November 30, 2004
This Is News?
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has accused the U.S. military of using tactics "tantamount to torture" on prisoners at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
If so, it's only because the New York Times hasn't been paying attention.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 08:37 PM
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A serviceman, apparently distraught over the prospect of being sent back to the war in Iraq, threatened to kill himself as he stood naked and screaming outside his house. [...]
After struggling with officers, the man told police that he was scheduled to be sent back to Iraq in January, but didn't want to because he would be forced to kill more people, police said.
No doubt such lard-assed chicken-hawks as Limbaugh et al. will deride him as a "fucking coward", or some such...
Scenes From The "All-Volunteer" Military
A serviceman, apparently distraught over the prospect of being sent back to the war in Iraq, threatened to kill himself as he stood naked and screaming outside his house. [...]
After struggling with officers, the man told police that he was scheduled to be sent back to Iraq in January, but didn't want to because he would be forced to kill more people, police said.
No doubt such lard-assed chicken-hawks as Limbaugh et al. will deride him as a "fucking coward", or some such...
Posted by Eddie Tews at 09:15 AM
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The World Trade Organization imposed penalties yesterday on U.S. exports ranging from apples to textiles, escalating a trade dispute the Bush administration has struggled to defuse by unsuccessfully urging Congress to repeal legislation aimed at protecting American steelmakers.
Just how many times, one wonders, will the Bush Administration have to be bitten in the ass before it moves to dissociate itself from the WTO? Isn't it funny that the country that clamours loudest for the codification of "Free Trade" doctrine is the same that wants those rules ("laws of nature", if you want to listen to economists) to apply to everybody save itself?
November 28, 2004
Billy Clinton's Frankenstein
The World Trade Organization imposed penalties yesterday on U.S. exports ranging from apples to textiles, escalating a trade dispute the Bush administration has struggled to defuse by unsuccessfully urging Congress to repeal legislation aimed at protecting American steelmakers.
Just how many times, one wonders, will the Bush Administration have to be bitten in the ass before it moves to dissociate itself from the WTO? Isn't it funny that the country that clamours loudest for the codification of "Free Trade" doctrine is the same that wants those rules ("laws of nature", if you want to listen to economists) to apply to everybody save itself?
Posted by Eddie Tews at 03:31 PM
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Backed by the Pentagon, scientists are recruiting insects, shellfish, bacteria and even weeds to act as "bio-sentinels", which give early warning of biological and chemical attacks, detect explosives or monitor the spread of contamination.
At Virginia Commonwealth University, biologist Karen Kester uses bugs as "flying, crawling Q-Tips" that can check their habitats for noxious materials from anthrax to chemicals more thoroughly, cheaply, and reliably than human-made sensors.
"You look at what these animals have picked up or ingested while going about their day-to-day activities," said Kester, whose work is funded by a million-dollar grant from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. The exact details of the funding were not disclosed.
Sure sure. And soon enough, the Pentagon will throw millions more at the "private" sector to build the infrastructure. Not that it will work -- but when you're playing with the taxpayers' money, you don't actually need to make progress.
Free Market Miracle #0009
Backed by the Pentagon, scientists are recruiting insects, shellfish, bacteria and even weeds to act as "bio-sentinels", which give early warning of biological and chemical attacks, detect explosives or monitor the spread of contamination.
At Virginia Commonwealth University, biologist Karen Kester uses bugs as "flying, crawling Q-Tips" that can check their habitats for noxious materials from anthrax to chemicals more thoroughly, cheaply, and reliably than human-made sensors.
"You look at what these animals have picked up or ingested while going about their day-to-day activities," said Kester, whose work is funded by a million-dollar grant from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. The exact details of the funding were not disclosed.
Sure sure. And soon enough, the Pentagon will throw millions more at the "private" sector to build the infrastructure. Not that it will work -- but when you're playing with the taxpayers' money, you don't actually need to make progress.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 03:26 PM
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Far from breaking the back of the insurgency, the capture of Fallujah only served as a signal for the enemy [sic] to launch its own offensive in cities across the Sunni triangle and in Baghdad itself. [...]
The daily number of attacks and incidents in Iraq is now running more than 100 per day, or double what it was before the Fallujah offensive began.
And the can't-tell-whether-he's-smoking-crack-or-laying-cheek-award-of-the-moment goes to reporter Joseph L. Galloway:
Having taken Fallujah in a violent and bloody campaign that took the lives of more than 50 Americans and uncounted Iraqis and virtually destroyed a city where the insurgents and foreign fighters had had sanctuary and free rein for six months, the Americans now are obliged to rebuild what they destroyed. [Emphasis added.]
November 24, 2004
But Hey, At Least We Killed Lots And Lots And Lots Of Niggers
Far from breaking the back of the insurgency, the capture of Fallujah only served as a signal for the enemy [sic] to launch its own offensive in cities across the Sunni triangle and in Baghdad itself. [...]
The daily number of attacks and incidents in Iraq is now running more than 100 per day, or double what it was before the Fallujah offensive began.
And the can't-tell-whether-he's-smoking-crack-or-laying-cheek-award-of-the-moment goes to reporter Joseph L. Galloway:
Having taken Fallujah in a violent and bloody campaign that took the lives of more than 50 Americans and uncounted Iraqis and virtually destroyed a city where the insurgents and foreign fighters had had sanctuary and free rein for six months, the Americans now are obliged to rebuild what they destroyed. [Emphasis added.]
