Thursday, January 15, 2009
Almost done with bizarre Bushisms
By HELEN THOMAS
WASHINGTON -- Outgoing President Bush admits to some "disappointments" during his eight White House years but he hesitates to call them "mistakes."
At his last news conference as president, Bush cited Abu Ghraib --the notorious Iraq prison where U.S. soldiers abused and tortured prisoners -- as a "huge disappointment," even though he had approved of harsh interrogation techniques.
"I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not," Bush told reporters "but there were things that didn't go according to plan."
Here's a bizarre Bushism. In one of his strangest statements as president, Bush said that Iraq's "not having weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment."
Wait a minute. The absence of those weapons should have been good news.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/396041_thomasonline15.html
Nobel Peace Prize for Pete Seeger
Barbara Lee, Congressional Representative from the 9th District, California, has agreed to carry the nomination of Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize.
They want us to supply specific examples of how Pete participated in work for Peace, social justice, and environmental movements. Send any data you have even if it seems small in consideration to what most of us know of Pete's long and committed work.
The deadline for the letter of nomination is Feb 1st, so they need data within the next few day, indeed the next few hours. Send to:
Pete Seeger Nomination
Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-09)
1301 Clay St., Ste. 1000-N
Oakland, CA 94612
510-763-0370 ext. 16
510-763-6538 (fax)
The petition has grown to over 21 thousand signatures. Go to our web site at www.nobelprize4pete.org to see what moving and sincere comments people have made about how Pete opened their consciousness in so many ways. I want to keep this petition open until the end of the year so that the final document will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution, or where ever Pete's archives will eventually be housed, as a document for posterity.
Cheney On Whether Iraq War Was Worth The 4,500 Americans Killed: ‘I Think So’
In an interview airing tonight on PBS's Newshour, host Jim Lehrer asks Vice President Cheney about the U.S. soldiers who have lost their lives in the war in Iraq. Cheney shows little remorse:
Q: But Mr. Vice President, getting from there to here, 4,500 Americans have died, at least 100,000 Iraqis have died. Has it been worth that?
CHENEY: I think so.
Q: Why?
CHENEY: Because I believed at the time what Saddam Hussein represented was, especially in the aftermath of 9/11, was a terror-sponsoring state so designated by the State Department. … He had produced and used weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological agents. He'd had a nuclear program in the past. … And he did have a relationship with al Qaeda. […]
And so I think given the track record of Saddam Hussein, I think we did exactly the right thing. I think the country is better off for it today.
Cheney's comments mirror those of other conservatives, such as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who said that the lives lost in Iraq have been a "small price" to pay, and right-wing commentator Frank Gaffney, who declared that all these troops "did have to die" in Iraq.
The United States did not invade in Iraq because Saddam "had a nuclear program in the past," nor did he have a relationship with al Qaeda. We went to war because Bush administration officials made everyone believes that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction at that time and an active relationship with al Qaeda. The Iraq war has decimated the readiness of the U.S. military, radicalized insurgents in the Middle East, and strengthened many of America's enemies. As David Sanger of the New York Times notes, the war also "occupied so much of the attention and the resources of the top levels of the U.S. government that we ignored much bigger threats, short-term and long-term." Matt Yglesias has also written:
The harsh reality is that this was not a noble undertaking done for good reasons. It was a criminal enterprise launched by madmen cheered on by a chorus of fools and cowards. And it's seen as such by virtually everyone all around the world — including but by no means limited to the Arab world.
Evidently, all this was worth losing more than 4,500 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis.
Justice Dept. Official Lied to Congress, Internal Probe Finds
by Greg Gordon
Former acting Justice Department civil rights chief Bradley J. Schlozman lied to Congress, according to a report by the Justice Department's inspector general. (Photo: Getty Images)
More evidence released of politics in Justice Department hiring.
Washington - A former acting Justice Department civil rights chief illegally favored conservative job applicants as "real Americans," kept liberal lawyers off key cases and lied in Senate testimony to conceal his misconduct, internal investigators say in a report made public Tuesday.
Bradley Schlozman privately dubbed liberal department lawyers "commies" and "pinkos" and told a subordinate that the Civil Rights Division shouldn't be limited to hiring "politburo members" who belong to some "psychopathic left-wing organization designed to overthrow the government," the department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility found.
Last March, officials from the two offices asked the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to investigate whether Schlozman had committed perjury in June 2007 Senate testimony and written follow-up responses. Federal prosecutors decided last week not to bring charges.
The 70-page report, the last to be publicly released on four joint internal investigations stemming from the 2007 scandal over politicization of the Justice Department, was completed in July but had been kept secret pending the outcome of the criminal inquiry.
