west of Baghdad, killing the two crew members.

The helicopter crashed near Haditha, 120 miles from the capital. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the cause of the crash had not been determined.

In Haditha, Emad Rasheed, 45, said two US helicopters were flying over the area when a missile hit one of them. However, Kimmitt said the second helicopter reported seeing no hostile fire.

The US military has lost 14 helicopters since the occupation began in May - most to hostile fire.

Bush Signed Order for Iraq

Bush Signed Order for Iraq War in 2002

"On February 16 2002, Bush signed a secret national security council directive establishing the goals and objectives for going to war with Iraq, according to classified documents I obtained," Mr Scarborough wrote, in an account of the "global war on terrorism" as seen from the office of Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary.

The next month, he writes, the head of central command, General Tommy Franks, conducted a "major Iraq war exercise code-named "Prominent Hammer", and in April he briefed the joint chiefs of staff on the invasion plan.

"Franks's plan called for 200,000 to 250,000 troops and a two-front land war... striking from Kuwait and from Turkey," the book says.

The national security council refused to comment on the book's claims about the February directive. "I don't do book reviews," a White House official said.

Iraq Oil Pipelines Hit as

Iraq Oil Pipelines Hit as Sabotage Spreads South

MAKHUL, Iraq - Iraq's northern oil export pipeline is still coming under attack, officials said Monday, as sabotage hit infrastructure further south, raising fresh fears about the vulnerability of the country's oil industry.
Almost a year after the Iraq war, the country's U.S.-led authority does not feel confident enough yet to try to restart the pipeline from Iraq's Kirkuk oilfields.

"We are making some progress. There is no date set yet," Rob McKee, the authority's oil chief, told Reuters.

"The fact is that there are some wonderful oilfields in the north. It is important to figure out a way to export the northern crude."

Oil infrastructure sabotage has been rare in Iraq's mostly Muslim Shi'ite south, but Iraq's main internal pipeline was on fire Monday after coming under attack a few days ago near the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala.

One option U.S. and Iraqi oil officials were considering was to use the line, known as the strategic pipeline and currently out of commission, to pump Kirkuk crude south for export from the Gulf.

But a guard in the region said an explosive device ripped through a section of that link about a week ago.A Reuters photographer saw smoke still rising Monday from the reversible line west of Kerbala.

Attacks have mainly targeted the export pipeline from Kirkuk oilfields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan which runs through Muslim Sunni strongholds, co-religionists of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Starting the pipeline is crucial for raising Iraqi oil export capacity because the southern Basra offshore terminal is running at full capacity.

Iraq is reinjecting as much as 400,000 barrels a day of Kirkuk crude back into reservoirs because it cannot export the oil. Exports are restricted to the south and now are running near 1.6 million bpd.

In light of this information, I thought a trip down memory lane might be appropriate:

"Well, the reconstruction costs remain a very -- an issue for the future. And Iraq, unlike Afghanistan, is a rather wealthy country. Iraq has tremendous resources that belong to the Iraqi people. And so there are a variety of means that Iraq has to be able to shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction."

Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Source: White House Press Briefing, 2/18/03

"This is not Afghanistan...When we approach the question of Iraq, we realize here is a country which has a resource. And it's obvious, it's oil. And it can bring in and does bring in a certain amount of revenue each year...$10, $15, even $18 billion...this is not a broke country."

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, House Committee on Appropriations Hearing on a Supplemental War Regulation, 3/27/03

"If you worry about just the cost, the money, Iraq is a very different situation from Afghanistan...Iraq has oil. They have financial resources."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Fortune Magazine, Fall 2002

"On the resource side, Iraq itself will rightly shoulder much of the responsibilities. Among the sources of revenue available are $1.7 billion in invested Iraqi assets, the found assets in Iraq...and unallocated oil-for-food money that will be deposited in the development fund."

State Department Official Alan Larson, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on Iraq Stabilization, 06/04/03

Newsday, January 10, 2003

An administration source said that most of the proposals for the conduct of the war and implementation of plans for a subsequent occupation are being drafted by the Pentagon. Last month a respected Washington think tank prepared a classified briefing commissioned by Andrew Marshall, the Pentagon's influential director of Net Assessment, on the future role of U.S. Special Forces in the global war against terrorism, among other issues. Part of the presentation recommended that oil funds be used to defray the costs of a military occupation in Iraq, according to a source who helped prepare the report. He said that the study, undertaken by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, concluded that "the cost of the occupation, the cost for the military administration and providing for a provisional administration, all of that would come out of Iraqi oil." He said the briefing was delivered to the office of Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of Defense and one of the administration's strongest advocates for an invasion of Iraq, on Dec. 13.