Posted by Eddie Tews at 11:58 PM
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...that its internalisation makes it especially pernicious.
Submitted for approval, Mr. Colin Powell:
We cannot accept this result [the Ukrainian election] as legitimate, because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse.
Submitted, Richard Lugar:
There was a concerted and forceful program of election day fraud and abuse enacted with the leadership or cooperation of authorities.
The objections, surreally enough, are based on the mis-match between exit polling and the ballot counts.
Compare with John Zogby's analysis of the U.S. Presidential election ("Something is definitely wrong,") as well as Greg Palast's break-down of "abuse enacted with the leadership or cooperation of authorities".
Man-sized doublethink for man-sized men!
You Know What They Say About Doublethink...
...that its internalisation makes it especially pernicious.
Submitted for approval, Mr. Colin Powell:
We cannot accept this result [the Ukrainian election] as legitimate, because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse.
Submitted, Richard Lugar:
There was a concerted and forceful program of election day fraud and abuse enacted with the leadership or cooperation of authorities.
The objections, surreally enough, are based on the mis-match between exit polling and the ballot counts.
Compare with John Zogby's analysis of the U.S. Presidential election ("Something is definitely wrong,") as well as Greg Palast's break-down of "abuse enacted with the leadership or cooperation of authorities".
Man-sized doublethink for man-sized men!
Posted by Eddie Tews at 01:16 PM
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From the "The More Things Change" department: a brief look back at the United States' very first "Clash of Civilisations".
After thousands of rounds of ammunition had turned the air blue and thick with gunsmoke, 173 people lay dead, most still in their lodges. The soldiers then cut the bindings of the lodges, collapsing them, and burned them with the people still inside. They gathered up all the food, weapons, and supplies they could carry and rode off toward Fort Shaw, driving the band's horse herds before them.
Although the numbers became a matter of controversy, it is clear that most of the dead were women and children and old people. [Colonel E.M.] Baker, in his report of the incident, claimed that all but fifty-three were abled-bodied warriors, which even by army standards is an absurd body count. Most reports state that a great many of the able-bodied men were out hunting. The winter had already been cruel, many were hungry, and the hunters were out to get meat. Perhaps a more realistic breakdown of the dead was in a report submitted to his superiors by W.A. Pease, the Indian agent: Only fifteen of the dead Indians had been fighting men between the ages of twelve and thirty-seven, while ninety were women and fifty were children. One suspects that the rest of the dead were old people. -- James Welch, Killing Custer, p. 33
Happy Thanksgiving.
Yesterday
From the "The More Things Change" department: a brief look back at the United States' very first "Clash of Civilisations".
After thousands of rounds of ammunition had turned the air blue and thick with gunsmoke, 173 people lay dead, most still in their lodges. The soldiers then cut the bindings of the lodges, collapsing them, and burned them with the people still inside. They gathered up all the food, weapons, and supplies they could carry and rode off toward Fort Shaw, driving the band's horse herds before them.
Although the numbers became a matter of controversy, it is clear that most of the dead were women and children and old people. [Colonel E.M.] Baker, in his report of the incident, claimed that all but fifty-three were abled-bodied warriors, which even by army standards is an absurd body count. Most reports state that a great many of the able-bodied men were out hunting. The winter had already been cruel, many were hungry, and the hunters were out to get meat. Perhaps a more realistic breakdown of the dead was in a report submitted to his superiors by W.A. Pease, the Indian agent: Only fifteen of the dead Indians had been fighting men between the ages of twelve and thirty-seven, while ninety were women and fifty were children. One suspects that the rest of the dead were old people. -- James Welch, Killing Custer, p. 33
Happy Thanksgiving.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 12:50 PM
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The boy's body language speaks volumes, doesn't it? That it has elicited such contempt, even from children, in such a short period of time is one of the leading indictments of the occupation.
November 23, 2004
All Of Them Terrorists
The boy's body language speaks volumes, doesn't it? That it has elicited such contempt, even from children, in such a short period of time is one of the leading indictments of the occupation.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 09:30 PM
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The fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine angered Sunni Muslims in Iraq Tuesday and raised questions about the protection of insurgents once they are out of action. [...]
...the incident could cause major political problems for the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his U.S. backers at a time when Iraqi authorities are seeking to contain a backlash among Sunnis to the invasion of the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
So the event could cause a political problem, but moral issues do not arise. The Pentagon has repeatedly trumpeted its having killed 1,200 "insurgents" in Fallujah, and reports have put the civilian toll at at least 800 dead.
But no political problems arise consequent to these activities. Or, maybe they do:
We are without allies amongst the Iraqi populace, including those who have benefited from the ouster of Saddam. Across Baghdad, Latifiyah, Mahmudiyah, Salman Pak, Baqubah, Balad, Taji, Baiji, Ramadi, and just about everywhere else you can name, the people absolutely hate us.... The Iraqi people have not bought into what the Americans are selling, and no amount of military activity is going to change this fact.
November 17, 2004
Sense Is Being Made
The fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine angered Sunni Muslims in Iraq Tuesday and raised questions about the protection of insurgents once they are out of action. [...]
