US raids Chalabi’s home in Iraq

U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police raided the home of America’s one-time ally Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday, seizing documents and computers.

Regardless of why, the US just lost another supposed ally. Chalabi, installed by the US as a member of the Ruling Council, was also convicted of bank fraud in Jordan and will be imprisoned if he returns there. And now the US says he may be crooked. Whoa, who could have guessed that? He was the darling of the neo-cons, and was installed into power by them. Now all that is gone.

Chalabi said:

“I am America’s best friend in Iraq,” Chalabi told a news conference. “If the (coalition) finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the (coalition) and the Iraqi people.”

Yet another example of how the US invasion of Iraq has gone completely awry.

No Comments »

US soldiers gleefully pose with dead Iraqi prisoner

I
believe this is the same prisoner who earlier reports said was beaten
to death. The soldiers posing here, Specialists Charles Graner and
Sabrina Harma, are facing court-martials.

Photos and more info from the BBC

The US has lost the war. Bring the troops home now. Join us in the streets on June 5 to protest this insane war. There will be worldwide demos, a March on the Pentagon, and major actions in LA and SF.

No Comments »

Army Sgt. witnessed torture, won’t serve, is on trial

Unlike the above, one soldier has taken an honorable stand

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia faces court martial today for refusing to return to Iraq. He eventually applied for conscientious objector status in part because of the abuse of detainees he witnessed in Iraq, not in Abu Gharib but in another facility - Al Assad.

Daniel Ellsberg comments:

Sergeant Mejia served his country bravely and well in Iraq; but he is serving his country better, and just as bravely, in his publicly-announced refusal to participate further in what he correctly identifies as an illegal war using illegal means.

That is also true of his role in being one of the first to expose serious American violations of the Geneva Conventions on treatment of prisoners, which as ratified treaties have the status, with the Constitution, of the highest law of the land.

No Comments »

Dept. of Silly Statements

The president is, like Americans, concerned about rising gas prices,” White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said. He dismissed as “cheap political rhetoric” Democrats’ suggestions that high gas prices could damage the economy.

No Comments »

Dept. of War Crimes

US helicopter fires on Iraq wedding party, 40 dead

UN condemns Israel killing Palestinians in Gaza. Interestingly the US didn’t block the vote, choosing to abstain instead, a first I think, in a vote like this on Israel.

From Electronic Intifada, hardly unbiased, but still..

Many words are taboo if used to describe Israel’s actions against Palestinians. One word in particular — genocide — sparks emotions that echo across Israel, Europe, and North America. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines genocide as “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.” What is happening in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip today is dangerously close to genocide

No Comments »

Dept. of Crumbling Walls of Lies

An obscure Army captain wrote the interrogation rules. The general in charge never saw them, even though his title appears on the document as the officer who must approve especially harsh techniques. Yet somehow the rules wound up on the wall of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib.

The general says he never saw them. We shall see. Watching this pack of rats turn on each other will be amusing, if grisly, fun. And turn on each other they will.

Sivits, who got a year in prison Wednesday, already did.

His testimony will be used to prosecute other Americans accused of mistreating prisoners — most immediately, three men from his reserve unit who also appeared in court Wednesday.

At first I thought a year was lenient, however, he was prosecuted for taking photos, not for abuse or torture. Plus he got the maximum sentence.

And now it’s up the food chain we go…

No Comments »

Here’s a hint: Start by opposing the war

Kerry: I’ll lure those who support Nader

No Comments »

This just in

Secretary Rumsfeld briefs America’s freedom®-crusaders on kinder, gentler new guidelines for interrogating maybe-terrorist Islamiac trash

No Comments »

It’s on eBay so it must be true

Onboard electric vehicle charging system
Take most electric vehicles coast to coast nonstop

Starting bid 250 billion dollars.

No Comments »