The New World Order

By Tony Judt

At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention

by David Rieff

Simon and Schuster, 270 pp., $24.00

The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War

by Andrew J. Bacevich

Oxford University Press, 270 pp., $28.00

A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility

Report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change

United Nations, 2004, 129 pp. (available at www.un.org/secureworld)

Guantánamo and Beyond: The Continuing Pursuit of Unchecked Executive Power

by Amnesty International

Report on the United States
May 2005, 164 pp. (available at www.amnesty.org)

1.

Those of us who opposed America's invasion of Iraq from the outset can take no comfort from its catastrophic consequences. On the contrary: we should now be asking ourselves some decidedly uncomfortable questions. The first concerns the propriety of "preventive" military intervention. If the Iraq war is wrong—"the wrong war at the wrong time"^[1] —why, then, was the 1999 US-led war on Serbia right? That war, after all, also lacked the imprimatur of UN Security Council approval. It too was an unauthorized and uninvited attack on a sovereign state—undertaken on "preventive" grounds—that caused many civilian casualties and aroused bitter resentment against the Americans who carried it out.

Endangered Species Act Faces Broad New Challenges

By FELICITY BARRINGER

Published: June 26, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 22 - More than three decades after the Endangered Species Act gave the federal government tools and a mandate to protect animals, insects and plants threatened with extinction, the landmark law is facing the most intense efforts ever by the White House, Congress, landowners and industry to limit its reach.

Frank Rich: The Armstrong Williams NewsHour

HERE'S the difference between this year's battle over public broadcasting and the one that blew up in Newt Gingrich's face a decade ago: this one isn't really about the survival of public broadcasting. So don't be distracted by any premature obituaries for Big Bird. Far from being an endangered species, he's the ornithological equivalent of a red herring.

Digby: Limp

I've been reading around the blogosphere this morning quite a bit of advice that the Democrats should ignore Rove's comments. That by responding we are "playing into his hands" and "doing exactly what he wants us to do." I would reiterate what I wrote below and say that Karl's not playing chess; he's playing dodgeball.

Juan Cole - June 25, 2005

6 US Military Personnel Killed, 13 Wounded at Fallujah
Women Targeted

A bomber targeted a Marine convoy near Fallujah coming back from a checkpoint, then guerrillas sprayed machine gun fire. They killed 6 Marines, including 4 women, and wounded 13, 11 of whom were women.

The American women were deployed at the checkpoint to pat down Iraqi women. Arab culture insists on gender segregation, and it is considered unacceptable for male foreigners to pat down Muslim women.

Billmon: Punch Drunk

A few days days ago, I warned that the White House's desperate search for scapegoats to blame for its own failures was shifting into overdrive. And, right on cue, along comes Karl Rove to spew an (ample) belly full of bile into the public record:

"Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies."

Rove also denounced Sen. Dick Durbin's comments comparing interrogation at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to the methods of Nazis and other repressive regimes. He said the statements have been broadcast throughout the Middle East, putting American troops in greater danger. Durbin has since apologized for the remarks.

"No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals," Rove said.

Many on the left have reacted with predictable fury -- particularly those Democrats who thought that by surfing the Iraq war along with the Cheney administration, they could buy themselves some protection from such old-fashioned demagoguery, which reads like pages torn from Spiro Agnew's old speeches.

Billmon: The O'Reilly Factor

I'm gratified to see Bill O'Reilly agrees with me that the architects of the Iraq invasion should be thrown in the slammer -- if not for war crimes, than for high treason:

O'REILLY: Any American that undermines that war, with our soldiers in the field, or undermines the war on terror, with 3,000 dead on 9-11, is a traitor.

That's telling 'em, Bill. And you know it took guts, too, considering who he works for. There aren't many broadcasters with the courage and moral integrity to tell their own bosses they should be in prison -- and say it on the air, no less.

Billmon: Situation Hopeless

Now that Karl Rove's recent comments have been thoroughly chewed, swallowed and digested by the political blogosphere, maybe it's time to consider what they imply about America's prospects in the war on terrorism.

To me, they suggest it may be time to brush up on my Arabic.

If Rove really believes what he said -- and we've had absolutely no indication from the GOP politburo that he didn't -- then it would appear the Cheney administration has concluded the war is already lost. Logically, the White House should be considering what kind of surrender terms to seek from Osama bin Ladin

Billmon: Exit Strategy

"It appears the next 16 months in American politics are going to be particularly ugly -- even by Rovian standards."--Billmon


One last aside about Rove's imitation of Spiro "nolo contendere" Agnew, and then I'll give the subject (and Turd Blossom himself) a rest.

In retrospect, I think Rove's comments will be seen as both the GOP's opening shot in the 2006 congressional elections and the swan song for Bush's ill-fated Social Security "reform" campaign. Depending on how things go at the polls next year, it could even be remembered as a kind of howled lament for the death of Bush's entire domestic program (with the significant exception of his bid to pack the federal courts with the kind of judges who think Plessy v. Ferguson was a perfectly sound piece of constitutional jurisprudence.)

Billmon: More Deadpan Humor

A few days ago I pointed out what appeared to be a rather droll effort by some anonymous Wall Street Journal editor to poke fun at the obvious conflict between Condy Rice's Middle East democracy agenda and her travel agenda.

Here's a similar example of the genre from (of all people) the American Armed Forces Press Service:

Billmon: Getting the Boot

Lest we build up the enemy into 10-foot-tall supermen, it's important to realize how weak they actually are. Most of the conditions that existed in previous wars won by guerrillas, from Algeria in the 1950s to Afghanistan in the 1980s, aren't present in Iraq.

Max Boot
Why the Rebels Will Lose
June 23, 2005

I think it is worth emphasizing that these guys lack the two classical ingredients of a victory in a so-called guerilla war if that's what you want to say they're conducting. They lack the sympathy of the population and they lack any serious source of external support.

Paul Wolfowitz
Washington Post interview
June 26, 2003

Leave it to Max "pukka sahib" Boot to recycle Paul Wolfowitz's two-year-old talking points and present them as some kind of evidence of his counterinsurgency expertise. Just once, can't these fucking neocons find an original way to be wrong?

The Last Watergate Mystery

by Robert Parry

June 25, 2005

Now that former FBI official Mark Felt has been identified as the Washington Post’s Deep Throat source, there remains only one major unsolved Watergate mystery: What were the Republican burglars seeking when they bugged the Democratic headquarters and what, if anything, did they do with that information?

One might have thought that investigators would have nailed down something as central to any crime as the motive, but the mystery surrounding the famous break-ins in May and June 1972 quickly turned to two other questions that went up the chain of Richard Nixon's command: Who authorized the operation and who organized the cover-up?

Daily Howler - June 25, 2005

PIMPING WISE LEADER! Amazing! When Plan of Attack first appeared, the press said it proved Bush’s honesty! // link // print // previous // next //

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005

PART 5—PIMPING WISE LEADER: Plan of Attack is a fascinating book—more so today than when it appeared in April 2004. And yes, it does show the Bush Admin “fixing the intel,” from shortly after the Downing Street memo right through Colin Powell’s famous appearance before the UN. Uh-oh! Although he is deferential to Powell, Woodward shows the good general, again and again, deciding to put weak, inferential, “iffy” intelligence into his famous presentation. How was your country persuaded to march off to war?