...the incident could cause major political problems for the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his U.S. backers at a time when Iraqi authorities are seeking to contain a backlash among Sunnis to the invasion of the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
So the event could cause a political problem, but moral issues do not arise. The Pentagon has repeatedly trumpeted its having killed 1,200 "insurgents" in Fallujah, and reports have put the civilian toll at at least 800 dead.
But no political problems arise consequent to these activities. Or, maybe they do:
We are without allies amongst the Iraqi populace, including those who have benefited from the ouster of Saddam. Across Baghdad, Latifiyah, Mahmudiyah, Salman Pak, Baqubah, Balad, Taji, Baiji, Ramadi, and just about everywhere else you can name, the people absolutely hate us.... The Iraqi people have not bought into what the Americans are selling, and no amount of military activity is going to change this fact.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 04:04 PM
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"Alarmists continue to pursue doomsday scenarios about global warming, but without releasing the basis for their claims." -- Sen. James Inhofe, Chairman of the Environment Committee
Quote Of The Moment #0082
"Alarmists continue to pursue doomsday scenarios about global warming, but without releasing the basis for their claims." -- Sen. James Inhofe, Chairman of the Environment Committee
Posted by Eddie Tews at 03:50 PM
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November 16, 2004
"The U.S. military says 100 per cent of the city of Fallujah has been secured by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers."
Posted by Eddie Tews at 11:44 AM
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Wild elephant herds have been terrorizing India's remote northeast, killing people, flattening houses and even guzzling local rice-beer supplies, prompting villagers to retaliate against the pachyderms with firecrackers and bonfires.
November 14, 2004
Time To "Preempt" Mother Nature
Wild elephant herds have been terrorizing India's remote northeast, killing people, flattening houses and even guzzling local rice-beer supplies, prompting villagers to retaliate against the pachyderms with firecrackers and bonfires.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 04:03 PM
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On another occasion, the snipers tensed when they heard movement in the direction of a smoldering building. A cat sauntered out, unconcerned with anything but making its rounds in the neighborhood.
"Can I shoot it, sir?" a sniper asked an officer.
"Absolutely not," came the reply.
We Need That Ammo To Shoot Niggers With
On another occasion, the snipers tensed when they heard movement in the direction of a smoldering building. A cat sauntered out, unconcerned with anything but making its rounds in the neighborhood.
"Can I shoot it, sir?" a sniper asked an officer.
"Absolutely not," came the reply.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 10:18 AM
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United States troops have prevented a Red Crescent convoy of emergency aid from reaching residents inside the Iraqi city of Fallujah, after allowing it as far as the main hospital.
Hopes were raised that the military would make an exception to a no-entry rule when the trucks were allowed as far as the Fallujah general hospital, which was seized ahead of a U.S.-Iraqi assault to gain control of the city.
But Red Crescent spokeswoman Ferdus al-Ibadi says wounded residents inside the battle zone have been forbidden from entering the fully equipped facility while U.S. forces stopped the aid convoy from reaching them.
The U.S. military was not immediately available for comment.
* * *
Aid agencies warned of a humanitarian disaster in Fallujah and neighbouring areas, with outbreaks of typhoid and other diseases. Eight groups said in a joint letter that there were now 200,000 refugees who have fled the fighting and are without food, water or shelter. People leaving the city described rotting bodies piling up on the streets.
* * *
A drive through the city revealed a picture of utter destruction, with concrete houses flattened, mosques in ruins, telegraph poles down, power and phone lines hanging slack and rubble and human remains littering the empty streets. The north-west Jolan district, once an insurgent stronghold, looked like a ghost town, the only sound the rumbling of tank tracks.
* * *
Once the sky stopped raining fire and the smoke from the tank cannons vanished, it was time to pick up the pieces. But where to start? What had been houses were now piles of brick and glass, demolished by 500-pound bombs. Whole city blocks were leveled, the rubble and mangled carcasses of cars pushed to the sides of the streets by the force of Abrams tanks. In crushing the Sunni insurgents who had laid claim to the streets, U.S. and Iraqi forces left Fallujah looking like a city ripped asunder by a hurricane. "It's in bad shape. I don't know what they [residents] have to come back to," said Sgt. 1st Class John Ryan of the 1st Infantry's Division Task Force 2-2, which flanked U.S. marines on the eastern side of the city during the fighting.
* * *
Thousands of Fallujah refugee families are living in dire conditions in makeshift shelters around the city. Those not lucky enough to have relatives in Baghdad are camping in places like the University of Baghdad campus. Nobody has received any aid from Allawi's government and its Ministry of Health -- no medicine, no doctors; although there has been a rhetorical promise. Baghdad is filled with refugees telling horror stories of fear under the relentless American bombing: of being sprayed with what they claim was poisonous gas; of snipers killing women and children or anyone trying to cross the Euphrates river; of no water, no electricity, and no food. No Sunni in his right mind believes in the "reconstruction" of Fallujah: they point to the example of Sadr City -- bombed in October and still in ruins. The Iraqi Red Crescent says all their relief teams are still blocked from entering Fallujah, while the Americans say the refugees will have to wait at least two more weeks before they can go back to their city in ruins.
