Binyam Mohamed case rejected

British resident cannot sue firm for allegedly flying terror suspects abroad for CIA, says US court…………………………………..

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US: Mexico drug war ‘like Colombia’

Castro: Cuba economy ‘doesn’t work’

Ex-president says system has become redundant and questions his actions during Cuban missile crisis, in chat with US journalist………………………………

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Catholics, it’s you this Pope has abused

Johann Hari: I want to appeal to Britain’s Roman Catholics now, before Joseph Ratzinger’s state visit begins…………………………

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Lie behind mass ’suicides’ of Egypt’s young women

Robert Fisk: Part three of our series demolishes the official claim that Egypt has no ‘honour’ killings………………………………

• Robert Fisk: Relatives with blood on their hands

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Fault Lines

Tony Blair talks to Sir David Frost

09/09/10 AP: Indiana Soldier Killed In Iraq

The family of a 27-year-old soldier from northeastern Indiana said he has been killed in Iraq. Relatives said military officials told them that Army Sgt. Phillip Chad Jenkins, of Decatur, died Tuesday. The military didn’t immediately confirm his death or its circumstances.

09/09/10 LATimes: Iraqi official foresees a U.S. military presence until 2016

Some form of U.S. military presence will be needed in Iraq at least until 2016 to provide training, support and maintenance for the vast quantity of military equipment and weaponry that Iraq is buying from America, Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Obeidi said

09/09/10 WaPo: Afghans protest Fla. church’s plan to burn Korans

Demonstrations erupted here Thursday as hundreds of enraged youths burned effigies, threw rocks and chanted, “Death to America,” to protest plans by a Florida church to burn copies of the Koran this weekend.

09/09/10 AP: Soldier’s father says Army was warned of murder plot in Afghanistan

The father of a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan says he tried nearly a half dozen times to pass an urgent message from his son to the Army: Troops in his unit had murdered an Afghan civilian, planned more killings and threatened him to keep quiet about it.

09/09/10 AP: US sergeant charged with murdering Afghan civilians kept body parts

New documents released by the US Army say a staff sergeant charged in a conspiracy to murder civilians kept Afghan body parts and threatened subordinates

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A Drawing Down of Blinds

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  Suicide Prevention.

 Suicide prevention training resources for Army families can be accessed at:

http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp?sub_cat=20. Army Knowledge Online is required to download materials. Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact Military OneSource or the Defense Center of Excellence (DCOE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Outreach Center. Trained consultants are available from both organizations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Military OneSource toll-free number for those residing in the continental U.S. 1-800-342-9647;their Web site address is http://www.militaryonesource.com. Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource Web site for dialing instructions for their specific location

U.S. Afghanistan Occupation  Casualties

Pictures: Deaths in Afghanistan: A look at the faces of American lives lost

 This list includes fatal U.S. government casualties military and civilian in the Occupation Of Afghanistan. Its totals will usually be slightly less than those in media reports because they are based on Defense Department reports of each casualty’s name and other personal details, which are not released until next of kin are notified. The information is cross-checked with reports by the Associated Press and local news media and periodic updates by the Defense Department.

Total To Date:

Killed: 1278

Wounded: Can not find a reliable source.

Names of the Dead:

Recent Confirmations

Cpl. Philip G. E. Charte, 22, of Goffstown, N.H., died Sept. 7 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Lance Cpl. Ross S. Carver, 21, of Rocky Point, N.C., died Sept. 3 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Capt. Jason T. McMahon, 35, of Mulvane, Kan., died Sept. 5 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire in Jalalabad. He was assigned to the 184th Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 52nd Ordnance Group, Fort Campbell, Ky.

Pfc. Diego M. Montoya, 20, of San Antonio, Texas, died Sept. 2 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with indirect fire. He was assigned to the 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

Pfc. James A. Page, 23, of Titusville, Fla…assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany…died Aug. 31 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Pfc. Matthew E. George, 22, of Gransboro, N.C…assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany…died Aug. 31 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. Raymond C. Alcaraz, 20, of Redlands, Calif…assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany…died Aug. 31 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Vinson B. Adkinson III, 26, of Harper, Kan…assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany…died Aug. 31 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Lance Cpl. Joshua T. Twigg, 21, of Indiana, Pa., died Sept. 2 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Staff Sgt. Casey J. Grochowiak, 34, of Lompoc, Calif…died Aug. 30 in Malajat, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

2nd Lt. Mark A. Noziska, 24, of Papillon, Neb…died Aug. 30 in Malajat, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Lance Cpl. Christopher B. Rodgers, 20, of Griffin, Ga., died Sept. 1 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Lance Cpl. Cody A. Roberts, 22, of Boise, Idaho, died Aug. 31 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

 Sgt. Joseph A. Bovia, 24, of Kenner, La., died Aug. 31 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.