Steve Gilliard: Guerrillas mount large attack, take 50 percent casualities

Iraq insurgents snatch victory from defeat
Massive police station assault alarms locals despite retreat

Rory Carroll in Baghdad
Friday June 24, 2005
The Guardian

Dawn had yet to break and Baghdad's biggest police station, like the rest of the city, was quiet. About 80 officers dozed inside the fortress, leaving just a few sentries guarding the walls, razor wire and concrete barriers.

It started with mortars. A series of whooshes from north and south followed seconds later by explosions inside the perimeter. Figures emerged from the gloom and knelt in the middle of Hi al-Elam and Qatar Nada streets, pointing rocket launchers.

More figures materialised on rooftops overlooking the station to spray gunfire and lob grenades. Dozens of gunmen, guerrilla infantry, swarmed from houses and alleys.
It was just after 5.30am and the station was surrounded.

The defenders heard engines rev and guessed what was next: suicide car bombers. Baghdad's biggest battle in months - and possibly the boldest yet by insurgents - had begun.
.................

Not since April's attack on Abu Ghraib had there been such a concentration of force in the capital and yet the insurgents were repulsed thanks to the heroism of the beleaguered police officers, he said. But in Baghdad, the fact the insurgents had launched the attack at all was more indicative.

Digby: Oh Please

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said a litany of comments by Democratic elected officials and their liberal allies underscored Rove's point. "It is outrageous," he said, "that the same Democratic leaders who refused to repudiate or criticize Dick Durbin's slandering of our military are now attacking Karl Rove for stating the facts. . . . Karl didn't say the Democratic Party. He said liberals."

I think the thing that gets me the most is this kind of insulting nonsense, particularly after enduring years of snotty whining about "what the definition of is, is."

Digby: Who's Your Daddy?

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg a Republican running for re-election in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, issued a statement urging both sides to keep politics out of the war on terrorism. 'We owe it to those we lost to keep partisan politics out of the discussion and keep alive the united spirit that came out of 9/11,' he said."

"Both sides" have made intemperate remarks about the war on terrorism.

Juan Cole - Jun 24, 2005

Student Unions [in Iraq] Call for Withdrawal of Occupation Troops

Gilbert Achcar kindly sends along his translation of this newspaper article:

' Student Unions [in Iraq] Call for Withdrawal of Occupation Troops

Baghdad – Abdel-Wahed Tohmeh – Al-Hayat, June 24, 2005

11 Student Unions approved the call made on al-Jaafari’s Government to set a timetable for the withdrawal of multinational forces and considered that the request made [by the Government at the UN] for the extension of their presence is “an infringement on Parliament’s prerogatives.”

Does Karl Rove Hate our Liberties and Way of Life?

' At a Manhattan fund-raiser Wednesday night, the flamboyant architect of Bush's two presidential campaigns and now White House deputy chief of staff told members of the Conservative Party of New York State: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war. Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." '

Now we know where the Bearded Lady of the Carnival Right, Ann Coulter, actually gets her material. She is just channeling Karl Rove, who believes that "liberals" wanted to put terrorists on the psychiatrist's couch or wanted to put them on trial rather than declaring them "enemy combatants" (i.e. persons with whom Bush and Rove could do as they pleased, without reference to any law). And, he implies that Conservatives knew what to do instead. Why, they got out their shotguns and went hunting for the varmints. Rove must not have heard that the Senate just apologized for not objecting to the practice of lynching in the old days.

Jaafari in Washington
Weeping Madman in Sweltering Baghdad

Robin Wright and Jim VandeHei of the Washington Post profile the meeting of Ibrahim Jaafari with George W. Bush.

As reported here yesterday, on Thursday morning back in Baghdad, four bombings left 17 dead and 70 wounded. (-Al-Sharq al-Awsat).

Richard Reeves predicts that the US will be in Iraq for 6 or 7 more years, and that when it withdraws it will be a "tragedy." He has no idea.

Al-Duri Leads Baath
Birth of His Daughter in Mosul

Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri [al-Douri] just had a daughter in Mosul, according to al-Hayat. The article says, roughly:

Al-Hayat has learned from sources close to Iraq's armed groups that the former vice president of the Revolutionary Command Council and the present Secretary-General of the dissolved Baath Party, Izzat al-Duri, was blessed with a baby girl, his eleventh child. She was born to a wife he married after the American attack. He has named her "Tahrir" (Liberation).

The sources affirmed that al-Duri received congratulations from the leadership of the Baath inside Iraq and outside it. He visited his wife, who gave birth in Mosul before leaving for parts unknown.

UN and Trying Bush

More on my UN Option for Iraq. By the way, someone over at the Kos discussion (scroll down) said that there "was no civil war" when the US withdrew from Vietnam. But mainland southeast Asia from the mid-70s is a pretty stark cautionary tale. Khmer Rouge take-over of Cambodia, genocide (one million killed out of a population of 6 million); North Vietnamese victory in the south and imposition of reeducation and Communism; exodus of Chinese Vietnamese as refugees; Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and decade-long occupation; Communist takeover of Laos; hostilities between Vietnam and China. If all *that* is awaiting the Oil Gulf after a US withdrawal, it will be a world-class catastrophe. Southeast Asia wasn't central to the world economy.

The Mahablog: Stealing Home

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that local governments may seize peoples' homes and businesses, even against their will, for private development. This is an appalling decision, IMO. But what puzzles me is why the righties are appalled also.

Don't the righties know that seizures such as those challenged by Kelo v. the City of New London made it possible for George W. Bush to be in the White House today?

The Mahablog: Today's Torture News!

Some blabbermouth in the UN revealed that the US has admitted to acts of torture in the Guantanamo, Afghanistan, and Iraq "detention facilities." I was excited until I read further into this article--

"They haven't avoided anything in their answers, whether concerning prisoners in Iraq, in Afghanistan or Guantanamo, and other accusations of mistreatment and of torture," the Committee member said.

"They said it was a question of isolated cases, that there was nothing systematic and that the guilty were in the process of being punished."

The US report said that those involved were low-ranking members of the military and that their acts were not approved by their superiors, the member added.

Yeah, right.

The Mahablog: Torture News Update!

Via The Heretik: An Italian judge ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents for kidnapping an imam and "rendering" him to Egypt.

Prosecutors believe the officers seized Omar as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, in which terror suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval, according to reports Friday in newspapers Corriere della Sera and Il Giorno.

The statement said Omar was attacked by two people while walking from home to a local mosque and hustled into a white van. He was taken to Aviano, a joint U.S.-Italian base north of Venice; another American air base in Ramstein, Germany; and then Cairo.

Investigators confirmed the abduction through an eyewitness account and other, unidentified witnesses, the statement said. .

The Mahablog: Righties Revise Rove Remarks

The White House and the rest of the VRWC are trying to soften Karl Rove's remarks of Wednesday night by suggesting he was only talking about MoveOn.org, or about MoveOn.org and Michael Moore, or about MoveOn, Michael Moore and Howard Dean.

Here's what Karl said:

...There is much merit in what Mr. Starr writes - though he and I fundamentally disagree as to why liberalism is edging toward irrelevance. I believe the reason can be seen when comparing conservatism with liberalism.

