Even the NYT has realized that blindly supporting Ariel Sharon's lunacy may be not the best possible policy.

To be just, workable and sustainable, any peace plan will have to divide that land into two coherent territories that are defensible and economically viable. The presence of more than 250,000 Israeli settlers scattered across the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights, leaving aside the added complications of East Jerusalem, make that division immeasurably harder.

Incidentally adding the colonisers in East Jerusalem takes their numbers to more like 400,000.

More Abu Graib revelations from the Washington Post.
"There were two MP dog handlers who did use dogs to threaten kids detained at Abu Ghraib"

Compassionate liberation. Four more years.

Bush in his ad tells us of the 'liberation' of Iraq, Afghanistan. We are told "At this Olympics there will be two more free nations -- and two fewer terrorist regimes."

In Sports Illustrated members of the Iraqi football (soccer) team give their views. One player says: "Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign. He can find another way to advertise himself."

Another player:"How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes."

The coach: "The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the [national] stadium and there are shootings on the road?"

More on this from the Guardian, the coach: "We do not have freedom in Iraq, we have an occupying force. This is one of our most miserable times. Freedom is just a word for the media."

Meanwhile in Afganistan, the Red Cross is pulling out because it is so unsafe, following Medecins Sans Frontieres who declared they are leaving some time ago (link).

Comments on the 2004 Democratic Party platform :
The word "terror" appears 59 times.
The phrase "war on terror" 7 times.
The word "homeland" 10 times.
The word "security" 57 times.
The word "education" 29 times.
The word "hunger" appears 2 times.
The word "homeless" 1 time.
The word "unemployed" 1 time.

We are told "U.S. and international policies must take into consideration the best interests of the Iraqi people", I suppose an improvement over the Bushies but hardly a powerful statement of support for the rights of Iraqis.

On Israel/Palestine, we are told "we will ensure that under all circumstances, Israel retains the qualitative edge for its national security and its right to self-defense". The Palestinians, (of course) need to be "committed to fighting terror" while accepting that "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and should remain an undivided city", in other words that occupied East Jerusalem will never be part of a Palestinian state.
The Democrats give away more Palestinian rights: "The creation of a Palestinian state should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel."
My favorite is: "Furthermore, all understand that it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949."
I guess I am not one of all, neither are the vast majority of the Palestinians, nor numerous Israeli activists, US Jewish groups, the United Nations, the International Court, the European Union, the Geneva Conventions, ...

Thumbs up.

Haaretz:

Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday afternoon when Israel Defense Forces helicopter gunships and tanks fired missiles and shells at a crowd of protestors in Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The IDF said in a statement that it had not targeted the crowd; military sources one of the tank shells either passed through a nearby abandoned building or went off course and hit the demonstrators.

Palestinian witnesses said most of those killed were school children, The witnesses also said that four missiles were fired from the air.

At least sixty people, including many women and children, were wounded in the incident, witnesses said. The incident brings the day's death toll in the area to 13.

This comes after a few days of home demolitions and of course strong denounciation by the US here

House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) told the AIPAC conference on Monday that he would urge passage of a House resolution saying there is no right of return for Palestinians "and that Israel will not retreat behind
the 1967 borders."

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) also said he would spearhead a resolution.

Bush said: "Finally, AIPAC elected a president I can kiss"

Rice, speaking in Berlin after a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, said the United States had told Israel "that some of their actions don't create the best atmosphere."

For the last few days Israel has been demolishing homes in Rafah in the process killing dozens and leaving thousands homeless. Amnesty International reported that "More than 10% of Gaza's agricultural land has been destroyed in the past three and a half years" and destroyed "More than 3,000 homes"

Amira Hass: "Neither the armed men nor the weapons smuggled through the tunnels are a strategic threat to Israel. Rarely do they manage to strike successfully at the soldiers and cause real pain. Usually, they are merely a nuisance for the military patrols that routinely fire into Rafah, whether they have been fired on or not. But the danger posed by the armed men and the tunnels is so inflated that the statistics of destruction and death sown by Israel in Rafah go largely ignored - in Israel. In Rafah, on the other hand, it feeds the conclusion reached the other day by a religious lawyer. 'Everyone in Israel - opposition, left, Labor - bears responsibility for what their government is doing here.'"

Suprisingly Newsweek reports on the policies involved in bringing freedom and the american way to the evildoers of Afghanistan/Iraq:

"The White House was undeterred. By Jan. 25, 2002, according to a memo obtained by NEWSWEEK, it was clear that Bush had already decided that the Geneva Conventions did not apply at all, either to the Taliban or Al Qaeda. In the memo, which was written to Bush by Gonzales, the White House legal counsel told the president that Powell had 'requested that you reconsider that decision.' Gonzales then laid out startlingly broad arguments that anticipated any objections to the conduct of U.S. soldiers or CIA interrogators in the future. 'As you have said, the war against terrorism is a new kind of war,' Gonzales wrote to Bush. 'The nature of the new war places a �high premium on other factors, such as the ability to quickly obtain information from captured terrorists and their sponsors in order to avoid further atrocities against American civilians.' Gonzales concluded in stark terms: 'In my judgment, this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.'"

Sy Hersh: "The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld's decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of elite combat units, and hurt America's prospects in the war on terror."

BBC: "An Islamic militant website has shown a video apparently showing the beheading of an American in Iraq.
The video showed five men in headscarves and ski masks cutting off the man's head with a knife.
Moments earlier the victim, bound and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, said he was an American from Philadelphia.
The group, thought to be linked to al-Qaeda, said it was carrying out the killing in retaliation for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers."

The brutality continues.

Another star is O'Reilly Factor in this case interviewing Sy Hersh and displaying his skills as a journalist

O'REILLY: Continuing now with investigative reporter Seymour Hersh from Washington, who has the cover story in 'The New Yorker' magazine about the Iraq torture situation.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I see unfolding here from what you told me and then General Karpinski told me is that there is a tension between the interrogators who wanted to find out by you know, using means that are dubious information, and the military police who basically who objected to some of these techniques.
But you can understand that like Vietnam, you have people shooting at Americans, blowing them up, and then running into mosques and hiding behind children and all of that. So how far do we go to get the information that protects our own troops?
That I guess is the essential question that led to this scandal, correct?
HERSH: Yes, but one of the things, the problem you have, of course you have to go if you're dealing with hardened Al Qaeda. There's not much mercy. And none of us would have much mercy.
The problem here is they were picking on people that they hadn't made any differentiation on. They didn't know. And you know, and the kind of stuff that was going on, Mr. O'Reilly, when you take an Arab man and you make him walk naked in front of other men, this is the greatest shame they can have. And then you have them simulate homosexual activities. You have young women and young men, the women in particular, videotaping and photographing them doing this. This is actually a form of torture and coercion.
O'REILLY: No, there's no question about it. And there's no question. There's no justification for it. But how do you wind up in a prison if you're just innocent and didn't do anything? See, our commanders and ourembedded reporters tell me that they're way too busy to be rounding up guys in the marketplace and throwing them into prison.
So I'm going to dispute your contention that we had a lot of people in there with just no rap sheets at all, who were just picked up for no reason at all. The people who were in the prison were suspected of being either Al Qaeda or terrorists who were killing Americans and knew something about it.
HERSH: The problem is that it isn't my contention. It's the contention of Maj. Gen. Taguba, who was appointed by General Sanchez to do the investigation.
It's his contention, in his report, that more than 60 percent of the people in that prison, detainees, civilians, had nothing to do with the war effort.
O'REILLY: How did they get there then? Because I...
HERSH: Because how do they get into the prison?
I'll tell you how they get there. You bust the guy that doesn't have anything to do. You humiliate him. You break him down. You interrogate him. He gives up the name of you want to know who is an insurgent, who is Al Qaeda? He gives up any name he knows.
O'REILLY: Do you really believe that U.S. forces were sweeping Baghdad, and the others -- you're just picking people up off the street for no reason?
HERSH: Well, inevitably you get people in a sweep that have nothing to with what you're looking for.
O'REILLY: All right, now that's true. But to the number of...
HERSH: Of course.
O'REILLY: ...50 percent, I'm not buying that. I mean, I could be wrong. But I'm going on the basis of our reporters in the field. And I'm asking them, have you ever seen any of these -- no. These guys are way to busy. They got stuff to do all day long. They're not sweeping people up.
HERSH: We're talking about last fall, when things weren't as acute as they are now, certainly it's a terrible situation right now. And everybody -- nobody is sweeping anything. They're in forced protection.
O'REILLY: Right.
HERSH: But last fall, things were much calmer. People were being swept. This did happen.
O'REILLY: All right.