Pfc. Chad D. Clements, 26, of Huntington, Ind. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division…died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, 36, of Conover, Wis. He was assigned to the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group…died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32, of Canton, Ohio. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division…. died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Jesse Infante, 30, of Cypress, Texas. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division… died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Capt. Dale A Goetz, 43, of White, S.D. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division… died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

Gunnery Sgt. Floyd E. C. Holley, 36, of Casselberry, Fla., died Aug. 29 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Capt. Ellery R. Wallace, 33, of Utah…assigned to 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky…died Aug. 29 at Nangahar, Afghanistan, of wound sustained when their military vehicle was struck by rocket propelled grenade on Aug. 28 at Nangahar, Afghanistan. 

Pfc. Bryn T. Raver, 20, of Harrison, Ark…assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troop Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky…died Aug. 29 at Nangahar, Afghanistan, of wound sustained when their military vehicle was struck by rocket propelled grenade on Aug. 28 at Nangahar, Afghanistan. 

 Yet To Be Named

   ?

For Other Afghanistan Casualties since June 1, 2009 see page:

Iraq & Afghanistan Occupation Confirmed U.S Casualties – Since June 1, 2009

U.S. Iraq Occupation Casualties

Pictures: Deaths in Iraq: A look at the faces of American lives lost

Total To Date:

Killed: 4418*

Wounded: Can not find a reliable source.

This list includes fatal U.S. government casualties military and civilian in the Occupation Of Iraq. Its totals will usually be slightly less than those in media reports because they are based on Defense Department reports of each casualty’s name and other personal details, which are not released until next of kin are notified. The information s cross-checked with reports by the Associated Press and local news media and periodic updates by the Defense Department. The list for U.S. casualties in the Occupation of Afghanistan is below.Total To Date:

*Includes eight soldiers who died from their wounds but not listed as such by the Pentagon.Wounded: Can not find a reliable source.In addition thousands upon thousands of soldiers have suffered and are continuing to suffer from PTS and a broad spectrum of mental illnesses.

Names of the Dead

Recent Confirmations:

Sgt. Brandon E. Maggart, 24, of Kirksville, Mo., died Aug. 22 at Basrah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using indirect fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash

Spc. Jamal M. Rhett, 24, of Palmyra, N.J., died Aug. 15 in Ba Qubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with grenades. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

 None

 For Other Iraq Casualties since June 1, 2009 see page:

Iraq & Afghanistan Occupation Confirmed U.S Casualties – Since June 1, 2009

The McGlynn

When it comes to elections, DFA members aren’t interested in electing just any Democrat. We’re looking for fighters and truth-tellers — champions who fight for the people and not powerful corporate interests.

That’s why DFA members chose two great Democratic leaders for DFA’s 2010 Progressive Hero endorsements — Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Alan Grayson.

Senator Boxer and Congressman Grayson are champions. They have led the Democratic Party and the country on every issue from the public option to Wall Street reform, from combating climate change to delivering an economic stimulus that invested in America and created jobs. They don’t back down when challenged by Tea Party Republicans. They have stood up for us time and again in Washington — now it’s our turn to stand up for them.

Contribute $10 each to Barbara Boxer and Alan Grayson right now.

Senator Boxer needs no introduction. For years she has been one of the progressive movement’s boldest leaders — on climate change, on healthcare, on women’s rights, and on so much more she has been a voice for the people.

Now, Senator Boxer is locked in a tough reelection fight with Tea Party Republican Carly Fiorina, a failed corporate executive who is writing million-dollar checks to fund her own campaign. Carly claims to have created jobs as a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, but that conveniently ignores the tens of thousands of Americans laid-off, fired or who had their jobs outsourced overseas under her failed “leadership.” Let’s face it, when Carly was in charge, HP lost 2/3’s of its shareholder value. Neither California nor the rest of the nation can afford leadership like Carly Fiorina.