Conservatives believe in lower taxes; liberals believe in higher taxes. We want few regulations; they want more. Conservatives measure the effectiveness of government programs by results; liberals measure the effectiveness of government programs by inputs. We believe in curbing the size of government; they believe in expanding the size of government. Conservatives believe in making America a less litigious society; liberals believe in making America a more litigious society. We believe in accountability and parental choice in education; they don't. Conservatives believe in advancing what Pope John Paul II called a "culture of life"; liberals believe there is an absolute unlimited right to abortion.

The Mahablog: Reluctance

Paul Krugman wrote today,

America's founders knew all too well how war appeals to the vanity of rulers and their thirst for glory. That's why they took care to deny presidents the kingly privilege of making war at their own discretion.

But after 9/11 President Bush, with obvious relish, declared himself a "war president." And he kept the nation focused on martial matters by morphing the pursuit of Al Qaeda into a war against Saddam Hussein.

In November 2002, Helen Thomas, the veteran White House correspondent, told an audience, "I have never covered a president who actually wanted to go to war" - but she made it clear that Mr. Bush was the exception. And she was right.

And we've learned from Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill and the Downing Street Memos that the Bushies were so eager to go to war with Iraq that they manufactured the casus belli out of thin air.

No, not reluctant at all.

James Wolcott: A-Roving We Will Go

Posted by James Wolcott

After spending a harrowing evening in the Gerry and Cookie Fleck Hospitality Room without a View, Jonah Goldberg low-tailed it back east on the earliest plane that would let him fly in the cargo hold. He tries to put up a good front, but the fatigue betrayed by his Corner posts indicates his stay in Chi-town was hell on earth. Ditto John Derbyshire's report, where he complains about the heat in Chicago and swiftly changes the subject, not wanting to relive his horrible experience. Using my superior powers of inference, I divine that the fundraiser in Chicago was the biggest bust since the Broadway opening of Carrie the Musical.

Meanwhile, Victor Davis Hanson, who's supposed to be one of the Mature Voices on NRO, has pulled a Karl Rove.

As Karl Rove recently said--well, everyone knows what he oinked. Bush apologists at NRO are falling all over themselves to defend Bush's spongy gray matter, deploying every bit of sophistry they have at their greasy fingertips. From Koufax Country, the counterstrike has been swift and furious. Steve Gilliard, answering John Aravosis' call for action at Americablog, eloquently bugles the battle cry, "Hammer those fuckers with their words". The Rude Pundit rudely pundits, "Karl Rove To America: Suck It," and notes some fine distinctions that seem to have been overlooked. "When Howard Dean speaks, he’s speaking as the chair of the Democratic Party. The Democrats pay him. If Democrats around the nation don’t like what Dean says, then they can cease donating to the party. When Dick Durbin speaks, he’s representing the people of Illinois, to whom he will be answerable when he’s up for re-election. When Karl Rove speaks, he’s talking as an official with the White House. The only person he’s accountable to is the President, who, as Scott McClellan so dismissingly pointed out, won’t ask Rove to apologize. Rove’s paid by each and every tax-paying American. He represents all of us." And DCmediagirl speculates that Karl Rove may discover in his deteriorating years, as Lee Atwater did, that karma is a bitch.

Heir America

By Diane Ronayne, AlterNet. Posted June 25, 2005.

Well before Air America or Democracy Radio were sparks in their daddys' eyes, Public News Service was quietly getting blue state perspectives to red state listeners.

Guess which progressive news service produced 1,730 stories that aired more than 100,000 times last year on 2,320 mainstream and alternative stations across the country, from Pacifica to Clear Channel. Air America? Nope. Democracy Radio? Uh uh. It's Public News Service -- perhaps the most widely used independent news service you've never heard of.

PNS began as Northern Rockies News Service in 1996, the brainchild of journalist Lark Corbeil. A veteran of international television news, she had returned to her home state of Idaho in the early 1990s and volunteered at a public radio station. Taken aback by the amount of ultra-conservative content available to broadcasters, she started thinking about how to help offset it by getting more alternative voices into mainstream public debate. Her solution was to offer the media balanced news stories written and edited by professional journalists. The stories would examine the effects of policy on areas that received little coverage, lift up marginalized voices and make greater journalistic breadth available to broadcasters and publishers.

Evangelical Law Firm at Front of Culture War

By Kavan Peterson and Mark K. Matthews - In a modern brick building just off the highway here, a small team of evangelical lawyers is trying to elevate conservative Christian values in U.S. society.

Scottsdale, Ariz. Stateline.org - infoZine - This up-and-coming advocacy group, known formally as the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), is increasingly challenging progressive groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union on issues such as school prayer, gay rights and abortion.

Republicans in the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Statehouse recently asked the ADF to intervene on behalf of the Legislature to oppose a lawsuit filed by the ACLU in April on behalf of six lesbian state employees who want the state to provide employee benefits for their partners.

The Wisconsin case is one sign of the growing political influence of the U.S. Christian conservative movement. No longer politically passive, groups such as ADF are well-funded and well-equipped to push their agenda.

A World of Economic Do-Gooders

By Matthew Wheeland, AlterNet
Posted on June 24, 2005, Printed on June 25, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/22302/

Too often progressives reject the world of business as inherently corrupt or tainted. Even worse, we will often ignore it entirely, recycling the business section of the daily paper unopened. But if the only practices we undertake are shopping for organic produce or buying fair-trade goods from Global Exchange, we're missing a golden opportunity to make a difference.

The message woven throughout "The New Heroes," a four-hour PBS series that begins on June 28, is that well-meaning individuals can create immense change in the world. Each episode visits places where enterprising people have combined business skills with a desire to improve peoples' lives. The results are magnificent and uplifting. In India, Kailash Satyarthi raids a camp to free children and adults enslaved by the international rug trade. In Peru, Albina Ruiz Rios turns garbage into money by helping people start waste-management companies. Closer to home, Mimi Silbert runs the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco, a cluster of businesses including restaurants and a moving company that give ex-cons a chance to turn their lives around.

The Immaculate Scandal: Big Cypress Oil Scammers Go Scot-free

After Three Years, Interior Inspector General Finds No One Responsible

WASHINGTON, DC — The official investigation into an attempted $120 million taxpayer rip-off failed to find anyone responsible, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The official report recently issued by the U.S. Department of Interior Office of the Inspector General blamed the oil buyout scandal on “the cultural mindset with DOI [Department of Interior] and politics” but tacitly absolved all of the top officials who commissioned and approved the arrangement.

Under the deal, the Interior Department offered the Collier family, prominent supporters of both Bush brothers, more than twelve times the assessed value of its oil and gas holdings in the Big Cypress National Preserve, adjacent to the Florida Everglades. This hugely inflated buyout was announced in a May 2002 White House ceremony intended to burnish the environmental credentials of both Bushes.

A Broadband Beat-Down

By DAN MITCHELL

Published: June 25, 2005

IT looked for a while as if the United States was firmly entrenched as the world's leader in Internet innovation. President Bill Clinton and Al Gore, his vice president, did much to encourage development of the country's technology infrastructure, writes Thomas Bleha in an article accessible on the Foreign Affairs magazine Web site (www.foreignaffairs.org).

From the 1960's until the day President Bush took office, he writes, "The United States led the world in Internet development."

No longer. The Bush administration's policies, or lack thereof, have since allowed Asia - Japan in particular - to not only catch up in the development and expansion of broadband and mobile phone technology, but to roundly pound us into the dirt. "The lag," he diplomatically asserts, "is arguably the result of the Bush administration's failure to make a priority of developing these networks."

