Posts by Attaturk

Attaturk is a regular blogger for FireDogLake

Blackwater Asks To Be Tried Under Islamic Law
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on June 19, 2008 at 8:10 AM.

Well, just when you think you may have just ONE day in life where your snark can outdo reality, you find out how absurd the world has been made. And not in a good way:

The private military company Blackwater has cultivated a patriotic reputation, with its staff of retired military and former police officers, and the requirement that most of its workers swear an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution.

Blackwater’s aviation wing recently filed a unique request in federal court, where the widows of three American soldiers are suing the company over a botched flight supporting the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

The company, based in Moyock, doesn’t want the case heard in an American courtroom under American law: it wants the case heard under Shari’a, the Islamic law of Afghanistan.

Don't let too many Republicans know this, but Shari'a law is apparently great for business and bad for the most evil people on earth, not Al Qaeda silly, AMERICAN TRIAL LAWYERS:

The company argued that the lawsuit must be dismissed; legal doctrine holds that soldiers cannot sue the government, and Blackwater’s aviation wing was acting as an agent of the government.

Last year, a series of federal judges dismissed that argument.

In April, Blackwater asked a federal judge in Florida to apply Islamic law, commonly known as Shari’a, to the case. If the judge agreed, the lawsuit would be dismissed. Shari’a law does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their work.

If this becomes well-known, the GOP's corporate base will become fundamentalist Muslims faster than you can say Mecca Oil & Gas. James Taranto is wearing a burka already (he's very confused).

US Military "Softened Up" Guantanamo Detainees for Chinese
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on May 21, 2008 at 2:19 PM.

The Chinese are apparently taking a supervisory role in overseeing their investment.

U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men -- or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report.

Buried in a Department of Justice report released Tuesday are new allegations about a 2002 arrangement between the United States and China, which allowed Chinese intelligence to visit Guantanamo and interrogate Chinese Uighurs held there.

According to the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, an FBI agent reported a detainee belonging to China's ethnic Uighur minority and a Uighur translator told him Uighur detainees were kept awake for long periods, deprived of food and forced to endure cold for hours on end, just prior to questioning by Chinese interrogators.

Susan Manning, a lawyer who represents several Uighurs still held at Guantanamo, said Tuesday the allegations are all too familiar.

U.S. personnel "are engaging in abusive tactics on behalf of the Chinese," she said Tuesday. When Uighur detainees refused to talk to Chinese interrogators in 2002, U.S. military personnel put them in solitary confinement as punishment, she said.

"Why are we doing China's dirty work?" Manning said. "Surely we're better than that."

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Pentagon Drops Charges Against "20th Hijacker"
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on May 13, 2008 at 6:54 AM.

Heckuva job on not following the 'quaint' Geneva Convention against Torture:

The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent.

But in reviewing the case, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, decided to dismiss the charges against al-Qahtani and proceed with the arraignment for the other five, said Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, the Saudi's military lawyer.

And just why did they dismiss the charges now?

The attorney said he could not comment on the reasons for the dismissal until discussing the case with lawyers for the other five defendants. Officials previously said al-Qahtani had been subjected to a harsh interrogation authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

I feel a chorus of 'Proud to be an American' coming on. Excuse me while I take my anti-treacle medication.

The charges were dismissed without prejudice -- but not the torture of course -- so they could be refiled at a later time.

But why this is occurring may be considered in context with what is happening with the other five individuals:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Missouri Amendment Would Require Proof of Citizenship to Vote
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on May 12, 2008 at 6:58 AM.

Here's to you Milliard Fillmore, the nation's Lou Dobbs viewers turn their bitter eyes to you!

Now that the Supreme Court has issued its execrable decision allowing more strict voter identification at the polls, though no evidence of widespread voter fraud has ever been produced, the nativist still do not think it is enough. Now, it is about disenfranchisement of groups that vote against conservative agendas and nothing less.

The battle over voting rights will expand this week as lawmakers in Missouri are expected to support a proposed constitutional amendment to enable election officials to require proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote.