The U.S. Senate needs Heroes who fight the big banks, insurance companies and Wall Street. Who stand up for everyday Americans against corporate interests. America needs Senator Barbara Boxer.

Contribute $10 now to reelect Progressive Hero Barbara Boxer.

Congressman Grayson doesn’t need any introduction either. He has worked with DFA members in his home state of Florida and in DC to fight for real change. This past February, he and I joined DC-area DFA members to deliver tens of thousands of petition signatures calling for real healthcare reform with the choice of a public option to other members of Congress.

He has been such an outspoken advocate for change that it’s easy to forget that Congressman Grayson is only in his first term elected to a district with an over 10% Republican voter registration advantage. That’s why Grayson is a top target for Republicans this fall. Sarah Palin and FOX News are pulling out all the stops to get his Tea Party opponent elected and send Grayson home. It’s up to us to stop them.

Join us today to send Congressman Grayson back for a second term — and a third, and a fourth.

Contribute $10 now to reelect Progressive Hero Alan Grayson.

The talking heads in the media are saying that some Democrats will lose big this November because Democrats won’t care enough to get out and vote. Not DFA members — there is no “enthusiasm gap” for Democrats who fight for the people — that’s why working together, we’re going to make sure our Heroes win.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.

C-SPAN and CNN carried the interfaith press conference live

by: Dave Cook  |  The Christian Science Monitor | Report

The O’Leary: ”The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” I watched the entire press conference of these good men and women. What a shame that most Americans didn’t.

BP spreads blame for Gulf oil rig explosion

Live Multiple firms at fault over blast that caused spill, report concludes
• BP points finger at Halliburton and Deepwater operator Transocean
• Transocean accuses BP of attempting to conceal its own failings………….

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9/11 Qur’an burning to go ahead

Florida pastor to mark World Trade Centre attacks by burning holy book despite Hillary Clinton saying plan is disgraceful

642 comments

• In pictures: Protest against plan to burn Qur’an

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US church’s plans to burn Qur’an berated across Muslim world

8 Sep 2010: Widespread anger over desecration threat marking ninth anniversary of 9/11 and its timing – a day after end of Ramadan ………………………….

Relatives with blood on their hands

Robert Fisk: Women who found refuge in Hina Jilani’s shelter died later at the hands of their families………………………….

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Iran suspends death by stoning case Controversial punishment for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani put on hold amid “review” following international outcry. Last Modified: 08 Sep 2010 14:58 GMT