Senator Inhofe gets the prize for trying hard to get to the bottom of US crimes:

SEN. INHOFE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I -- well, first of all, I regret I wasn't here on Friday. I was unable to be here. But maybe it's better that I wasn't, because as I watched the -- this outrage, this outrage everyone seems to have about the treatment of these prisoners, I was, I have to say -- and I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment. The idea that these prisoners -- you know, they're not there for traffic violations. If they're in cell block 1-A or 1-B, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents...
SEN. INHOFE: Mr. Chairman, I also am -- and have to say, when we talk about the treatment of these prisoners, that I would guess that these prisoners wake up every morning thanking Allah that Saddam Hussein is not in charge of these prisoners. When he was in charge they would take electric drills and drill holes through hands, they would cut their tongues out, they would cut their ears off. We've seen accounts of lowering their bodies into vats of acid. All these things were taking place. This was the type of treatment that they had...
SEN. INHOFE: I am also outraged that we have so many humanitarian do-gooders right now crawling all over these prisons, looking for human rights violations while our troops, our heroes, are fighting and dying. And I just don't think we can take seven -- seven bad people.

Army Times: "Around the halls of the Pentagon, a term of caustic derision has emerged for the enlisted soldiers at the heart of the furor over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal: the six morons who lost the war.
Indeed, the damage done to the U.S. military and the nation as a whole by the horrifying photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at the notorious prison is incalculable.
But the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons.
There is no excuse for the behavior displayed by soldiers in the now-infamous pictures and an even more damning report by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. Every soldier involved should be ashamed.
But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command to the highest reaches of the military hierarchy and its civilian leadership.
The entire affair is a failure of leadership from start to finish. From the moment they are captured, prisoners are hooded, shackled and isolated. The message to the troops: Anything goes. "

Pretty incredible considering the source.

Got this from Empire Notes: "Pentagon. Time Magazine has obtained an email that warns Pentagon employees about the Taguba report:

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS CLASSIFIED; DO NOT GO TO FOX NEWS TO READ OR OBTAIN A COPY.

"

Magnificent. Read the actual report at F*X as a pdf document.

Amnesty International: "Shortly after the transfers of prisoners to Guantanamo Bay had begun, Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld was asked whether ''hooding.., shaving, chaining, perhaps even tranquillizing some of these people is violating their civil rights''. He replied: ''It simply isn't.... all one has to do is look at television any day of the week, and you can see that when prisoners are being moved between locations, they're frequently restrained in some way with handcuffs or some sort of restraints''.(117) On 15 January 2002, reacting to criticisms of the treatment of the detainees, he said: ''They are being treated vastly better than they treated anybody else over the last several years... It's not going to be a country club, but it will be humane''.(118) On 8 February 2002, he said: ''Notwithstanding the isolated pockets of international hyperventilation, we do not treat detainees in any manner other than a manner that is humane.''(119) A few days later, President Bush said that the Guantanamo detainees were being treated ''incredibly humanely''. The President added that the USA ''is mindful of the need to respect people's rights.''(120)"

Guardian: "Mr Rumsfeld did not apologise for the Red Cross reports of unarmed Iraqi prisoners being shot to death by military personnel in watchtowers. He said nothing of the 'interrogation techniques' developed by US intelligence agencies and taught to security services the world over, including here. He expressed no regret for employing private contractors to question people who were accused of no crime, then hiding their sadistic behaviour from public scrutiny. He never mentioned how sorry he might be for turning over captives to other governments using even cruder torture methods. He showed no contrition for continuing to hide hundreds of people in Guant�namo Bay away from the law. Such leaders have placed themselves outside the bounds of international law, their own code of justice and their much-admired constitution. In doing so, they have also removed the protection of law from those who follow their orders. "

A reminder that torture is not quite as un-american as some would have us believe

Kubarkin: 'Faced with a FOIA lawsuit, the Central Intelligence Agency recently released an interrogation manual to the Baltimore Sun that details brutal methods of extracting information from resistant sources. The "KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation" manual does more than simply outline various psychological and physical torture tactics: it demonstrates a real-world application of the CIA's mind control research and offers clues on the agency's role in human rights abuses around the world. This report examines the historical context of the interrogation manual, the MKULTRA connection, and the manual itself, presented here verbatim for the first time online.'

Slightly newer is "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual' (1983)". Some interesting stuff here about it and its use in Honduras where Negropontre, our new ambassador to Iraq served.

The report itself (and more) is here, and a page with corrections.

Sy Hersh: 'No amount of apologetic testimony or political spin last week could mask the fact that, since the attacks of September 11th, President Bush and his top aides have seen themselves as engaged in a war against terrorism in which the old rules did not apply. In the privacy of his office, Rumsfeld chafed over what he saw as the reluctance of senior Pentagon generals and admirals to act aggressively. By mid-2002, he and his senior aides were exchanging secret memorandums on modifying the culture of the military leaders and finding ways to encourage them “to take greater risks.” '

washingtonpost.com: "Americans from President Bush down have been shocked by reports of abuse of detainees in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, and many would agree with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that such treatment is 'un-American.' But U.S. human rights activists say there is much evidence that similar abuse regularly occurs in our own prisons, without drawing nearly as much public outrage. "

News: "If anything, the story of these photographs is the story of the West's inability to believe the darkness at the heart of the occupation until it was staring them in the face. The Iraqis already knew, because most have a relative, a friend or an acquaintance who has been detained by the occupation forces at some time and has seen at first hand what goes on inside the prisons and detention centres.
...
Reports that the pictures have lost the US support among Iraqis are wide of the mark: there was no support left after the débâcle of their heavy-handed onslaught on Fallujah. But these pictures have heaped fuel on the fire - a fact not lost on the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who took advantage of the media attention following a US attack on his Mehdi Army to attack President George Bush over Abu Ghraib in his Friday sermon."

washingtonpost.com: A Sorry State: "To the rest of the world Bush's apologies are mere exercises in damage control. The same president who spoke of leading God's crusade against Evil and who basked in the self-congratulatory aura of his invincible warriors will have difficulty convincing the rest of humanity that he really cares about a few brutalized Arabs.
Given the president's simultaneous and reiterated insistence that neither he nor his staff have done anything wrong and that there is nothing to change in his policies or goals, who will take seriously such an apology, extracted in extremis? Like confessions obtained under torture, it is worthless. As recent events have shown, America under Bush can still debase and humiliate its enemies. But it has lost the respect of its friends -- and it is fast losing respect for itself. Now that is something to feel sorry about."

BBC: "One British source even said: 'I still don't despair that we can create a society which is better than that of Saddam Hussein' - a stunningly unambitious target compared to what was envisaged. "

Rumsfeld: "We're functioning with peacetime constraints, with legal requirements, in a wartime situation in the Information Age, where people are running around with digital cameras and taking these unbelievable photographs and then passing them off, against the law, to the media, to our surprise."

Not concerned with crimes but with the distribution of the images...
By the way, these guys all talk of this torture, murder, abuse as "wrongdoing". Is this different to "evildoing"?

