Friday, April 30, 2004
Note: Somehow Wednesday's is stuck somewhere in cyberland. It's belatedly supplied, below.
Mission Accomplished!
Hardly
WTO Update Rare win against the rich countries. Domestic ramifications to come.
Brazil has won a landmark victory at the World Trade Organisation that could spell the beginning of the end of rich countries' subsidy payments to their farmers.
The WTO, based in Geneva, has ruled that $1.5bn (£830m) of annual subsidies given by the United States government to its 25,000 cotton farmers are mostly illegal.
The provisional ruling is confidential, but trade sources said pubic confirmation would be available as soon as next month and could start a domino effect whereby much of the £300bn in subsidies lavished on the rich world's farmers might tumble.
"This could be the first domino," one said.
The ruling is the first time a developing country has won such a decision from the WTO when arguing against one of the big trade powers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/wto/article/0,2763,1204996,00.html
Energy: We’re running out of Oil
We usually ignore this one, but it’s of critical import. And, all of us buying a Prius will not solve it. A most important article from the Washington Post (Michael D. Tusiani)
The price of gasoline rose over the winter, but that was just the beginning of an inevitable upward trend. Summer will give us an even better feel for things to come. Complaints by motorists and accusations by politicians will not avoid the unavoidable: Most Americans simply cannot have all the gasoline they want much longer.
We already burn more of this precious but cheap commodity than U.S. refineries can make. For the past two years, imports climbing toward 1 million barrels per day have kept supply in step with consumption. But within three years, we'll be extracting as much from foreign suppliers as they can spare. At that point, demand cannot continue to grow at the current pace. It cannot exceed supply.
When demand hits the ceiling, some of us, or all of us, will use less. Government may impose a rationing scheme (which seems unlikely) or price will allocate supply. Those who can afford it will get as much as they want. Others will not.
…
In one way or another, consumption is going to stop growing. The only thing we can control is how hard we hit the supply barrier. We can strike it head-on or at an angle. An early warning could allow people of moderate means to buy efficient vehicles instead of gas guzzlers in time to make a difference in their mobility and personal finances. Whether they have to pay $3 per gallon or carry their ration books to the filling station, they'll thank whoever gave them timely advice.
Our leaders, who have debated energy policy for years without acknowledging any concern for a potential gasoline shortage, must now demonstrate courage and vision. They must admit that the nation's gasoline problem has no practical supply-side answer and lead us toward reducing consumption. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A47945-2004Apr27?language=printer
Wither Colin?
The business pages carry this much-talked about rumor. From the NY Times (Elizabeth Becker):
Forget the official pronouncements that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is staying put at the State Department.
The buzz in the capital is at least a couple of steps beyond that, as people in business and finance circles here are speculating that he could become the next president of the World Bank, the largest and most influential development agency in the world. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/business/worldbusiness/27powell.html
Bush and Cheney with the 9/11 Commission.
'No New Revelations', is the unsurprising summary. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/politics/30BUSH.html?hp
Bush's summary:
"I came away good from the meeting. I think it was good they saw our body language, how we work together."
What’s Happening, Iraq:
126 Americans killed this month, by far the most of any month.
There’s outrage practically everywhere over (video of) U.S. soldiers’ torture of Iraqis. Even Tony Blair is upset. Downing Street today said the prime minister was "appalled" by pictures that emerged last night of Iraqi prisoners being tortured by American soldiers.
No 10 said the behaviour shown - with Iraqis stripped naked and hooded and being tormented by their captors - was in "direct contravention of all policy under which the coalition operates". http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1207045,00.html
U.S. troops are giving up trying to “capture” Falluja.
Maureen Dowd summary:
When the president was asked yesterday by a reporter whether it would take an all-out military offensive to put down the violence in Falluja, and whether this would impede the transfer of power on June 30, he was reassuring, despite news of the aerial bombardment of Falluja by U.S. gunships and the 70-ton battle tanks being rushed in to aid marines in the escalating fight.
"Most of Falluja is returning to normal," the president said, presumably defining normal as flattened. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/opinion/29DOWD.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Krugman summary:
Some pin their hopes on a political solution: they believe that violence will subside if the U.N. is allowed to appoint a caretaker government that Iraqis don't view as a U.S. puppet.
Let's hope they're right. But bear in mind that right now the U.S. is still planning to hand over "sovereignty" to a body, yet to be named, that will have hardly any power at all. For practical purposes, the U.S. ambassador will be running the country. Americans may believe that everything will change on June 30, but Iraqis are unlikely to be fooled. And by the way, much of the Arab world believes that we've been committing war crimes in Falluja.