Iran urged to free jailed woman Iran stoning woman ‘confesses’ ******************************** During War there are no civilians   Sitting in on the Rachel Corrie trial alarmingly reveals an open Israeli policy of indiscrimination towards civilians. Nora Barrows-Friedman Last Modified: 08 Sep 2010 15:28 GMT Rachel Corrie’s plight symbolised the ruthless policy of Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the social psyche of millions of people outside of the West Bank and Gaza Strip [Getty Images]  “During War there are no civilians,” that’s what “Yossi,” an Israeli military (IDF) training unit leader simply stated during a round of questioning on day two of the Rachel Corrie trials, held in Haifa’s District Court earlier this week. “When you write a [protocol] manual, that manual is for war,” he added. For the human rights activists and friends and family of Rachel Corrie sitting in the courtroom, this open admission of an Israeli policy of indiscrimination towards civilians — Palestinian or foreign — created an audible gasp. Yet, put into context, this policy comes as no surprise. The Israeli military’s track record of insouciance towards the killings of Palestinians, from the 1948 massacre of Deir Yassin in Jerusalem to the 2008-2009 attacks on Gaza that killed upwards of 1400 men, women and children, has illustrated that not only is this an entrenched operational framework but rarely has it been challenged until recently. Rachel Corrie, the young American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by a Caterpillar D9-R bulldozer, as she and other members of the nonviolent International Solidarity Movement attempted to protect a Palestinian home from imminent demolition on March 16, 2003 in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Corrie has since become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity as her family continues to fight for justice in her name. Her parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, filed a civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for Rachel’s unlawful killing — what they allege was an intentional act — and this round of testimonies called by the State’s defense team follows the Corries’ witness testimonies last March. The Corries’ lawsuit charges the State with recklessness and a failure to take appropriate measures to protect human life, actions that violate both Israeli and international laws. Witnesses insisted that the bulldozer driver couldn’t see Rachel Corrie from his perch. The State attorneys called three witnesses to the stand on Sunday and Monday to prove that the killing was unintentional and took place in an area designated as a “closed military zone.”  Falling under the definition of an Act of War, their argument sought to absolve the soldiers of liability under Israeli law. The Rachel Corrie trials focus on one incident, one moment, one death, one family’s grief. However it’s important to include the context within which the Israeli military operated on that day in March of 2003 in order to properly understand the gravity of the trial and the reverberations seven and a half years later. Yossi, the military training leader, described the area where Corrie was killed as an “active war zone.” The State’s defense argues the same. Yet what was happening in Rafah that was so important to Corrie that she confronted a 4-meter high armored bulldozer in the first place? According to statistics from Human Rights Watch, Israel had been expanding its so-called “buffer zone” at the southern Gaza border after the breakout of the second Palestinian intifada in late 2000. “By late 2002,” reports HRW, “after the destruction of several hundred houses in Rafah, the IDF began building an eight meter high metal wall along the border.” The area that Israel designates as its buffer zone has since enveloped nearly 35% of agricultural land, according to an August 2010 report published by the United Nation’s Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). OCHA says that this policy has affected 113,000 Palestinians inside the Gaza strip over the last ten years as their farms, homes, and villages were intentionally erased from the map. Rachel Corrie’s nonviolent action — standing in front of the bulldozer in direct confrontation to this project — cost her her life. The home Rachel Corrie died trying to protect was razed, along with hundreds of others. The Gaza Strip remains a sealed ghetto. And countless Palestinian families have not seen justice waged in their favor after the deaths of their loved ones. In 2005, an arrest warrant was issued against Major General Doron Almog — a senior soldier in charge of Israel’s Southern Command — by a British court related to the destruction of 59 homes in Rafah in 2002 under his authority. He was warned before boarding a flight to the UK that he could be arrested upon arrival, and canceled his trip. Related to the Rachel Corrie case, Maj. Almog gave a direct order to the team of internal investigators to cut the investigations short, according to Israeli army documents obtained by Israeli daily Haaretz. This indicates that the impunity of Israeli soldiers and policy-makers can — and will — be challenged in a court of law. And when the trials continue next month, the Corries will be back in the courtroom in anticipation of a long-sought justice for their daughter. navigator.userAgent.match(/iPhone/i ]]> http://themcglynn.com/?feed=rss2&p=33157 0 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33150 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33150#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:09:19 +0000 themcglynn http://themcglynn.com/?p=33150 By James Zogby President of the Arab American Institute, Author of Arab Voices (Palgrave Macmillan 10/10) During the past week, as President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq, there