The measure would allow far more rigorous demands than the voter ID requirement recently upheld by the Supreme Court, in which voters had to prove their identity with a government-issued card.

How bad is Missouri's plan, pretty damn bad:

The Missouri secretary of state, Robin Carnahan, a Democrat who opposes the measure, estimated that it could disenfranchise up to 240,000 registered voters who would be unable to prove their citizenship.

In most of the states that require identification, voters can use utility bills, paychecks, driver’s licenses or student or military ID cards to prove their identity. In the Democratic primary election last week in Indiana, several nuns were denied ballots because they lacked the required photo IDs.

Measures requiring proof of citizenship raise the bar higher because they offer fewer options for documentation. In most cases, aspiring voters would have to produce an original birth certificate, naturalization papers or a passport.

So how many of you walk around with your birth certificate, how many of you actually have a passport, how many of you carry it around with you?

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Bush's Potemkin Army
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on April 24, 2008 at 4:17 AM.

I know, I know, hard to believe that the Bush Administration might lie to us again, but:

In Hilla, the largest town in the central Iraqi province of Babil, soldiers and residents say the violence was fiercest on March 25. And at least one American soldier said he was angry that the role of Iraqi troops was exaggerated after the battle. "A gunfight broke out and we were fighting [the Mahdi Army] for about four hours," the soldier told TIME. "The army article made it sound like we were just there supporting the Iraqi Army, but we did all the work. We just had four humvees out there with some Iraqi [troops]."

Another soldier at Forward Operating Base Kalsu in north Babil said he has little confidence in the battle abilities of the Iraqi forces. "Sometimes they start shooting because they heard or saw something, but then there's nothing there," he said.

How many billions have we spent on this training?

Training the Iraqi troops was David Petraeus' former job.

Now, however, 18 months after entering Iraq, I see tangible progress. Iraqi security elements are being rebuilt from the ground up.

- David Petraeus, Washington Post, September 26, 2004

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Now That the Al-Sadr Cease Fire Is in Peril, What's Next for Iraq?
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on March 26, 2008 at 9:10 AM.

Ah, the latest battles in the never-ending nightmare that is Iraq. The only question ever being, slow disaster or fast disaster?

As we see how this will play out, let me speculate based not on my extensive knowledge of religion, culture, foreign language or history. For I claim expertise over none of these things. But, like most of you, I've lived under seven years, nine weeks and two days of the the George W. Bush Administration and how it spins everything in Iraq. So let me predict the following:

1. Maliki will strut about like Bush on a caffeine bender. An Iraqi general here and there will be fired, as will random police officials.

2. Al Sadr will be as inscrutable as ever, hinting at belligerence while simultaneously extending olive branches (may not be a prediction as it is already happening).

3. Many more will die than initially reported. Not all that many will be from the Mahdi Army -- and those that do will be replaced easily and then some.

4. The Bush Administration will cheer anything that looks like shooting or blowing crap up. Chuckles Krauthammer will cry tears of joy and write it is time to bomb Iran.

5. There will be loud initial claims of victory by the Iraqi government and louder ones by Bush. These proclamations will at least last long enough to take us past the next round of Petraeus' testimony before Congress. After all, any one who dares question our impending awesomest victory over the evilizers ever is a two bit America-hatin',YouTube snippet preachin', hater!

6. Look for Glenn Reynolds to be admitted into Betty Ford after overdosing on too many "hehs" and "indeeds".

7. All the "wise geniuses" who started this mess will toss out compliments on how the Iraqi Army performed and it's all downhill from here as long as we keep 150,000 soldiers in Iraq forever. Look for various Kagans to be strategically deployed at the shows with the best caterering. Look for Michael O'Hanlon to demand a Lombardi Trophy.