I don't have a plan for Iraq. I strongly suspect, however, that all the plans you hear now are irrelevant. If America's leaders hadn't made so many bad decisions, they might have had a chance to shape Iraq to their liking. But that window closed many months ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/opinion/30KRUG.html
Polls: Though always hesitant to report them, I still do. Current ones show that support for the war is at its lowest, only 47% now think it was the right thing to do 71% think the Arab world is more critical of us, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/28/opinion/polls/main614605.shtml And, the Iraqis are evenly split on whether the country is better off post-invasion. http://www.gallup.com. 57% want us to leave immediately. Bush’s popularity has changed minimally, still in a dead heat with kerry.
Occupation Corruption. So much of it. Here’s one of the latest examples.
A senior Defense Department official is under investigation by the Pentagon inspector general for allegations that he attempted to alter a contract proposal in Iraq to benefit a mobile phone consortium that includes friends and colleagues, according to documents obtained by The Times and sources with direct knowledge of the process…
Shaw's efforts resulted in a dispute at the Coalition Provisional Authority that has delayed the contract, depriving U.S. military officials and Iraqi police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers and border guards of a joint communications system.
That has angered top U.S. officials and members of the U.S.-led authority governing Iraq, who say the deaths of many Americans and Iraqis might have been prevented with better communications. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-na-iraqphones29apr29,1,3312797.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Scandal Update: Wilson names his suspects
Former ambassador Joseph Wilson updates the Plame scandal by releasing his book. The AP report:
Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has been pegged as a possible leaker of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to a syndicated columnist, according to accounts in a book by former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, Plame's husband.
In "The Politics of Truth," to be published Friday, Wilson says Libby is "quite possibly the person who exposed my wife's identity," according to The Washington Post, which obtained an early copy.
The vice president's office did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Wilson writes that a "workup" of his background was done by the White House in March 2003, after his public criticism of the administration's Iraq policy.
"The other name that has most often been repeated to me in connection with the inquiry and disclosure into my background and Valerie's is that of Elliott Abrams, who gained infamy in the Iran-Contra scandal," he writes.
-R
4/28
Women’s Rights Advocates, Our Newest Terrorists:
In case you missed it, the Bushies, who previously had labeled educators as terrorists, have now targeted Choice advocates. Really.
"I think that after September 11, the American people are valuing life more and we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life," she said. "President Bush has worked to say, let's be reasonable, let's work to value life, let's reduce the number of abortions, let's increase adoptions. And I think those are the kinds of policies the American people can support, particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy and, really, the fundamental issue between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life."
-- Karen Hughes, Bush ’04, explaining why to be pro-choice is to be pro-terrorist
PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESIDENT GLORIA FELDT's LETTER TO HUGHES:
April 27, 2004
Ms. Karen Hughes
Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.
P.O. Box 10648
Arlington, VA 222
Dear Ms. Hughes:
I am writing to request an apology for your comments invoking 9/11 to address the growing sentiment in this country against President George W. Bush's anti-choice policies.
------------------
Invoking 9/11 to defend this administration's policies regarding reproductive rights was an insensitive and divisive overreach.
We are all Americans, and we are patriots, too, Ms. Hughes. And we will not cease in our efforts to fight the attempts by this administration and this Congress to restrict reproductive rights, family planning, medical privacy, and so many other important factors in a woman's right to care for herself and her family without intrusion from government or politicians. We do this precisely because we value human life and dignity so much.
Your friends in the administration have repeatedly stated that our troops are fighting for freedom: to allow people to control their own lives and make their own decisions. Yet this administration and this Congress are working to take away American women's rights to make their own decisions.
If anyone has an understanding gap regarding women's rights at this troubled time in our history, it is not those of us who oppose anti-choice, anti-women policies.
An apology is in order. The horror of 9/11 has been used inappropriately too many times, and this is clearly such an incident.
Sincerely,
GLORIA FELDT
President
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
Media Double Standard re Bush-Kerry Continues
The protection of Bush and the attacking of rivals Gore and Kerry is still very much in evidence. Current case in point: Josh Marshall of talkingpointsmemo.org noticed that ABC news ran on its web site, “Did Kerry lie about Vietnam War medals?” He rightfully questioned, “Can someone tell me the last time ABC used the “L” word about President Bush? Or is it always ‘exaggeration’ when it’s President Bush?”
Postscript: ABC altered it hours later to “Why did Kerry change story about Vietnam medals?” Then, “Videotape Contradicts John Kerry’s Own Statements Over Vietnam Medals”, a headline that did not fit the innocuous content of their “story.”
Other examples are out there, including CNN's Aaron Brown referring to Kerry's Vietnam service as "…however brief." Two tours of service in Vietnam? And how often do we hear about Vietnam-avoiding Cheney and his ‘I had other priorities…’ …which were?
‘Nuff said…
Kerry Fights Back
The blunt centrist doesn’t roll over.
