Saturday, May 09, 2009

The DoD announces another death

This morning the Defense Department issued the following: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Shawn D. Sykes, 28, of Portsmouth, Va., died May 7 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered from an accident that occurred May 5 at Combat Outpost Crazy Horse, Iraq. He was assigned to 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas." The announcement brings to 4285 the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War since it started over six years ago.

In the New York Times, Elisabeth Bumiller breaks down the coming realities: "The top American general in Iraq said Friday that one-fifth of American combat troops would stay behind in Iraqi cities even after the June 30 deadline that the United States and Iraq had set for the departure." Yes, he did say that. More than once. He was also asked about the mythical al-Baghdidi and refused to say the US believes he exists or was captured by the Iraqis. He noted that no one has seen the suspect allegedly detained except for the Iraqis.

In "Toll Rises as Iraq Slows Surge" (Wall St. Journal), Charles Levinson offers:

Violence is on the rise in Iraq as American troops withdraw. A ground-level look at the handover provides one explanation: The Iraqi government is neglecting many of the successful counterinsurgency initiatives it is inheriting from the U.S. military.
In the Adhamiya neighborhood of Baghdad, once an al Qaeda stronghold, contractor Hossam Hadi used to send 1,000 military-aged men out on U.S.-funded jobs to pick up trash and repair bullet-riddled store fronts. That work pacified potential troublemakers, but now he's down to 60 workers.
In Baghdad's Shaab district, residents say that when the constant patrols of U.S. troops gave way recently to Iraqis who manned static posts, kidnappings and robberies rose. And just south of the capital, a former Sunni insurgent hired by the U.S. to keep the peace says his 145 militiamen are angry because they've received only a month's pay since Baghdad took over their program in January.


And good for Levinson for reporting the truth: Sahwa is not being paid. There are over 90,000 members and they're all supposed to be paid by al-Maliki now. That's not happening. He cites one group that al-Maliki was supposed to be covering since January. They have gotten one months pay. Out of five months, they got paid one time. That is not paying them.


AFP reports that Pope Benedict XVI spoke in Jordan today and urged Iraq to work to protect the country's Christian minority. AFP notes, "Estimated to number some 800,000 at the time of the US-led invasion of 2003, Christians have been prominent among the 2.7 million Iraqis who fled their homes during the sectarian violence that followed and as few as 400,000 are now believed to remain in their homeland."

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

the new york times



Abeer makes the NYT finally

Relatives of Abeer al-Janabi, who attracted the fatal attention of Private First Class Steven Green and his comrades as they manned a traffic checkpoint in the so-called triangle of death south of Baghdad, said that the 24-year-old soldier must die.
“We are just waiting for the court to sentence him so he gets justice and the court can change the image of Americans,” Karim Janabi, the uncle of the girl, said.


The above is from James Hider's "US soldier who raped and murdered Iraqi girl, 14, may face death" (Times of London) and it went online after the snapshot was dictated or we would have included it yesterday. In today's New York Times, A4 of the national edition, Campbell Robertson and Atheer Kakan contribute "Ex-G.I. Guilty of Rape and Killings in Iraq." The article could be and should be longer (especially considering the paper's history regarding Abeer, see yesterday's snapshot) but credit to Robertson and Kakan for the article because this really wasn't something that Iraq correspondents had to file. They're in Iraq. The trial took place in the US. The trial should have been covered by the paper, the trial should have been covered from Kentucky.

It needs to be noted, negative criticism, that there's something seriously wrong with a fourteen paragraph article that doesn't mention the name of the 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered by US soldiers until paragraph 13.

Firt paragraph "the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and the killings of her and three members of her family"

Paragraph three "where the girl and her family lived"

Paragraph nine "moving the girl's parents and her young sister into a back room while two of the soldiers raped her"; "raping the girl and then shooting her repeatedly in the head and trying to set fire to her body"

Pargraph thirteen finally gives her a name. We call her Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and that's what most outlets call her, it is what the FBI called her in their two press releases on Steven D. Green and it's how she was referred to in court.

I keep waiting for someone to pick up some of the trivia aspects of this case.

I guess no read the filings? (I know the prosecution did and they're not rushing to the press the way the defense is.)

Steven D. Green, who just got convicted on Thursday, felt the need to slime General Peter Pace and, get this, The McLaughlin Group in court filings. I'm not joking. The gang-rapist, the murderer wanted to get on a high horse regarding Pace (rightly) calling the crimes "unacceptable." Is it fair to point out that court documents are prepared and typed and should be accurate but the defense credited Pace's comment to "the Las Angeles Times" -- which, I'm guessing, is a cousin of the Los Angeles Times? Did you know criminal Green was a media critic? He is. The McLaughlin Group? It featured, quoting the defense filing, "a political pundit of national, albeit not intellectual , stature". Me-ow.

And yet the defense wanted to rush to the press yesterday to insist that they've always been focused on the sentencing! They, the defense said, never denied Green's guilt (so why did Green enter a not guilty plea?), they were focused on the sentencing. They lost because they were focused on everything but the trial.

Green's guilty. The jury found him guilty and they were always going to find him guilty. You can't have that many eye witnesses plus that many witnesses he bragged to about the War Crimes after, and still not get convicted. But the defense did a poor job and they could have argued the case in such a manner that Green wouldn't have been convicted on all counts. They created no sympathy for him, they didn't do a damn thing about training him on how to behave when the jury's watching you. Hint, when your crimes are being recounted by an eye witness, you don't put your head down on the table as the jury watches you. What the hell is that? You need a nap?

It's not wild enough to get you off as crazy but it's weird enough to make you come off completely uncaring. And that's what the defense allowed. They did a lousy job. They should have trained Green on how to behave in the court room. They should have dressed him better. What was the deal with the sweater vests? Evan Bright reported every day on the trial from inside the court room. Make a point to read his reporting. I wasn't aware until Bright's reporting that Green was wearing sweater vests.

In May?

In Kentucky?

What the hell was the defense thinking?

What's the jury going to be thinking? It's hot in Kentucky. And Green's looking even more 'different' by sitting in court in a sweater vest.

I was aware that he was wearing the wrong colors. That's the first thing I asked on the phone at the end of each day, "What colors was he wearing?"

They let him act like a weirdo and they made him look like a weirdo.

The thing you do is put him a white shirt. It can be a cheap one, but it's a long sleeve white shirt and, for Green, it's one several sizes too big. He's got jug ears and he's very thin. You put him in a shirt way too big for him (as opposed to a 'bodice hugging' sweater vest) and you've got a visual that says weak, that says 'help me.'

He came into court in the wrong clothes, in the wrong colors and looking rough. There was never any of question of guilt. He was always going to be found guilty. The only thing the defense had to play was the sympathy card and that might have gotten Green a pass on some of the counts. He would have gone down for his part in the gang-rape. He would have gone down for murder of all four. But ringleader of the conspiracy? Plotting? These are charges that a jury would have been more willing to consider denying.