8. All politicians will forced by Wolf Blitzer's control-top beard to concede that surely by now the Surge worked and cured everything from Iraq to tooth decay and the issue must be ceded to the all-knowning, John "Kiss the Chef" McCain and his extensive foreign policy experience centered around blowing stuff up.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

It's Another Crappy Iraq War Anniversary
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on March 19, 2008 at 5:45 AM.

Today is the Fifth Anniversary of the Decider's crowning glory...upon his intellectual throne, a thunderbucket of immense intellectual bankruptcy causing uncounted and ever mounting death and destruction. Each year adds a new level of intellectual dishonesty and miserable accountability for him and his enablers.

Yes, George Bush who proclaimed there would be "no casualties" has overseen more than five years and 25,000 of them, and thanks to advances in medicine and emergency care slightly under 4,000 have been terminal, so far. But, of course, that's just on the American side of the ledger. No one really knows how many have died because of this war and subsequent occupation. It could be 100,000 it could be a million or more. One out of every five Iraqis has become a refugee within or without their country.

The costs of the war and occupation were always downplayed, criminally, by the Bush Administration. Bush's Chief Economist Larry Lindsey was forced out after saying maybe $100 to 200 billion -- it has so far cost out of the next generation's rear-end more than $500 billion. When one adds up all the economic ramifications welcome to at least the $3 trillion dollar war. At present, the war Paul Wolfowitz said would pay for itself is running you at least $12 billion a month as an occupation.

And after all this time, people who are running for office still cannot tell a Sunni from a Shiia, but they just want to keep dropping those bombs as we enter into our 13th Friedman Unit, the undefined unobtainable victory remains yet another F.U. or two away.

Ah, but the glory of how it all began. In his State of the Union address in 2002, Bush said this:

For too long our culture has said, "If it feels good, do it."

On March 19, 2003, just before addressing the nation to announce his this disastrous war Bush was asked about this feelings:

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Socialism Is OK for Rich White Guys, But Not the Rest of Us
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on March 18, 2008 at 6:33 AM.

Universal Health Care is socialism! Somewhere a white guy is complaining about welfare queens, and our $12 billion a month occupation is a battle against a foe so dangerous they always lose (especially upper management) yet can never be defeated. Because freedom rocks, and capitalism rolls.

For years now we've been told that socialism is the worse thing ever, it's like a million Hitlers on roller skates, topless and singing Wagner in a new Stephen Sondheim play presented as a viral video on You Tube.

Unless, of course, you are the archetype of capitalism, then socialism is awesome!

Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries and how government should keep its hands off the private economy.

The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and from the deregulatory regime for which they lobbied so hard...

It's just fine to make it harder for the average Joe to file for bankruptcy, as did that wretched bankruptcy bill passed by Congress in 2005 at the request of the credit card industry. But the big guys are "too big to fail," because they could bring us all down with them.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Only 28 Percent of Americans Know Close to 4,000 US Troops Have Died in Iraq War
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on March 13, 2008 at 6:05 AM.

When last we actually heard any substantial news reporting about Iraq the line was about how "the surge" had reduced violence...and it's effect upon ice cream shops or some such nonsense.

That was sometime in the Fall.

And then...poof, the war occupation, it disappeared.

I know it's vitally important that all news be focused upon a prominent governmental office holder liking to pay for sex -- because THAT'S never happened before and all. I also know there's a Presidential Election on so it's vitally important that the candidates positions be covered for sixty seconds a day and the horse race aspect be for the remaining 23 hours, 59 minutes.

But the occupation still rages, people still die, and $12 billion a month still gets spent over there.

And yet, the occupation is not discussed...at all. And somehow the end result is this:

Twenty-eight percent of the public is aware that nearly 4,000 U.S. personnel have died in Iraq over the past five years, while nearly half thinks the death tally is 3,000 or fewer...

The survey, by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that public awareness of developments in the Iraq war has dropped precipitously since last summer, as the news media have paid less attention to the conflict. In earlier surveys, about half of those asked about the death tally responded correctly.

And it's really unfortunate because up until now, the media has done such a fine job on covering Iraq have they not?