"If George Bush wants to ask me questions about that through his surrogates, he owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. Prove it. That's what we ought to have," Kerry told NBC News in an interview. "I'm not going to stand around and let them play games." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=1&u=/ap/20040427/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_medals
E.J. Dionne castigates Bush:
McCain recalled that he had worked with Kerry on "POW/MIA issues and the normalization of relations with Vietnam" and wanted to stand up for his war comrade because "you have to do what's right." Speaking of Kerry, McCain said: "He's my friend. He'll continue to be my friend. I know his service was honorable. If that hurts me politically or with my party, that's a very small price to pay."
Now that McCain has spoken, will Bush have the guts to endorse or condemn the attacks on Kerry's service? Or will he just sit by silently, hoping the assaults do their work while he evades responsibility? Once more, Welsh's words call out for an answer: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A44999-2004Apr26?language=printer
Dissenting Voice: Kerry as Failure. James Ridgeway, Village Voice:
With growing issues over his wealth (which makes fellow plutocrat Bush seem a charity case by comparison), the miasma over his medals and ribbons (or ribbons and medals), his uninspiring record in the Senate (yes war, no war), and wishy-washy efforts to mimic Bill Clinton's triangulation gimmickry (the protractor factor), Kerry sinks day by day. The pros all know that the candidate who starts each morning by having to explain himself is a goner.
What to do? Look for the Dem biggies, whoever they are these days, to sit down with the rich and arrogant presumptive nominee and try to persuade him to take a hike. Then they can return to business as usual—resurrecting John Edwards, who is still hanging around, or staging an open convention in Boston, or both.
If things proceed as they are, the dim-bulb Dem leaders are going to be very sorry they screwed Howard Dean. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0417/mondo1.php
While I’m no fan of Kerry, Ridgeway seems to have swallowed whole the Fox News attacks, and advocates retreat.
The No-No Words: Krugman uses one
The media still struggle with labeling the Administration as the chronic liars they obviously are. The demonized Ralph Nader is one of the very few who refer to impeachment as the just dessert for lying the country into this unnecessary, tragic war. The other touchy word is dictatorship- how much this cabal has resembled totalitarian regimes.
What Mr. Cheney is defending, in other words, is a doctrine that makes the United States a sort of elected dictatorship: a system in which the president, once in office, can do whatever he likes, and isn't obliged to consult or inform either Congress or the public.
Not long ago I would have thought it inconceivable that the Supreme Court would endorse that doctrine. But I would also have thought it inconceivable that a president would propound such a vision in the first place. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/opinion/27KRUG.html
Bush and the National Guard
Since the Cheney-Fox News team has gone after Kerry as to ribbons/medals, veracity of wounds, whatever, we should return to our Commander-in-Chief’s National Guard record. Seems that the White House claims that Bush released his entire record is incorrect. From James C. Moore at salon.com:
The president and his staff are doing a very good job of convincing the public he has released all of his National Guard records and that they prove he was responsible during his time in Alabama and Texas. But the critical documents have still not been seen. The mandatory written report about Bush's grounding is mysteriously not in the released file, nor is any other disciplinary evidence. A document showing a "roll-up," or the accumulation of his total retirement points, is also absent, and so are his actual pay stubs. The story keeps changing. And regardless of what the White House says about George W. Bush and his time in the Texas Air National Guard, journalists tend to accept the explanation. I can't. The president of the United States is lying to hide his behavior while he was a young pilot during the Vietnam War, and he has almost taken away reporters' ability to get the whole story. Unfortunately, the national media have other distractions, and they apparently don't think the Guard story is important enough to warrant additional effort. I think they are wrong.
The president's behavior while under oath to serve in the military is an important matter. By George W. Bush's own admission, there were at least eight months in 1972 when he was not performing assigned Guard duty. What if today's Guard members behaved as irresponsibly as Bush did during his hitch? http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/04/27/bush_guard/index_np.html
Scandal: MemoGate: Eric Lichtblau reports:
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into accusations that Republican Congressional aides stole sensitive Democratic memorandums, and the department has tapped David N. Kelley, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, to lead the politically charged case, officials said Monday.
The decision to bring in Mr. Kelley, rather than have prosecutors in Washington pursue the case, came after lawmakers from both parties urged the Justice Department to appoint an independent prosecutor to avoid the appearance of a conflict.
The department said in a letter dated Monday that it was confident that Mr. Kelley would conduct the investigation "in a thorough, fair, impartial and professional manner." Several leading Democrats applauded his appointment, with Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York saying it was "a very good first step." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/politics/27PROB.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Scandal: Illegal Shifting of FundsGate:
NY Times report (Carl Hulse):
The senior Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed the White House on Monday for a full accounting of how the Bush administration had spent $40 billion in emergency money that was provided by Congress just days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Building on a report that the White House had prepared for the invasion of Iraq by diverting $700 million from post-Sept. 11 emergency appropriations, the two lawmakers, Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia and Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, said they had "numerous concerns" beyond the $700 million about the use of the emergency money.