was considerable media commentary focusing on the lies that had been utilized to build public support for the war. The two that received almost exclusive attention were the argument that Saddam had an active WMD program and the assertion, made most vigorously by Vice President Richard Cheney, that there were “proven links” connecting the Iraqi leadership to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Both were, of course, deliberate fabrications but both did play important roles in shaping public opinion and justifying the invasion of Iraq. But the propaganda effort to win support for the war involved much more. As I note in my forthcoming book Arab Voices, proponents for the war, preying on the public’s lack of basic information about Iraq and its people, made exaggerated claims expressing confidence that the effort would be relatively painless. A former Pentagon official termed it a “cakewalk”. Cheney said “it’ll go… quickly. Weeks rather than months”. Paul Wolfowitz estimated the cost of the entire enterprise not to exceed one or two billion dollars, with Iraq’s oil revenues quickly kicking in to “finance its own reconstruction”. President Bush and others added that “we would be greeted as liberators” ushering in a new democracy that would be “a beacon for a new Middle East”. Throughout the media universe, commentators echoed these boasts, regularly churning out outrageous claims on par with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s pre-Gulf War outrageous warning that that conflict would be the “mother of all battles.” Before the invasion began, for example, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, wagered “the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week.” A similarly euphoric (and ultimately equally misleading) statement by Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, soon followed: “There is a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shi’a can’t get along with the Sunni. . . . There’s almost no evidence of that at all.” Finally, journalist Fred Barnes, another Fox News host, chimed in, saying, “The war was the hard part. . . . And it gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but not as hard as winning a war.” This endless and deadly “spinning” didn’t end with the invasion. One half year into the war, Zogby International conducted the first-ever nationwide poll in Iraq — showing that a disturbingly high percentage of Iraqis (including almost the entire Sunni population and strong majority of Shi’a) wanted the U.S. to leave their country, did not have a favorable view of the U.S. military’s behavior, and were not inclined to establish a democracy in Iraq. A few days after we released our findings, Cheney was on “Meet the Press” citing our poll as evidence of “very positive news” and then forcing the results to make his case that all was going well. The same penchant for fabrication was in evidence in the hype surrounding the “surge” the Bush Administration implemented in early 2007. It is true that sectarian and intra-sect violence declined during this same period. But the reasons for this decline had more to do with the fact that the “ethnic cleansing” operations launched by sectarian groups had already left Baghdad’s neighborhoods purged and divided by barricades, and Sunni tribal groups had organized and armed themselves to fight against al Qaeda before the surge of U.S. troops began. Despite all this, the same cast of characters who promoted the fabrications that led the U.S. into the war, had the temerity to upbraid President Obama for failing to give President Bush credit for successfully implementing measures that ended the war. The U.S. combat forces have now been withdrawn, but this war is not over, it has not been a success, and U.S. responsibility has not ended. Iraq remains a fragile country, divided internally and surrounded by neighbors, some wary of the country’s instability and others eager to exploit its vulnerability. In addition to the 4,400 Americans who died, tens of thousands have been severely wounded and their continued care will remain a national priority. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also perished and one fifth of that country’s population remain refugees (placing an enormous burden on Syria and Jordan — where most have taken refuge) or internally displaced persons, unable to return to their homes. Meanwhile, instead of a “beacon of democracy” we see a dysfunctional political order that cannot easily come to closure and implement the results of an election that took place more than one half year ago. As the nation responsible for this calamity, America will continue to have a role in Iraq’s future. Vice President Joseph Biden was right when he noted that “American engagement with Iraq will continue” with a new mission to help the country through reconstruction and reconciliation. And the story doesn’t end there. At some point in our history those who brought this disaster down on us all must be called to account for the fabrications, the embarrassment to our honor, and the death and waste of so many lives and resources. Until that occurs, the conclusion to this sad chapter will not have been written. ]]> http://themcglynn.com/?feed=rss2&p=33150 0 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33134 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33134#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:01:06 +0000 themcglynn http://themcglynn.com/?p=33134  Bore   by: Helen Philpot Margaret please tell Howard that 100,000 people will show up to a tractor pull if the entry fee is cheap enough.  Big deal. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to ignore them and have some pie. As I see it dear, if more than a hundred thousand dead civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan can be dismissed,  so can slightly less than a hundred thousand peckerwoods at a Beck rally. If the civil rights of millions of gay and lesbian Americans are not important, then neither are the pathetic rants of almost a hundred thousand Palin addicts. If millions of children without healthcare are  inconsequential then why should I give a rat’s ass about a hundred thousand shitheads who actually think Beck and Palin have something worthwhile to say? As long as millions of American Muslims don’t have religious freedom, a hundred thousand Tea Party yahoos shouldn’t be allowed to have cable television.  It only seems fair… I just can’t believe 87,000 people are dumb enough to buy that crap. If Beck and Palin want a government so focused on one God and one religion, they should visit the Middle East and see how that concept is working out.  It’s gotten to the point where you can’t distinguish Fox News from the Christian Broadcasting Network.   It’s nauseating. Palin and Beck don’t care about you, me or anyone except themselves.  They are getting filthy rich pandering to angry white mobs so transparent in their racist feelings toward the President that a sheet of Saran Wrap would cast a darker shadow. The greatest threat against America is not terrorism.  It’s not a mosque in Manhattan.  It’s not gay marriage.  It’s not healthcare reform.  And, believe it or not, it’s not even Beck or Palin.  The greatest threat against America are the tens of millions of Americans who won’t turn out to vote this November effectively giving power to 87,000 angry assholes. Sarah Palin is an idiot.  Glenn Beck is a moron.  And I am sick of Fox News.  I mean it.  Really. ]]> http://themcglynn.com/?feed=rss2&p=33134 0 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33130 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33130#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:33:12 +0000 theoleary http://themcglynn.com/?p=33130  by: Chris Hedges  |  Truthdig | Report The O’Leary: Madness. Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, 20, a Marine killed in Iraq in 2004. (Courtesy of the Arredondo family.) How can they do this? How can they take our children? Carlos Arredondo, a native Costa Rican, stands in a parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Portland, Maine, next to his green Nissan pickup truck. The truck, its tailgate folded down, carries a flag-draped coffin and is adorned with pictures of his son, Lance Cpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, 20, a Marine killed in Iraq in 2004. The truck and a trailer he pulls with it have become a mobile shrine to his boy. He drives around the country, with the aid of donations, evoking a mixture of sympathy and hostility. There are white crosses with the names of other boys killed in the war. Combat boots are nailed to the side of the display. There is a wheelchair, covered in colored ribbons, fixed to the roof of the cab. There is Alex’s military uniform and boots, poster-size pictures of the young Marine shown on the streets of Najaf, in his formal Marine portrait, and then lying, his hands folded in white gloves, in his coffin. A metal sign on the back of the truck bears a gold star and reads: “USMC L/CPL ALEXANDER S. ARREDONDO.” “This is what happens every week to some family in America,” says Carlos. “This is what war does. And this is the grief and pain the government does not want people to see.” Alex, from a working-class immigrant family, was lured into the military a month before Sept. 11, 2001. The Marine recruiters made the usual appeals to patriotism, promised that he would be trained for a career, go to college and become a man. They included a $10,000 sign-on bonus. Alex was in the Marine units that invaded Iraq. His father, chained to the news reports, listening to the radio and two televisions at the same time, was increasingly distraught. “I hear nothing about my son for days and days,” he says. “It was too much, too much, too much for parents.” Alex, in August 2004, was back in Iraq for a second tour. In one of his last phone calls, Alex told him: “Dad, I call you because, to say, you know, we’ve been fighting for many, many days already, and I want to tell you that I love you and I don’t want you to forget me.” His father answered: “Of course I love you, and I don’t want—I never forget you.” The last message the family received was an e-mail around that time which read: “Watch the news online. Check the news, and tell everyone that I love them.” Twenty days later, on Aug. 25, a U.S. government van pulled up in front of Carlos’ home in Hollywood, Fla. It was Carlos’ 44th birthday and he was expecting a birthday call from Alex. “I saw the van and thought maybe Alex had come home to surprise me for my birthday or maybe they were coming to recruit my other son, Brian,” he says. Three Marine officers climbed out of the van. One asked, “Are you Carlos Arredondo?” He answered “yes.” “I’m sorry, we’re here to notify you about the death of Lance Cpl. Arredondo,” one of the officers told him. Alex was the 968th soldier or Marine to be killed in the Iraq war. “I tried to process this in my head,” Carlos says. “I never hear that. I remember how my body felt. I got a rush of blood to my body. I felt like it’s the worst thing in my life. It is my worst fear. I could not believe what they were telling me.” Courtesy of the Arredondo family. Carlos turned and ran into the house to find his mother, who was in the kitchen making him a birthday cake. “I cried, ‘Mama! Mama! They are telling me Alex got killed! Alex got killed! They kill Alex! They kill Alex! They kill Alex!” His mother crumbled in grief. Carlos went to the large picture of his son in the living room and held it. Carlos asked the Marines to leave several times over the next 20 minutes, but the Marines refused, saying they had to wait for his wife. “I did this because I was in denial. I think