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Will There Ever Be Justice for Halliburton Rape Victim Jamie Leigh Jones?
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on March 6, 2008 at 8:40 AM.

A month ago, I wrote about a former female Halliburton/KBR employee who was forced to arbitrate a legal claim of sexual assault and sexual harassment that occurred in Iraq, rather than having a public trial before a jury.

Well, one month later, it may happen again:

In a federal lawsuit, Jamie Leigh Jones says she was drugged, raped and held against her will in a storage locker while working for KBR Inc., then a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., in 2005.

As part of her employment, Jones agreed to settle claims against the company in arbitration. But she never imagined such claims would include being imprisoned in a storage locker, said one of her attorneys, L. Todd Kelly.

Attorneys for Halliburton and KBR argued that the contract Jones signed binds her to settle all claims -- including claims of sexual assault -- against her former employer through arbitration.

Halliburton attorney W. Carl Jordan said that because the purported attack is said to have happened in Halliburton-provided barracks, it ties any claims Jones makes to her employment.

Can you imagine that last paragraph being explained in a company sexual harassment seminar?

"Now folks, we're not encouraging you to commit sexual assault but if you do, please have the deceny to do so on company premises"

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

McCain Holds a BBQ for His Base -- the Mainstream Media
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on March 4, 2008 at 8:19 AM.

Ah, while we spend our time fretting about when the nomination fight will end, John McCain gets to spend the time shoring up his base, the press corps.

Wearing a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt with a family photo printed on it, McCain pointed out a hawk's nest on the property he's owned for 24 years, and explained how his bone-down slow-cook grilling technique virtually eliminates the fat from his ribs. (Several reporters, skeptical by trade, remained unconvinced.) McCain's springer spaniel, Sam, hovered near the tong-wielding senator, gnawing on a rib McCain had taken off the grill. McCain's friend Sen. Lindsay Graham also gnawed on a rib, albeit with more delicacy.

Is "tong-wielding" a metaphor?

But the theme of the manly straight talking man does not come cheap, it requires at least $300 worth of Costco's best ribs and some top-notch 64oz kegs of Kirkland Barbecue Sauce (don't tell th press it's the house brand). And they repay in kind, for McCain's acreage in the land midwesterners go to die, is near Sedona. And you know what that means...

There is something surprising -- perhaps even metaphysically provocative -- about the notion of Mr. Straight Talk in such close proximity to what may be the nation's highest proportion of crystal-wielding psychics. McCain comes across as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get guy, not terribly given to brooding or introspective meditation. He is superstitious, sure, keeping a lucky penny in his pocket, but it's hard to imagine him buying a "manifestation pyramid" at Sedona's Crystal Castle, or going in to get his chakras cleared.

Ah yes, the dirty f***ing hippies. The poor maverick having to cook ribs (over propane!) within a few miles of the folks the press corps goes out of its way to call the Democratic base.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Tim Russert Loses Democratic Debate
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on February 27, 2008 at 8:58 AM.

In modern political discourse, per our punditry, a cult is defined as any sizable group of enthused supporters of a political candidate in a purported Democracy. But if we are going to be loose with definitions, then let us address the 'Cult of Russert'.

I admit, I didn't watch the debate, I had other priorities ("Work your magic Mangroomer") but many brave masochists did. And from their comments it appears that with the exception of one group -- television talking heads -- the clear loser was the man who enables Dick Cheney to control the message, Tim Russert. Held up by his feted peers as the "Ultimate in Bobbleheads".

After all, Louis Farrakhan is black -- Barack Obama is black -- therefore anything Farrakhan says must be automatically what Obama thinks because apparently to Tim Russert all black men have an intellectual osmosis that links them together*. Like in "The Matrix" which had Cornel West in it so it must have some form of factual basis (only in Tim Russert World would African-American intellectuals be saved by Keanu Reeves). And, of course, feckless and worthless talking point driven questions were also directed toward Hillary Clinton.