"When the Congress provided the extraordinary authorities in response to the Al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it expected that tax dollars would be managed carefully so as to provide assistance to the victims of the attack, to secure our homeland and to improve our national security," the lawmakers said in a letter to the White House.
Mr. Byrd and Mr. Obey said that contrary to the requirements of law, there appeared to have been no consultation with Congress on how $20 billion specifically handed over to the president for his allocation had been distributed. They also said the administration had not submitted required quarterly reports on the use of the entire $40 billion for almost a year. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/politics/27SPEN.html?pagewanted=print&position=
What’s Happening, Iraq: Deadly Battles, Grave Consequences
Luke Harding reports for the Guardian:
Najaf and Falluja are presenting the Bush administration with big problems with little more than two months to go before sovereignty is to be transferred to Iraqis: by resorting to force to crush the rebellions, the military risks generating further alienation and opposition.
"We were determined to stop them," said Abu Mathan, a member of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi militia, as he waved traffic over Kufa's bridge and across the Euphrates river.
He said the Americans tried to enter Najaf on Monday evening: "We attacked them with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. They bombed us with jet fighters. We put up fierce resistance. At 2am they left."
The encounter - in which the US military says it killed 64 members of Mr Sadr's militia - marks a defining moment in the war in Iraq.
Until now, the US has avoided launching an all-out offensive against Najaf for fear of antagonising Iraqi Shias. In recent weeks, however, US officials in Baghdad have been repeatedly threatening to kill or capture Mr Sadr, who has led an uprising against the US occupation.
On Monday US troops killed dozens of his supporters instead. The move is likely to inflame Shia opinion against America, making enemies of the people who initially welcomed the invasion because it rid them of Saddam Hussein.
Yet if there is any strategic thinking on the US side about how to deal with the Najaf standoff, it was hard to find it there yesterday.
The Guardian, which was given rare access into the territory defended by Mr Sadr's army, found his fighters digging in for battle along Kufa's dusty main road. In front of the library, two men wearing red kaffir headdresses chatted next to a machine gun. Trenches had been dug outside Kufa's gold-domed mosque.
The popular sentiment was not hard to fathom - alongside portraits of Mr Sadr were slogans that read: "Yes to the armed resistance" and "Death to America". http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1204966,00.html
Casualties
Karl Vick’s report on MSNBC:
The neurosurgeons at the 31st Combat Support Hospital measure the damage in the number of skulls they remove to get to the injured brain inside, a procedure known as a craniotomy. "We've done more in eight weeks than the previous neurosurgery team did in eight months," Poffenbarger said. "So there's been a change in the intensity level of the war."
Numbers tell part of the story. So far in April, more than 900 soldiers and Marines have been wounded in Iraq, more than twice the number wounded in October, the previous high. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4839405
Iraqi Flag: More Incompetence. Wrong colors, looks like Israel’s. As the AP report noted, "The new design not only abandons the symbols of Saddam's regime. It also avoids the colors used in other Arab flags: green and black for Islam and red for Arab nationalism." http://www.boston.com/dailynews/117/world/U_S_picked_Iraqi_leaders_decla:.shtml
Blair Still in Trouble:
From the Independent (Ben Russell)
Tony Blair was facing a severe crisis of confidence in his foreign policy yesterday after an unprecedented attack from dozens of the most senior figures in the British diplomatic service.
The letter from 52 former ambassadors and heads of mission who held the most senior postings in the Foreign Office, lambasted Mr Blair for abandoning his principles over the road-map to peace in the Middle East and criticised the United States-led coalition in Iraq for failing to plan for the post-Saddam era.
In a damning verdict on Mr Blair's special relationship with President George Bush, they called for a "fundamental reassessment" of British policy towards the White House and the Middle East, urging Mr Blair to exert real influence over American policy as "a matter of the highest urgency".
They added: "If that is unacceptable or unwelcome there is no case for supporting policies which are doomed to failure." http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=515706
(Another) Comment from Hans Blix:
In some ways, the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq were similar to “the witch-hunts of past centuries,” former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix told a crowd at Texas A&M University on Friday night.
For those who believe in witches or weapons of mass destruction, he said, “the evidence does not have to be all that strong. You will take it.”
“ It seems to me that the U.S. and U.K. leadership were so convinced that there were weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq] that they couldn’t imagine they weren’t there,” Blix surmised. http://www.theeagle.com/aandmnews/042404hansblix.htm
-R
Mission Accomplished!