Their attitude would have been, "Well we don't know and all we have saying he was the ringleader is the word of a bunch of people who were already convicted of the crimes and might have blamed Green to save their own hides."

That would have been their attitude, if the defense could have gotten their act together.

And presenting Green in court as defenseless and small would have made the jury question whether Green was capable of ring-leading, of even holding his own opposite other soldiers.

It was a mistake not to have put Green on the stand. How do you have a case where a conviction could result in a death sentence and you don't put your client on the witness stand?

That sends a message to the jury. Now had they done their part to make Green appear small and meek in court, the defense could have laid the ground work for the jury to conclude, "He didn't testify because he's so weak."

None of the above, if done, would have stopped the convictions for gang-rape and murder. But on Monday, when the judge sentences Green, he's going to be factoring in that Green wasn't just convicted, the jury convicted Green on every count.

The defense is lying (or majorly stupid) when they insist that they weren't focused on the trial because they were saving it for the sentencing. If they could have mitigated it so that Green was convicted on only eight of the counts, they'd have much better standing going into the sentencing on Monday. Instead, what the jury's saying is the defense shouldn't have even shown up. Green got convicted of every count. The defense did a lousy job.

Green is guilty, I've always thought Green was guilty. I'm not arguing that he's not and I'm not asking for any sympathy for him. I am addressing the defense performance and it was awful. That doesn't mean anyone has to shed a tear.

It should also be noted that prosecution, led by Marisa Ford, did an outstanding job. But even there, that could have been a plus. The defense should have country-bunkined it, made the jury see that precision machinery of the prosecution up against the little guy and his little guy attorneys.

Would have worked?

All they had was sympathy. They didn't have innocence. They were never going to walk out of the court room without Green being convicted of gang-rape and murder. But there were many counts to the charges and they could have blurred the line for the jury.

The thing is, the defense tried to play to sympathy but bungled each time.

They wanted to argue that no one could judge Green because they weren't in Iraq. That's what Andrew Wolfson wrongly reported (yesterday) that they argued.

No, they didn't. The proseuction filed a motion and the judge then ordered that the defense couldn't use that line of argument.

And if they had used it, it wouldn't have created sympathy. You don't tell a jury that they're not smart enough to judge something.

That's just stupidity.

You build up the jury, you stroke their egos, you tell them how much power they hold in their hands. You don't tell them, "You're too dumb to judge Steven D. Green because you weren't in Iraq." You don't insult the jury.

With the judge barring that argument, the defense fell back to context. How Green's actions needed to be placed in context.

The context was a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped while her parents and sister were murdered and then she was murdered.

What context?

The only way the defense could bring in context that worked was to bring in Green's troubled youth.

Instead they wanted sympathy for his adulthood.

No one's sympathetic to a grown man who murders four people, one of whom is a 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped.

Now they might be sympathetic to the child that man once was. So you can argue 'context' in terms of Green's difficult life. But the defense didn't do that. Green had a very troubled life and was in trouble with the law from a very young age, while still a child.

The defense showed up in court wanting to argue that a grown man was failed. You've got a 5-year-old girl that's dead, killed by Green. You've got a 14-year-old girl that's dead, after being gang-raped. The jury's not going to be in the mood for 'context' about Green as an adult.

But they could have gone into his troubled childhood.

An adult was failed by the system? A jury's not going to think that excuses murder and gang-rape. An adult was failed his entire life by one system after another? The jury might be sympathetic.

Again, Ford and everyone else did a wonderful job prosecuting; however, even their wonderful job could have been used against them, could have been used to Green's benefit if the defense had their act together.

And repeating, none of the above is "Poor Steven D. Green." It's offered in part because I am so disgusted with the defense trying to play the 'We meant to lose. We were saving our game for the sentencing." It's also because this aspect of the case really hasn't been gone over and I'll throw out anything, any new way of talking about it, if it will get Abeer even one more day's worth of attention.

What was done to her family was horrible. What was done to her was even worse. Think about the gang-rape. It starts when her parents and sister are led out of the room. Abeer's fighting and screaming. And then she hears the gunshots. She knows her parents and her sister have been shot. She knows the bullets didn't 'bounce off' so they're either bleeding or dead and she heard screams. Who did Steven D. Green shoot first? Her kid sister? So Abeer heard her mother screaming after the first shot? Or maybe Green took out Abeer's father first in which case she heard her mother and her sister screaming?

As she was being gang-raped.

And then Paul Cortez and James Barker are done with the gang-rape as Steven D. Green enters the room. It's his 'turn.' And she's being raped again and by the man she knows has just killed her parents and her sister. Between the physical pain and the emotional pain, hopefully by that point she was in shock. If she wasn't, she knew he was going to kill her. He's killed everyone else in the house. He's raping her, she's been raped by two other men. He's killed her parents and her sister and now he's got to kill her because she's the last witness.

If she's not in shock, she may be praying they kill her quickly. Not just because of the pain she's in but because two of her brothers aren't home yet. She may be thinking that if it drags out any longer, her younger brothers will come home and they'll be the next murdered.

Who knows what was going through her head or if she was in such a state of shock that she wasn't even thinking at that point?

We don't know and none of our outlets have bothered to treat her like the person she was and to consider it from her point of view. They've largely ignored her. I'm glad the Times finally mentions her name today and, considering the paper's record, I won't blame the reporters for waiting until paragraph thirteen to mention her name. That's not what reporters generally do. They generally give a name and then use "she" and "her". They don't open with "she" and "her" and continue to use those for paragraph after paragraph. It's unnatural and it feels like editing. So I'm not going to blame them for it and I will applaud them for getting her name into the paper.

But even today, when she's finally in the paper, someone's made the call that she's not worth naming until pargraph thirteen of a fourteen paragraph story. Even when her name finally makes the New York Times, she's pretty much an unnamed extra in what should be her story.

Okay, community sites updated. First off, I'm editing Ruth's title. I use the f-word (Ruth doesn't). I have no problem with the f-word. We don't use it here. We have to be work-safe for all members. So I've edited Ruth's title (and I love her title). Also you will find that title at every community site. So that's your warning -- it won't be edited. I obviously stand with Ruth and support her. In terms of anything else? Ruth's going to Japan in a few weeks and I'm among those who will be filling in for her. I will probably share my thoughts on what just took place then. I do not mean this as a negative criticism of anyone's post but I do know for a fact that Mike planned to write about the ACLU and torture and Elaine was going to cover Abeer at length. Stan was going to do his movie post. Because of the nonsense pulled, everyone got stuck in response mode. And they set their planned topics aside. To do that here, I would have to do a bonus entry and I don't have time. So we'll do our two Iraq entries and I'll table my own thoughts until I sub for Turh while she's on vacation. But for anyone who wonders, I love Ruth and I stand with her always. Shoulder to shoulder. I also think it's worth noting that while all of us, community wide, have covered Abeer all week an alleged 'news dissector' hasn't even mentioned her. Here are the sites that updated last night and this morning:


Cedric's Big Mix
Same old same old
12 minutes ago

The Daily Jot
THIS JUST IN! BUSH III!
12 minutes ago

Thomas Friedman is a Great Man
Friday
12 hours ago

Mikey Likes It!
The Dumb Ass of the Week: Cherie Welch
12 hours ago

Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude
standing with ruth
12 hours ago

SICKOFITRADLZ
Abeer and other items
12 hours ago

Trina's Kitchen
Strong words in the Kitchen
12 hours ago

Oh Boy It Never Ends
Danny Schecter's sockpuppet hurls insults
12 hours ago

Like Maria Said Paz
The really-reals
12 hours ago

Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)
Unacceptable
12 hours ago

The World Today Just Nuts
Bully is . . . being oblivious to everything
12 hours ago

Ruth's Report
Cherie Welch go F**K YOURSELF
14 hours ago

By the way, Marcia's "US House Rep Adam Smith calls Americans paranoid" went up Thursday. I noted posts Friday morning but there was a problem with Marcia's blog and the title of her post wasn't listed (I grab the links from Stan's site, just copy and paste). The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

ADDED: C.I. note: My apologies, the f-word was not edited out when this posted. Again, I use it myself. Thank you to community members who e-mailed to point it out and thank you to those who would have had a problem with the word had they been at work on work computers letting me know there was no damage done. That was luck. My mistake, my apologies. The mirror site has no policy on language so it will stay as is there.

iraq
evan bright
steven d. green

the new york times
campbell robertson





thomas friedman is a great man






oh boy it never ends

Friday, May 08, 2009

Iraq snapshot

Friday, May 8, 2009.  Chaos and violence continue, US troops continuing shipping out to Iraq, some cover the War Crimes conviction, some stay silent, Diane Rehm bans female callers from the second hour of her show today out of fear that one will bring up Abeer, Odierno holds a press conference, and more. 
 
Yesterday the jury issued a verdict in the War Crimes trial of Steven D. Green. Last night on The KPFA Evening News, the events were summed up as follows:
 
 
Andea Lewis: A jury convicted a former soldier today of raping and fatally shooting a 14 year old girl after kiling her parents and younger sister while he wsa serving in Iraq. PFC Steven Dale Green faces a possible death sentence when the penalty phase of his trial begins on Monday. Green, aged 24 from Midland Texas, was being tried in civilian court because he had been discharged from the army for personaltiy disorder before he was charged with the Iraq crimes.  Green stared straight ahead as the verdict was read in U S District Court in western Kentucky efense attroney Darren Wolff speaking afterward said the defense never denied Green's involvement. "Is this verdict a surprise to us? No.  The goal has been to save our client's life," Wolff said  Green's defense team had asked jurors  the context of war saying soldiers in Green's unit of 101st lacked leadership and received little help from the army deal with the loss of friends in combat.  The prosecution rested six days into the trial after presenting witnesses who said Green confessed to the crimes and others who put him at the home of the 14 year old Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, heard him shoot her family and saw him rape and shoot the girl.  Three other soldiers are serving time in military prison for their roles in the attack and they all testified against Green at his trial. 
 
Alsumaria explains, "A high panel court found Steve Green guilty for 16 counts while a death sentence is still to be decided in trial which will start on Monday."  Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) adds, "Prosecutors say Green was the ringleader in raping and killing fourteen-year-old Abeer Kassem Hamza al-Janabi and killing her parents and five-year-old sister."  Evan Bright reports on the verdict:


As the jury entered the court room, Green(red sweater vest) let out a large sigh, not of relief, but seemingly of anxiety, knowing the weight of the words to come. As Judge Thomas Russell stated "The court will now publish the verdict," Green interlaced his fingers and clasped them over his chin. Russell read the verdict flatly and absolutely. Green went from looking down at each "guilty" to eyeing the jury. His shoulders dropped as he was convicted of count #11, aggravated sexual abuse, realizing what this means. A paralegal at the defense table consoled Green by patting him on his back, even herself breaking down crying at the end of the verdicts.            
After Russell finished reading the verdicts, he begged questions of the respective attorneys. Wendelsdorf, intending to ensure the absolution of the verdict, requested the jury be polled. Honorable Judge Russell asked each juror if they agreed with these verdicts, receiving a simple-but-sufficient yes from all jurors. Green watched the jury flatly.
 
Evan Bright is the 18-year-old high school senior who has been in the court every day of the trial and reporting on it. Something most outlets pointedly avoided. The only outlet that can hold its head high is the Associated Press which reported on it and utilized Brett Barrouquere to do so. Barrouquere has been on this story for nearly three years now and has covered the other court appearances of soldiers involved in these war crimes. Barrouquere notes some reactions in Iraq to the news of Green's convictions.  Mohammed Abbas Muhsin states, "If American court has convicted the American soldier I will consider the U.S. government to be just and fair. This verdict will give the rights back to the family, the relatives and the clan of the victim Abeer." Ahmed Fadhil al-Khafaji feels differently, "The American court and government are just trying to show the world that they are fair and just.  If they are really serious about it, they should hand the soldier over to an Iraqi court to be kept in Abu Ghraib prison and tried by Iraqis."  Sami al-Jumaili, Habib al-Zubaidy, Tim Cocks and Samia Nakhoul (Reuters) quote Abeer's uncle Karim Janabi, "By all measures, this was a very criminal act.  We are just waiting for the court to sentence him so he gets justice and the court can change the image of Americans. Some people, when they die, I forget them.  But we will never forget this girl [his niece Abeer] -- never."  Another relative, Yusuf Mohammed Janabi, states, "So they decided this criminal was guilty, but we don't expect he'll be executed.  Only if he's executed will it mean American courts are just."
 
Sky News reports on the case, as does the Belfast Telegraph, England's Evening Standard, Al Jazeera, the BBC, AFP, Caroline Hedley (Telegraph of London), the UK Daily Mail and Reuters. And US outlets?  There's CNN and  USA Today blogged on it.
 
Where's the New York Times?  They are the news oulet, pay attention, that has refused to ever name Abeer.  They began rendering her invisible in 2006.  Let's fall back to the first big article the Times did on the matter by propagandists and professional liars Robert F. Worth and Carolyn Marshall.  "G.I. Crime Photos May Be Evidence" ran August 5, 2006 and the fifth paragraph -- apparently in an attempt at parody, referred to the crimes as "first widely reported in June".  Widely reported by whom?  Not the Times.  Ellen Knickmeyer's strong "Details Emerge in Alleged Army Rape, Killings" ran, not in the Times, but in the Washington Post.  And even now, if you read it, you'll see Abeer named.  But Worth and Marshall scribbled a 1464 word article but somehow couldn't squeeze in Abeer's name.  The entire article is an attempt to soften up sentiment for the criminals.  Worth and Marshall got in bed with the defense and present the arguments that will later be made in the Article 32 hearing.  Combat stress, you understand, and Marshall and Worth got there first -- even before the defense could make the case.   Andy Mosher  (The Washington Post) explained after the Article 32 hearing started, "Eugene Fidell, a Washington military law expert, said Tuesday that the defense attorneys were most likely emphasizing combat stress to argue that their clients not face a possible death penalty in the event of a court-martial. 'This is not a defense known to the law,' Fidell said. 'But this kind of evidence could come in during the court-martial, and it might be pertinent to the sentence. They could be setting the stage to avoid a death penalty'."  This is not a defense known to law. But it was known to readers of the New York Times.
 
