Of Armies and Statesmen

In light of the breakdown of our military from overuse and the rise of private, mercenary armies like Blackwater USA, Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation seems timely.

On a related note, McClatchy News has this 'feelgood' story. (At least it made me feel good... H/T to Lotus for the linky.

Honor The Fallen UPDATED

We just found out we lost a friend in Iraq. Someone my husband served with until this past July at BAMC. Dr. Roselle Hoffmaster, Captain, US Army, Godspeed and Rest in Peace. DailyKOS has a nice write-up about Roselle. Also there is a guestbook for her friends and family at Legacy.com.

UPDATE: The Patriots over at Comment From Left Field have added Roselle to their tribute for Fisher House. I posted on this here.
If you want to really support the troops, real people not just faceless numbers, give what you can to support Fisher House, the organization that houses military family members while their loved one is treated in a military hospital. Read all about it and give what you can, it may make the difference between someone making it to recovery or someone dying alone. I guarantee it will do more than that ribbon magnet made in China.

Actually Supporting the Troops

Via Skippy: Comments from Left Field has posted a memorial contribution fund for Fisher House in honor of the two soldiers who died in Iraq after speaking out about the war in a NY Times OpEd., The War as We Saw It

Please check out the post and give what you can to Fisher House. Fisher House fills some of the gaps the military misses. We know this firsthand from our time at BAMC.

A special thank you to the bloggers who are reposting this and Comments From Left Field for their actual efforts on behalf of those simply doing what they promised to do and more.

Anorexic Army

Think Progress writes up Gen. Casey's report to the Senate Armed Services committee:Army ‘Out Of Balance,’ ‘Current Demand’ On Troops ‘Exceeds The Sustainable Supply’

According to “Pentagon insiders” who spoke to the Boston Globe, “Casey’s apparent alarm about the Army heightened when he returned from nearly three years of duty in Iraq.” Casey also said that “Army support systems…are straining under the pressures from six years of war.”

See the video.

Another day in Paradise

A video worth watching. Courtesy of Political Dogfight. And then just another day in Iraq...11 seconds of it anyway.

Stick It and Bury the Lead

Since I don't watch TV (except for Olbermann and a little PBS...c'mon, who can resist Antiques Roadshow?) I just heard about this summation done by the James Spader character, Howard Shore on the show Boston Legal. Great little Bill of Rights monologue worth watching.

To be expected, he lost the case.

In the "burying the lead" department:When you're done with Boston Legal, run over to Think Progress and watch Jim Webb have to practically beg our lawmakers to do the right thing in regards to the Lie-berman/KKKyl amendment which would give Chimpy permission to attack Iran.

A Kind of Gloom

has begun to settle into my consciousness not unlike the early morning autumn chilliness. As each day becomes shorter, the likelihood of BushCo getting away with murder waxes profoundly. I listened to The Best of the Left podcast this weekend which produced an excellent round-up of the left's commentary on the Betray-us "report". The soundbites range from pointing out the obvious misdirection of the success of the "surge" to the daunting concept that we may be in Iraq for decades. While not good news, it correctly reframes all the bush shit arguments about the false flag mission of the Bush crime family. From Mike Malloy:

"It's about time for us to face a very hard truth, We are not going to pull out of Iraq. It's not going to happen this year or next year,or probably not even five years from now. This is a permanent situation."

Give it a listen.

Sue The Pants off of Them

An interesting story unfolds: Dan Rather is suing CBS for damaging his reputation and making him a scapegoat in the "Bush goes AWOL" debacle. Good on you Mr. Rather, I hope you win and CBS gets its comeuppance.

Will Blackwater Finally Be Banned?

The soul-sickening sound of Blackwater USA guns will hopefully end soon. Digby has another take on it and Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films made another fabulous documentary on Blackwater's "Shadow War" called Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers



The Blackwater/private contractor fiasco is a story that has barely cracked the headlines in the MSM, but is arguably one of the most important features of BushCo's strategy to undermine our democracy. The possibility exists that Blackwater is the private BushCo army created to keep us peaceniks in line. This is a chapter of American history I wish to soon be over.