Hardly
WTO Update Rare win against the rich countries. Domestic ramifications to come.
Brazil has won a landmark victory at the World Trade Organisation that could spell the beginning of the end of rich countries' subsidy payments to their farmers.
The WTO, based in Geneva, has ruled that $1.5bn (£830m) of annual subsidies given by the United States government to its 25,000 cotton farmers are mostly illegal.
The provisional ruling is confidential, but trade sources said pubic confirmation would be available as soon as next month and could start a domino effect whereby much of the £300bn in subsidies lavished on the rich world's farmers might tumble.
"This could be the first domino," one said.
The ruling is the first time a developing country has won such a decision from the WTO when arguing against one of the big trade powers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/wto/article/0,2763,1204996,00.html
Energy: We’re running out of Oil
We usually ignore this one, but it’s of critical import. And, all of us buying a Prius will not solve it. A most important article from the Washington Post (Michael D. Tusiani)
The price of gasoline rose over the winter, but that was just the beginning of an inevitable upward trend. Summer will give us an even better feel for things to come. Complaints by motorists and accusations by politicians will not avoid the unavoidable: Most Americans simply cannot have all the gasoline they want much longer.
We already burn more of this precious but cheap commodity than U.S. refineries can make. For the past two years, imports climbing toward 1 million barrels per day have kept supply in step with consumption. But within three years, we'll be extracting as much from foreign suppliers as they can spare. At that point, demand cannot continue to grow at the current pace. It cannot exceed supply.
When demand hits the ceiling, some of us, or all of us, will use less. Government may impose a rationing scheme (which seems unlikely) or price will allocate supply. Those who can afford it will get as much as they want. Others will not.
…
In one way or another, consumption is going to stop growing. The only thing we can control is how hard we hit the supply barrier. We can strike it head-on or at an angle. An early warning could allow people of moderate means to buy efficient vehicles instead of gas guzzlers in time to make a difference in their mobility and personal finances. Whether they have to pay $3 per gallon or carry their ration books to the filling station, they'll thank whoever gave them timely advice.
Our leaders, who have debated energy policy for years without acknowledging any concern for a potential gasoline shortage, must now demonstrate courage and vision. They must admit that the nation's gasoline problem has no practical supply-side answer and lead us toward reducing consumption. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A47945-2004Apr27?language=printer
Wither Colin?
The business pages carry this much-talked about rumor. From the NY Times (Elizabeth Becker):
Forget the official pronouncements that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is staying put at the State Department.
The buzz in the capital is at least a couple of steps beyond that, as people in business and finance circles here are speculating that he could become the next president of the World Bank, the largest and most influential development agency in the world. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/business/worldbusiness/27powell.html
Bush and Cheney with the 9/11 Commission.
'No New Revelations', is the unsurprising summary. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/politics/30BUSH.html?hp
Bush's summary:
"I came away good from the meeting. I think it was good they saw our body language, how we work together."
What’s Happening, Iraq:
126 Americans killed this month, by far the most of any month.
There’s outrage practically everywhere over (video of) U.S. soldiers’ torture of Iraqis. Even Tony Blair is upset. Downing Street today said the prime minister was "appalled" by pictures that emerged last night of Iraqi prisoners being tortured by American soldiers.
No 10 said the behaviour shown - with Iraqis stripped naked and hooded and being tormented by their captors - was in "direct contravention of all policy under which the coalition operates". http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1207045,00.html
U.S. troops are giving up trying to “capture” Falluja.
Maureen Dowd summary:
When the president was asked yesterday by a reporter whether it would take an all-out military offensive to put down the violence in Falluja, and whether this would impede the transfer of power on June 30, he was reassuring, despite news of the aerial bombardment of Falluja by U.S. gunships and the 70-ton battle tanks being rushed in to aid marines in the escalating fight.
"Most of Falluja is returning to normal," the president said, presumably defining normal as flattened. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/opinion/29DOWD.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Krugman summary:
Some pin their hopes on a political solution: they believe that violence will subside if the U.N. is allowed to appoint a caretaker government that Iraqis don't view as a U.S. puppet.
Let's hope they're right. But bear in mind that right now the U.S. is still planning to hand over "sovereignty" to a body, yet to be named, that will have hardly any power at all. For practical purposes, the U.S. ambassador will be running the country. Americans may believe that everything will change on June 30, but Iraqis are unlikely to be fooled. And by the way, much of the Arab world believes that we've been committing war crimes in Falluja.