Worth and Marshall could present -- could argue for over 1400 -- for the defense, in logic, not "known to the law" but they couldn't mention Abeer's name.  The paper always made it very clear where their loyalties were.  It wasn't with Abeer.  What did Aged Go-Go Boy in the Green Zone John F. Burns so famously say?  Oh, yes, the paper tailors its Iraq coverage to US tax payers
 
Worth and Marshall went to a lot of trouble hunting down sources who could give them the mind frame (or alleged mind frame) of the ones involved and their company. When do we get the serious story about Abeer Qasim Hamza and her family? When is that story going to be told?  It's nearly three years since that propaganda ran in the New York Times and the paper has never run Abeer's story.  The War Criminals Robert F. Worth and Carolyn Marshall were carrying water for have all been sentenced.  Surprisingly, the propagandists skipped reporting on that.  And no one at the paper has ever told Abeer's story.  Her name has never appeared in the paper.
 
Yesterday a US federal court found one of the War Criminals guilty on every count and yet you will find nothing about that in today's New York Times.  You won't find an AP article they slapped on a page or even a paragraph in "Nation Briefs."  You won't find anything.  This is the alleged paper of record.
 
A 14-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered by US soldiers who only knew of her because they were supposed to be protecting the neighborhood she lived in.  These were War Crimes.  This was an international incident.  But readers of the New York Times have never heard that.  They've never even been informed of Abeer's name.  Today they don't even know that the ringleader was found guilty. 
 
The paper has consistently rendered Iraqis invisible, over and over.  In what is the worst known War Crime of the illegal war, the paper has avoided telling the story and it has done so repeatedly.  Over and over.

When 'defense attorneys' Worth and Marshall thought they could sway public opinion on behalf of the War Criminals, the New York Times put the story on the front page.
 
The front page.
 
'Poor Little Boys in Iraq' was a front page story.  Minimizing the crimes and excusing them was front page news for the New York Times.  Telling the damn truth about what was done to Abeer?  Telling the world that the ringleader was convicted?  Not even worth a paragraph. 
 
The paper should be ashamed of itself.  It's far from alone in needing to feel shame.  Diane Rehm thinks rape is icky.  Here's a transcript of my call today with a friend on the show.
 
Friend: She thinks rape is a bad subject.
 
Me: She said that?
 
Friend: When the story was suggested, she wrinkled her nose.
 
Me: She wrinkled her nose?
 
Friend: Yes.
 
Me: You're saying she wrinkled her nose?  Excuse me, but considering the condition of her skin, how ever could you tell?
 
Diane didn't just nix it as a topic to put on the agenda for the second hour, she nixed the e-mails that came in before and during the show.  A huge number of e-mails that came in.  We'll include some of those at Third this weekend (passed on via my friend).  Not only did she exclude the e-mails but she insisted, as the e-mails poured in on this topic, that no female callers be put through on air because she "just knew" that someone would try to sneak on to bring up Abeer.  Which is why you had Diane speaking to several callers in the second hour but none were women.  It's also why Diane didn't do one of her "___ in ___ e-mails . . ."  Diane censored Abeer from the program.  She went so far as to ban female callers from the second hour because she just knew a mole would get through, a woman who would trick the screener, get on the air, and say, "Diane, you ignorant hypocrite, how the hell dare you refuse to cover the federal conviction yesterday."
 
Well now we know how far someone will go to avoid covering the news.  So the only real question is why Diane doesn't go ahead and retire if she's not interested in discussing -- during the international hour of her program -- an international incident.  I didn't listen.  I'm told, however, she did make time for swine flu.  How very.  What a proud way for a woman with one foot and four toes in the grave to prepare to go out.
 
Golly Diane, do you feel everyone should be like you?  If raped or molested, they should never name their attacker?  Is that what's going on?  If so, it's pretty damn pathetic because you're seventy-three in September and you should have come to terms with being molested as a child long, long ago.  If you can't, you don't need to be doing a public affairs show because while you grew up in the Dark Ages when sexual asaults weren't spoken of, today we name names, today we talk about the crimes.  If it's too much for you, you really need to retire.
 
And this is why feminists should have been all over this story.  Credit to Jill at Feministe and to Heart at Women's Space who drew attention to Abeer this week.  But women needed to be on this story because we saw it during the Article 32.  Abeer was ignored throughout the US coverage.  International coverage would mention her.  US coverage of the Article 32 hearing? No.  Only by getting out in front of this, only by demanding that the press cover this, was it going to happen.
 
They have made it very clear that 14-year-old girl doesn't matter.  Maybe it's because she was Iraqi?  Maybe it was because she was Muslim?  Maybe those two things added into it but what's really going on is what always happens which is stories that have to do with women's lives get ignored.  Hillary Clinton, during her run for the Democratic presidential nomination, proposes a major move on combatting breast cancer and it's either ignored or reduced to one sentence in a 'report' about how she bowled with Ellen on Ellen's show.  That's ridiculous.  We see it over and over and we see how these sexual assualts are buried time and again.  We knew the record on this or we should have known.  And feminist should have been out in front demanding coverage of this.
 
Mother's Day is Sunday.  No feminist who was silent has anything to celebrate.  She should hang her head in shame.  And that includes the women at Feminist Majority Foundation who are responsible for Feminsit Wire Daily and do not find time to mention it in their 'news briefs' today.  At least Rebeckah (Women's Media Center blog) included it as an item on her news roundup. 35 years after Susan Brownmiller's classic Against Our Will is published and we're still surprised we have to fight to get sexual assault covered in the media?  All of those Take Back The Night rallies of the last two decades and we're unprepared to fight to get sexual assualt covered?  What a truly sad commentary on the state of feminism today -- or at least the state of feminism at the top.  Among the grassroots?  There's a lively discussion taking place at Feministe and we'll note this comment by Gillian:
 
I'm going to look to see if there's a new thread on this but I want to just ask: Am I the only one who thinks if rape weren't among the crimes, the press would have covered this story 24/7?  
Look at what Valerie has to explain and the dismissal of rape period. I really think if this had been four murders we would have had CBS Evening News and everyone else parked outside the court house. Instead, they pretty much all stuck their heads in the sand.
I think when the issue is rape, a lot of our media would rather play dumb.
 
Actually, Feministe has two lively threads on the topic, click here for the other one. Let's be clear that the males and 'mixed' gender sites need to be calling out the silence as well but it's especially disappointing to see all the women online who are silent.  New Agenda?  Just pack it in, you're a disgrace.  Today they serve up Nicky Kirstoff as a savior of women.  Nicky who bought a sex worker.  Do we forget that?  Apparently New Agenda is Limited and Remidial Classes on Women's Rights.
 