Idiot America

Scott Ritter's essay on the nail-bitingly slow lack of action by congress on the Iraq occupation:

The ongoing hand-wringing in Congress by the newly empowered Democrats over what to do about the war in Iraq speaks volumes about the level of concern (or lack thereof) these “representatives of the people” have toward the men and women who honor us all by serving in the armed forces of the United States of America. The inability to reach consensus concerning the level of funding required or how to exercise effective oversight of the war, both constitutionally mandated responsibilities, is more a reflection of congressional cowardice and impotence than a byproduct of any heartfelt introspection over troop welfare and national security.

Read the rest.

Happy Birthday USAF

Being an Air force Veteran myself and being married to an active duty USAF member, I have to wish the USAF a happy 60th anniversary. For nostagia's sake, an old picture of my crew from my days on the flight line. Life not during wartime. I miss those times.

Lies and Betrayal

The latest MoveOn.org 30 second spot, followed by their VideoVets campaign directed by Oliver Stone:

Petraeus for President?

So reports the right-wing rag, the NY Sun. According to Petraeus himself, he plans on running for the presidency in 2012. C&L has it.

A little more on Fallon

CENTCOM commander William Fallon spoke in front of the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco this week upon his return from Iraq. His talk is full of what we've already heard from much of the administration, but it contains a few surprises as well. Give it a listen.

"An Ass-Kissing, Little Chickenshit"

I'm taking back the nasty things I said about CENTCOM commander Admiral William Fallon. Here's what Fallon had to say:

Fallon told Petraeus [in March] that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t” and added, “I hate people like that”, the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.

Think Progress has the story.

Complete 9/11 Timeline

Professional researcher Paul Thompson has painstakingly assembled, through various media accounts and FOI documents, a thorough timeline of the events on September 11, 2001. This work is extraordinary in "connecting the dots" and pointing out the lies and inconsistencies of the 9/11 (C)Ommission Report and the lies repeated by the administration regarding the events of 9/11.

I've touted the 9/11 truth movement films like Loose Change and a multitude of other inquiry documentaries. I am convinced by my own research and the exhaustive research of others that 9/11 was an inside job. If you have doubts, or maybe have considered the many problems and unanswered questions arising from the "official story of record" explanation, take a look at the timeline and see what you come up with. Let yourself really look at the issue with objective eyes. Don't be afraid of the truth, it will set you free.

The timelime is dense with information, so look around a bit. It has complete links to the media reports and documents from which it was constructed. Here's one I like:

(9:26 a.m.): Cheney Given Updates on Unidentified Flight 77 Heading toward Washington; Says ‘Orders Still Stand’

According to some accounts, Vice President Cheney is in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) below the White House by this time, along with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and National Security Adviser Rice. Mineta says that, while a suspicious plane is heading toward Washington, an unidentified young man comes in and says to Cheney, “The plane is 50 miles out.” Mineta confers with Acting FAA Deputy Administrator Monte Belger, who is at the FAA’s Washington headquarters. Belger says to him, “We’re watching this target on the radar, but the transponder’s been turned off. So we have no identification.” According to Mineta, the young man continues updating the vice president, saying, “The plane is 30 miles out,” and when he gets down to “The plane is 10 miles out,” asks, “Do the orders still stand?” In response, Cheney “whipped his neck around and said, ‘Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?’” Mineta says that “just by the nature of all the events going on,” he infers that the order being referred to is a shoot-down order. Nevertheless, Flight 77 continues on and hits the Pentagon. [BBC, 9/1/2002; ABC News, 9/11/2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; St. Petersburg Times, 7/4/2004] However, the 9/11 Commission will later claim the plane heading toward Washington is only discovered by the Dulles Airport air traffic control tower at 9:32 a.m. (see 9:32 a.m. September 11, 2001). But earlier accounts, including statements made by the FAA and NORAD, will claim that the FAA notified the military about the suspected hijacking of Flight 77 at 9:24 a.m., if not before (see (9:24 a.m.) September 11, 2001). The FBI’s Washington Field Office was also reportedly notified that Flight 77 had been hijacked at about 9:20 a.m. (see (9:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001). The 9/11 Commission will further contradict Mineta’s account saying that, despite the “conflicting evidence as to when the Vice President arrived in the shelter conference room [i.e., the PEOC],” it has concluded that he only arrived there at 9:58 a.m. It also claims that Condoleezza Rice only entered the PEOC shortly after Cheney did. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] According to the Washington Post, the discussion between Cheney and the young aide over whether “the orders” still stand occurs later than claimed by Mineta, and is in response to Flight 93 heading toward Washington, not Flight 77. [Washington Post, 1/27/2002]

The Myth of AQI

Andrew Tilghman of Stars and Stripes contributes to Washington Monthly and makes clear distinctions about al-Qaeda. Today, Gen. Betray-us uses the administration's propaganda term 21 times repeatedly conflating al-Qaeda in Iraq (Mesopotamia) and Al Qaeda central, the Taliban-backed group in Afghanistan. Who is the newly-emerged AQI? Andrew has some interesting ideas.