Expensive Favor

by Charley Reese

One question Americans should be asking the Bush administration is why it wishes to do such an expensive favor for the Iraqi people.

I cannot think of any instance in which the federal government has been willing to spend $1 billion a week and 1,700 lives just to improve conditions in any one of the 50 states. Yet that is exactly what it is doing in Iraq, presumably for no other reason than to bring the blessings of liberty to a people we have bombed, starved, impoverished and vilified for 14 years.

Commencement Address: Remarks of Senator Barack Obama

Saturday, June 4, 2005 — Good morning President Taylor, Board of Trustees, faculty, parents, family, friends, the community of Galesburg, the class of 1955—which I understand was out partying last night, and yet still showed up here on time—and most of all, the Class of 2005. Congratulations on your graduation, and thank you for the honor of allowing me to be a part of it. Thank you also, Mr. President, for this honorary degree. It was only a couple of years ago that I stopped paying my student loans in law school. Had I known it was this easy, I would have ran for the United States Senate earlier.

You know, it has been about six months now since you sent me to Washington as your United States Senator. I recognize that not all of you voted for me, so for those of you muttering under your breath “I didn’t send you anywhere,” that’s ok too. Maybe we’ll hold—what do you call it—a little Pumphandle after the ceremony. Change your mind for next time.

It has been a fascinating journey thus far. Each time I walk onto the Senate floor, I’m reminded of the history, for good and for ill, that has been made there. But there have been a few surreal moments. For example, I remember the day before I was sworn in, myself and my staff, we decided to hold a press conference in our office. Now, keep in mind that I am ranked 99th in seniority. I was proud that I wasn’t ranked dead last until I found out that it’s just because Illinois is bigger than Colorado. So I’m 99th in seniority, and all the reporters are crammed into the tiny transition office that I have, which is right next to the janitor’s closet in the basement of the Dirksen Office Building. It’s my first day in the building, I have not taken a single vote, I have not introduced one bill, had not even sat down in my desk, and this very earnest reporter raises his hand and says:

“Senator Obama, what is your place in history?”

‘Science Under Siege’

Throughout the Bush administration, the president’s policies have been criticized by many scientists. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a new and harsh analysis of those policies.

“Science Under Siege” says that the administration has used the attacks of September 11 to undermine the rights of researchers. “Spurred by misguided and often disingenuous security concerns, the Bush administration has sought to impose growing restrictions on the free flow of scientific information, unreasonable barriers to the use of scientific materials, and increased monitoring of and restrictions on foreign university students,” the report says.

The report says that there is no debate about the fact that there is some information that is so potentially dangerous that it shouldn’t be widely circulated, and that there are some terrorists who need to be kept out of the United States. But the report says that the Bush administration has gone way beyond reasonable measures — and that in doing so, the president is endangering security.

Altercation: Rove vs. New Yorkers

From: Siva Vaidhyanathan
Hometown: The Big Apple
Eric:
Check out Todd Gitlin giving it to Karl Rove:

Rove's indecency knows no limits. He parachuted into Manhattan to declare: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

They lie and lie. The lies carry them into the disaster that is Iraq. They insult, they sneer, and then they lie again. This isn't an accident--it's an identity.

Keeping Faith With Religious Freedom

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Saturday, June 25, 2005; Page A23

There was no obvious political benefit in David Obey's decision to take on the defense of religious minorities at the Air Force Academy. Because he stood up for their rights on the floor of the House of Representatives, the Wisconsin Democrat found himself accused of "denigrating and demonizing Christians."

Obey is unbowed. "I think if you asked God, he'd say the Ten Commandments were a road map for living," Obey said in a recent interview. "Instead, you have these self-appointed pharisees who think the Ten Commandments can be turned into a stiletto to use against their political opponents."

Scoundrel city: Reckless Republicans use troops as human shields

by Will Durst

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
--Samuel Johnson

Okay, get this and get this straight. Criticizing our Government is not the same as criticizing our armed forces. Okay? The same way that criticizing our Government is not the same as criticizing our postal workers. Or criticizing our zoo keepers or our ceramic mosaic tile grout installers. And let me make this clear, I am not in any way suggesting that any of these groups be criticized. Especially the postal workers.

Furthermore, telling the press that you are disgusted by reports of torture does not endanger our troops. You're all so fired up desperate to know what does endangers our troops; I'll tell you what endangers our troops: Greedy, cretinous toad leaders who send them 12,000 miles away to a desert to fight a war based on lies. Lies about the threat, and lies about a phantom desire to negotiate. That's who is responsible for putting our troops in harm's way. The idiots who sent them into this -- and yes, its time to say it out loud -- this quagmire.

Cursor's Media Patrol: June 24, 2005

Some extracts:

While a U.N. source said that U.S. officials have admitted that prisoners have been tortured at Guantanamo and elsewhere, Vice President Cheney was quoted as saying, "They're living in the tropics. They're well fed. They've got everything they could possibly want." Plus: 'Top five Gitmo falsehoods.'

In a Star Tribune profile of Dr. Steven Miles, who was denounced by the Pentagon for a Lancet article in which he accused U.S. Army doctors at Abu Ghraib of falsifying medical records, Miles says the medical system "became one of the professional arms of a torturing society."

Seven More Years? Karen Kwiatkowski writes that although developments in Iraq have left 'Neoconservatives Speechless,' members of Congress have not sat idly by: "there is a bipartisan move to repeal the 22nd Amendment."

Revisiting an April lecture in which Rove said, "Unless you have clear evidence to the contrary, commentators should answer arguments instead of impugning the motives of those with whom they disagree," David Corn looks at how well Rove took his own advice in an interview on "Hardball."

Bush *Hearts* Law Enforcement

Too Bad He's No Good At It
(posted June 24 1:30 AM ET)

Here's WH Press Sec. Scott McClellan yesterday:

Q: So you're suggesting that Rove's approach to discussing the philosophy that Democrats -- is to say that they want to prepare indictments and seek counseling.

That's their philosophy, is that what you were saying?

McCLELLAN: I think the comments were saying -- the conservative approach and the liberal approach is what he was talking about...

...There are many who have looked at the war on terrorism and said it is a law enforcement matter, that we should prosecute people.

The Art of 'Manufacturing Uncertainty'

By David Michaels, David Michaels, a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health, served as assistant secretary of Energy between 1998 and 2001.

To many scientists and policymakers in Washington, the revelation this month that Philip Cooney, chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, had rewritten a federal report to magnify the level of uncertainty on climate change came as no surprise. Uncertainty is easily manipulated, and Cooney — a former lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute, one of the nation's leading manufacturers of scientific uncertainty — was highly familiar with its uses.

As an epidemiologist with a special interest in occupational diseases, I share a fundamental problem with the scientists who are studying climate change. Our ability to conduct laboratory experiments is limited; we can't go out and intentionally expose people to carcinogens any more than climatologists can measure future temperatures. Instead, we must harness "natural experiments," collecting data through observation only. We then build models from this data, and use these models to make causal inferences and predictions, and, where possible, to recommend protective measures.

Tests Confirm Second Mad Cow Case in U.S.

un 24, 3:45 PM (ET)

By LIBBY QUAID

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tests have confirmed mad cow disease in a U.S. cow previously cleared of having the brain wasting illness, the Agriculture Department said Friday. It is the second case of mad cow disease in the United States.

An internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, confirmed the case of mad cow disease after U.S. tests produced conflicting results, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said.

Human health was not at risk, Johanns said. The animal was a "downer," meaning it was unable to walk. Such animals are banned from the food supply.

Men Accused Of Beating Lesbian Teens With Sledgehammer

Suspects Held On $1 Million Bond

POSTED: 5:27 pm CDT June 24, 2005

UPDATED: 7:41 pm CDT June 24, 2005

CHICAGO -- A Winnetka man is one of two suspects accused of beating two lesbians with a sledgehammer.

Police said Patrick Langballe, 29, of Winnetka, and Aaron Rush, 20, of Green Bay, Wis., met two 17-year-old girls through mutual friends while camping at Illinois State Beach Park.

Poll Finds Most Oppose Return to Draft

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: June 24, 2005

Filed at 9:31 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most Americans don't want to see the return of the military draft, although men, older Americans and Republicans were most likely to say it's a good idea, an AP-Ipsos poll found.

A majority of those polled also wouldn't encourage their own children to enlist -- highlighting the problems faced by the military as recruiting is in a slump.

NYT Editorial: Star Wars' Political Bull's-Eye

Published: June 24, 2005

A Pentagon panel of outside rocketry experts was too polite to use the phrase "pie in the sky," but they might as well have in excoriating the rush to deploy an unworkable antimissile system in time for President Bush's re-election campaign. Although clearly bedeviled by test failures and unproven components, the first antimissile stations in this fantastic $130 billion-plus windfall for the defense industry were officially deployed on the West Coast last fall - just in time to cover Mr. Bush's vow in 2000 to have the system up in four years.

Paul Krugman: The War President

By PAUL KRUGMAN

VIENNA

In this former imperial capital, every square seems to contain a giant statue of a Habsburg on horseback, posing as a conquering hero.

America's founders knew all too well how war appeals to the vanity of rulers and their thirst for glory. That's why they took care to deny presidents the kingly privilege of making war at their own discretion.

But after 9/11 President Bush, with obvious relish, declared himself a "war president." And he kept the nation focused on martial matters by morphing the pursuit of Al Qaeda into a war against Saddam Hussein.

Veterans Affairs faces $1 billion shortfall

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs told Congress that its health care costs grew faster than expected and left a $1 billion hole in its budget this year, lawmakers said Thursday.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer, the Republican from Indiana, said the department can meet this year's health care costs by drawing on spare funds and money from other operations, including building construction.

But next year's health care budget falls well over $1 billion short, said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho.

"I was on the phone this morning with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson letting him know that I am not pleased that this has happened," said Craig, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

"This shortfall results from either deliberate misdirection or gross incompetence by this administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington.

Families of September 11 tells Rove: Stop trying to 'reap' political gain from tragedy

RAW STORY

FOS11 Statement on Comments Made By Karl Rove

As families whose relatives were victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, we believe it is an outrage that any Democrat, any Republican, any conservative or any liberal, stakes a "high ground" position based upon the September 11th death and destruction. Doing so assumes that all those who died and their loved ones would agree. In truth, some would and some would not. By definition the conduct is divisive and, because it is intended to be self-serving and politicizes 9/11, it is offensive.

The Kept In The Dark Act

Birth control—it's the surefire way to cut down on unwanted pregnancies, abortions and sexually transmitted infections. And no matter what else their values, making sure that birth control and education about birth control is widely available and affordable should be among the priorities of health advocates from the left and the right. It might be logical, but that doesn't mean it's happening. Instead, right-wing legislatures are—again—taking steps to keep young women from taking control of their bodies and making responsible choices. This time, their tool is called the Parents Right To Know Act.

Italian Judge Names 13 in Abduction Tied to C.I.A.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: June 24, 2005

Filed at 8:47 p.m. ET

ROME (AP) -- An Italian judge on Friday ordered the arrests of 13 CIA officers for secretly transporting a Muslim preacher from Italy to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts -- a rare public objection to the practice by a close American ally.

The Egyptian was spirited away in 2003, purportedly as part of the CIA's ''extraordinary rendition'' program in which terror suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval, subjecting them to possible torture.

House Vote Spares Public Broadcasting Funds

Health, Education and Labor Programs Face Cuts Under Major Spending Bill

By Shailagh Murray and Paul Farhi

Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 24, 2005; Page A06

Unable to lower the budget ax on National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, the House agreed by a wide margin yesterday to restore funds to public broadcasting, as lawmakers struggled to pass the most politically painful spending bill so far this year.

The House voted 284 to 140 to add back $100 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's fiscal 2006 budget that had been cut in a committee, and to reverse a committee decision to eliminate all funding for the CPB within two years. The vote, which drew the support of 87 Republicans, followed a public relations blitz by public radio and TV stations, which fomented a widespread protest campaign by broadcasting ads that urged viewers and listeners to call their congressional offices.

China's Oil Bid Riles Congress

Attempt to Take Over U.S. Firm Spurs Calls for Retaliation

By Jonathan Weisman and Peter S. Goodman

Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 24, 2005; Page A01

Political fears of China's economic might intensified yesterday following China's unsolicited bid to take over a U.S. oil company, with lawmakers from both political parties warning that Congress will take retaliatory action against Chinese trade practices if the Bush administration fails to respond.

Under a barrage of questions, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow warned the Senate Finance Committee against punitive legislation that could trigger a trade war and ultimately harm the U.S.

The Mahablog: Clear and Present

Michael Smith, the London Times reporter who introducted the world to the Downing Street Memos, writes in today's Los Angeles Times that the press and public are missing the real news in the memos.

The real news, he says, is not that intelligence was "fixed" to justify war. The real news is the way Bush and Blair conspired to create a facade of legality for their little escapade in Iraq.

First,

My main article focused on the separate briefing paper for those taking part, prepared beforehand by Cabinet Office experts.

It said that Blair agreed at Crawford that "the UK would support military action to bring about regime change." Because this was illegal, the officials noted, it was "necessary to create the conditions in which we could legally support military action."

For whatever reason--oil, IMO, is just a small part of the reason--Bush really wanted to invade Iraq. And I'm sure Cheney really wanted to invade Iraq. And spoiled boys are used to getting what they want.

The Mahablog: You Weren't There, Karl. I Was.

Words cannot express the contempt I feel for Karl Rove and for the chorus of brainless little yappers applauding his recent remarks on liberal reactions to 9/11.

I'd like to ask Karl and his puppies to stand anywhere in the vincinity of Ground Zero and repeat Karl's fatuous, lying remarks to a crowd of New Yorkers.

The Mahablog: Public Enemy

I'm watching David Gergen on MSNBC Countdown--Gergen is "very surprised" at Karl Rove's recent remarks. Gergen thinks Karl "should take care of this himself" and apologize, but that Karl Rove should not be fired. Gergen is, of course, famous for his genteel and thoughtful mushiness.

The Sins of Judith Miller

By Russ Baker, AlterNet
Posted on June 24, 2005, Printed on June 24, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/22301/

As a media critic, I spend what feels like far too much time trying to persuade people that most reporters are not sloppy, agenda-driven, biased, or lazy. But it seems that whenever I get up on my high horse, back into the news rides Judith Miller.