I don't have a plan for Iraq. I strongly suspect, however, that all the plans you hear now are irrelevant. If America's leaders hadn't made so many bad decisions, they might have had a chance to shape Iraq to their liking. But that window closed many months ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/opinion/30KRUG.html
Polls: Though always hesitant to report them, I still do. Current ones show that support for the war is at its lowest, only 47% now think it was the right thing to do 71% think the Arab world is more critical of us, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/28/opinion/polls/main614605.shtml And, the Iraqis are evenly split on whether the country is better off post-invasion. http://www.gallup.com. 57% want us to leave immediately. Bush’s popularity has changed minimally, still in a dead heat with kerry.
Occupation Corruption. So much of it. Here’s one of the latest examples.
A senior Defense Department official is under investigation by the Pentagon inspector general for allegations that he attempted to alter a contract proposal in Iraq to benefit a mobile phone consortium that includes friends and colleagues, according to documents obtained by The Times and sources with direct knowledge of the process…
Shaw's efforts resulted in a dispute at the Coalition Provisional Authority that has delayed the contract, depriving U.S. military officials and Iraqi police officers, firefighters, ambulance drivers and border guards of a joint communications system.
That has angered top U.S. officials and members of the U.S.-led authority governing Iraq, who say the deaths of many Americans and Iraqis might have been prevented with better communications. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-na-iraqphones29apr29,1,3312797.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Scandal Update: Wilson names his suspects
Former ambassador Joseph Wilson updates the Plame scandal by releasing his book. The AP report:
Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has been pegged as a possible leaker of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to a syndicated columnist, according to accounts in a book by former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, Plame's husband.
In "The Politics of Truth," to be published Friday, Wilson says Libby is "quite possibly the person who exposed my wife's identity," according to The Washington Post, which obtained an early copy.
The vice president's office did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Wilson writes that a "workup" of his background was done by the White House in March 2003, after his public criticism of the administration's Iraq policy.
"The other name that has most often been repeated to me in connection with the inquiry and disclosure into my background and Valerie's is that of Elliott Abrams, who gained infamy in the Iran-Contra scandal," he writes.
-R
4/28
Women’s Rights Advocates, Our Newest Terrorists:
In case you missed it, the Bushies, who previously had labeled educators as terrorists, have now targeted Choice advocates. Really.
"I think that after September 11, the American people are valuing life more and we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life," she said. "President Bush has worked to say, let's be reasonable, let's work to value life, let's reduce the number of abortions, let's increase adoptions. And I think those are the kinds of policies the American people can support, particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy and, really, the fundamental issue between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life."
-- Karen Hughes, Bush ’04, explaining why to be pro-choice is to be pro-terrorist
PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESIDENT GLORIA FELDT's LETTER TO HUGHES:
April 27, 2004
Ms. Karen Hughes
Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.
P.O. Box 10648
Arlington, VA 222
Dear Ms. Hughes:
I am writing to request an apology for your comments invoking 9/11 to address the growing sentiment in this country against President George W. Bush's anti-choice policies.
------------------
Invoking 9/11 to defend this administration's policies regarding reproductive rights was an insensitive and divisive overreach.
We are all Americans, and we are patriots, too, Ms. Hughes. And we will not cease in our efforts to fight the attempts by this administration and this Congress to restrict reproductive rights, family planning, medical privacy, and so many other important factors in a woman's right to care for herself and her family without intrusion from government or politicians. We do this precisely because we value human life and dignity so much.
Your friends in the administration have repeatedly stated that our troops are fighting for freedom: to allow people to control their own lives and make their own decisions. Yet this administration and this Congress are working to take away American women's rights to make their own decisions.
If anyone has an understanding gap regarding women's rights at this troubled time in our history, it is not those of us who oppose anti-choice, anti-women policies.
An apology is in order. The horror of 9/11 has been used inappropriately too many times, and this is clearly such an incident.
Sincerely,
GLORIA FELDT
President
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
Media Double Standard re Bush-Kerry Continues
The protection of Bush and the attacking of rivals Gore and Kerry is still very much in evidence. Current case in point: Josh Marshall of talkingpointsmemo.org noticed that ABC news ran on its web site, “Did Kerry lie about Vietnam War medals?” He rightfully questioned, “Can someone tell me the last time ABC used the “L” word about President Bush? Or is it always ‘exaggeration’ when it’s President Bush?”
Postscript: ABC altered it hours later to “Why did Kerry change story about Vietnam medals?” Then, “Videotape Contradicts John Kerry’s Own Statements Over Vietnam Medals”, a headline that did not fit the innocuous content of their “story.”
Other examples are out there, including CNN's Aaron Brown referring to Kerry's Vietnam service as "…however brief." Two tours of service in Vietnam? And how often do we hear about Vietnam-avoiding Cheney and his ‘I had other priorities…’ …which were?
‘Nuff said…
Kerry Fights Back
The blunt centrist doesn’t roll over.
"If George Bush wants to ask me questions about that through his surrogates, he owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. Prove it. That's what we ought to have," Kerry told NBC News in an interview. "I'm not going to stand around and let them play games." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=1&u=/ap/20040427/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_medals
E.J. Dionne castigates Bush:
McCain recalled that he had worked with Kerry on "POW/MIA issues and the normalization of relations with Vietnam" and wanted to stand up for his war comrade because "you have to do what's right." Speaking of Kerry, McCain said: "He's my friend. He'll continue to be my friend. I know his service was honorable. If that hurts me politically or with my party, that's a very small price to pay."
Now that McCain has spoken, will Bush have the guts to endorse or condemn the attacks on Kerry's service? Or will he just sit by silently, hoping the assaults do their work while he evades responsibility? Once more, Welsh's words call out for an answer: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A44999-2004Apr26?language=printer
Dissenting Voice: Kerry as Failure. James Ridgeway, Village Voice:
With growing issues over his wealth (which makes fellow plutocrat Bush seem a charity case by comparison), the miasma over his medals and ribbons (or ribbons and medals), his uninspiring record in the Senate (yes war, no war), and wishy-washy efforts to mimic Bill Clinton's triangulation gimmickry (the protractor factor), Kerry sinks day by day. The pros all know that the candidate who starts each morning by having to explain himself is a goner.
What to do? Look for the Dem biggies, whoever they are these days, to sit down with the rich and arrogant presumptive nominee and try to persuade him to take a hike. Then they can return to business as usual—resurrecting John Edwards, who is still hanging around, or staging an open convention in Boston, or both.
If things proceed as they are, the dim-bulb Dem leaders are going to be very sorry they screwed Howard Dean. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0417/mondo1.php
While I’m no fan of Kerry, Ridgeway seems to have swallowed whole the Fox News attacks, and advocates retreat.
The No-No Words: Krugman uses one
The media still struggle with labeling the Administration as the chronic liars they obviously are. The demonized Ralph Nader is one of the very few who refer to impeachment as the just dessert for lying the country into this unnecessary, tragic war. The other touchy word is dictatorship- how much this cabal has resembled totalitarian regimes.
What Mr. Cheney is defending, in other words, is a doctrine that makes the United States a sort of elected dictatorship: a system in which the president, once in office, can do whatever he likes, and isn't obliged to consult or inform either Congress or the public.
Not long ago I would have thought it inconceivable that the Supreme Court would endorse that doctrine. But I would also have thought it inconceivable that a president would propound such a vision in the first place. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/opinion/27KRUG.html
Bush and the National Guard
Since the Cheney-Fox News team has gone after Kerry as to ribbons/medals, veracity of wounds, whatever, we should return to our Commander-in-Chief’s National Guard record. Seems that the White House claims that Bush released his entire record is incorrect. From James C. Moore at salon.com:
The president and his staff are doing a very good job of convincing the public he has released all of his National Guard records and that they prove he was responsible during his time in Alabama and Texas. But the critical documents have still not been seen. The mandatory written report about Bush's grounding is mysteriously not in the released file, nor is any other disciplinary evidence. A document showing a "roll-up," or the accumulation of his total retirement points, is also absent, and so are his actual pay stubs. The story keeps changing. And regardless of what the White House says about George W. Bush and his time in the Texas Air National Guard, journalists tend to accept the explanation. I can't. The president of the United States is lying to hide his behavior while he was a young pilot during the Vietnam War, and he has almost taken away reporters' ability to get the whole story. Unfortunately, the national media have other distractions, and they apparently don't think the Guard story is important enough to warrant additional effort. I think they are wrong.
The president's behavior while under oath to serve in the military is an important matter. By George W. Bush's own admission, there were at least eight months in 1972 when he was not performing assigned Guard duty. What if today's Guard members behaved as irresponsibly as Bush did during his hitch? http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/04/27/bush_guard/index_np.html
Scandal: MemoGate: Eric Lichtblau reports:
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into accusations that Republican Congressional aides stole sensitive Democratic memorandums, and the department has tapped David N. Kelley, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, to lead the politically charged case, officials said Monday.
The decision to bring in Mr. Kelley, rather than have prosecutors in Washington pursue the case, came after lawmakers from both parties urged the Justice Department to appoint an independent prosecutor to avoid the appearance of a conflict.
The department said in a letter dated Monday that it was confident that Mr. Kelley would conduct the investigation "in a thorough, fair, impartial and professional manner." Several leading Democrats applauded his appointment, with Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York saying it was "a very good first step." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/politics/27PROB.html?pagewanted=print&position=
Scandal: Illegal Shifting of FundsGate:
NY Times report (Carl Hulse):
The senior Democrats on the House and Senate appropriations committees pressed the White House on Monday for a full accounting of how the Bush administration had spent $40 billion in emergency money that was provided by Congress just days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Building on a report that the White House had prepared for the invasion of Iraq by diverting $700 million from post-Sept. 11 emergency appropriations, the two lawmakers, Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia and Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, said they had "numerous concerns" beyond the $700 million about the use of the emergency money.