if they leave none of this will happen.” Crazed and distraught with grief, the father went into his garage and took out five gallons of gasoline and a propane torch. He walked past the three Marines in their dress blues and began to smash the windows of the government van with a hammer. “I went into the van,” he says. “I poured gasoline on the seats. I pour gasoline on the floor and in the gas tank. I was, like, looking for my son. I was screaming and yelling for him. I remember that one day he left in a van and now he’s not there. I destroy everything. The pain I feel is the pain of what I learned from war. I was wearing only socks and no shoes. I was wearing shorts. The fumes were powerful and I could not breathe no more, even though I broke the windows.” Click here to get Truthout stories like this one sent straight to your inbox, 365 days a year. As Carlos stepped out of the van, he ignited the propane torch inside the vehicle. It started a fire that “threw me from the driver’s seat backwards onto the ground.” His clothes caught fire. It felt “like thousands of needles stabbing into my body.” He ran across the street and fell onto the grass. His mother followed him and pulled off his shirt and socks, which were on fire, as he screamed “Mama! Mama! My feet are burning! My feet are burning!” The Marines dragged him away and he remembers one of them saying, “The van is going to blow! The van is going to blow!” The van erupted in a fireball and the rush of hot air, he says, swept over him. The Marines called a fire truck and an ambulance. Carlos sustained second- and third-degree burns over 26 percent of his body. As I talk to him in the Portland parking lot he shows me the burn scars on his legs. The government chose not to prosecute him. “I wake up in the hospital two days later and I was tied with tubes in my mouth,” he says. “When they take the tubes out I say, ‘I want to be with my son. I want to be with my son.’ Somebody was telling me my son had died. I get very emotional. I kept saying ‘I want to be with my son’ and they think I want to commit suicide.” He had no health insurance. His medical bills soon climbed to $55,000. On Sept. 2, 2004, Carlos, transported in a stretcher, attended his son’s wake at the Rodgers Funeral Home in Jamaica Plain, Mass. He lifted himself, with the help of those around him, from his stretcher, and when he reached his son’s open casket he kissed his child. “I held his head and when I put my hands in the back of his head I felt the huge hole where the sniper bullet had come out,” he says. “I climbed into the casket. I lay on top of my son. I apologized to him because I did not do enough to avoid this.” Arredondo began to collect items that memorialized his son’s life. He tacked them to his truck. A funeral home in Boston donated a casket to the display. He began to attend anti-war events, at times flying the American flag upside down to signal distress. He has taken his shrine to the Mall in Washington, D.C., and Times Square in New York City. He has traveled throughout the country presenting to the public a visual expression of death and grief. He has placed some of his son’s favorite childhood toys and belongings in the coffin, including a soccer ball, a pair of shoes, a baseball and a Winnie the Pooh. The power of his images, which force onlookers to confront the fact that the essence of war is death, has angered some who prefer to keep war sanitized and wrapped in the patriotic slogans of glory, honor and heroism. Three years ago vandals defaced his son’s gravestone. “I don’t speak,” he says. “I show people war. I show them the caskets they are not allowed to see. If people don’t see what war does they don’t feel it. If they don’t feel it they don’t care.” Military recruiters, who often have offices in high schools, prey on young men like Alex, who was first approached when he was 16. They cater to their insecurities, their dreams and their economic deprivation. They promise them what the larger society denies them. Those of Latino descent and from divorced families, as Alex was, are especially vulnerable. Alex’s brother Brian was approached by the military, which suggested that if he enlisted he could receive $60,000 in signing bonuses and more than $27,000 in payments for higher education. The proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, is designed to give undocumented young people a chance at citizenship provided they attend college—not usually an option for poor, often poorly educated and undocumented Latino youths who are prohibited from receiving Pell grants—for at least two years, or enlist and serve in the military. The military helped author the pending act and is lobbying for it. Twelve percent of Army enlistees are Hispanic, and this percentage is expected to double by 2020 if the current rate of recruitment continues. And once they are recruited, these young men and women are trained to be killers, sent to wars that should never be fought and returned back to their families often traumatized and broken and sometimes dead. Courtesy of the Arredondo family. Alex told Carlos in their last conversation there was heavy fighting in Najaf. Alex usually asked his father not to “forget” him, but now, increasingly in the final days of his life, another word was taking the place of forget. It was forgive. He felt his father should not forgive him for what he was doing in Iraq. He told his father, “Dad, I hope you are proud of what I’m doing. Don’t forgive me, Dad.” The sentence bewildered his father. “Oh my God, how can I forgive you? … I love you, you’re my son, very proud, you’re my son.” “I thought, when he died, my God, he has killed somebody,” Carlos says quietly as he readied for an anti-war march organized by Veterans for Peace. “He feels guilty. If he returned home his mind would be destroyed. His heart would be torn