It concludes that Schlozman kept tight control over hiring in five key sections of the Civil Rights Division and "improperly used political or ideological affiliations" in assessing applicants for experienced and entry-level career jobs, violating the federal Civil Service Reform Act and department policy.
Of 65 lawyers whom Schlozman hired from 2003 to 2006 and whose political affiliations were evident, 63, or 97 percent, were Republicans or conservatives and only two were Democrats or liberal, it said.
Whitehouse: If Obama doesn’t investigate Bush’s crimes, I will
President-elect Obama this week said his team was in the middle of "evaluating" Bush administration policies to see whether a criminal investigation would be worthwhile. NPR reports that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) says that he understands Obama's reluctance to pursue investigations but that he may take matters into his own hands:
"I think that there's a lot that remains to look at, and I appreciate that President Obama doesn't want to make it his purpose as a new president, with America in real distress in many directions, to go back and look at all this, but I think we in Congress have an independent responsibility, and I fully intend to discharge that responsibility," Whitehouse said.
In a 487-page report out today recapping Bush's "imperial presidency," House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) recommends that "the incoming Administration finally begin an independent criminal review of activities of the outgoing Administration."
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/13/whitehouse-investigate-bush/
Bush: I Personally Authorized Torture Of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Fox News Sunday, President Bush admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He said he personally asked "what tools" were available to use on him, and sought legal approval for waterboarding him:
BUSH: One such person who gave us information was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. … And I'm in the Oval Office and I am told that we have captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the professionals believe he has information necessary to secure the country. So I ask what tools are available for us to find information from him and they gave me a list of tools, and I said are these tools deemed to be legal? And so we got legal opinions before any decision was made.
Watch it:
Bush staunchly defended the program, saying it saved American lives — despite interrogators' claims to the contrary. He waved away the debate over torture by saying dismissively, "Look, I understand why people can get carried away on this issue."
Last year, Bush admitted that he was "aware" that his national security team met to discuss KSM's interrogation, and that he approved of the meeting. His admission today suggests Bush had a far more direct role in developing the specific torture program, which included waterboarding, a freezing cell, and long periods of standing and stress positions (all of which have long been considered torture).
What's more, a former Pentagon intelligence analyst told Vanity Fair that "K.S.M. produced no actionable intelligence"; another former CIA official, who read all the reports from KSM's interrogation, said, "90 percent of it was total f*cking bullsh*t."
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/11/bush-authorized-torture/
Israel Threatens to Shoot Unarmed Civilians aboard Mercy Ship
(Mediterranean Sea, 15 January 2009) - The Israeli navy today threatened to kill unarmed civilians aboard a mercy ship on its way to deliver medical supplies and doctors to besieged Gaza.
The Free Gaza Movement ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, left Cyprus Wednesday morning carrying doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and parliamentarians. The ship also carried over a ton of desperately needed medicines donated by the European Campaign to Break the Siege, and intended for overwhelmed hospitals in the Gaza Strip. At the request of the ship's organizers the passenger list and manifest were publicly released, and Cypriot authorities searched the boat prior to its departure in order to certify that it only carried humanitarian items. The organizers also sent an official notification to the Israeli government of their intent to break through the blockade of Gaza.
At roughly 3am UST (1am GMT), in international waters 100 miles off the coast of Gaza, at least five Israeli gunboats surrounded the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY and began recklessly cutting in front of the slow-moving civilian craft. The Israeli warships radioed the SPIRIT, demanding that the ship turn around or they would open fire and "shoot." When asked if the Israeli navy was acknowledging that they intended to commit a war crime by deliberately firing on unarmed civilians, the warships replied that they were prepared to use "any means" to stop the ship.
An earlier attempt by Free Gaza to deliver doctors and medical supplies ended on 30 December when Israeli gunboats deliberately and repeatedly rammed the DIGNITY, almost sinking that ship. Rather than endanger the lives of its passengers, the SPIRIT is now returning to Cyprus.
Israel's reckless and shocking threats against an unarmed ship on a mission of mercy are a violation of both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes."
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/688-israel-threatens-to-shoot-unarmed-civilians-aboard-mercy-ship
News from a Red Cross Worker In Gaza
(Editor's note: post updated below with notes, related factchecking, and news citations. This is a complex story, and many readers have understandably strong feelings about wanting to ensure accuracy and fairness.)
A Boing Boing reader writes:
I do not take sides, as the Gaza civilians are victims of both Hamas and the Israelis. FYI my nephew works for the ICRC in Gaza, and therefore has first-hand knowledge of what's happening on the ground. Here is a summary of what he said in a recent phone call to his family.- He's holding on in a bunker with metal shutters, he cannot bail out because he is responsible for too many people looking up to him, but 4 ICRC expats have left because of physical/mental exhaustion, and his Palestinian colleagues (Red Cross/Red Crescent) are equally exhausted, plus they have to get back to their families at night and organize survival (assuming their home hasn't been destroyed yet.)