"When the Congress provided the extraordinary authorities in response to the Al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it expected that tax dollars would be managed carefully so as to provide assistance to the victims of the attack, to secure our homeland and to improve our national security," the lawmakers said in a letter to the White House.
Mr. Byrd and Mr. Obey said that contrary to the requirements of law, there appeared to have been no consultation with Congress on how $20 billion specifically handed over to the president for his allocation had been distributed. They also said the administration had not submitted required quarterly reports on the use of the entire $40 billion for almost a year. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/politics/27SPEN.html?pagewanted=print&position=
What’s Happening, Iraq: Deadly Battles, Grave Consequences
Luke Harding reports for the Guardian:
Najaf and Falluja are presenting the Bush administration with big problems with little more than two months to go before sovereignty is to be transferred to Iraqis: by resorting to force to crush the rebellions, the military risks generating further alienation and opposition.
"We were determined to stop them," said Abu Mathan, a member of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi militia, as he waved traffic over Kufa's bridge and across the Euphrates river.
He said the Americans tried to enter Najaf on Monday evening: "We attacked them with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. They bombed us with jet fighters. We put up fierce resistance. At 2am they left."
The encounter - in which the US military says it killed 64 members of Mr Sadr's militia - marks a defining moment in the war in Iraq.
Until now, the US has avoided launching an all-out offensive against Najaf for fear of antagonising Iraqi Shias. In recent weeks, however, US officials in Baghdad have been repeatedly threatening to kill or capture Mr Sadr, who has led an uprising against the US occupation.
On Monday US troops killed dozens of his supporters instead. The move is likely to inflame Shia opinion against America, making enemies of the people who initially welcomed the invasion because it rid them of Saddam Hussein.
Yet if there is any strategic thinking on the US side about how to deal with the Najaf standoff, it was hard to find it there yesterday.
The Guardian, which was given rare access into the territory defended by Mr Sadr's army, found his fighters digging in for battle along Kufa's dusty main road. In front of the library, two men wearing red kaffir headdresses chatted next to a machine gun. Trenches had been dug outside Kufa's gold-domed mosque.
The popular sentiment was not hard to fathom - alongside portraits of Mr Sadr were slogans that read: "Yes to the armed resistance" and "Death to America". http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1204966,00.html
Casualties
Karl Vick’s report on MSNBC:
The neurosurgeons at the 31st Combat Support Hospital measure the damage in the number of skulls they remove to get to the injured brain inside, a procedure known as a craniotomy. "We've done more in eight weeks than the previous neurosurgery team did in eight months," Poffenbarger said. "So there's been a change in the intensity level of the war."
Numbers tell part of the story. So far in April, more than 900 soldiers and Marines have been wounded in Iraq, more than twice the number wounded in October, the previous high. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4839405
Iraqi Flag: More Incompetence. Wrong colors, looks like Israel’s. As the AP report noted, "The new design not only abandons the symbols of Saddam's regime. It also avoids the colors used in other Arab flags: green and black for Islam and red for Arab nationalism." http://www.boston.com/dailynews/117/world/U_S_picked_Iraqi_leaders_decla:.shtml
Blair Still in Trouble:
From the Independent (Ben Russell)
Tony Blair was facing a severe crisis of confidence in his foreign policy yesterday after an unprecedented attack from dozens of the most senior figures in the British diplomatic service.
The letter from 52 former ambassadors and heads of mission who held the most senior postings in the Foreign Office, lambasted Mr Blair for abandoning his principles over the road-map to peace in the Middle East and criticised the United States-led coalition in Iraq for failing to plan for the post-Saddam era.
In a damning verdict on Mr Blair's special relationship with President George Bush, they called for a "fundamental reassessment" of British policy towards the White House and the Middle East, urging Mr Blair to exert real influence over American policy as "a matter of the highest urgency".
They added: "If that is unacceptable or unwelcome there is no case for supporting policies which are doomed to failure." http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=515706
(Another) Comment from Hans Blix:
In some ways, the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq were similar to “the witch-hunts of past centuries,” former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix told a crowd at Texas A&M University on Friday night.
For those who believe in witches or weapons of mass destruction, he said, “the evidence does not have to be all that strong. You will take it.”
“ It seems to me that the U.S. and U.K. leadership were so convinced that there were weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq] that they couldn’t imagine they weren’t there,” Blix surmised. http://www.theeagle.com/aandmnews/042404hansblix.htm
-R