Miller, a longtime star at The New York Times, has a formidable track record of egregious violations of journalistic standards and best practices, and a habit of sending the public off on what turn out to be wild goose chases. Relying on a small circle of highly interested parties (often anonymous "sources"), she became the leading journalistic purveyor of the fallacy that Saddam Hussein had WMD and that he was tied to Al-Qaeda.

Interrogators Cite Doctors' Aid at Guantánamo

By NEIL A. LEWIS

Published: June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 23 - Military doctors at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have aided interrogators in conducting and refining coercive interrogations of detainees, including providing advice on how to increase stress levels and exploit fears, according to new, detailed accounts given by former interrogators.

Karl Rove's "Understanding of 9/11"

Mr. Rove, the first thing that I would like to address is Afghanistan - the place that anyone with a true “understanding of 9/11” knows is a nation that actually has a connection to the 9/11 attacks. One month after 9/11, we invaded Afghanistan, took down the Taliban, and left without capturing Usama Bin Laden - the alleged perpetrator of the September 11th attacks. In the meantime, Afghanistan has carried out democratic elections, but continues to suffer from extreme violence and unrest. Poppy production (yes, Karl, the drug trade) is at an all time high, thus flooding the world market with heroin. And of course, the oil pipeline (a.k.a. the Caspian Sea pipeline) is better protected by U.S. troops who now have a “legitimate” excuse to be in that part of Afghanistan. Interesting isn't it Karl that the drug “rat line” parallels the oil pipeline. (Yet, with all those troops guarding that same sliver of land, can you please explain how those drugs keep getting through?)

Katha Pollitt: If the Frame Fits...

[from the July 11, 2005 issue]

In the wake of the 2004 election, Democrats have embarked on an orgy of what the linguist George Lakoff calls "reframing"--repositioning their policies linguistically to give them mass moral appeal. Prime candidate for a values makeover? Abortion, of course. It's as if the party, with its longstanding, if lukewarm, support for reproductive rights, were a family photo with Uncle Lou the molester right in the middle. Maybe if we cropped it to put him way off to the side? Or Photoshopped a big shadow onto his face? Or just decided to pretend he was nice Uncle Max? In "The Foreign Language of Choice," posted on AlterNet, Lakoff writes that he doesn't like "choice"--too consumerist. In fact, he doesn't even like "abortion"--too negative. He wants to "reparse" abortion in four ways. Dems should talk about it as an aspect of personal freedom from government interference, and as the regrettable outcome of right-wing opposition to sex ed and contraception. They should reclaim "life" by talking about the fact that "the United States has the highest rate of infant mortality in the industrialized world," thanks to poverty and lack of healthcare, which are the fault of conservatives, "who have been killing babies--real babies...[who] have been born and who people want and love" and damaging their health through anti-environmental policies that put toxins in mother's milk. Finally, they should talk about the thousands of women each year who become pregnant from rape: "Should the federal government force a woman to bear the child of her rapist?"

Rove Criticizes Liberals on 9/11

By PATRICK D. HEALY

Karl Rove came to the heart of Manhattan last night to rhapsodize about the decline of liberalism in politics, saying Democrats responded weakly to Sept. 11 and had placed American troops in greater danger by criticizing their actions.

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble."

Digby: Liberals Filing Lawsuits For Therapy and Understanding

This chaps my hide:

Q Scott, just again on Karl's remarks last night, when he talked about the indictments, was he simply reflecting the sentiments of the President, who, as we know, in many, many speeches, perhaps in jest, talked about referring to the terrorists as saying maybe they thought after 9/11, we would just file a lawsuit?

MR. McCLELLAN: The war on terrorism brought us, to our shores -- let me back up, because the President -- this was talked about at length over the course of the last four years, Ed.

Digby: Rovism

I'm going to be very rude here and quote an entire post from Glen Smith on BOP. (Do click over to read the comments.) I think it's important that people think about this:

Karl Rove's un-American attacks on those who disagree with him deserve the condemnation they're receiving. I've known him for 20 years, and I'm not surprised he said them. He's a socially inept but patient thug whose willingness to haunt the nation's dark political alleys for years, waiting for the right time and the right victims, is too often taken for unparalleled political intelligence.

Being attacked by Rove is a little like being criticized by the Boston Strangler. At least you know you're alive. If we want to understand Rove, maybe we should get an FBI profiler.

White House intentionally had Rove call Democrats and 57% of Americans traitors

by John in DC - 6/23/2005 07:54:00 PM

It's pretty clear now that this was a set up orchestrated by the White House in order to deflect attention away from the disaster that is the war in Iraq, and Bush's plumetting polls.

1. The White House released the TEXT of Rove's speech today. According to my sources who know about such things, that NEVER happens. This is prima facie evidence that the White House coordinated this thing from the beginning.

2. The RNC put out talking points today about how the Democrats "blamed America" for September 11. Those detailed talking points were clearly prepared well in advance of this noon today when this thing blew up. WE BLAMED AMERICA?

U.S. House puts 'Doomsday' bill on fast track

Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:18 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the House of Representatives approved legislation on Wednesday to quickly replace themselves if they are killed in a Sept. 11-type attack.

The House voted 268-143 to retain the plan, which was attached to a spending bill likely to be sent to President Bush within several months.

The measure, dubbed the "Doomsday" bill, requires special elections within 49 days if more than 100 of the House's 435 members are killed. Currently it can take 75 days or more for some states to hold special elections to replace a member who dies in office.

The Rude Pundit: What the Real Desecration Is:

6/23/2005

Let us say, and why not, that the Rude Pundit decides to get his nationalistic mojo workin' and needs himself an American flag. In order to get those Stars and Stripes, he doesn't head over to the Government Office of Official Flag-Givin' because, you know, no such office actually exists. Nope, instead, the Rude Pundit has to go shoppin'.

Yep, in order to get himself one of those sacred objects of our national pride, he's gotta head on over to the local Target (since the Rude Pundit would rather shove his hand into a fire ant pile than shop at Wal-Mart) or, you know, Stop 'N Shop, slam down his hard-earned cash, pathetically flirt with the cashier, bag that fucker, and head on home with his Made in China red, white, and blue (hey, maybe that's why the red is a little brighter). Then Target'll have to order some more flags. And somewhere in Wujiang City, slave-wage laborers or perhaps prisoners will get to work makin' more flags of freedom. Because if there's somethin' Americans love more than the U.S.A., it's cheap shit.

Iraqis Tallying Range of Graft in Rebuilding

By JAMES GLANZ

Published: June 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 23 - Allegations of widespread corruption have dogged the Iraqi government since the invasion in 2003, when billions of dollars for reconstruction and training began pouring into the country. Many programs had far less impact than expected, but persistent rumors that money was being siphoned by corrupt officials were largely impossible to pin down.

U.N. Uncovers Torture at Guantanamo Bay

Thursday, June 23, 2005 8:48 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER

U.N. human rights experts said Thursday they have reliable accounts of detainees being tortured at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The experts also said Washington had not responded to their latest request to check on the conditions of terror suspects at the facility in eastern Cuba. That request was made in April.

U.S. officials so far have allowed only the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Guantanamo detainees. The U.N. human rights investigators have been trying to visit since 2002.

Cursor's Media Patrol - June 23, 2005

Some extracts:

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove emerged from 'Bush's jammed PR machine' to declare that "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," while "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg described Rove's comments as "political trash talk," but White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Rove was just "telling it like it is."