- He has to organize the evacuation and taking care of the dead and wounded (100 yesterday.)
- The Israeli army deliberately intimidates, and aims at humanitarian groups, and they did shoot at an ICRC ambulance convoy three days ago, nearly killing a driver.
- Everything is demolished, and sometimes the ICRC has to use donkey carts because it is the only way to get through, and get at the dead and wounded. The Israeli army refuses to help.
- Palestinian kids are traumatized mentally, and forever.
- Both sides [Hamas & Israelis] have turned mad.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/14/news-from-a-red-cros.html
SIGN for Gaza / Stop U.S./Israeli Genocide
Jews in Solidarity with Palestine
Stop the U.S.-backed genocidal Israeli war on Gaza!
• Nearly a thousand women, men and children killed by U.S.-made Israeli bombs
• Thousands more wounded
• 1.5 million under siege for the past 18 months, without food, water, medicine, fuel
• Collective punishment for resisting occupation; emergency aid blocked
• Massive violations of international law
• Apartheid wall
• Racist oppression
• Homes and land stolen
• Forced into refugee camps
• 60 years of occupation, from the river to the sea
We Say Enough!
We Are
Jews in Solidarity with Palestine
No to Israel! Yes To Self-Determination, Democracy & Freedom!
Stop U.S. Funding of the War on Palestine!
The whole world is horrified by the murderous Israeli assault against the suffering people of Gaza. From Seoul to Caracas, from Johannesburg to Amman to London, millions of people have poured into the streets to demand an end to this genocidal campaign, which is funded by the United States and carried out with U.S.-supplied weaponry.
There have also been protests in U.S. cities. While most of those marching are Arab-Americans, many African Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans and whites have joined in. Many Jewish people, outraged at Israel's war crimes and anguished that they are carried out in their name, are speaking out.
It's good that Jewish people of conscience are disassociating themselves from the Gaza aggression. But it's not enough. This atrocity is only the latest, and it's no aberration. It reflects the program of the Israeli settler state—which is based on the theft of Palestine, the ouster and suppression of the Palestinian people, and the racist ideology of Zionism—and of its primary sponsor, the Pentagon and U.S. business establishment.
It's not enough to oppose the bombing. It's not enough to demand an end to the 41-year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. We stand in complete and unconditional support for the self-determination of the Palestinian people. This includes the right to return to Palestine, from the river to the sea, and the right to democratically determine the form and the future of the Palestinian state.
Nothing less will undo the historic crime of al Nakba—the 1948 catastrophe of the establishment of the state of Israel based on the ouster of the Palestinian people from their homeland, oppression and inequality.
That crime betrayed the whole history of the Jewish people. From helping topple the czar in Russia and build the unions in New York, to resisting pogroms and fighting to the last breath in the Warsaw Ghetto, opposition to persecution, oppression and racism was central to the Jewish heritage.
We call on Jewish people around the world, including those inside Israel, to join us in reclaiming that heritage. Reject racism and genocide. Reject the Zionist state, the very concept of which is racist to the core. Take the hand of our Palestinian sisters and brothers. Defend their righteous struggle to restore their stolen land and build a democratic Palestine.
This is not an impossible quest. Remember how mighty the settler state in South Africa seemed, only a little over two decades ago? The racist regime there was buttressed by U.S.—and Israeli—support. But it was battered by the unstoppable political and military struggle against apartheid, which gained worldwide support. Apartheid fell, replaced by a new state based on legal equality.
A future of equality for all is possible in Palestine too. Until this future is won, the Palestinian struggle will go on. We stand with that struggle.
http://www.iacenter.org/palestine/jewsinsolidarity/#signon
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Paul holds US liable for Gazans death
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Republican congressman Ron Paul says the US is aiding and abetting Israel in Gaza through its financial and military support for Tel Aviv.
"The weapons being used to kill so many Palestinians are American weapons, and American funds, essentially, are being used for this," said the congressman Friday.
Israel launched an all-out war against the Gaza Strip and its democratically-elected ruler, the Hamas movement, to put an end to rocket attacks against southern Israel.
At least 821 Palestinians have been killed during the operation and some 3,330 others are reported wounded. At least 10 Israeli troops have been killed during the offensive so far.
Hamas demands a cessation to an 18-month Israeli blockade on Gaza before its fighters stop rocket attacks against Israel.
Congressman Paul criticized Washington for its indirect intervention in the affairs of other countries.
"There's a political liability, which I think is something that we fail to look at, because too often there's so much blowback from our intervention in areas that we shouldn't be involved in," he said.
Paul also expressed his opposition to a House resolution that strongly supported Israel in its Gaza invasion. "I rise in opposition to this resolution, not because I am taking sides and picking who the bad guys are and who the good guys are."