"I don't believe that the United States has the responsibility for reconstruction, in a sense...[Reconstruction] funds can come from those various sources I mentioned: frozen assets, oil revenues and a variety of other things, including the Oil for Food, which has a very substantial number of billions of dollars in it."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Senate Appropriations Hearing, 3/27/03

Alan Larson, Under Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, Interview by CNBC, May 1, 2003

QUESTION: I think it's becoming clear now that there wasn't much -- there wasn't enough, perhaps, in the news media about how difficult this reconstruction process was going to be. There isn't even an economy there, a working economy there, is there?

UNDER SECRETARY LARSON: I think there is the beginning of a working economy. Unlike many post-conflict situations, this is a country that has an oil sector that can contribute a lot of money to the future reconstruction. It's also a country that has some skilled people working in the oil sector and in other sectors. So I think there's more to work with here than in some other cases.

QUESTION: Well, who is going to run the oil sector? Where are the revenues going to go? Who's going to handle them? Who will they be accountable to? A lot of questions.

UNDER SECRETARY LARSON: Well, there are a lot of questions, and certainly, as you indicated, we're at the early stage here. What we need to do, and I think we're making good progress in the oil sector, is making sure that the infrastructure that's in place is maintained. There was very little damage, which is a very good news story. Now we're working hard to make sure that that oil production and processing and transportation infrastructure can become more operational as quickly as possible.

Update on the FreeRepublic/Kerry Fake

Update on the FreeRepublic/Kerry Fake Photo Flap

Oh, no! FR gets notice of a copyright complaint from Corbis RE: the Fake Kerry/Fonda Photo

FR Proprietor Jim Robinson Responds

Funny, FReeper Registered hasn't posted on FR since the day he first showed off his handiwork.

See this earlier post for background

Also this post.

SOFA's for the American Troops.

SOFA's for the American Troops.

For an overview of how SOFA's function, see THREE RAPES
THE STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT AND OKINAWA by Chalmers Johnson.

Excerpt:

In Asia, the SOFA is a modern legacy of the nineteenth-century imperialist practice in China of "extraterritoriality"--the "right" of a foreigner charged with a crime to be turned over for trial to his own diplomatic representatives in accordance with his national law, not to a Chinese court in accordance with Chinese law. Extracted from the Chinese at gun point, the practice arose because foreigners claimed that Chinese law was barbaric and "white men" engaged in commerce in China should not be forced to submit to it. Chinese law was indeed concerned more with the social consequences of crime than with establishing the individual guilt or innocence of criminals, particularly those who were uninvited guests in China.

Following the Anglo-Chinese "Opium War" of 1839-42, the United States was the first nation to demand "extrality" for its citizens. All the other European nations then acquired the same rights as the Americans. Except for the Germans, who lost their Chinese colonies in World War I, Americans and Europeans lived an "extraterritorial" life in China until the Japanese ended it in 1941 and Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang stopped it in 1943. But men and women serving overseas in the American armed forces still demand that their government obtain as extensive extraterritorial status for them as possible. In this modern version, extrality takes the form of heavy American pressure on countries like Japan to alter their systems of criminal justice to conform with procedures that exist in the United States, regardless of historical and cultural differences.

Rachel Cornwell and Andrew Wells, two authorities on status of forces agreements, conclude, "Most SOFAs are written so that national courts cannot exercise legal jurisdiction over U.S. military personnel who commit crimes against local people, except in special cases where the U.S. military authorities agree to transfer jurisdiction."2 Since service members are also exempt from normal passport and immigration controls, the military has the option of simply flying an accused rapist or murderer out of the country before local authorities can bring him to trial, a contrivance to which commanding officers of Pacific bases have often resorted. At the time of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001, the United States had publicly acknowledged SOFAs with ninety-three countries, although some SOFAs are so embarrassing to the host nation that they are kept secret, particularly in the Islamic world.3 Thus the true number is not publicly known.

This is what the Americans are currently trying to negotiate in Iraq. Problem is, who can they negotiate it with?

This is what Colonel Daniel Smith, USA (Ret.) addresses in Travails of Transition: Iraq on the Brink

Excerpt:

At this juncture, the White House seems to have three main options.

First, it can go through the UN Security Council for a new resolution that recognizes the changed facts on the ground post-June 30 and exempts foreign security forces from the Iraqi legal system as long as alleged violations are investigated and prosecuted, if warranted, by the applicable foreign government. This option has little traction as the Bush administration opposes any action that might be perceived as relinquishing substantial control over the pace and conditions of Iraq's reintegration into the world community.

Second, it can conclude a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, similar to agreements the U.S. has with 53 other countries. One is being developed, but it may not be ready by the transition date. In fact, the CPA and the Pentagon had a target date of March 31 to get an agreement with the IGC. The calculation here seems to have two components. First, it will be necessary to "sell" to an Iraqi public traumatized by continuing hi