The Washington Post reports that the Pentagon is working to create a national database of all students over 16 "to help the military identify potential recruits," using a contractor with no published privacy policy.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it has awarded Halliburton a new contract worth up to $1.25 billion to "support U.S. troops" in Europe, while the Pentagon is accused of acting as if "it has something to hide" in "withholding information about Halliburton's disputed billing under a $2.5 billion contract."

Dana Milbank shows more empathy for the "Denver Three" than he did for the congressional 30. Scroll down for a "Countdown" interview with Milbank and one of the 'three.'

Monitoring the cable news channels over 16 hours to see what passes for news, CJR Daily found that "Fox News was the place for anything Natalee Holloway- or Sen. Dick Durbin-related. Those two subjects received 10 times more coverage than the top news stories of the day." Earlier: Terri Schiavo autopsy DOA on FOX.

Iraq: The carve-up begins

Tom Burgis
Thursday 23 June 2005

As the costs of the Iraq occupation spiral, British and American oil companies meet in secret next week to carve up the country's oil reserves for themselves. Tom Burgis reports

The Iraq war has so far cost America and Britain £105billion. But the financial clawback is gathering pace as British and American oil giants work out how to get their hands on the estimated £3trillion worth of oil.

Social Security Follies

Published: June 23, 2005

Congressional Republicans have begun talking with top White House aides about an exit strategy - not from Iraq, but from the winless quagmire of President Bush's campaign to privatize Social Security. Mr. Bush has responded to this new political reality by, first, insisting that the American people do not yet understand the virtues of privatization, and second, blaming the failure of his deservedly unpopular plan on Congressional Democrats.

Cruel and Unusual

By BOB HERBERT

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" asked Joseph Welch in his famous confrontation with the pathologically cruel Joe McCarthy. "Have you left no sense of decency?"

More than a half-century later, I would ask the same question of Florida's governor, Jeb Bush.

In an abuse of power that has been widely denounced, and has even appalled many of his own supporters in the Republican Party, Governor Bush has tried to keep the Terri Schiavo circus alive by sending state prosecutors on a witch hunt against her husband, Michael.

A Class Act

Jennifer Ladd and Felice Yeskel

June 23, 2005

Felice Yeskel, Ed.D, and Jennifer Ladd, Ed.D, are founders and co-directors of Class Action, a national organization working to bridge the class divide. Yeskel is co-author of Economic Apartheid in America: A Primer on Growing Inequality and Insecurity. See their web site www.classism.org for more information and links to the two series described in this article.

In the last month, two of our country’s most elite newspapers published a series of unprecedented articles about social class in America. On May 13, 2005, The Wall Street Journal published part one of “Moving Up: The Challenges to the American Dream”, a series chronicling declining mobility and opportunity in the United States. Two days later, The New York Times began their “Class Matters” series, declaring “class is still a powerful force in American life.” The month-long series examined class disparities in marriage, educational opportunities, religious life and comparative immigration experiences. Although these articles address an often-taboo subject, they overlook a crucial element: potential ways to remedy the flaws in the current system.

U-2 Crashes in United Arab Emirates

By Bradley Graham

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Page A20

An Air Force U-2 spy plane returning from a nine-hour reconnaissance mission over Afghanistan crashed in predawn darkness yesterday in the United Arab Emirates, and the pilot died, military officials said.

The cause of the crash could not be immediately determined, the officials said. But a senior military officer familiar with preliminary internal reports said there were no indications of hostile fire.

Pay Abuses Common for Day Laborers, Study Finds

By Mary Beth Sheridan

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Page A01

More than half of day laborers in the Washington area have been cheated out of their wages and one in four has been harmed on the job, according to a study being released today that tries to sketch a portrait of the informal workers.

The study is based on the experiences of 476 day laborers in the District, Northern Virginia and Maryland, who were interviewed last year by a team affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles. It depicts the typical worker as an industrious Latin American man who earns $991 a month.

Supreme Court Expands Government's Right to Seize Homes

By William Branigin

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 23, 2005; 3:02 PM

The Supreme Court today effectively expanded the right of local governments to seize private property under eminent domain, ruling that people's homes and businesses -- even those not considered blighted -- can be taken against their will for private development if the seizure serves a broadly defined "public use."

In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld the ability of New London, Conn., to seize people's homes to make way for an office, residential and retail complex supporting a new $300 million research facility of the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. The city had argued that the project served a public use within the meaning of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution because it would increase tax revenues, create jobs and improve the local economy.

Talking Points Memo:

A few days ago, a TPM Reader, who was doing some of her own sleuthing, wrote in to tell me that there might be an interesting backstory to the House Duke Cunningham bought as well as the one he sold.

I feel bad because I wasn't able to work quickly enough in this case with the information she was kind enough to send my way.

But now Tony Perry of the LA Times has confirmed what my reader was telling me.

Rove Criticizes Liberals on 9/11

By PATRICK D. HEALY

Karl Rove came to the heart of Manhattan last night to rhapsodize about the decline of liberalism in politics, saying Democrats responded weakly to Sept. 11 and had placed American troops in greater danger by criticizing their actions.

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble."

Talking Points Memo: Rove is Despicable

I guess we needed more evidence that Karl Rove is the most despicable man on the American political scene today.

I remember talking last year to a guy who'd been on shows a few times with Rove. And he told me how when you talk to the guy, there's nothing in his eyes, no soul. Just a machine, an animal.

What's Their Real Problem With Gay Marriage? (It's the Gay Part)

Writing in the NY Times, Russell Shorto really nails the narrative coming out of the right wing, anti-gay "Christian" fundamentalist community, and right here in Maryland, no less. You've heard it before, but not with this clarity. Unfortunate then, that the author's own bias slips through, in the article's final paragraph.

Juan Cole - June 23, 2005

Brussels Conference Inconclusive
32 Dead in Guerrilla Violence

The Brussels conference of foreign ministers on Iraq seems to me to have yielded little practical result. The real action will come at the donors' conference in Amman, Jordan, next month. The world community has pledged billions to Iraq, but has only delivered about $2 billion, in large part because the security situation makes it impossible to send teams out to evaluate projects or to actually disburse the funding in a practical way.

Questions on UN Option in Iraq

A reader with a US military background writes:

"I noted your recent proposal for increased UN military involvement with some questions.

1. With great oversimplification, the civil war in Iraq is being fought by factions who desire to have the long term control of either the government of the whole country, or their own particular region (ie Kurdistan, or to a lesser extent Sadrist Basra).

Stirling Newberry on UN Option
And the Great Oil Price Shock of Gulf War IV

Stirling Newberry doesn't think the UN has enough troops for Iraq, either; and he instances the Congo as an example of things going bad.