Today at the Pentagon, US Gen Ray Odierno, top US commander in Iraq, gave a briefing to the press.  At the start, he insisted that this was "not 2006 or 2007."  True, in 2006 and 2007, peace activists actually thought US troops would be out of Iraq before the end of the decade.  Odierno then insisted, "The government of Iraq has assumed complete responsibility for paying the Sons of Iraq, a clear sign of its resolve to continue the important program.  The government has budgeted over $300 million to ensure full payments in -- in calendar year '09."  And when will these payments be made because, as multiple news outlets noted earlier this week, they're still not paying all members of Sahwa.  Odierno stated of US forces training Iraqi security forces:
 
 I've been very proud of the U.S. units and the fact that they have continued to work with their Iraqi security force partners; that they have not even thought about their concern about continuing to work with their partners; that they understand that these are individuals who make these decisions and that we have to be vigilant about every individual because there are individuals that have still infiltrated some of the Iraqi security forces. 
 
Yesterday Campbell Robertson and Stephen Farrell (New York Times) explored Iraqi security forces turning on the Americans who are allegedly training them. The reporters do note Saturday's events but fail to identify Hassan Al Dulaimi as the man who shot dead Jake R. Velloza and Jeremiah P. McCleery. The report mainly focuses (in terms of specifics) on the November 25, 2008 shooting deaths of Anthony Davis and Warren A. Frank by Iraqi soldier Mohammed Saleh Hamadi. From the article:

For months, Mr. Hamadi's case has been winding its way through the Iraqi justice system at a pace that frustrates members of the team. Two other soldiers from the battalion have been convicted for their roles in his escape.
"I guarantee you there's a handful of these in every battalion," Captain Keneally said, adding that if justice was not swift for Mr. Hamadi, others might get ideas.
Today Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) reported, "Iraq's security forces, despite significant improvements, remain hobbled by shortages of men and equipment, by bureaucracy, corruption, political interference and security breaches" and built on interviews and government reports (Iraqi and US) to come to those conclusions.
 
At the press conference, Odierno insisted that the US was out of Iraqi "cities except for two, Baghdad and Mosul.  We are on our way out of Baghdad."  Really?  From the April 27th snapshot: "Rod Nordland (New York Times) broke that story in today's paper and noted that Iraq and the US are going to focus on Mosul in talks about US troops remaining in some Iraqi cities.  Nordland reveals they will remain in Baghdad (he says 'parts of Baghdad' -- that means they will be in Baghdad and Baghdad is a city) and that Camp Victory ['Camps Victory, Liberty, Striker and Slayer, plus the prison known as Camp Cropper'] and 'Camp Prosperity' will not be closed or turned over to Iraq according to Iraqi Maj Gen Muhammad al-Askari. The SOFA 'requires' that they be closed or turned over but  al-Askari says they're making exceptions even though the SOFA 'requires' otherwise. For the mammoth Camp Victory, it is in Baghdad and out of Baghdad, for example, so al-Askari says they consider it out of Baghdad." They're not leaving Baghdad, they've got a waiver.  There's a difference.  The Bush administration pushed through a treaty masquerading as a Status Of Forces Agreement.  Barack, being Bush III, has gone along with it (after grand standing before the general election that he would oppose it and demand Congressional oversight of any agreement between Iraq and the US). Odierno was asked about it and where it might be "renegotiated to permit some elements of the US military to reamin -- air support, for example, and protective services?"
 
Ray Odierno: Yeah, I would just say I think it's too early for that, I mean, I think that's something that's down the road, that will have to be decided jointly between the United States and the government of Iraq.  But I don't think now is the time to assess that.
 
Iraq's air force will not be prepared (not even in training) at the end of 2011.  That was always known.  Known when the agreement was forced through.  But keep kidding yourself that the SOFA means something.  Odierno noted it was "down the road" which is different from "no."  He was asked about Facebook and we'll note his most recent post there. From May 4th:
 
This week, Iraqi Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 39th Iraqi Army Brigade, completed the first half of an eight-week commando training course run by Romanian Special Forces Soldiers near Basrah, Iraq. Romanian Soldiers guided their Iraqi students through the same course of instruction that Romanian special forces receive, consisting of tactical, physical, and weapons training. After completing the second half of the training, which will consist of complex exercises such as scouting, reconnaissance, check point procedures and patrolling, the Iraqi troops will join their units in patrolling the tri-province region of Dhi Qar, Maysan and Muthanna in southern Iraq. Meanwhile, at Al Asad in western Iraq, American special forces continue to develop Iraqi special operations capabilities, and this past week conducted fast rope insertion training with their Iraqi counterparts.
 
The DoD has a budget request.  Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post)  explains that Afghanistan war funding request is $4 billion more than Iraq ($65 billion to $61 billion). This as another battalion of Marines ship off for six-months of training before being deployed to Iraq. Howard Greninger (Terre Haute Tribune-Star) reports, "About 30 motorcycles, many driven by military veterans, escorted four buses Thursday containing more than 150 members of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines to Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field." Terre Haute's WTHITV has the story here with text and video. In addition to those marines, Fort Dix is sending 170 US soldiers to Iraq. The Reading Eagle reports, "Members plan a yellow-ribbon ceremony for families at Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon County, on May 16. Another ceremony is planned at Fort Dix in July, Gilmer said." Meanwhile Colorado just sent troops to Iraq. The Denver Post notes, "More than 100 Colorado Air National Guard support troops bound for Iraq, many of them for at least their fourth tour in six years, flew out of Buckley Air Force Base on Wednesday." And Ashley Bergen (Mountain View Telegraph) reports that the "Headquarters and Headquarters Company, a unit subordinate to the 1st Battalion of the New Mexico National Guard's 200th Infantry, will soon deploy for more than a year to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom." We're not done. Matthew Hansen (Omaha World-Herald) reported yesterday that the 313th Medical Company of Nebraska's National Guard is re-deploying to Iraq and notes that on the earlier deployment, "Sgt Tricia Jameson of Omaha, died July 14, 2005, when a roadside bomb struck her Humvee as it raced to another roadside attack. Jaemson was the second female soldier from Nebraska to die in Iraq. She was the only member of the 313th Medical Company killed durign the company's first deployment." Still not done. Frenchi Jones (Coastal Courier) reports Charlie Troop, 1st Battalion, 82nd Cavalry, 41st Infantry Brigade deploys to Iraq in July. Done? No. Didi Tang (Springfield News-Leader) reports 150 "Marines from the Weapons Company, 3rd Battallion, 24th Marines" will deploy to Iraq after training in California:

On Wednesday morning, loved ones bid farewell to the soldiers, sharing tears, at the U.S. Military Reserve Center at 1110 N. Fremont Ave.
"The last five minutes were tough," [Maj Shannon] Johnson said.
Missouri Highway Patrol troopers then escorted the military buses down Chestnut Expressway, up Kansas Expressway and west on Kearney Street toward the Springfield Branson National Airport.
Many family members followed the caravan, hoping to catch one more glimpse of their child or spouse.
The traffic was slow, but most motorists were patient.
When the buses passed Williams Elementary on West Kearney Street, schoolchildren were out, waving red and blue behind a school fence.