November 13, 2004
All Smiles
United States troops have prevented a Red Crescent convoy of emergency aid from reaching residents inside the Iraqi city of Fallujah, after allowing it as far as the main hospital.
Hopes were raised that the military would make an exception to a no-entry rule when the trucks were allowed as far as the Fallujah general hospital, which was seized ahead of a U.S.-Iraqi assault to gain control of the city.
But Red Crescent spokeswoman Ferdus al-Ibadi says wounded residents inside the battle zone have been forbidden from entering the fully equipped facility while U.S. forces stopped the aid convoy from reaching them.
The U.S. military was not immediately available for comment.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 06:29 PM
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The Pentagon is pulling out all stops to "liberate" the people of Fallujah. According to residents, the city is now littered with thousands of cluster bombs. In an explosive accusation -- and not substantiated -- an Iraqi doctor who requested anonymity has told al-Quds Press that "the U.S. occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally banned chemical weapons." The Washington Post has confirmed that U.S. troops are firing white-phosphorus rounds that create a screen of fire impervious to water.
Dr Muhammad Ismail, a member of the governing board of Fallujah's general hospital "captured" by the Americans at the outset of Operation Phantom Fury, has called all Iraqi doctors for urgent help. Ismail told Iraqi and Arab press that the number of wounded civilians is growing exponentially -- and medical supplies are almost non-existent. He confirmed that U.S. troops had arrested many members of the hospital's medical staff and had sealed the storage of medical supplies.
The wounded in Fallujah are in essence left to die. There is not a single surgeon in town. And practically no doctors as well, as the Pentagon decided to bomb both the al-Hadar Hospital and the Zayid Mobile Hospital. So far, the International Committee of the Red Cross has reacted with thunderous apathy.
Norman Solomon has more information regarding the phosphorous bombs. Wonder if the military is also using the "fireballs" that it acknowledged are "remarkable similar" to napalm, as it did during the initial invasion?
November 11, 2004
WMD "Discovered" In Iraq
The Pentagon is pulling out all stops to "liberate" the people of Fallujah. According to residents, the city is now littered with thousands of cluster bombs. In an explosive accusation -- and not substantiated -- an Iraqi doctor who requested anonymity has told al-Quds Press that "the U.S. occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally banned chemical weapons." The Washington Post has confirmed that U.S. troops are firing white-phosphorus rounds that create a screen of fire impervious to water.
Dr Muhammad Ismail, a member of the governing board of Fallujah's general hospital "captured" by the Americans at the outset of Operation Phantom Fury, has called all Iraqi doctors for urgent help. Ismail told Iraqi and Arab press that the number of wounded civilians is growing exponentially -- and medical supplies are almost non-existent. He confirmed that U.S. troops had arrested many members of the hospital's medical staff and had sealed the storage of medical supplies.
The wounded in Fallujah are in essence left to die. There is not a single surgeon in town. And practically no doctors as well, as the Pentagon decided to bomb both the al-Hadar Hospital and the Zayid Mobile Hospital. So far, the International Committee of the Red Cross has reacted with thunderous apathy.
Norman Solomon has more information regarding the phosphorous bombs. Wonder if the military is also using the "fireballs" that it acknowledged are "remarkable similar" to napalm, as it did during the initial invasion?
Posted by Eddie Tews at 04:33 PM
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"So Far, We've Blowed Up 600 Niggers And A Hospital..."
Posted by Eddie Tews at 03:26 PM
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• Ugh. I was soooo looking forward to being able to relax on the activism, and now we'll have to redouble our efforts.
• I was on the ferry when I heard that Kerry conceded. I literally got tears in my eyes. I was so optimistic about change occurring in our society. Kerry might not be the ideal president, but I envisioned a country bold enough to elect someone who was ready to chart a new and safer course for our country. ... These events have pushed me even farther to the left, and I think I'll become an activist with a local chapter of an environmental group when Bush decides to open the pristine Alaskan wilderness to oil drilling.
These letters help to demonstrate why it was imperative that Bush be re-elected.
Quotes Of The Moment #0081
• Ugh. I was soooo looking forward to being able to relax on the activism, and now we'll have to redouble our efforts.
• I was on the ferry when I heard that Kerry conceded. I literally got tears in my eyes. I was so optimistic about change occurring in our society. Kerry might not be the ideal president, but I envisioned a country bold enough to elect someone who was ready to chart a new and safer course for our country. ... These events have pushed me even farther to the left, and I think I'll become an activist with a local chapter of an environmental group when Bush decides to open the pristine Alaskan wilderness to oil drilling.
These letters help to demonstrate why it was imperative that Bush be re-elected.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 02:54 PM
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Although the troubles in Iraq have only drawn a cautious official response from Muslim countries, including the Arab League asking the U.S. not to invade Fallujah, a far deeper impact has been made on Muslim masses across the globe, where increasingly they are becoming motivated to take up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance.
One can't but ask why it is that only Muslim masses are becoming motivated to take up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance?
Once upon a time, masses from all corners -- including from the United States -- converged on Spain to take up arms against the Fascists.
Seventy years later, as the Iraqi Resistance makes an heroic stand against an invader every bit as vicious and brutal as its predecessor (even more barbaric, really: the Nazis never used radioactive munitions, though surely they would liked to have had them at their disposal), where is the new Abraham Lincoln Brigade?