Guardian On the US treatment of prisoners: "'Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people,' said President Bush plaintively. Indeed, but it is in the nature of the circumstances that Bush has authorised for holding 10,000 prisoners without trial, many in unknown, secret prisons. 'That's not the way we do things in America,' he says. Indeed, it is only the way America does things when it goes abroad; the American constitution protects its own citizens. The self-blinding American myth is that a 'freedom-loving nation' built on the ideals of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson could never do such things. "

Since the US is the greatest, most advanced place on earth I was curious to see how it compares to Greece on certain statistics

Infant mortality rate:
CIA: US
total: 6.75 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 7.46 deaths/1,000 live births
CIA: Greece
total: 6.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 6.64 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
CIA: US
total population: 77.14 years
female: 80.05 years (2003 est.)
male: 74.37 years
CIA: Greece
total population: 78.89 years
female: 81.65 years (2003 est.)
male: 76.32 years

Literacy:
CIA: US
total population: 97%
female: 97% (1979 est.)
male: 97%
CIA: Greece
total population: 97.5%
total population: 97.5%
female: 96.5% (2003 est.)
male: 98.6%

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS REVISED RESOLUTION ON QUESTION OF PALESTINE: "The General Assembly affirmed this afternoon that the status of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, remained one of military occupation, as it adopted a revised resolution on the question of Palestine.

By a recorded vote of 140 in favour to 6 against (Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States), with 11 abstentions, the Assembly also affirmed that the Palestinian people had the right to self-determination and to sovereignty over their territory, and that Israel had only the duties and obligations of an occupying Power. (See Annex.)"

Just out of curiosity I wanted to see what these nations were so I pulled out the trusty CIA factbook.

Marshall Islands: "After almost four decades under US administration as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association. Compensation claims continue as a result of US nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962. The Marshall Islands have been home to the US Army Base Kwajalein (USAKA) since 1964."

Micronesia, Federated States of: "In 1979 the Federated States of Micronesia, a UN Trust Territory under US administration, adopted a constitution. In 1986 independence was attained under a Compact of Free Association with the US. Present concerns include large-scale unemployment, overfishing, and overdependence on US aid."

Nauru: "Nauru's phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium; the island was occupied by Australian forces in World War I. Nauru achieved independence in 1968 and joined the UN in 1999. Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic."

Palau: "After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia. A Compact of Free Association with the US was approved in 1986, but not ratified until 1993. It entered into force the following year, when the islands gained independence. "

Azmi Bishara: The dynamic of occupation: "I find it absurd that US officers grumble about how the resistance fighters mingle with civilians so that occupation forces cannot distinguish between the two. Well, these combatants are actually civilians under arms. What does the US army expect them to do, set up a camp outside Falluja? The combatants mix with the civilian population because they are civilians, because they live in civilian homes. The occupation comes without civilians because it is far removed from home, because its soldiers are not sleeping in their own homes -- they only bomb the homes of others. The aerial bombardment of a civilian house leaves mutilated bodies. The media has just carried scenes of the Israeli bombardment and its effect on the bodies of Al- Rantisi and his companions. What was that if not mutilation?"

washingtonpost.com: "But Mr. Rumsfeld's decisions helped create a lawless regime in which prisoners in both Iraq and Afghanistan have been humiliated, beaten, tortured and murdered -- and in which, until recently, no one has been held accountable. "

President Bush Meets with Al Arabiya Television on Wednesday: "We will deal with his militias, as will the Iraqi forces deal with these militias. Militias are people who are willing to kill, intimidate and try to take matters into their own hands, which is not the way democracy functions. Free societies do not allow thugs to roam streets and hold people hostage to their whims. The Iraqis will deal with Mr. Sadr. "

Article II of the US bill of rights says: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

So, is he going to get rid of that, or more likely, "democracy"? After all this article is probably the most important one to him...

washingtonpost.com: The pictures keep on coming in.

A Wretched New Picture Of America (washingtonpost.com): "Reputation, image, perception. The problem, it seems, isn't so much the abuse of the prisoners, because we will get to the bottom of that and, of course, we're not really like that. The problem is our reputation. Our soldiers' reputations. Our national self-image. These photos, we insist, are not us."

Guardian: "I've seen a photo of a young American soldier with two Iraqi boys. There is no nakedness or torture, but it is no less nasty for that. The boys are holding a cardboard sign. They and the soldier are smiling and doing a thumbs up. He is pointing at the cardboard sign, on which he's written: 'Lcpl Boudreaux killed my Dad. then he knocked up my sister!' Imagine the scene: Lance Corporal Boudreaux, a soldier on a liberating, civilising mission, asks the natives to pose for a 'memento'. He gives them the sign to hold. What lie did he tell them about its message? 'Iraq is liberated', or 'Mission accomplished'? And who, in this scene, is the more civilised?"

Here is the purported picture.

Of course this could just be a Photoshop creation. Snopes has no definitive answer.

Guardian: 'Among the most stunning decisions taken is the handover of the interrogation of prisoners of war to private firms. Employees from the firms Caci and Titan now reportedly fill such roles as interrogators and translators...

This leaves a vacuum. Phillip Carter, a former US army officer now at UCLA Law School, notes: "Legally speaking, they [military contractors] fall into the same grey area as the unlawful combatants detained at Guantánamo Bay."'

Guardian: 'NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Dhia al-Shweiri spent several stints in Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, twice under Saddam Hussein's rule and once under American. He prefers Saddam's torture to the humiliation of being stripped naked by his American guards, he said Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press.'

But remember Bush told us they hate us because they hate freedom and that people are no longer disappearing into political prisons, torture chambers, and mass graves so why worry?

Gideon Levy: 'When will the soldiers at long last start talking? When will their consciences get the better of them? When will they sit at home and tell the truth about what they did in their army service in the territories?'

As usual Levy describes the reality of Israeli occupation with humanity and anger.

Robert Fisk: "Why are we surprised at their racism, their brutality, their sheer callousness towards Arabs? Those American soldiers in Saddam's old prison at Abu Ghraib, those young British squaddies in Basra came -- as soldiers often come -- from towns and cities where race hatred has a home: Tennessee and Lancashire."

Bush: "Because free societies do not harbor terrorists; free societies do not threaten people or use weapons of mass destruction."

Now, the only use of nuclear weapons so far is that of the US against Japan in 1945. In Bush's terms, the US was a 'free society' so he lies on the WMD issue. The US also harbors terrorists, for example Cuban terrorist Orlando Bosch, so he lies on the terrorist issue too.

Bush Lies? Yes, he constantly lies.

Sy Hersh: 'Specifically, Taguba found that between October and December of 2003 there were numerous instances of "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" at Abu Ghraib. This systematic and illegal abuse of detainees, Taguba reported, was perpetrated by soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, and also by members of the American intelligence community... Taguba’s report listed some of the wrongdoing:
Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.'

photos

Bush: "One year later, despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam's regime. At the most basic level of justice, people are no longer disappearing into political prisons, torture chambers, and mass graves -- because the former dictator is in prison, himself."
Also: 'A year ago, I did give the speech from the carrier, saying that we had achieved an important objective, that we'd accomplished a mission, which was the removal of Saddam Hussein. And as a result, there are no longer torture chambers or rape rooms or mass graves in Iraq'

Terry Jones has a funny one on the distortion of language in Iraq.
Guardian: "Then there's the problem of what the Americans are going to call the Iraqis - especially the ones that they kill. You can call people who are defending their own homes from rockets and missiles launched from helicopters and tanks 'fanatics and terrorists' only for so long. Eventually even newspaper readers will smell a rat."