For a war Barack's allegedly ended/ending (depending on whom you speak to), a lot of troops are still going to Iraq.  Today Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Mosul car bombing which wounded four people (three were police officers).
 
Ehren Watada was the first officer to publicly resist the Iraq War.  Yesterday's Free Speech Radio News noted the latest on Ehren:
 
Mark Taylor-Canfield: The Department of Justice has asked the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss their appeal of a lower court ruling which blocked a second court martial trial for 1st Lt Ehren Watada.  In June 2006, Lt Watada refused to serve in Iraq on the grounds that the US invasion was both illegal and immoral.  His court-martial was declared a mistrial in February 2007.   A civilian US federal judge blocked the Army's attempt to hold a second court-martial in October of 2007, ruling that a second trial would qualify as double jeopardy.  According to the US Constitution, a person cannot be tried twice on the same charges. Although Lt Watada's period of enlistment was up two years ago, he is still virtually confined to the US army has barred him from communicating with anti-war groups.  Despite the Dept of Justice's decision not to appeal the earlier civilian court ruling, the US army is still considering prosecution of Lt Watada on two charges of "behaviour unbecoming an officer" because of an anti-war speech he gave to the Veterans For Peace national conference in Seattle in 2006.
 
Ami Radil (KUOW -- link has text and audio) adds, "Fort Lewis commanders must now decide how best to resolve them [the two charges].  Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek says Watada's old unit is now training for its third deployment to Iraq.  Both sides say the mistrial was unfortunate because it prevented a fuller airing of important issues like the grounds for Watada's refusal, and whether service members are entitled to First Amendment protections.  When he's released from the Army, Watada hopes to attend law school."
 
TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing tonight on most PBS stations:

This week, NOW's David Brancaccio sits down with one of the most prominent figures in world health to discuss the future of the swine flu pandemic. Dr. Larry Brilliant is an epidemiologist, former chief philanthropist at Google.org, and was a central figure in the World Health Organization's successful small pox eradication program.
Brilliant sheds light on high-tech tools that are making it easier for scientists to detect global outbreaks, the critical importance of early detection and early response, and how the current pandemic has yet to show its real hand.
"Anyone who tells you that they know that this is a mild pandemic, and the WHO has overreacted, they don't know. Anyone who tells you that the WHO and CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] have underestimated it, they don't know," Brilliant tells NOW. "We're all going to find out at the same time...we're all in it together."
The show also features vital insight from Dr. Nathan Wolfe, a Stanford University epidemiologist who specializes in hunting viruses to their source.


Lethal and deadly to female reporters, Washington Week and Gwen line up three suiters this week and toss in a woman for 'contrast.' Doyle McManus (Los Angeles Times), Charles Babington (AP) and online gossip Eamon Javers (Hedda Hopper Lives!) are joined by token 'chic' Joan Biskupic (USA Today) in PBS continued war on women and Gwen's determination to be "the prettiest girl at the table! I am! I am! Miss Beasley hair and all, I am!" The vanity and sexism begins airing tonight on most PBS stations. Also on PBS (and starts airing tonight on many PBS stations, check local listings), Bonnie Erbe sits down with Ann Lewis, Linda Chavez, Patricia Sosa and Karen Czarnecki to discuss this week's news on To The Contrary. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

America's New Air Force
Increasingly, the U.S. military is relying on un-manned, often armed aircraft to track and destroy the enemy – sometimes controlled from bases thousands of miles away from the battlefront. Lara Logan reports. | Watch Video
The Perfect Spy
Steve Kroft examines one of the most mysterious cases in the annals of modern espionage: the curious life and death of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian billionaire claimed by both Israelis and Egyptians to be their greatest spy. | Watch Video
All In The Family
Bill James doesn't run, hit or catch a baseball but his intense statistical analysis of the game and its players have made him an essential ingredient in a formula that brought two world championships to the Boston Red Sox. Morley Safer reports. | Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, May 10, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. 
 
 

Iraq war continues and troops continue shipping out

In today's New York Times, they offer not a single word on Abeer. Steven Lee Myers offers "Iraqi Forces: Rebuilt and Stronger, but Still Stumbling" and the article begins on the front page. The paper doesn't appear to grasp it, but this is the key section of the report:

"When I was here last time we didn't have Iraqi security forces," said Maj. Brian K. Wortinger, who served here in 2005 and 2006 and has returned to train the First Brigade of the National Police's First Division in southeastern Baghdad. "The National Police were Shiite death squads. We were pulling a dozen bodies a day out of the sewage treatment plant."


In 2009, you can get a little truth on 2005 and 2006 from the New York Times. Now they were busy with other things in 2006 and we'll go into an example of that in today's snapshot later today. But while the Los Angeles Times was reporting the above in real time, the Times of New York really wasn't. Maybe they were still high on the ink stained fingers? Maybe they were awash in the latest wave of Operation Happy Talking. They weren't reporting.

They were offering propaganda. They were being the mouthpieces of others. They were flat out lying to readers in print.

And when people want to whine "Judith Miller!" Uh, Miller's long gone by then. Judith Miller's the lightening rod and the paper had a lot more problems than Judith Miller. (Judith Miller, for example, did not kill the story on the illegal spying of American citizens before the 2004 election. She's not the reason the paper sat on the story until after the election.)

Myers' report? I can rip apart very easily but I'll be kind because I'm not gunning for him today. I'm gunning for two big liars and we'll address them in the snapshot.

Ann Scott Tyson offers "Pentagon Budget Devotes More To Afghanistan War Than to Iraq" (Washington Post) which explains that Afghanistan war funding request is $4 billion more than Iraq ($65 billion to $61 billion). This as another battalion of Marines ship off for six-months of training before being deployed to Iraq. Howard Greninger (Terre Haute Tribune-Star) reports, "About 30 motorcycles, many driven by military veterans, escorted four buses Thursday containing more than 150 members of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines to Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field." Terre Haute's WTHITV has the story here with text and video. In addition to those marines, Fort Dix is sending 170 US soldiers to Iraq. The Reading Eagle reports, "Members plan a yellow-ribbon ceremony for families at Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon County, on May 16. Another ceremony is planned at Fort Dix in July, Gilmer said." Meanwhile Colorado just sent troops to Iraq. The Denver Post notes, "More than 100 Colorado Air National Guard support troops bound for Iraq, many of them for at least their fourth tour in six years, flew out of Buckley Air Force Base on Wednesday." And Ashley Bergen (Mountain View Telegraph) reports that the "Headquarters and Headquarters Company, a unit subordinate to the 1st Battalion of the New Mexico National Guard's 200th Infantry, will soon deploy for more than a year to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom." We're not done. Matthew Hansen (Omaha World-Herald) reported yesterday that the 313th Medical Company of Nebraska's National Guard is re-deploying to Iraq and notes that on the earlier deployment, "Sgt Tricia Jameson of Omaha, died July 14, 2005, when a roadside bomb struck her Humvee as it raced to another roadside attack. Jaemson was the second female soldier from Nebraska to die in Iraq. She was the only member of the 313th Medical Company killed durign the company's first deployment." Still not done. Frenchi Jones (Coastal Courier) reports Charlie Troop, 1st Battalion, 82nd Cavalry, 41st Infantry Brigade deploys to Iraq in July. Done? No. Didi Tang (Springfield News-Leader) reports 150 "Marines from the Weapons Company, 3rd Battallion, 24th Marines" will deploy to Iraq after training in California:

On Wednesday morning, loved ones bid farewell to the soldiers, sharing tears, at the U.S. Military Reserve Center at 1110 N. Fremont Ave.
"The last five minutes were tough," [Maj Shannon] Johnson said.
Missouri Highway Patrol troopers then escorted the military buses down Chestnut Expressway, up Kansas Expressway and west on Kearney Street toward the Springfield Branson National Airport.
Many family members followed the caravan, hoping to catch one more glimpse of their child or spouse.
The traffic was slow, but most motorists were patient.
When the buses passed Williams Elementary on West Kearney Street, schoolchildren were out, waving red and blue behind a school fence.

For a war Barack's allegedly ended/ending (depending on whom you speak to), a lot of troops are still going to Iraq.

A visitor e-mails the public account asking that we note The Economist's "Hope for the best when they go free:"

WITH too little evidence to hold them for longer with a view to prosecution, thousands of detainees in American custody in Iraq are being freed, just when fears are rising that the country’s smouldering insurgency could reignite. In the past few weeks, a rash of suicide bombs have killed several hundred Iraqis, making April the bloodiest month this year and reminding everyone that, despite a dramatic improvement in security, Iraq is still a dangerous place. One fear is that the newly freed men could return to battle. Several Iraqi intelligence officers have said that many have already done so--and are responsible for the recent spike in violence.
[. . .]
It is hard to tell how many former detainees are being rearrested and imprisoned again by Iraq's own security forces. Quite a few are known to have been sent recently to Camp Cropper. The 2,000 most dangerous men in American detention, such as suspected senior members of al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch and of the militia known as the Mahdi Army that is loyal to a radical cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, will be held longest. Each of these detainees is supposed to appear before a judge within a year, giving both the American and Iraqi authorities time to build cases that may secure convictions and terms in prison.

Yesterday Doctors Without Borders examined the medical care in Basra via an interview with Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) Field Coordinator just back from Basra, Khalil Sayyad:

What brought MSF to Basra in 2008?

In March 2008, when Iraqi government forces launched a military operation against armed militia in Basra, we provided supplies to the Basra general hospital in Nasiriyah. In the months following this battle, the security situation gradually improved. As a result, we were able to do some assessments in the area and consider starting a project with both expatriate and Iraqi staff. For the population, seeing foreigners return to Basra was a sign of stability and improved security. It also brought some hope that severe medical cases that had no treatment could receive attention, as we were training medical staff and providing updates on latest medical developments, techniques, and equipment.

What were your assessment findings?

Our assessment was focused on the hospital because although the security situation had improved, it was still volatile. We found doctors and surgeons who were very qualified and experienced, but in urgent need of medical updates. Also, during the conflicts in the last decades they would receive several patients into the operating theater at the same time. Basic standards would be forgotten so they could cope with the emergency. But this emergency mode had become a standard way of working. Therefore, we found Operating Theaters (OT) that were far from meeting minimum requirements. For example, they didn’t have a recovery room, patients were not monitored, material used was not properly sterilized, hygiene procedures were not there. All this increased risks of post-operative infections. Another great deficiency was in the anesthesia. There is a big focus on surgery, but anesthesia and bedside care, for example, were not given enough importance. And finally, they had a lot of equipment that had been donated in previous years, but which they were unable to install, use, maintain, or repair.

What kind of work did MSF decide to do?

We identified huge gaps and needs in the emergency department and considered the possibility to work there. But staff in the hospital thought – and we agreed – that it was too early to start these activities. We were just coming back to the country and security was still an issue in Basra. We decided to work on improving the services in the General Surgery OT and ensuring patients had adequate care before, during, and after operations. We believed we could have a real impact there and at the same time work in a relatively safe environment. Also, for us it was an opportunity to be present and restart activities while the objective remained to start working in emergency when the circumstances allowed.


TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing tonight on most PBS stations:

This week, NOW's David Brancaccio sits down with one of the most prominent figures in world health to discuss the future of the swine flu pandemic. Dr. Larry Brilliant is an epidemiologist, former chief philanthropist at Google.org, and was a central figure in the World Health Organization's successful small pox eradication program.
Brilliant sheds light on high-tech tools that are making it easier for scientists to detect global outbreaks, the critical importance of early detection and early response, and how the current pandemic has yet to show its real hand.
"Anyone who tells you that they know that this is a mild pandemic, and the WHO has overreacted, they don't know. Anyone who tells you that the WHO and CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] have underestimated it, they don't know," Brilliant tells NOW. "We're all going to find out at the same time...we're all in it together."
The show also features vital insight from Dr. Nathan Wolfe, a Stanford University epidemiologist who specializes in hunting viruses to their source.


Lethal and deadly to female reporters, Washington Week and Gwen line up three suiters this week and toss in a woman for 'contrast.' Doyle McManus (Los Angeles Times), Charles Babington (AP) and online gossip Eamon Javers (Hedda Hopper Lives!) are joined by token 'chic' Joan Biskupic (USA Today) in PBS continued war on women and Gwen's determination to be "the prettiest girl at the table! I am! I am! Miss Beasley hair and all, I am!" The vanity and sexism begins airing tonight on most PBS stations. Also on PBS (and starts airing tonight on many PBS stations, check local listings), Bonnie Erbe sits down with Ann Lewis, Linda Chavez, Patricia Sosa and Karen Czarnecki to discuss this week's news on To The Contrary. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

America's New Air Force
Increasingly, the U.S. military is relying on un-manned, often armed aircraft to track and destroy the enemy – sometimes controlled from bases thousands of miles away from the battlefront. Lara Logan reports. | Watch Video
The Perfect Spy
Steve Kroft examines one of the most mysterious cases in the annals of modern espionage: the curious life and death of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian billionaire claimed by both Israelis and Egyptians to be their greatest spy. | Watch Video
All In The Family
Bill James doesn’t run, hit or catch a baseball but his intense statistical analysis of the game and its players have made him an essential ingredient in a formula that brought two world championships to the Boston Red Sox. Morley Safer reports. | Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, May 10, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.


At NPR today, Diane Rehm conducts her own war on women. Because a gal loves her gossip, she has Eamon Javers on the first hour as well as Greg Ip (The Economist) and Sheryl Gay Stolber (New York Times) and, for the second hour, Diane offers the audio equivalent of a gang-bang as she welcomes Fareed Zakaria (Newsweek), Moises Naim (Foreign Policy) and James Kitfield (National Journal). Six guests and only one's a woman. One women to five men. No that doesn't reflect diversity, nor does it reflect the population breakdown in the US. It does reflect INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM and doesn't scream to ombuds that actually do their damn job.