Why are not Americans and Europeans taking up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance? Why is not an American Refusenik movement, along the lines of the Israeli movement refusing to take part in "the missions of occupation and repression", beginning to take seed in Iraq?
Granted, the ideologies of many people comprising the Iraqi Resistance doesn't exactly inspire the same romantic wanderlust as the Spanish Anarchists -- nor even of the NLF or the EZLN. And, granted, many of those that might be inclined to such an undertaking are predisposed to nonviolence.
So then, why aren't Europeans and North Americans by the tens of thousands descending upon Iraq to bear witness against, and hopefully discourage, the Empire's depredations?
Is Donald H. Rumsfeld going to give the order to bomb hospitals and residences knowing there is white skin in them? Yeah, probably. But will the grunts carry out such orders? Not as likely.
Update, 11/11/04: A Dispatch from Dahr Jamail points up another avenue:
He talks to me about his friend's family. "They are so poor, they live 21 people in a house with three bedrooms, and they are good people," he says, before going on to explain more about his dead friends' situation.
He was working as a translator for the military because he had to earn money for his family. Unfortunately, he was working with TITAN, a private security company. It was either starve to death, or work with the coalition.
He was on a military patrol in Baghdad when it came under attack near the Taji airbase and his friend was shot by the resistance.
If we can get money into the hands of Iraqi civilians, they won't be forced to work for the "Coalition"; and they won't, therefore, be gunned down by the Resistance.
November 10, 2004
Race War or Class War?
Although the troubles in Iraq have only drawn a cautious official response from Muslim countries, including the Arab League asking the U.S. not to invade Fallujah, a far deeper impact has been made on Muslim masses across the globe, where increasingly they are becoming motivated to take up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance.
One can't but ask why it is that only Muslim masses are becoming motivated to take up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance?
Once upon a time, masses from all corners -- including from the United States -- converged on Spain to take up arms against the Fascists.
Seventy years later, as the Iraqi Resistance makes an heroic stand against an invader every bit as vicious and brutal as its predecessor (even more barbaric, really: the Nazis never used radioactive munitions, though surely they would liked to have had them at their disposal), where is the new Abraham Lincoln Brigade?
Why are not Americans and Europeans taking up arms in support of the Iraqi resistance? Why is not an American Refusenik movement, along the lines of the Israeli movement refusing to take part in "the missions of occupation and repression", beginning to take seed in Iraq?
Granted, the ideologies of many people comprising the Iraqi Resistance doesn't exactly inspire the same romantic wanderlust as the Spanish Anarchists -- nor even of the NLF or the EZLN. And, granted, many of those that might be inclined to such an undertaking are predisposed to nonviolence.
So then, why aren't Europeans and North Americans by the tens of thousands descending upon Iraq to bear witness against, and hopefully discourage, the Empire's depredations?
Is Donald H. Rumsfeld going to give the order to bomb hospitals and residences knowing there is white skin in them? Yeah, probably. But will the grunts carry out such orders? Not as likely.
Update, 11/11/04: A Dispatch from Dahr Jamail points up another avenue:
He talks to me about his friend's family. "They are so poor, they live 21 people in a house with three bedrooms, and they are good people," he says, before going on to explain more about his dead friends' situation.
He was working as a translator for the military because he had to earn money for his family. Unfortunately, he was working with TITAN, a private security company. It was either starve to death, or work with the coalition.
He was on a military patrol in Baghdad when it came under attack near the Taji airbase and his friend was shot by the resistance.
If we can get money into the hands of Iraqi civilians, they won't be forced to work for the "Coalition"; and they won't, therefore, be gunned down by the Resistance.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 07:58 PM
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After serving a 12-month tour of duty in Iraq last year, Marine Lance Corporal Jeff Lucey returned home to his relieved family with no injuries -- or at least none that were visible. "When we didn't see him tremendously traumatized when he returned, we thought, 'Oh, thank god,'" says his father, Kevin Lucey. "And then it exploded."
For months the 23-year-old battled his wartime demons; nightmares, bouts of depression and anxiety, and crushing guilt -- classic symptoms of acute post-traumatic stress.
"He told me he was a murderer," says Jeff's sister, Debra. "He said, 'Don't you understand? Your brother’s a murderer.'"
On June 22, 2004, Jeff Lucey lost his battle. He hanged himself from a rafter in the cellar of his family home.
"He did something, or he saw something, that destroyed him," ventures his mother, Joyce. "So that when he came back, he took his own life."
And he's not the only one: "A recent spike in Air Force suicides, 10 in September, has leaders scrambling to find the cause after launching prevention programs this year because of a gradual rise."
Three times as many Vietnam Veterans committed suicide as were killed in battle.
You think maybe it could be to do with the nature of their job?
November 09, 2004
Rah! Rah! Fucking Rah!
After serving a 12-month tour of duty in Iraq last year, Marine Lance Corporal Jeff Lucey returned home to his relieved family with no injuries -- or at least none that were visible. "When we didn't see him tremendously traumatized when he returned, we thought, 'Oh, thank god,'" says his father, Kevin Lucey. "And then it exploded."
For months the 23-year-old battled his wartime demons; nightmares, bouts of depression and anxiety, and crushing guilt -- classic symptoms of acute post-traumatic stress.