"I'm looking at this more from the angle of being a United States citizen, an American, and I think resolutions like this really do us great harm," he added.
Earlier on Friday, House of Representative speaker Nancy Pelosi backed the Israel's military operations on Gaza, saying that "Israel, like any nation, has a right to self-defense when under attack".
"There's a lot of reasons why we should oppose this resolution. It is not in the interests of the United States. It's not in the interests of Israel, either," Paul concluded.
"The weapons being used to kill so many Palestinians are American weapons, and American funds, essentially, are being used for this," said the congressman Friday.
Israel launched an all-out war against the Gaza Strip and its democratically-elected ruler, the Hamas movement, to put an end to rocket attacks against southern Israel.
At least 821 Palestinians have been killed during the operation and some 3,330 others are reported wounded. At least 10 Israeli troops have been killed during the offensive so far.
Hamas demands a cessation to an 18-month Israeli blockade on Gaza before its fighters stop rocket attacks against Israel.
Congressman Paul criticized Washington for its indirect intervention in the affairs of other countries.
"There's a political liability, which I think is something that we fail to look at, because too often there's so much blowback from our intervention in areas that we shouldn't be involved in," he said.
Paul also expressed his opposition to a House resolution that strongly supported Israel in its Gaza invasion. "I rise in opposition to this resolution, not because I am taking sides and picking who the bad guys are and who the good guys are."
"I'm looking at this more from the angle of being a United States citizen, an American, and I think resolutions like this really do us great harm," he added.
Earlier on Friday, House of Representative speaker Nancy Pelosi backed the Israel's military operations on Gaza, saying that "Israel, like any nation, has a right to self-defense when under attack".
"There's a lot of reasons why we should oppose this resolution. It is not in the interests of the United States. It's not in the interests of Israel, either," Paul concluded.
O-bummer
By JIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN
Congressional Democrats are firing a surprising number of unexpectedly sharp brushback pitches at President-elect Barack Obama and his staff over policy plans and personnel picks, making him look embattled during what was to be a triumphant debut week in Washington.
The honeymoon isn't over — the president-elect remains widely popular, even among some Republicans — and his Inauguration on Jan. 20 will be a signature event in the lifetime of most Americans, giving his opening days a greater lift and pop than any president since at least Ronald Reagan.
But as Obama buckled down his week heading a shadow government across Lafayette Park from the waning one in the White House, Democrats hit him with daily fast balls reflecting two realities: His team is smart but not perfect, and Democrats are supportive but not supine.
Consider:
• Obama ended his troubled search for CIA director by naming Leon Panetta. The immediate response: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) fired off a statement of disapproval, giving a negative tilt to most coverage of the pick.
• Obama floated his plan to name TV star Dr. Sanjay Gupta as surgeon general. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers didn't even wait for the official announcement before leading a public campaign to kill the nomination. Gupta "lacks the relevant experience," Conyers wrote to colleagues.
• As Obama makes plans to roll out a sweeping economic plan, Majority Leader Harry Reid gave interviews with Politico and The Hill newspaper and made clear he won't take marching orders from Obama. "I don't work for" Obama, he told us.
• Even before Obama's plan was formally unveiled, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made plain her displeasure with parts of Obama's emerging fiscal plan, which she believes does not move fast enough to raise taxes. "I couldn't be more clear," she said Thursday at her weekly news conference. "Put me down as one in favor of repeal [of the Bush tax cuts] as soon as possible."
• Finally, once the package was unveiled, Obama's adviser got a frosty response to some provisions from Senate Democrats, who were kind enough to go public with their concerns. "I just don't think it works. I don't think that's going to give much lift to the economy, as well-intended as it is," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, told Politico's David Rogers.
What mandate for change?
Barack Obama is already facing pushback from Congress about his economic stimulus plan. But it's coming from Democrats.
By Mike Madden
The hard sell that Barack Obama put on last week went beyond the normal political smooth-talking that presidents (or presidents-elect) sometimes use to promote their legislative agenda and crossed over into something a bit more urgent.
"For the sake of our economy and our people, this is the moment to act and to act without delay," Obama said Friday, pushing Congress -- for the second day in a row -- to get moving on a massive $775 billion economic stimulus plan as soon as possible. (On Thursday, he'd devoted an entire speech to the plan, the first time he'd given what his staff had billed as a "major policy address" since he won the election.) "The American people are struggling. And behind the statistics that we see flashing on the screens are real lives, real suffering, real fears. And it is my job to make sure that Congress stays focused in the weeks to come and gets this done." His Saturday radio/YouTube address had more of the same; the transition team simultaneously released a 14-page report claiming Obama's plan would create 3 to 4 million jobs by the end of next year.
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