NPR continues their live Friday concerts and today is Fastball:

Live Friday: Fastball In Concert

Listen Online At Noon ET

Fastball 300
courtesy of the artist

Fastball.

WXPN, May 7, 2009 - Though it started out as a modest, fun-loving Austin garage-pop band, Fastball made an unlikely whirlwind foray into '90s rock stardom, thanks to its 1998 album All the Pain Money Can Buy and its smash single, "The Way." A decade and several albums later, the band recently returned with Little White Lies. Return to this space at noon ET Friday to hear Fastball perform live in concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

After its platinum-selling breakthrough -- which spawned world tours, TV appearances and two Grammy nominations -- Fastball has continued to work steadily while recording, performing and honing its infectious pop-rock sound. Little White Lies demonstrates the band's evolution, while retaining the radio-ready timelessness that's long been Fastball's trademark.

Fastball today and note that NPR's doing these live concerts every Friday.


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.















now on pbs
npr
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Steven D. Green convicted of War Crimes

Yesterday the jury issued a verdict in the War Crimes trial of Steven D. Green.

Steven D. Green

Alsumaria explains, "An ex-US soldier was found guilty for raping an Iraqi girl and killing her family in 2006 while he might face death sentence. A high panel court found Steve Green guilty for 16 counts while a death sentence is still to be decided in trial which will start on Monday. . . . Eye witnesses have reported that Green shot dead the girl’s family in a bedroom while two other soldiers were raping her. Then, Green raped her in his turn and put a pillow on her face before shooting her. The soldiers set the body afire to cover their crime traces." March 12, 2006, Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi was the 14-year-old girl. Justice finally came for Abeer and her family yesterday. Evan Bright reports on the verdict:


As the jury entered the court room, Green(red sweater vest) let out a large sigh, not of relief, but seemingly of anxiety, knowing the weight of the words to come. As Judge Thomas Russell stated "The court will now publish the verdict," Green interlaced his fingers and clasped them over his chin. Russell read the verdict flatly and absolutely. Green went from looking down at each "guilty" to eyeing the jury. His shoulders dropped as he was convicted of count #11, aggravated sexual abuse, realizing what this means. A paralegal at the defense table consoled Green by patting him on his back, even herself breaking down crying at the end of the verdicts.
After Russell finished reading the verdicts, he begged questions of the respective attorneys. Wendelsdorf, intending to ensure the absolution of the verdict, requested the jury be polled. Honorable Judge Russell asked each juror if they agreed with these verdicts, receiving a simple-but-sufficient yes from all jurors. Green watched the jury flatly.

Evan Bright is the 18-year-old high school senior who has been in the court every day of the trial and reporting on it. Something most outlets pointedly avoided. The only outlet that can hold its head high is the Associated Press which reported on it and utilized Brett Barrouquere to do so. Barrouquere has been on this story for nearly three years now and has covered the other court appearances of soldiers involved in these war crimes. Barrouquere notes some reactions in Iraq to the news of Green's convictions:


In Youssifiyah, a town near where the incident took place, there was praise for the verdict mixed with lingering anger and skepticism.
"If American court has convicted the American soldier I will consider the U.S. government to be just and fair," said Mohammed Abbas Muhsin, 36, an employee at a municipal electricity department. "This verdict will give the rights back to the family, the relatives and the clan of the victim Abeer."
But Ahmed Fadhil al-Khafaji, a 32-year-old barber, said, "The American court and government are just trying to show the world that they are fair and just." He added, "If they are really serious about it, they should hand the soldier over to an Iraqi court to be kept in Abu Ghraib prison and tried by Iraqis."
Civil servant Qassim Abed, 45, said, "Even if this court convicts him, I don't believe he will go to prison," he said. "The court should sentence them all to death for their horrible crimes."

Repeating, only the AP -- of all our news outlets -- had a reporter in the courtroom every day for this trial. He and AP deserve credit for providing the oversight the press is supposed to but so rarely does. [Link to story above goes to ABC News, if you click here and go to the Washington Post's posting of the AP article, you'll find a photo essay on the right-hand side.]

"An office administrator in the federal public defender's office patted him on the shoulder, then broke into tears," Andrew Wolfson (Courier-Journal) reports. A pity that the office administrator so quick to cry over the War Criminal didn't shed public tears over Abeer and her family. Andrew's report's actually bad. Bad reporting. We're noting that and nothing else. Take up the problems with it with him. For example, he states something took place during the trial. Really? The judge fell asleep? He would have had to have fallen asleep because he signed an ordering barring the argument Wolfson's claiming was made by the defense. The defense may run with it in the sentencing on Monday but they were barred from making that offensive argument to the jury. Marisa Ford filed a motion and the judge agreed with her and made a court order barring the defense from making that argument. Again, we're quoting the tears and we're not recommending that report. If you read it and find errors, take up with Wolfson.

CNN notes:

Spc. James Barker, one of the soldiers involved, told investigators that the soldiers were drinking whiskey, playing cards and hitting golf balls when Green brought up the idea of going to the house near the checkpoint where they were stationed to rape the girl. Barker described Green as persistent.

UK's Daily Mail adds:

Green, who had been in the 101st Airborne Division, stared straight ahead as the verdict was read in U.S. District Court in western Kentucky.
Defence lawyer Darren Wolff, speaking afterward, said they had never denied Green's involvement.
'Is this verdict a surprise to us? No. The goal has always been to save our client's life,' Wolff said.
'And, now we're going to go to the most important phase, which is the sentencing phase and we're going to accomplish that goal.'


That is hilarious. We never denied his involvement? What was the not guilty plea? I don't have time this morning to explain how wrong the statements are in depth; however, if the goal was to save your client's life, you do a better job than you did, you find a way to ensure that he's not convicted of all counts. Surely, being convicted of half of them is better than being convicted of all. Most of all, you get witnesses. They had none. Their witnesses were jokes. And they refused to put Green on the stand. He may get the death penalty and they refused to even try to use their client on the witness stand for a sympathy bid. The defense did a lousy job but it's funny to hear them claim that was the point.

Sky News reports on the case, as does the Belfast Telegraph, England's Evening Standard, Al Jazeera, the BBC, AFP, Caroline Hedley (Telegraph of London), and Reuters. And US outlets? Amy Goodman has it near the top of her Democracy Now! headlines today and USA Today blogged on it.

Green wasn't the only one in court yesterday. Tommy Witherspoon (Waco Tribune) reports US District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. handed a 25 year sentence to William Henry Foster and a 19 year and eight month sentence to Adam R. Watson. Both US "soldiers were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder by a federal court jury in February." The one they and Watson's wife (Chantell) planned to murder was Kailey Foster, the wife of William Henry Foster.




The following community sites updated last night:


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.


evan bright


brett barrouquere



thomas friedman is a great man






oh boy it never ends