"He told me he was a murderer," says Jeff's sister, Debra. "He said, 'Don't you understand? Your brother’s a murderer.'"
On June 22, 2004, Jeff Lucey lost his battle. He hanged himself from a rafter in the cellar of his family home.
"He did something, or he saw something, that destroyed him," ventures his mother, Joyce. "So that when he came back, he took his own life."
And he's not the only one: "A recent spike in Air Force suicides, 10 in September, has leaders scrambling to find the cause after launching prevention programs this year because of a gradual rise."
Three times as many Vietnam Veterans committed suicide as were killed in battle.
You think maybe it could be to do with the nature of their job?
Posted by Eddie Tews at 05:21 PM
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"Listen, these folks are determined. These are killers. They chop people's heads off. They're getting money from around the world. They're getting recruits," says Donald H. Rumsfeld.
If we take him at his word (never a good idea when dealing with The H.), it's an obvious admission that the Bush Administration is getting its ass handed to it by "these folks" in the so-called "War On Terror".
Before the war, Hosni Mubarak warned that it would spawn "100 new bin Ladens". His prophecy is apparently ever more accurate by the day, as even Rumsfeld admits.
And we can imagine the exhortations used to gain new recruits: "Listen, these 'folks' are determined. They are killers. They bomb hospitals. They shoot up ambulances. They smear you with feces and drag you by the neck."
* * *
As the U.S. military launched the most significant offensive in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, Rumsfeld argued yesterday that Iraqi public opinion was at a "tipping point" and that defeating the insurgents in Fallujah could help nudge a large majority of Iraqis into supporting the U.S.-backed interim government.
So, Rumsfeld acknowledges that, eighteen months into the operation, the "Multinational Force" has yet to win the hearts and minds of those it has "liberated". "Tipping point" may be stretching it a bit, though: even George W., during an interview with Bill O'Reill, didn't disupte the estimation that "only five percent of the Iraqi people see the United States as liberators."
Rumsfeld. Foot. Mouth. Again.
"Listen, these folks are determined. These are killers. They chop people's heads off. They're getting money from around the world. They're getting recruits," says Donald H. Rumsfeld.
If we take him at his word (never a good idea when dealing with The H.), it's an obvious admission that the Bush Administration is getting its ass handed to it by "these folks" in the so-called "War On Terror".
Before the war, Hosni Mubarak warned that it would spawn "100 new bin Ladens". His prophecy is apparently ever more accurate by the day, as even Rumsfeld admits.
And we can imagine the exhortations used to gain new recruits: "Listen, these 'folks' are determined. They are killers. They bomb hospitals. They shoot up ambulances. They smear you with feces and drag you by the neck."
As the U.S. military launched the most significant offensive in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, Rumsfeld argued yesterday that Iraqi public opinion was at a "tipping point" and that defeating the insurgents in Fallujah could help nudge a large majority of Iraqis into supporting the U.S.-backed interim government.
So, Rumsfeld acknowledges that, eighteen months into the operation, the "Multinational Force" has yet to win the hearts and minds of those it has "liberated". "Tipping point" may be stretching it a bit, though: even George W., during an interview with Bill O'Reill, didn't disupte the estimation that "only five percent of the Iraqi people see the United States as liberators."
Posted by Eddie Tews at 04:29 PM
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"You know, we're going to destroy this town," said Capt. Travis Barreto, 22, as he and other soldiers advanced in an armored vehicle.
"I hope so," replied the soldier sitting next to him.
Destroy No Save
"You know, we're going to destroy this town," said Capt. Travis Barreto, 22, as he and other soldiers advanced in an armored vehicle.
"I hope so," replied the soldier sitting next to him.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 04:07 PM
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For three hours, the doughnut mountain grew. Only a red-velvet rope kept the crowd from a sort of sugary promised land: a 363,600-calorie wedding cake, the tallest ever built.
* * *
A hospital has been razed to the ground in one of the heaviest U.S. air raids in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Witnesses said only the facade remained of the small Nazzal Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city. There are no reports on casualties.
November 08, 2004
For three hours, the doughnut mountain grew. Only a red-velvet rope kept the crowd from a sort of sugary promised land: a 363,600-calorie wedding cake, the tallest ever built.
A hospital has been razed to the ground in one of the heaviest U.S. air raids in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Witnesses said only the facade remained of the small Nazzal Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city. There are no reports on casualties.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 03:13 PM
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The questioners wondering why nary a pink slip was issued in the wake of the disastrous failures allowing the 9/11 attacks to happen and in botching the occupation of Iraq are, of course, justified in raising the questions. (Though they'd be even more justified in asking why the entirety of the Bush Administration isn't wasting away in gaol...)
But now let the questions also rain down concerning the job security of the strategists in the Democratic party. Hey, morons: if you select a Republican candidate, and endorse Republican policies, people may as well vote for the genuine Republican article.
You can see the thinking of the DNC movers and shakers: we have to run to the right, because that's the mood of the country. Screw our principles, this is about politics. And power.
If the Republican party's soul is as black as soot, at least it has a soul.
November 03, 2004
Heads Will Roll?
The questioners wondering why nary a pink slip was issued in the wake of the disastrous failures allowing the 9/11 attacks to happen and in botching the occupation of Iraq are, of course, justified in raising the questions. (Though they'd be even more justified in asking why the entirety of the Bush Administration isn't wasting away in gaol...)
But now let the questions also rain down concerning the job security of the strategists in the Democratic party. Hey, morons: if you select a Republican candidate, and endorse Republican policies, people may as well vote for the genuine Republican article.
You can see the thinking of the DNC movers and shakers: we have to run to the right, because that's the mood of the country. Screw our principles, this is about politics. And power.
If the Republican party's soul is as black as soot, at least it has a soul.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 10:09 AM
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A few weeks back, in "endorsing" George W., we wrote that "the Bush agenda is running up against constraints imposed by resistance from abroad, at home, and, lately, in the judiciary..."
Since that writing, yet more cracks have begun to appear in the facade. In case you missed them:
• The stunning Eminem video, "Mosh".
• Uruguay has elected a socialist President, joining up with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia in opposing the Beast.
• "The FBI appears to have widened its probe into Halliburton, investigating allegations from a top Army Corps of Engineers official about the way the Bush administration handed out billions of dollars in contracts to the politically connected company."
• It's getting hotter in Tom DeLay's kitchen.
• Saboteurs have mounted the biggest attacks yet on Iraq's oil infrastructure, blowing up three pipelines in the north and hitting exports via Turkey, oil officials said Tuesday. [...] "Technically, the system was shut down."
• China has signed a $100 Billion natural gas deal with Iran, with a $100 Billion oil deal in the works. (Britain has also said that it will not cooperate with any military operations in Iran -- but we can't but surmise that Tony Blair's arm can be twisted easily enough.)
• U.S. District Judge James Robertson has shut down pre-trial hearings in a case in Guantanamo, arguing that the Bush Administration is in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The Administration "vigorously" disagrees with the Robertson's having put "terrorism on the same legal footing as legitimate methods of waging war." (For more on the United States' "legitimate" methods, see here and here.)
• John Ashcroft and Donald Evans have resigned from Bush's Cabinet; while Rumsfeld, Powell, and Rice are thought to also be on the way out. Not in and of itself a constraint on the Bush Administration's power, but the rats may be even more acutely aware than is the public of the amount of water being taken on by the Administration ship.
• "There's confusion throughout the ranks and an extraordinary loss of morale and incentive," at the CIA, after resignations apparently inspired by new Director Porter Goss' intransigence.
• "Air Force Secretary James G. Roche and the service's senior weapons acquisition manager plan to resign before the start of the second Bush administration, senior Defense Department officials said yesterday. Roche and Air Force assistant secretary for acquisitions Marvin R. Sambur were involved in the past three years in a scandal-ridden proposal to lease new fuel tanker aircraft for the Air Force from the Boeing Co.."
• The defeat over the weekend of President Bush's attempts to fund research and possibly development of a new family of nuclear weapons was hailed Monday [November 22] by arms control advocates as their biggest success in more than a decade.
The fuckers in and around the Bush Administration are on the run, I tells ya!
November 02, 2004
The Empire Flails
A few weeks back, in "endorsing" George W., we wrote that "the Bush agenda is running up against constraints imposed by resistance from abroad, at home, and, lately, in the judiciary..."
Since that writing, yet more cracks have begun to appear in the facade. In case you missed them:
• The stunning Eminem video, "Mosh".
• Uruguay has elected a socialist President, joining up with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia in opposing the Beast.
• "The FBI appears to have widened its probe into Halliburton, investigating allegations from a top Army Corps of Engineers official about the way the Bush administration handed out billions of dollars in contracts to the politically connected company."
• It's getting hotter in Tom DeLay's kitchen.
• Saboteurs have mounted the biggest attacks yet on Iraq's oil infrastructure, blowing up three pipelines in the north and hitting exports via Turkey, oil officials said Tuesday. [...] "Technically, the system was shut down."
• China has signed a $100 Billion natural gas deal with Iran, with a $100 Billion oil deal in the works. (Britain has also said that it will not cooperate with any military operations in Iran -- but we can't but surmise that Tony Blair's arm can be twisted easily enough.)
• U.S. District Judge James Robertson has shut down pre-trial hearings in a case in Guantanamo, arguing that the Bush Administration is in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The Administration "vigorously" disagrees with the Robertson's having put "terrorism on the same legal footing as legitimate methods of waging war." (For more on the United States' "legitimate" methods, see here and here.)
• John Ashcroft and Donald Evans have resigned from Bush's Cabinet; while Rumsfeld, Powell, and Rice are thought to also be on the way out. Not in and of itself a constraint on the Bush Administration's power, but the rats may be even more acutely aware than is the public of the amount of water being taken on by the Administration ship.
• "There's confusion throughout the ranks and an extraordinary loss of morale and incentive," at the CIA, after resignations apparently inspired by new Director Porter Goss' intransigence.
• "Air Force Secretary James G. Roche and the service's senior weapons acquisition manager plan to resign before the start of the second Bush administration, senior Defense Department officials said yesterday. Roche and Air Force assistant secretary for acquisitions Marvin R. Sambur were involved in the past three years in a scandal-ridden proposal to lease new fuel tanker aircraft for the Air Force from the Boeing Co.."