Which reminds me of several other similar ones lying around.
Paul de Rooij: Glossary of the Iraqi Occupation
A Glossary of Warmongering
Glossary of Occupation

And from a pro Israeli occupation view
CAMERA: Dictionary of Bias

Guardian: "One of the soldiers, Staff Sgt Chip Frederick is accused of posing in a photograph sitting on top of a detainee, committing an indecent act and with assault for striking detainees - and ordering detainees to strike each other.
He told CBS: 'We had no support, no training whatsoever. And I kept asking my chain of command for certain things ... like rules and regulations.'
His lawyer, Gary Myers, told the Guardian that Sgt Frederick had not had the opportunity to read the Geneva Conventions before being put on guard duty, a task he was not trained to perform. "

Not having been taught the Geneva Conventions, how could he possibly have known that it was wrong?
Remember, they hate us for our freedoms.

60 Minutes II: "60 Minutes II acquired graphic photos of U.S. troops mistreating and humiliating Iraqi POWs. Dan Rather spoke to Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt about the military's probe of the events."

You can see some of the images here. American prudishness: torture images are OK, but people's butts and genitals are airbrushed out...

BBC: "But in an interview with Reuters news agency, Mr Powell said that while the new government would take full sovereignty over the country, it would have to give some of it back to the Americans so that the US would still be in command of its own troops.
'I hope they will understand that in order for this government to get up and running - to be effective - some of its sovereignty will have to be given back, if I can put it that way, or limited by them,' Mr Powell said.
'It's sovereignty but [some] of that sovereignty they are going to allow us to exercise on their behalf and with their permission.' "

washingtonpost: "'Our soldiers and our Marines have the inherent right of self-defense,' Kimmitt said. 'Whether that is somebody who is trying to defend their city, which seems to be somewhat of a ludicrous concept, or somebody who's just out to kill an American, both of those will find the full force of the United States Marine Corps and the coalition brought down on them.' "

Why is "trying to defend their city" "somewhat of a ludicrous concept"?

BBC : "Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he no longer feels bound by a promise to the US not to harm veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In a TV interview, Mr Sharon said he had informed US President George W Bush about the change in his position when they met in Washington last week. "

BBC: "Maj Gen Martin Dempsey said about 10% of new officers were rebels and a further 40% had left their jobs - but the rest 'stood tall and stood firm'. "

No doubt these are all "deadenders", or "foreign terrorists" and other evildoers. Trouble is, this leaves at best 50% being freedomloving good dooers.

Guardian: "'The Greeks have this Mediterranean mentality that is like the syrtaki dance, we start very slow and then speed up,' says Costis Hadjidakis, an MEP. 'That's why we've now started working 24 hours a day. The Greeks are very lazy and very disorganised but they're also very clever. When they decide to work they can create miracles.' "

Couldn't resist this...

Miserable Failure: International bodies can be important in the war against terror if they're effective. They're lousy in the war against terror is they're not effective, because this is a results-oriented game we're in right now. We've got to be effective to stop them.

Who are them? International bodies? I guess so. After all they did prove that they had no relevance.

I would urge you to see the movie "Osama." It's hard for the American mentality to grasp how barbaric the Taliban was toward women in Afghanistan. So see the movie, and then maybe -- it'll speak better than I can possibly speak. Burl is always accusing me of not being able to speak so good anyway.

See. He does want Americans to be informed. Go see "Osama". But he is cute in his stupidity isn't he? Burl, whoever that is thinks so anyway.

We all thought he had weapons. We found out -- the truth will be known over time. We found out he had the ability to make weapons. He had the capability. I think the intent was clear. After all, he hated America. He paid suiciders to go kill Jews.

It is all so clear. He had ability and capability and America hatred and Jew hatred.

See, free societies don't promote terror.

No, I guess not. How many civilians died in Iraq? In Viet Nam? Chile? El Salvador? Nicaragua? Palestine? Hiroshima? Nagasaki? Dresden? No indeed. Free societies don't promote terror.

Now look, there's a debate, I readily concede -- some people don't believe if you're a Muslim or an Arab you can be free. I just strongly disagree with that thought. I think everybody yearns to be free, and I think everybody can self-govern. I remind you, some people thought the Japanese could never self-govern or be free. And, yet, as I said in my press conference the other day, I had the honor of sitting down to dinner with President Koizumi -- or Prime Minister Koizumi. And we're talking about North Korea, which I'll get to here in a second.
It's amazing -- he's a great guy, by the way. Elvis Presley is one of his favorites. (Laughter.) His favorite movie was Gary Cooper in "High Noon." One time he walked up to me and said, "You like Cooper." (Laughter.) I said, "I'm like Cooper?" He said, "Yes." (Laughter.) I finally figured out what he meant. (Laughter.)

Yes. Quite.

The long-term strategy of this government is to spread freedom around the world. And I believe -- I told you, a free Iraq will be a major change agent for world peace. I also believe a free Palestinian state would be a major change agent for world peace. Ariel Sharon came to America and he stood up with me and he said, we are pulling out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank. In my judgment, the whole world should have said, thank you, Ariel. Now we have a chance to begin the construction of a peaceful Palestinian state.

Well yes, Thank you Ariel, thank you ever so much. Did I say thank you? Thank you. Thanks for the 2,400 dead Palestinians including 460 children and some 600 Israelis killed including some 100 children (thanks B'Tselem). Thank you. Thank you Ariel. Thank you Dubya.

Letter I sent to the Chron regarding their surprisingly good editorial...

Editor -- Thank you for pointing out the unfairness of President Bush's embrace of Sharon's policies ('Hurting our Arab friends', Editorial, April 21.) International treaties enshrine the rights of refugees to return to their homes, and prohibit an occupier from transferring populations to occupied territories. Neither Bush, Sharon, nor Arafat can take away these rights. Palestinian refugees will continue to have the right of return to their homes in Israel and Jewish settlements in the West Bank will continue to be illegal.

Guardian: "When US forces recently demanded that a team from the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera leave Falluja as a condition for reaching a ceasefire with the local resistance, it came as no surprise at the network's headquarters in Doha...
The al-Jazeera reports of US snipers firing at women and children in the streets of Falluja have now been corroborated by international observers in the city. Perhaps it is natural that a military force should seek to suppress evidence that could be used against it in future war crimes trials. But it is equally natural that a free media should resist."

Guardian: "King Abdullah of Jordan flew home from the US after abruptly cancelling a meeting planned for today with the president in Washington. The king's move came as the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, said there was more hatred of Americans in the Arab world today than ever before...
King Abdullah's cancellation was in retaliation for Mr Bush's support last week for a plan by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, in which he offered to pull out of Gaza in return for US recognition of illegal settlements on the West Bank and an end of the right of 3.6 million Palestinians to return to Israel.

Mr Mubarak cited as reasons for the increased hatred Israel and the US occupation of Iraq. In an interview with Le Monde published yesterday, he said : "After what has happened in Iraq, there is an unprecedented hatred. What's more - they [Arabs] see Sharon act as he wants, without the Americans saying anything"."

BBC: "'We went in because we had to find the perpetrators and what we found was a huge rat's nest that is still festering today,' the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. "

Bring it on. Freedom loving liberators describing their quary.

Monbiot explains US policy wrt Israel: "The true believers are now seeking to bring all this about. This means staging confrontations at the old temple site (in 2000, three US Christians were deported for trying to blow up the mosques there), sponsoring Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, demanding ever more US support for Israel, and seeking to provoke a final battle with the Muslim world/Axis of Evil/United Nations/ European Union/France or whoever the legions of the antichrist turn out to be."

Haaretz 2004.06.24: "God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam [Hussein], which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East."

This quote was attributed to Bush in Dilip Hiro's new Book (Secrets and Lies). I found the original quote above. It is also reported in the Washington Post.

washingtonpost: "Kerry said. "We need to offer to share responsibilities with the United Nations, NATO and others, so they will work with us in Iraq to achieve security, stability, and freedom."
However, Albania, a predominantly Muslim country, told the United States it was prepared to send more non-combat troops to Iraq, the government said Monday, in a possible expansion of the 71-member-strong contingent patrolling the northern city of Mosul under U.S. command."

Well that's ok then. Who needs freedom hating Spain when freedom loving Albania is there to help

More consequences of the loss of the Spanish from the Guardian: 'Honduras now has 370 troops in Najaf under Spanish command, alongside small forces from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

``Those troops depend on the Spanish troops for logistics and language reasons,'' said Grzegorz Holdanowicz, Polish correspondent for Jane's Defense Weekly.

Honduras had planned to withdraw its contingent in July as scheduled.'

Bush Names U.S. Ambassador to Iraq: "President Bush named John Negroponte, the United States' top diplomat at the United Nations, as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on Monday and asserted that Iraq 'will be free and democratic and peaceful.'"

Those of us with some memory will remember his role in Honduras. From www.disinfopedia.org: "During Negroponte's tenure, U.S. military aid to Honduras, a country of five million, skyrocketed from $3.9 million to $77.4 million. Much of this largesse went to assure the Honduran army's loyalty in the battle against political leftists throughout Central America. Embassy reports to Washington singled out for particular praise army chief Alvarez, a School of the Americas graduate who was direct commander of Battalion 316"

MSNBC - Transcript for April 18: "MR. RUSSERT: Israel assassinated Hamas leader Rantisi. Do you support that assassination?
SEN. KERRY: I believe Israel has every right in the world to respond to any act of terror against it. Hamas is a terrorist, brutal organization. It has had years to make up its mind to take part in a peaceful process. They refuse to. Arafat refuses to. And I support Israel's efforts to try to separate itself and to try to be secure. The moment Hamas says, 'We've given up violence, we're prepared to negotiate,' I am absolutely confident they will find an Israel that is thirsty to have that negotiation.
MR. RUSSERT: On Thursday, President Bush broke with the tradition and policy of six predecessors when he said that Israel can keep part of the land seized in the 1967 Middle East War and asserted the Palestinian refugees cannot go back to their particular homes. Do you support President Bush?
SEN. KERRY: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: Completely?
SEN. KERRY: Yes."

Guardian: "For years it has been my belief that the ideal US president for Middle East peace would be one who had the ethics of a Carter, the popularity of a Reagan and the strategic audacity of a Nixon. Alas, we have a president who has the ethics of a Nixon, the popularity of a Carter and the intellectual agility of a Reagan. "

Guardian: "Spain announced last night it was expediting the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, jolting its coalition partners after another weekend of heavy losses and setbacks. "

Gideon Levy: "The abysmal American-Israeli contempt for them, completely disenfranchising them from determining their own future, returns the Palestinians to the days of Golda, who declared that they are not a people. Thus, another nail is driven into the coffin of the Palestinian Authority and another significant boost is given to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others who reject negotiations. After all, what will the Palestinians negotiate about if everything is already decided between Sharon and 'the leader of the free world?' "

Pilger: "Even now, as the uprising spreads, there is only cryptic gesturing at the obvious: that this is a war of national liberation and that the enemy is 'us'. The pro-invasion Sydney Morning Herald is typical. Having expressed 'surprise' at the uniting of Shias and Sunnis, the paper's Baghdad correspondent recently described 'how GI bullies are making enemies of their Iraqi friends' and how he and his driver had been threatened by Americans. 'I'll take you out quick as a flash, motherfucker!' a soldier told the reporter. That this was merely a glimpse of the terror and humiliation that Iraqis have to suffer every day in their own country was not made clear; yet this newspaper has published image after unctuous image of mournful American soldiers, inviting sympathy for an invader who has 'taken out' thousands of innocent men, women and children."

Robert Fisk: By endorsing Ariel Sharon's plan George Bush has legitimised terrorism: "So President George Bush tears up the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and that's okay. Israeli settlements for Jews and Jews only on the West Bank. That's okay. Taking land from Palestinians who have owned that land for generations, that's okay. UN Security Council Resolution 242 says that land cannot be acquired by war. Forget it. That's okay. "

Oil from Iraq: An Israeli pipedream? - Jane's Middle East/Africa News: "It is understood from diplomatic sources that the Bush administration has said it will not support lifting UN sanctions on Iraq unless Saddam's successors agree to supply Israel with oil."

That would be pretty scanadalous. The Haaretz article in the pipeline is here.

Guardian Unlimited: "The abandonment of even the attempt to appear to be an honest broker in the Middle East, along with the doctrines of pre-emptive war and unilateralism, are departures from the post-1945 US consensus with no precedent.

It has a kind of logic: Bush knows that supporting Sharon will please his predominantly conservative Christian, pro-Israel constituency, and a foreign policy achievement can only help in an election year marred by bad news from Iraq. "

Palestinian anger as hopes are dashed: "In an interview for Canadian television, however, Mr Powell appeared to endorse Washington's new line against the return of Palestinian refugees. 'Frankly, those refugees should return to the new state of Palestine, which is what it was created for, not Israel.' "

"what it was created for"?
What about occupation, justice, guman rights, ...

washingtonpost.com: "In declaring that Israel should be able to keep some of the occupied territories and block Palestinian refugees from settling in Israel, Bush followed a familiar pattern of finding common cause with Jews and increasingly pro-Israel Christian conservatives. That Bush's move was good politics was evidenced by Democratic rival John F. Kerry's quick move not to let Bush outflank him among pro-Israel voters."

Schlesinger: "Why was President Bush, as both Richard Clarke and the former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill have testified, so obsessed with Iraq? I do not think it is for petty reasons. Mr Bush very likely buys into the neo-conservative fantasy that the victory of democracy in Iraq will democratise the entire Islamic world and establish his own place in history. 'A free Iraq,' as President Bush said yesterday, 'will stand as an example to reformers across the Middle East.'
Other reasons - oil, Israel, the search for military bases in place of Saudi Arabia, liberation of Iraq from a monstrous tyrant - are secondary compared to the historic mission for which the Almighty has chosen him."

The New York Times: "On Sunday, a Marine tank fired 18 rounds into a house a suspected insurgent was firing from, said Jeremiah Day, a combat engineer from Minnetonka, Minn.
'And afterwards the guy was still standing,' Corporal Day said. 'It was like Scarface or something.'
That same day, Brent Bourgeois, a 20-year-old lance corporal from Kenner, La., said he had seen an American helicopter fire a missile at a man with a slingshot.
'Crazy, huh?' the corporal said."

Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Guardian: "'Sharon must come home with some assurance that the United States does not see it as a first step towards evacuation of most of the settlements,' said Menachem Klein of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. 'He also wants to be able to say that Washington will back him if he wants to use Apache helicopters to fire on the Gaza Strip after the pull-out.' "

Bring on the Apaches.

Aljazeera: "'But I may add that some fighters are 100% ready to put themselves in hospitals, schools and houses. As a result, there were civilian casualties, which is something tragic. We prefer if those fighters would come out into neutral zones to fight against the coalition forces.'"

I think they want to follow Marquis de Sade rules. Man to man. High in the sadle, 20 paces yada yada. Of course they would like them to come out in the open and then have a daisy cutter dropped on them. The US much prefers that form of warfare. Is it so strange that a movement of resistance to occupation is embeded in the occupied occupation?

Thomas Friedman is so deep: "I have nothing but respect for the Kurds of Iraq. They have a democratic soul."

Haaretz: "Israel will not be asked in the future to withdraw to the 1949 cease-fire lines (the Green Line) on the West Bank, according to a letter U.S. President George Bush is to present to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Washington this week.
According to the letter, the determination of borders in a final status accord will take into consideration "demographic realities" on the ground."
So, better get on quickly with beefing up those stettlements 'man of piss".

NYT: "Mr. Bremer, in an interview on CNN today, pledged to arrest Mr. Sadr.
'He believes that in the new Iraq, like in the old Iraq, power should be with the guy who's got the guns, and that's an unacceptable vision for Iraq,' he said. 'He represents a fundamental challenge to the rule of law in Iraq, and it will not stand.'
American and Iraqi forces that have amassed on the outskirts of Falluja have begun conducting raids in the city in what Donald H. Rumsfeld, the United States defense secretary, called 'a methodical effort' to find and capture the people responsible for killing the four American military contractors last week in Falluja."

I continue being amazed at the lack of irony. First we are told that the evildoers believe that power lies with "the guy who's got the guns" then we are told of US use of force....

Islam Online- News Section: "Shiites' spiritual leader Sistani, in the meantime, voiced his solidarity with Sadr, Aljazeera satellite channel quoted a close aide to the veteran Shiite leader as saying.
Sistani said "the demonstrators' demands are legitimate" and "condemns acts waged by the occupation forces and pledges his support to the families of the victims", he said."

Naomi Klein on the riots: "US forces pointed tanks at the crowd while a loudspeaker told them that 'demonstrations are an important part of democracy but blocking traffic will not be permitted'"

Teaching the Iraqis democracy...

Guardian: "'I would like to direct my words to the father of evil, Bush,' he said. 'Who is against democracy? Is it the one who calls for peaceful resistance, or the one who bombs people, sheds their blood and leads them away from the leaders under feeble and dirty pretexts?'"

Mirror mirror on the wall who is the evilest of them all?

Haaretz: "True, the press mirrors European public opinion, which according to the polls largely believes the United States is pursuing a deceptive, one-sided policy; it itself supports the Palestinian position and is opposed to Israel.

Nevertheless, the polls also show there is a minority in Europe that thinks otherwise: Fifteen percent of the French and 22 percent of the Germans do not think the United States 'is not honest,' and there is also a minority that supports Israel. "

Haaretz: "The United States will assure Israel that it will not have to withdraw to the Green Line in a future permanent settlement with the Palestinians.

The promise appears in a letter of guarantees drafted by the American administration in exchange for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan."

Friedman Aaaarggggg last

To the Editor:

Re "Awaking to a Dream" (Op-Ed. March 28)

I want to wake up and read that Thomas Friedman realizes that freezing settlements will not solve the Israel/Palestine issue. That these settlements are illegal and must be dismantled. That 37 years of occupation may be part of the problem. That the killing of unarmed Palestinians, including more than 500 children, by the IDF is every bit as terrible as the suicide bombing.

I want to wake up and read that Thomas Friedman gets his information somewhere other than from the AOL news page. That he has read the excellent piece by Gideon Levy in today's Haaretz, "A sudden concern for the Palestinian child", who reminds us: "But Israelis have no moral right to criticize the Palestinians for their cruelty toward children; we are no less cruel."

Thomas Friedman Celebrates his ignorance: "I have a confession to make: I am the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times and I didn't listen to one second of the 9/11 hearings and I didn't read one story in the paper about them. Not one second. Not one story.
Lord knows, it's not out of indifference to 9/11. It's because I made up my mind about that event a long time ago: It was not a failure of intelligence, it was a failure of imagination. "

Bush's Iraq WMDs joke backfires: "At a black-tie dinner for journalists, Mr Bush narrated a slide show poking fun at himself and other members of his administration.
One pictured Mr Bush looking under a piece of furniture in the Oval Office, at which the president remarked: 'Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere.'
After another one, showing him scouring the corner of a room, Mr Bush said: 'No, no weapons over there,' he said.
And as a third picture, this time showing him leaning over, appeared on the screen the president was heard to say: 'Maybe under here?' "

HehHehHeh. What a fucking moron.

washingtonpost.com: Memoir Criticizes Bush 9/11 Response: "'It was as if Osama bin Laden, hidden in some high mountain redoubt, were engaging in long-range mind control of George Bush, chanting 'invade Iraq, you must invade Iraq,' ' Clarke writes."

Other 'classics' include:

'Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, Clarke wrote, scowled and asked, "why we are beginning by talking about this one man, bin Laden." When Clarke told him no foe but al Qaeda "poses an immediate and serious threat to the United States," Wolfowitz is said to have replied that Iraqi terrorism posed "at least as much" of a danger. FBI and CIA representatives backed Clarke in saying they had no such evidence.'

'In discussions of military strikes, "Secretary Rumsfeld complained that there were no decent targets for bombing in Afghanistan" -- where al Qaeda was based under protection of the Taliban -- "and that we should consider bombing Iraq."'

Friedman Aaaarggggg last

To the Editor:

Re "Axis of Appeasement" (column, March 18):

The Bush administration justified its attack on Iraq by claiming that Iraq had WMD, was an imminent threat to the West and had links to Al Qaeda. The Spanish public, like that of most of Europe and unlike that of the US, did not believe this, some 90% being against the war. They believed that unprovoked aggression against Iraq would lead to a increased hostility to the US. The Spanish public were right and exercised their democratic right to rid themselves of a government that ignored their views. The Spanish have been fighting terrorism for a long time, and will doubtless continue to do so, but recognize that this fight does not involve attacking and occupying countries which are not related to this terrorism. Most people in the world do not see the US as a benevolent force for good in the world, fighting 'radical evil' and bringing democracy to Iraq. They see a lone superpower using brute force wherever it wants to further its interests. A democratic populace can not condone 'nation-building' imposed at gunpoint. The new Spanish government is respecting both Spanish and Iraqi public opinion in calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops as soon as an Iraqi government is in place.

Aljazeera.Net: "Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski says Warsaw has been 'taken for a ride' about Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. "

The Guardian: 'Referring to prewar Western intelligence assessments of Saddam's arsenal, he told a news conference: ``From the information that we have, the word 'misled' seems to me the right word. This is the problem of the United States, of Britain and also of many other nations.''

``We were informed that weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq, that there is a probability of the existence of such weapons,'' he said. ``Today, this information is not confirmed.'' '

And, ending on a note of comedy The Boston Globe reports:
As he walked the meal line here, Bush brushed off a reporter's question about Kwasnieski's comments. ''I'm here to eat dinner,'' the president said, shaking his head.

US boosts Pakistan military ties: "The US Secretary of State Colin Powell says Washington will elevate its military ties with Pakistan, making it a major ally outside of Nato. "

This is the Pakistan that has served as a noocular bazar (as Miserable Failure would say.)

Powell seems to be schizophrenic:
NEW DELHI, India: Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday he will ask Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf this week whether Pakistani officials aided rogue scientist A. Q. Khan in leaking nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Al-Quaida endorses Bush: "The email offering a truce, sent to the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, also endorsed George Bush's election campaign. 'We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections,' it said.
'We know that a heavyweight operation would destroy your government, and this is what we don't want. We are not going to find a bigger idiot than you.'"

Spain may withdraw Iraq troops. The new prime minister of Spain says: "The war in Iraq was a disaster, the occupation of Iraq is a disaster...
Wars such as those which have occurred in Iraq only allow hatred, violence and terror to proliferate"

Another great quote from the BBC:
"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection and self-criticism. You can't bomb a people, you can't organise a war with lies"

More great quotes in another BBC article.

US sends special forces into north Africa: "States previously shunned by the international community, such as Algeria, are being provided with arms and military training and may become a cornerstone of US military interests in the region. 'We are interested in being able to land at bases in Algeria with our aircraft, or train together,' Gen Wald said. 'We think we have a lot to learn from the Algerians.' "

We have a lot to learn from Algeria? Like what? How to respond to election wins of the oposition?

ends Arab worker 'marking': I'm confused. What's the problem? Surely this economises on amunition?

"Israeli security officials have been told to stop making Arab construction workers at the Knesset wear distinctive identifying marks on their hard hats.
Israeli parliamentary speaker Reuven Rivlin, ordered an end to the controversial policy.

The Arab builders had been made to wear helmets with red crosses on top so they were identifiable to marksmen guarding parliament, the daily Maariv reported."

Kerry on Israel/Palestine:
2004.02.27: We have seen what happens when Palestinian youth have been fed a diet of anti-Israel propaganda.
2004.02.27: Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense...
The fence only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel.

A new broom indeed. ..

Haaretz: "The United States said Wednesday that Israel's seizure of some NIS 37 million in cash in Palestinian banks could destabilize the Palestinian banking system, and reiterated its call for Israel to coordinate such moves with the sector's Palestinian authorities."

Don't see what the US are complaining about. Isn't this just following Compassionate Conservative practice of taking from the poor and giving to the rich?

Governor fears unrest unless same-sex marriages are halted / Schwarzenegger voices concern over potential civil clashes in S.F.: "'All of a sudden, we see riots, we see protests, we see people clashing. The next thing we know, there is injured or there is dead people. We don't want it to get to that extent,'' the Republican said in his first appearance as governor on a Sunday talk show."

As a resident of San Francisco I am shaking with fear. Those newly weds are rioting all around. Just last night I was assaulted by a gang of married lesbians who knocked me down with their veils.

And of cource, Miserable Failure pitches in:
"After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilisation" (article).

Officials to delay deal concerning status of U.S. military forces in Iraq: "BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) U.S. and Iraqi officials will delay finalizing an agreement on the post-occupation role of American troops until after power has been formally handed to the next Iraqi government June 30, members of the current Iraqi leadership said Monday. "

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us: "A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world...

'You've got a President who says global warming is a hoax, and across the Potomac river you've got a Pentagon preparing for climate wars. It's pretty scary when Bush starts to ignore his own government on this issue,' said Rob Gueterbock of Greenpeace."

Haaretz: "Israel will ask the United States for a 'compensation package' in exchange for evacuating settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank"

Seeing the US subsidises the continuing colonization of the West Bank, why not pay for dismantling too. Menawhile, the casual brutality of the occupying forces continues.

Naomi Klein: Feel guilt. Then move on: "According to the latest estimates, US troops have distributed roughly $2m in compensation for deaths, injuries and property damage. That's a third of what Halliburton admits two of its employees accepted in bribes from a Kuwaiti contractor. ..
To talk about the price of the Iraq war strictly in terms of military casualties and US tax dollars is an obscenity. Yes, Americans and British citizens were lied to by their politicians. Yes, they are owed answers. But the people of Iraq are owed a great deal more, and that enormous debt belongs at the very centre of any civilised debate about the war."

Looks like Sharon's lessons on how to win hearts and minds through terror are spreading round the world.

House demolitions in Pakistan: "Rehmatullah Wazir said that with the handing over of two more wanted men including Bilal and Jehanzeb, the Zalikhel Tribe was moving fast in netting the most wanted men accused of sheltering foreign terrorists and hoped that remaining suspects will be nabbed soon. He said after the demolition of Maulvi Abbas house, who was included in the list of most wanted men they will also demolish the houses of Naik Muhammad and Sharif Khan who have not yet surrendered. "

Perle - `Heads should roll' over Iraq: "Richard Perle, a chief proponent of last year's U.S. invasion of Iraq, yesterday called for the chiefs of the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency to step down because of their faulty conclusions that Saddam Hussein possessed mass-killing weapons."

International Committee of the Red Cross on the Wall: "Where it deviates from the 'Green Line' into occupied territory, the Barrier deprives thousands of Palestinian residents of adequate access to basic services such as water, health care and education, as well as sources of income such as agriculture and other forms of employment. The Palestinian communities situated between the 'Green Line' and the Barrier are effectively cut off from the Palestinian society to which they belong. The construction of the West Bank Barrier continues to give rise to widespread appropriation of Palestinian property and extensive damage to or destruction of buildings and farmland.

The ICRC has repeatedly condemned deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians and stressed that all acts intended to spread terror among the civilian population are in clear violation of international humanitarian law (IHL). It recognizes Israel's right to take measures to ensure the security of its population. However, these measures must respect the relevant rules of IHL.

The ICRC's opinion is that the West Bank Barrier, in as far as its route deviates from the 'Green Line' into occupied territory, is contrary to IHL. The problems affecting the Palestinian population in their daily lives clearly demonstrate that it runs counter to Israel's obligation under IHL to ensure the humane treatment and well-being of the civilian population living under its occupation. The measures taken by the Israeli authorities linked to the construction of the Barrier in occupied territory go far beyond what is permissible for an occupying power under IHL. These findings are based on the ICRC's monitoring of the living conditions of the Palestinian population and on its analysis of the applicable IHL provisions. The Israeli authorities have been regularly informed about the ICRC's humanitarian and legal concerns.

The ICRC therefore calls upon Israel not to plan, construct or maintain this Barrier within occupied territory."

Tariq Ali: "The occupation authorities are trapped. The occupation is costing $3.9bn a month. Politically, if they permit a democratic election they could get a government whose legitimacy is unchallengeable and which wants them out of the country. If they go for a rigged, Florida-style vote, it would be impossible to contain Shia anger and an armed resistance would commence in the south, raising the spectre of a civil war."

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan on the Miserable Failure's military (ahem) service. I wasn't convinced. Why doesn't he just come clean and say "I wanted to avoid being sent to Viet Nam and daddy helped me" or whatever the truth is. Richard Cohen served in the Reserves like him put is better:
'I have no shame about my service, but I know it for what it was -- hardly the Charge of the Light Brigade. When Bush attempts to drape the flag of today's Guard over the one he was in so long ago, when he warns his critics to remember that "there are a lot of really fine people who have served in the National Guard and who are serving in the National Guard today in Iraq," then he is doing now what he was doing then: hiding behind the ones who were really doing the fighting. It's about time he grew up.'

The only democracy in the Middle East JERUSALEM (AP) - A hawkish Israeli Cabinet minister has asked Christian missionaries to try to convert Islamic militants, an aide to the minister confirmed Sunday.

Tourism Minister Benny Elon made the suggestion during a meeting last Wednesday with visiting Christian leaders from Europe, said the spokesman, Sagiv Rotenberg.

Elon told the Christians that Israel would not accept any missionary attempts to convert Jews, but suggested that they turn their attention to Muslim militants in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

``Go to mosques and bring the light to the Muslims. Remind all the Muslim killers that thou shall not kill. Make them good Christians and good people,'' Elon was quoted as saying in the Yediot Ahronot daily.

Rotenberg confirmed the minister's comments, but said that Elon was referring only to Muslims who instruct their faithful to kill.

Islamic militant groups based in the West Bank and Gaza have carried out dozens of suicide bombings during more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Poll says that today Kerry would beat Miserable Failure by 53 to 46. Also, even though Americans seem to generally think Miserable Failure is doing an AOK job, slightly more (53 to 46) disapprove of the situation in Iraq. There may yet be some hope...

Commentary on the poll: "Bush's job-approval rating dipped below 50% for the first time in his presidency, to 49%, and his disapproval rating rose to a record 48%. His approval ratings for handling the economy, Iraq and health care all fell to near-record lows"

Fun Blair quotes from the Guardian:
"The PM has stuck to his line: weapons are there, the doubters will be disproved...
'[Saddam's] weapons of mass destruction programme is active, detailed and growing. The policy of containment is not working'
September 24 2002
'I have got no doubt either that the purpose of our challenge from the UN is disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, it is not regime change'
November 18 2002
'Not only do we know that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, we also know he is capable of using them'
November 30 2002
'We are now asked to accept that in the last few years, contrary to all history and all intelligence, he decided unilaterally to destroy the weapons. Such a claim is palpably absurd'
March 18 2003
'Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction'
March 20 2003
'Before people crow about the absence of weapons of mass destruction, I suggest they wait a little bit. I remain confident that they will be found'
April 28 2003
'I am absolutely convinced that and confident about the case on weapons of mass destruction... you and others will be eating some of your words'
April 30 2003"

More on US evenhandedness on the Palestinian issue.

Haaretz: "Israel has asked the U.S. administration to postpone publication of the State Department's annual report on human rights around the world, fearing it will be used against Israel in the discussion on the separation fence at the International Court of Justice in The Hague."

JPost: "This fence is a legitimate response by a sovereign nation to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks...
We need to make it absolutely clear that Israel could, at any time, take massive military action against the terrorists and the Palestinians who support them, this is an act of restraint, this is an act of defense, this is an act that should be seen for what it is."

So according to Hillary we should be amazed at the restraint of Sharon. After all he could completely anihilate those pesky "terrorists and the Palestinians who support them". Thanks for your moral clarity and humanity Hillary. And then you will be surprised when Bush gets reelected...

From Haaretz a few days ago:
"According to Israel's agreement with the U.S., it receives its entire aid package at the start of the year and can spend it immediately.

Most other American aid recipients, in contrast, receive their money in several installments spread throughout the year.

As always, Israel will be America's largest aid recipient this year, with $2.2 billion in military aid and $480 million in civilian aid."

Human Rights Watch: Ousting Saddam 'no cause for war':Only mass slaughter might permit the deliberate taking of life in using military force for humanitarian purposes,
Brutal as Saddam Hussein's reign had been, the scope of the Iraq Government's killing in March 2003, was not of the exceptional and dire magnitude that would justify humanitarian intervention.
The Bush administration cannot justify the war in Iraq as a humanitarian intervention, and neither can Tony Blair.

Arundhati Roy: The New American Century: A must read outline of the new empire.

Naomi Klein on US plans for Iraqi 'Democracy': "Got that? Iraqi sovereignty will be established by appointees appointing appointees to select appointees to select appointees. Add the fact that Bremer was appointed to his post by President Bush and Bush to his by the US Supreme Court, and you have the glorious new democratic tradition of the appointocracy: rule by an appointee's appointee's appointees' appointees' appointees' selectees.
...
Given the widespread perception that the US is not out to rebuild Iraq but to loot it, if Iraqis were given the chance to vote tomorrow, they could well decide to expel US troops immediately and to reverse Bremer's privatisation project, opting instead to protect local jobs. And that frightening prospect - far more than the absence of a census - explains why the White House is fighting so hard for its appointocracy."

Thomas Friedman is an arrogant ignoramus, Part 5: "they want a presidential candidate who is serious about fighting the war against the Islamist totalitarianism threatening open societies
...
Without a serious Democratic critique of the war — and I define "serious" as one that connects with the gut middle-American feeling that the Islamist threat had to be confronted"

This guy is supposed to be the "paper of record"'s expert on the Middle East, yet seems unaware that Hussein's Iraq was

1. Most definately not Islamist.


2. Not a threat to its neighbors let alone the US

Mr. Friedman. Repeat after me.
"Iraq did not have WMD"
"Iraq was not an Islamist state"
"Iraq was not a threat"
"I will read the news and the history books"

Friedman Aaaarggggg last

To the Editor:

Re "War of Ideas, Part 5" (column, Jan. 22):
Thomas L. Friedman claims that the invasion of Iraq was justified because the "Islamist threat had to be confronted". Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a secular state and hardly a threat to any of its neighbors let alone the United States. Whatever reasons this administration had to attack Iraq had nothing to do with "Islamists", unless one is to take Bush's early utterances about Crusades seriously, nor was there threat. Mr. Freidman perpetuates the simple caricatures and lies used by this administration to demonize all Moslem and Arabs and perpetuate the false association between Islam and terror.

Bush and his friend confront terror: "So America is pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the greater Middle East. We will challenge the enemies of reform, confront the allies of terror, and expect a higher standard from our friend."

I assume the friend referred to is Israel?
Does this mean our friend will need to increase its daily kill rate?
Or must it liberate Syria?
Or maybe it is Lebanon that is yearning for freedom?
I understand our friend's neighbor's population is picking the rose petals, polishing the rice to welcome the friendly liberators.

State of the Union Address: "Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens. You need to renew the Patriot Act.

Already, the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations.

Unless you act, the death tax will eventually come back to life. Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase. What Congress has given, the Congress should not take away. For the sake of job growth, the tax cuts you passed should be permanent.

We will double federal funding for abstinence programs, so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases.

On the critical issue of health care, our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs.

It's also important to strengthen our communities by unleashing the compassion of America's religious institutions.

My fellow citizens, we now move forward, with confidence and faith. Our nation is strong and steadfast. The cause we serve is right, because it is the cause of all mankind. The momentum of freedom in our world is unmistakable -- and it is not carried forward by our power alone. We can trust in that greater power who guides the unfolding of the years. And in all that is to come, we can know that His purposes are just and true.

May God continue to bless America."

Scary Shit.

According to Israel, repulsing a border incursion is terrorism: "Israeli Government spokesman Avi Pazner said the raid was "a measured response to a terrorist attack, while we do not want an armed escalation"
'Unifil [UN Interim Forces in Lebanon] can confirm that the Israeli bulldozer was on the Lebanese side when it was hit,' said Unifil spokesman Milos Strugar."

Why the US is running scared of elections in Iraq: "Above all, Washington's plans for handing power to an unelected group of Iraqis is being strongly challenged by Iraq's majority Shia community. The occupiers who invaded Iraq in the name (partly) of bringing democracy are being accused of flouting democracy themselves.
Oh yes, and then there's the small matter of the weapons of mass destruction on which Saddam increasingly appears to be the man who had truth on his side. When he said he had destroyed them years ago, he, rather than Bush and Blair, was the man not lying."

Thomas Friedman is an arrogant ignoramus part 4: " After Israel withdrew from Lebanon, the Hezbollah militia, on the other side, went on hating Israel and harassing the border but it never tried to launch an invasion. Why? Hezbollah knew it would have no legitimacy in the world or in Lebanon for breaching that U.N.-approved border. And if it tried, Israel would be able to use its full military weight to retaliate."

Much more obvious reason why Hezbollah "never tried to launch an invasion" is that Hezbollah, unlike Israel, is not an invader of other lands nor a colonial power. It was a resistance organisation against the Israeli invasion. Once the invader had withdrawn there was no reason to keep fighting.

The arrogant ignoramous sees 3 reasons why Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories, but the human rights of the Palestinians is not one of them. Racist moron. The occupation must end not because occupation is bad, unjust, brutal but because of the benefits to the state of Israel.

As Avi Shlaim writes today: "Over the past 36 years, Israel has tried every conceivable method of ending the conflict with the Palestinians except the obvious one - ending the occupation. And as long as the occupation continues, there will be no peace and no stability in the Middle East."

Potassium iodide, gas masks, emergency preparedness, disaster preparedness: "As you navigate our site, you'll notice that we emphasize that good emergency preparedness provides the best security and peace of mind for you and your family. A major part of emergency preparedness is being ready to handle dangerous situations and even major catastrophes - including chemical and nuclear attacks/accidents. "
Ha ha ha. Then again a gas mask may come in useful for the August/September party in NYC ...

Sergeant's widow calls on Hoon to resign: "The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, said today he was 'extremely sorry' about the death of a tank commander who died in Iraq after being ordered to hand back body armour due to shortages."

Israeli Deputy Offence Minister Zeev Boim: "'Sheik Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he won't know the difference between day and night. And we will find him in the tunnels, and we will eliminate him,' "
Gotta love the macho language and behavior.

President Speaks with Faith-Based and Community Leaders: "Problems that face our society are oftentimes problems that require something greater than just a government program or a government counselor to solve. Intractable problems, problems that seem impossible to solve can be solved. There is the miracle of salvation in our -- that is real, that is tangible, that is available for all to see. Miracles are possible in our society, one person at a time. "

Religeous nutter or what? And here is the complete Nutter's Fact Sheet

May God bless your work and may God continue to bless America.