apart. It is not normal to kill. How can they do this? How can they take our children?” ]]> http://themcglynn.com/?feed=rss2&p=33130 0 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33125 http://themcglynn.com/?p=33125#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:21:09 +0000 themcglynn http://themcglynn.com/?p=33125   Michael Moore Dear Rahm Emanuel: Happy F–kin’ Labor Day! I read this week that — according to a new book by Steven Rattner, your administration’s former “Car Czar” — during White House meetings about how to save the tens of thousands of jobs that would be lost if GM and Chrysler collapsed, your response was, “F–k the UAW!” Now, I can’t believe you actually said that. Maybe Rattner got confused because you drop a lot of F-bombs, or maybe your assistant was trying to order lunch and you said (to Rattner) “F–k you” and then to your assistant “A&W, no fries.” Or maybe you did mean F–k the UAW. If so, let me give you a little f–king lesson (a lesson I happen to know because my f–king uncle was in the sit-down strike that founded the f–king UAW). Before there were unions, there was no middle class. Working people didn’t get to send their kids to college, few were able to own their own f–king home, nobody could take a f–king day off for a funeral or a sick day or they might lose their f–king job. Then working people organized themselves into unions. The bosses and the companies fucking hated that. In fact, they were often overheard to say, “F–k the UAW!!!” That’s because the UAW had beaten one of the world’s biggest industrial corporations when they won their battle on February 11, 1937, 44 days after they’d taken over the GM factories in Flint. Inspired by their victory, workers struck almost every other f–king industry, and union after union was born. Had World War II not begun and had FDR not died, there would have been an economic revolution that would have given everyone — everyone — a f–king decent life. Nonetheless labor unions did create a middle class for the majority (even companies that didn’t have unions were forced to pay at or near union wages in order to attract a workforce) and that middle class built a great country and a good life.  You see, Rahm, when people earn a f–king good wage, they spend it on stuff, which then creates more good paying jobs, and then the middle class grows f–king big. Did you know that back when I was a kid if you had a parent making a union wage, only one parent had to work?! And they were home by 3 or 4pm, 5:30 at the latest! We had dinner together! Dad had four weeks paid vacation. We all had free health and dental care. And anyone with decent grades went to college and it didn’t f–king bankrupt them. (And if you ever used the F-word, the nuns would straighten you out in ways that even you couldn’t bear to hear about). Then a Republican fired all the air traffic controllers, a Democrat gave us NAFTA and millions of jobs were moved overseas (hey, didn’t you work in that White House, too? “F–k the UAW, baby!”). Unions got scared and beaten down, a frat boy became president and, like a drunk out of control, spent all our f–king money and our children’s money, too. F–k. And now your assistant’s grandma has to work at f–king McDonald’s. Ask her for pictures of what the middle class life used to look like. It was effing cool! I’ll bet grandma doesn’t say “F–k the UAW!” Hey, don’t get me wrong, Rahm. I f–king like you. You single-handedly got the House returned to the Dems in 2006. But you and your boss better do something f–king quick to put people back to work. How ’bout making it a crime to take an American job and move it out of the country? In other words, treat it as if It were a f–king national treasure like you would if someone stole the Declaration of Independence out of the National Archives or some poacher stole eggs out of the nest of an America bald eagle. Or how ’bout arresting some of those Wall Street guys who f–king stole our money, the money that ran the American economy. Now that would take some fucking guts. And maybe, just maybe, that one act of real guts might save your ass come November 2nd. Oh, I can just hear you now: “F–k Michael Moore!” No problem. But F–k the UAW? How ’bout if I just leave off the ‘A’ and the ‘W’? Yours, Michael Moore P.S. I’d like to pass on something that Rep. Alan Grayson wrote today: Here is what Robert Kennedy had to say on Labor Day, 42 years ago: “Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product … if we should judge America by that – counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. “It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. “Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.” When Robert Kennedy said these words, the unemployment rate in America was 3.7%. Today, it is almost three times as high. Too many of our working brothers and sisters are out of work, thanks to over a decade of economic mismanagement. 10% of us are unemployed, and the other 90% work like dogs to try to avoid joining them. Which is just what the bosses want. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I look forward to a Labor Day where every worker has a job, every worker has a pension, every worker has paid vacations, and every worker has the health care to enjoy life. Our Republican opponents call that France. I call it America, an America that is Number One. Not #1 in wasted military expenditures. Not #1 in number of foreign countries occupied. Number One in jobs. Number One in health. Number One in education. Number One in happiness. As Robert Kennedy famously said, “I dream of things that never were, and ask ‘why not?’” Why not? Let’s make it happen. And then all of us who are Americans, including the ones today who are jobless, homeless, sick and suffering, we all can then say, “I am proud to be an American.” ]]> http://themcglynn.com/?feed=rss2&p=33125 0