• The defeat over the weekend of President Bush's attempts to fund research and possibly development of a new family of nuclear weapons was hailed Monday [November 22] by arms control advocates as their biggest success in more than a decade.
The fuckers in and around the Bush Administration are on the run, I tells ya!
Posted by Eddie Tews at 05:24 PM
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I can never be the man I was before I left for Iraq. I had a lot of faith. I was a true believer in the administration's justification for the war -– about the weapons of mass destruction and Iraq being an imminent threat. I believed in what we were doing when we were over there.
That belief I had in the administration allowed me to balance what I was seeing, what I was experiencing, what I was a part of. With all that death and destruction -– the deaths of soldiers and Iraqi civilians who were caught in the crossfire –- it helped that I believed that it was all for a greater good. [...]
I know the real transition in me happened when my eyes were opened –- when I realized that there were no weapons of mass destruction. I realized that Saddam Hussein was not a threat to not just the United States but to any of the countries on his borders. That there was no tie to Sept. 11. And these were what I now believe were intentional misrepresentations and manipulation.
When you realize this, then you don't have anything to balance everything you've seen and been through. You're just stuck with it. And it hurts. You have to deal with what you've already been through –- the death and destruction that's haunting you. But now you're also dealing with a sense of betrayal that you'd trusted most. That's what I was left with –- what I'm still left with.
So in terms of change, I now don't have any faith in the policymakers of this administration. -- Sean Huze, United States Marine Corps
Quote Of The Moment #0080
I can never be the man I was before I left for Iraq. I had a lot of faith. I was a true believer in the administration's justification for the war -– about the weapons of mass destruction and Iraq being an imminent threat. I believed in what we were doing when we were over there.
That belief I had in the administration allowed me to balance what I was seeing, what I was experiencing, what I was a part of. With all that death and destruction -– the deaths of soldiers and Iraqi civilians who were caught in the crossfire –- it helped that I believed that it was all for a greater good. [...]
I know the real transition in me happened when my eyes were opened –- when I realized that there were no weapons of mass destruction. I realized that Saddam Hussein was not a threat to not just the United States but to any of the countries on his borders. That there was no tie to Sept. 11. And these were what I now believe were intentional misrepresentations and manipulation.
When you realize this, then you don't have anything to balance everything you've seen and been through. You're just stuck with it. And it hurts. You have to deal with what you've already been through –- the death and destruction that's haunting you. But now you're also dealing with a sense of betrayal that you'd trusted most. That's what I was left with –- what I'm still left with.
So in terms of change, I now don't have any faith in the policymakers of this administration. -- Sean Huze, United States Marine Corps
Posted by Eddie Tews at 08:54 AM
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After all, pretty much everyone outside the White House now (yeah, it was a long time coming) considers the war in Iraq to have been an illegal undertaking.
And if he is deemed by his captors to be an "Illegal Combatant", outside the purview of the Geneva Conventions, how will he be treated?
Insurgents have captured an American soldier in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, an Iraqi police spokesman said Tuesday.
Gee, Think He'll Be Labeled An "Illegal Combatant"?
After all, pretty much everyone outside the White House now (yeah, it was a long time coming) considers the war in Iraq to have been an illegal undertaking.
And if he is deemed by his captors to be an "Illegal Combatant", outside the purview of the Geneva Conventions, how will he be treated?
Insurgents have captured an American soldier in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, an Iraqi police spokesman said Tuesday.
Posted by Eddie Tews at 08:50 AM
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"In truth, the campaigns our fighting men and women conducted to overthrow regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq will be studied for years for their brilliance, and that ought to be acknowledged." -- Vice President Dick Cheney
November 01, 2004
Quote Of The Moment #0079
"In truth, the campaigns our fighting men and women conducted to overthrow regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq will be studied for years for their brilliance, and that ought to be acknowledged." -- Vice President Dick Cheney
Posted by Eddie Tews at 01:05 PM
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"The enemy is willing to sacrifice lives. They are willing to martyr themselves for what they believe is an important cause. ... The rules of war don't apply for them," according to Lt. Colonel Michael Ramos.
So, being willing to martyr oneself in fighting an occupying army isn't playing fair. But destroying a city in order to "save" it is playing fair -- even when, in the words of the assault's planners, "there will be some loss of innocent lives".
While Staff Sgt. Dennis Nash has "been waiting for this fight ever since I joined the Marines," Ramos bemoans an ambulance that may have been a car bomb. Question: is either one willing to arm himself only to the extent that the "terrorists" they're planning to "whack" are armed? Would that be playing by the "rules of war"?
The Rules Of War
"The enemy is willing to sacrifice lives. They are willing to martyr themselves for what they believe is an important cause. ... The rules of war don't apply for them," according to Lt. Colonel Michael Ramos.
So, being willing to martyr oneself in fighting an occupying army isn't playing fair. But destroying a city in order to "save" it is playing fair -- even when, in the words of the assault's planners, "there will be some loss of innocent lives".
While Staff Sgt. Dennis Nash has "been waiting for this fight ever since I joined the Marines," Ramos bemoans an ambulance that may have been a car bomb. Question: is either one willing to arm himself only to the extent that the "terrorists" they're planning to "whack" are armed? Would that be playing by the "rules of war"?