"What’s wrong with staying in: Realistically any change of occupation policy will require a change of regime in the United States. Given that the current Executive controls both houses of Congress, and there is no even improbable scenario which brings to the White House anyone of different persuasion – indulge your most arcane avian bird flu and Presidential succession scenario – its war hawks all the way down the depth chart – realistically, it means than any occupation scenario is basing its judgement on 2009. By 2009, at reasonable estimates, there will be another 3500 US military fatalities in Iraq, there will be another 250 allied fatalities. There will be another 2000 mercenary fatalities. There will be some 40,000 Iraqi military dead – including government and rebel fighters. There will be some 200,000 incremental deaths in Iraq because of direct consequences of conflict, deprivation and crime. We are not talking, then, about “can we turn Iraq around today”. We are talking about “can we turn Iraq around after another 3 and a half years of civil war?” It is useful to look, then, at two example failed states and their experiences. One is the Democratic [Republic] of the Congo. The other is Lebanon. "

Abizaid: "Cost in Blood and Treasure"
2nd Lt.: "The War is Lost"

Vice President Dick Cheney needs to talk to his generals more often. Michael Hedges of the Houston Chronicle reports that Gen. John Abizaid, who has recently consulted with US commanders in Iraq, said today that the guerrilla movement in Iraq is as strong now as it was 6 months ago. Dick Cheney recently said it was in its "last throes." If so, the throes appear likely to go on for decades. Abizaid, however, conveyed an unrealistic impression that the Iraqi forces will take over the heavy lifting any time soon, and he continued to deny that the US needed more troops on the ground. CNN's Jane Arraf reported on Wednesday from Anbar province that virtually no one among the Lt. Colonels and fighting troops on the ground in Iraq thinks they have enough boots on the ground.

Billmon: Invisible Means of Support

I've noticed something about the recent polling data: While support for the war in Iraq has eroded quite sharply over the past few months, support for our nominal president has remained relatively steady -- or, at worse (from Bush's point of view) declined much more gradually.

Billmon: Dining With the Devil

We're starting to see the fruits of the Pentagon's labors to recreate the old Baath Party security agency, the Mukhabaret. And, as predicted here, the fruits are pretty damned rancid:

According to intelligence officials in Baghdad, whose clearances bar them from speaking publicly, Iraq's security services have hundreds of "ghost soldiers" -- members who vanish, sometimes for months on end, but continue to draw their pay. The fear is that they are working for the insurgency while keeping up their ties in uniform.

Newsweek
The Enemy Spies
June 19, 2005

Even if some kind of workable security service can patched together from the remains of Saddam's Mukhabaret, it's likely to be thoroughly penetrated almost instantly by agents still working for the old, not the new, boss.

Whiskey Bar
Rock Bottom
August 24, 2003

Billmon: Rotten Boroughs

Donkey Rising points to a Mother Jones article that describes some of the built-in advantages enjoyed by the Republicans in their quest for world domination -- or at least, for a permanent lock on the U.S. electoral system.

Who Is Getting Caught in the Flypaper of Iraq?

According to MSNBC, most foreign fighters on the insurgents' side come from Saudi Arabia. This is not surprising, not surprising at all. What should be surprising is the fact that the Bush administration pretends great friendship with Saudi Arabia. Yet the majority of the 9/11 suicide terrorists were Saudis and it is the Saudi form of islam, Wahhabism, that is the main breeding ground of muslim terrorism. Contrast our friendship with the fundamentalist Saudis to our invasion of Iraq, a country that used to be secular. Mindboggling, isn't it?

Recruiters Reach New Lows

By Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation

Posted on June 23, 2005, Printed on June 23, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/22286/

While the alarming list of recruiting abuses has received some needed media attention, it's worth reviewing the extremes to which the military has gone to fill its ranks.

During the Vietnam War, protesters burned draft cards, rallied on campuses and marched on Robert McNamara's Pentagon. Today, with the war in Iraq raging on and on, parents, teachers and other community leaders are spearheading a new antiwar effort, telling the military to keep their hands off the children. The Times' Bob Herbert put it well: "The parents of the kids being sought by recruiters to fight this unpopular war are creating a highly vocal and potentially very effective antiwar movement."

Black Men: Missing?

It's downright depressing how, besieged by poverty, disease, violence and mass incarceration, African-American men are conspicuously missing from families and communities.

By Salim Muwakkil, In These Times
Posted on June 22, 2005, Printed on June 23, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/22283/

The overwhelming absence of black men has always been one of the most distressing facts about life in America's public housing developments. In Chicago, for example, black women are the vast majority of lease holders in the Chicago Housing Authority; men are like ghosts in the projects.

Besieged by poverty, disease, violence and mass incarceration, African-American men are conspicuously missing in action. At one time, this gender imbalance afflicted mostly lower-income neighborhoods. But as we limp into the 21st century, that gender gap is rending the fabric of the entire African-American community.

Study: More Companies Terminate Pensions

By ADAM GELLER, AP Business Writer Wed Jun 22, 4:49 PM ET

NEW YORK - Big employers sharply accelerated freezes and terminations of pension plans last year, steering away from the increasing expense and uncertainty of paying for workers' retirement, a new study says.

About 11 percent of the big companies offering traditional pensions terminated their plans or froze accrual of new benefits to workers, according to a study by consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide, released Wednesday. That is up from 2003, when 7 percent of the nation's 1,000 largest companies capped pension plans.

Daily Howler - June 22, 2005

IT’S HARD TO DECIDE! Had Bush decided on war by July? For Woodward, it’s hard to decide: // link // print // previous // next //

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2005

FIRST LESSON IN AMERICAN NEW THINK: Now that Durbin has offered his semi-apology (note all the “ifs” in his statement), we’ve learned our first lesson in American New Think. To fully understand that key first lesson, let’s reread the FBI report on which Disgraced Durbin offered comment:

FBI REPORT (7/29/04): On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food, or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold...On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

So here’s the first lesson in American New Think: The next time you read a report like that, you will not think it came from a “mad regime,” the term Durbin used in his troubling comments.

"Shox" News Billboards

Checked the linked page for more pictures.--Dictynna

Juan Cole - June 22, 2005

Kos Discussion of UN Option

Many thanks to "Mark in San Francisco," who runs a diary at Daily Kos, for provoking an extensive and often acute discussion of my piece on the "UN Option" there.

Bush's Iraq Incubator of Terror
Syria Deploys 7,000 to Block Infiltrators

The New York Times reports that the CIA is growing increasingly alarmed about Bush's Iraq as an incubator of terrorists, and the probability that at some point they will target the US at home.

War on Terror or War on Each other?

Dawn tells an unedifying little story of a crisis that was not covered by most US corporate media.

So, first the Afghan security services broke up what they said was a plot by three armed Pakistanis to assassinate Zalmay Khalilzad, who had been the US ambassador to Afghanistan and is now in Baghdad as the new envoy to Iraq.

History and Genetics in Madagascar

Genetics and history have joined forces to explain the origins of the people of Madagascar (the world's fourth largest island, off the coast of East Africa). Early Muslim chronicles speak of the peopling of Madagascar from the islands to its far east, i.e., Indonesia. Geneticists have found that about half of the island's people have Y chromosomes or mitochondrial DNA that most resemble that of the people of Borneo. Note that all the people in Madagascar by now have Indonesian ancestors and lots of genes from there. The other half of the markers go to East Africa. There must, however, also be an Arab heritage. Some 7 percent of the inhabitants of Madagascar are Muslim, and Muslim chronicles speak of several waves of immigration from places like Yemen.

Cole on Knowing his Own History; and Isaiah Berlin

I don't usually bother to reply at any length to my Neocon critics. Mostly this is because they are simply insincere, and say what they say maliciously and in knowledge of its falsehood. In some instances they have quite unethically subjected their opponents to harassment of a sort that is illegal in some states. They are purely political beasts, for whom all statements are instrumental, and therefore they can never engage in useful dialogue.