In March 2007, a pair of truck bombs tore through the Shiite marketplace in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, killing more than 150 people. [ ]
An Internet posting by the terrorist group known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) took credit for the destruction.[ ] A week later, Iraqi security forces raided a home outside Tal Afar andarrested two men suspected of orchestrating the bombing. Yet when the U.S. military issued a press release about the arrests, there was no mention of an al-Qaeda connection.

Read the rest...

9/11 "Press for Truth"

This landmark film was released last year and features the "Jersey Girls" and their struggle to force investigation into the 9/11 terror attacks. Watch it.

9/11 claims more victims

As a direct result of the lies and negligence of Rudy Ghouliani, BushCo and its cronies, more people are dying every year from various respiratory illnesses related to the Twin Towers demolition on September 11, 2001.

Chickenhawks-college style

Thank you Max Blumenthal.

Cooking the Books for Congress

MoveOn.org's ad in the NYT today:Cooking the books for the White House

'Betray-us' is liar

Thr "report" now downgraded to "comments" to be made today by Gen. David Petraeus is a pack of cherry-picked, manipulated lies designed by the White House to further the "stay the course" bullshit. Most of America seems to think the same thing.

You Have No Rights

TruthDig hosts an interview with Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive and author of “You Have No Rights,” explains how our president became a “medieval king,” and why your civil liberties are in greater danger than ever.

Rothschild: What Fourth Amendment rights to privacy do we have if the NSA, the National Security Agency, can spy on us without a warrant when the law says they need to have a warrant to spy on us? What First Amendment rights do we have to protest if we can’t protest in front of the president or the vice president, but if we have to go to some free-speech zone a half-mile or a mile or a mile and a half away where they can’t even see us?

Read the rest...

Why We Fight (and why I hate the Bush Administration)

An incredible, must-see documentary by Eugene Jarecki. I saw Why We Fight, last year on HBO. Now the BBC has released it and YouTuber Eurasure has put it up. This documentary on the commerce of war, how the military industrial complex profits from war, and how it must continually create wars to continue the growth of its business, relevance and outrageous expenditure of public money. Required viewing for ALL Americans. Each part is about 20 minutes. Keep in mind while you watch, the same arguments for invading Iraq are being trotted out again to preemptively bomb Iran.

This documentary is stirring, poignant, prescient and right-on-target current in its message and content. Please watch it. Send it to others. Send it to your congressperson and senators. Please. We must stand together NOW.

I have posted this film previously and written related posts. If you have time, take a look at the past posts and the comments. There's still time if we join together against this fascist bush regime.


Graphic courtesy of Old American Century.org

Banging the Drum

Once again the Bush administration has begun to bang the war drum--this time with Iran. TPM's Todd Gitlin writes up why we should take this drumbeat seriously and the necessity more than ever before to contact our representaives and not let this go the way of Iraq. From Todd Gitlin's article:

If there’s anything we understand about the occupants of the White House, it is that worst-case scenarios are, if not dead certain, to use the phrase of the day, worth taking seriously.
But here’s the point of this post: Forget what Ollie North means by passivity. There’s a genuine passivity to fear. The Democrats have to stand up this week, loud, clear, and demonstrative, and declare that they will not get hustled into supporting a mindless, counterproductive attack on Iran. They will not appropriate funds for it. Half of them in the Senate got hustled at the equivalent moment in 2002 and now regret it, even if are only willing to use the euphemism “if I knew then what I know now.”
One thing they all must know now is who they are dealing with in the White House. The mania of George Bush and Dick Cheney is not the sum of all dangers today but it is, after all, a known quantity.

This time, for sure, post-facto regret won’t do.