But it is in more than this that Timmah & Friends fail us. Digby sums it up perfectly -- having actually watched the debate:

The problem is Tim Russert and all his petty, shallow acolytes who spend all their time reading Drudge and breathlessly reporting every tabloid tidbit and sexy rumor and seeking out minor inconsistencies from years past in lieu of doing any real work.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

McCain: I Could Send Troops 'Anywhere' for a 'Long Period of Time'
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on February 20, 2008 at 9:38 AM.

UPDATE via Think Progress: On Good Morning America, McCain said America could potentially send troops "anywhere" while he's president, and for a long period of time. Scary stuff. Video is to your right.

****

Um, huzzah? That surge has done so fantastic, this nonsense is still going on:

BAGHDAD - As many as 15 Iraqi policemen responding to an attack against U.S. bases were killed Tuesday when rockets, set to be launched from the back of a truck, exploded before the officers could defuse them, officials said.

Four U.S. soldiers were wounded when the initial rockets slammed into their outposts in the capital, the military said, the second rocket attack against American targets in as many days

And now add to this butcher's bill another trio of unseen flag-drapped caskets:

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers when it struck their vehicle in northwestern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

And yet, yesterday, John "Snuggles" McCain told us that to vote for Barack Obama would be America taking a "holiday from history". If one ponders that line (apparently purloined - plagiarized? over to you Howie Wolfson), you can take it in any number of directions from "the history of the last seven years isn't too hot there Slappy" to "Um, John, maybe there are some aspects about American History reflected in the ever more likely nomination of an African-American that you may not want to remember, or perhaps too fondly remember, and which need to be departed from."

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

US to Demand Free Reign in Iraq Long After Bush Leaves
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on January 25, 2008 at 6:06 AM.

U.S. to Insist Iraq Grant It Wide Mandate in Operations:

Well, you know what the modern GOP says about the bigger the cushion...the better meme to be pushin'.

With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire in 11 months, the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law, according to administration and military officials.

This emerging American negotiating position faces a potential buzz saw of opposition from Iraq, with its fragmented Parliament, weak central government and deep sensitivities about being seen as a dependent state, according to these officials.

You know that is ridiculous, but it is the Bush Administration, adding ridiculous to the tragic is its raison d'etre. The contractor immunity is a farce of the first rank and it's kind of impressive in a way that even in their eighth year they still "got it" -- even if no one wants them to "have it".

But more than the contractors it is "our" democracy juxtaposed against Iraq's alleged democracy that causes things to really become clear.

Our alleged "greatest" democracy ever:

Administration officials are describing their draft proposal in terms of a traditional status-of-forces agreement, an accord that has historically been negotiated by the executive branch and signed by the executive branch without a Senate vote.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Bush Offers Saudis Tongue for Oil
Posted by Attaturk, Firedoglake on January 15, 2008 at 4:20 AM.

While CNN this morning has a headline implying that Bush is offering tongue to the Saudi King to get oil prices down, there is one other historical piece of illogic that has too often shaped U.S. foreign policy and is clearly winning what little mind George Bush has.

It's always Munich 1938 for Bush and his kind and they are always Churchill and the rest of us are always Chamberlain. Someone else, whatever the convenient target is, is Hitler.

For years, it was the Soviets. And though they had their own criminalities they could be excoriated with, it was easy to call anyone in favor of dealing with them as an "Appeaser"; then it was Mao; then it was Ho Chi Minh; Castro; Khomeini and Iran; the Sandinistas; Saddam; Chavez; and now it is back to Iran again. So many faux Hitlers so little facts.

Poor Chamberlain, let his foolish ghost rest in peace, and stop making the most powerful country on earth, the U.S., into the Sudetenland.

But time after time the rhetoric goes there. And again on his latest awkward trip overseas, the alleged history major Bush and his black and white, pop history, version of the world came on full bore and should scare us shitless.

There are two key moments when this incredibly insipid and dangerous predeliction was exposed and I am hardly the first one to note it.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »