My thoughts on politics, foreign policy, sports, America, and anything else I come up with.

 
Ted Koppel To Read Names Of All U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq, On Friday's Nightline
Conservative attack dogs already calling it tantamount to treason.

On Friday, April 30, 2004, the nightly edition of ABC's "Nightline" will be extended to 40 minutes in length, and Ted Koppel will read off the names of every American soldier who has died in Iraq since we started the war in March 2003. On the screen, the name, age, and hometown will appear with a photo of each deceased serviceman.

I am not really amazed, but I am certain appalled at the reaction of some of the conservative press and certain government officials to this simple act of honoring those who have fought and died for their country. They have called it a ploy of the liberal media, an act that only serves to aid and abet the enemy, something that cannot be tolerated during a time of war, claiming that the mere reading of names is a political act of treason.

Here's the message on the website of Sinclair Broadcasting, which plans to keep Nightline off the air on all of its ABC affiliates this Friday night:

ABC Nightline Pre-emption

The ABC Television Network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30 edition of "Nightline" will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.

There is no organization that holds the members of our military and those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country in higher regard than Sinclair Broadcast Group. While Sinclair would support an honest effort to honor the memory of these brave soldiers, we do not believe that is what "Nightline" is doing. Rather, Mr. Koppel and "Nightline" are hiding behind this so-called tribute in an effort to highlight only one aspect of the war effort and in doing so to influence public opinion against the military action in Iraq. Based on published reports, we are aware of the spouse of one soldier who died in Iraq who opposes the reading of her husband's name to oppose our military action. We suspect she is not alone in this viewpoint. As a result, we have decided to preempt the broadcast of "Nightline' this Friday on each of our stations which air ABC programming.

We understand that our decision in this matter may be questioned by some. Before you judge our decision, however, we would ask that you first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorist attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001. In his answer, we believe you will find the real motivation behind his action scheduled for this Friday. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure because Mr. Koppel has refused repeated requests from Sinclair's News Central news organization to comment on this Friday's program.

Here's the excellent finish to David Pepin's blog entry on the matter:

The fact is, we've wasted far too many American lives on pumping up George W. Bush's sense of masculinity, and the people who bring you this conflict don't like to be reminded our people are dying over there. This is why they made such an issue of photos of caskets being flown back home. And they will come after Koppel with Uzis blazing, even if he simply reads names off a list.

You don't even have to actively antagonize the hate machine any more. Simple facts will do it. Why use a bazooka when you can hit the target cleanly and efficiently with a peashooter?

God I hate these bastards in power! If you're out there reading this and at all considering voting for Bush, you'd better explain yourself. Better yet, you'd better re-examine yourself, because you are choosing to be an ignorant drone. God help us, the nation, and the world if George W. Bush is re-elected. We may have to get out the Ouija board to contact the spirit of Tecumseh, and ask him if his curse is still in place. And if so, could he please get working on that, the sooner the better.

Posted by Brian Adams at 04:09 | Permalink | |

 
Four Percent

Here's a great little blog entry from Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly:

4%....This year, about 50% of the voting age population will vote in the presidential election.

However, only 30% of the population lives in contested states.

And according to the latest New York Times poll, only 25% of the people they surveyed are still undecided about who they're going to vote for.

Do the arithmetic and that adds up to 4% of the electorate. Everything you see for the next six months from George Bush and John Kerry — every ad, every dollar, every speech, every prerecorded telephone call — is aimed at trying to convert about 4% of the total voting age population. The other 96% of us are basically spectators — either we're not going to vote, we live in states that are foregone conclusions, or we've already made up our minds.

Do you know anyone who's part of the 4%? If you do, get to work on them!

Posted by Brian Adams at 02:03 | Permalink | |

 
Things That Are Really Pissing Me Off Right Now

Blind, ignorant allegiance to the government.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, et al., for presenting a case built on a mountain of falsehoods for the unprovoked invasion of a country that had not attacked us and did not pose any imminent threat to us or our allies whatsoever.

The United States Congress, for abdicating its Constitutional authority as the only body that can declare war on another nation, by passing an un-Constitutional resolution in October 2002 that gave President Bush the individual authority to decide whether or not to invade Iraq.

A majority of the American public, who form their opinions about the actions of their government based only on what they see on TV, and sometimes from only one slanted channel. They are content to be blissfully ignorant, and feel critical thinking is a waste of time. They are content with minimized public debate about the actions of America, as said debate would only serve to confuse people. And we need to be "united."

People who question the patriotism of those individuals who speak out against the actions of their government, and people who say that those individuals are "aiding and abetting" the enemy.

People who think that an Iraqi who fights the American Occupation is a "terrorist." One is not a terrorist who fights against an invading army in his own country. He is an insurgent, and is more within his rights to fight in Iraq than the American army is.

People who think that the role of the press is to "support the troops," rather than to report the facts of the day, clearly and without jingoism.

People who are content with any curtailment of guaranteed civil liberties that the government can come up with, as long as they are told that security will be increased.

People who are content with the holding of American citizens on American soil as "enemy combatants, something clearly un-Constitutional under Amendments IV, V, and VI. They have no problem with these people being held in complete isolation, without access to a lawyer or any judicial hearing of any kind, until the mythical end of a war that was never declared.

People who believe Creationism is science, and should thusly be taught in the science classes of public schools. They also insist the enormously discredited idea that physical evolution has not been proven.

Posted by Brian Adams at 23:26 | Permalink | |

 
Israel Has Few Choices For Peace

In March of this year, before the killing of the latest Hamas leader with a missile to his car, Israel shot a missile at a wheelchair and killed the founder of Hamas. A resolution came before the UN Security Council which would have condemned Israel for yet another targeted killing, and this time of an immobile, old man, who easily could have been arrested. Per usual, America vetoed the resolution, because in the eyes of the neoconservatives pulling the strings in the Bush administration, Israel did nothing other than defend itself against terrorism. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have almost never found a UN Security Resolution against Israel that they couldn't veto.

This got me thinking about how I have perceived over the years, the Israel-Palestinian conflict. I posted the following to Madfam Forums on March 25, 2004:

"I used to not give a damn about the Palestinians. I figured you send suicide bombers, you get what you asked for. But it's gotten to the point where neither side has any respect for human life. And because the Israeli Defense Force has all the tanks, aircraft, and heavy weaponry, they're the ones killing the most people indiscriminately.

Just read reports from reporters who have spent time in the West Bank, and you will hear about how randomly and indiscriminately Palestinians are killed. And now Israel builds this wall, not on the 1967 cease fire line, but well into Palestinian territory at many points. And the people who lose their land, their crops, their livelihood? Well, it's a big fuck you to them.

How can Israel continue to occupy a land of essentially imprisoned people? A people who they keep under a dusk to dawn curfew. A people who have no representation, and no future.

There are only a few ways this can all end. (1) If Israel intends to kill all the terrorists in the Occupied Territories, they will have to kill every last Palestinian. Because with every terrorist they kill, two or more will sprout up and vow revenge. (2) Israel can expel, i.e. ethnically cleanse the Occupied Territories of all Palestinians. (3) Israel can annex these territories and their people as part of Israel. But with current demographics, that would make Israel a majority Palestinian state by the end of the decade. And they were founded on the idea that they shall always be a Jewish state. (4) Or they can evacuate the settlements, remove all personnel from the territories, and allow Palestine to be a free state.

(1) and (2) are quite simply crimes against humanity. (3) is unacceptable to the Israeli people. That leaves only (4). It is the only end result that can result in peace.

But they continue to take great amounts of land to establish Jewish settlements. They take more land to extend fortified, settler-only highways. They continue their practice of demolishing the homes of the relatives of all suicide bombers. They continue to hate, and will receive only hate in return.

And every day the United States stands by silently while Israel continues its own campaign of terror, we as a country lose even more of what little moral authority we have left in the international community. We keep sending billions to Israel every year, with no strings attached, no requirements of humane behavior on their part. Only when the United States turns its back on Israel will they come to the conclusion that Palestinian sovereignty is their only choice."

Posted by Brian Adams at 03:00 | Permalink | |

 
Feeling a Draft?

While neither the President nor the Defense Department will admit it, the generals who testified before Congress were right. We should have brought in a force of 200,000-300,000 military personnel for the War with Iraq. And now we hear out President and Secretary of Defense saying they will "supply the commanders in the field with all the men they need." Where have we heard that before? Well, it was before my time, but yes, Vietnam.

The Pentagon has hinted at adding 30,000 troops to the Iraqi theater. But we are already stretched as far as we can right now. The temporary answer is that a new rotation of troops will continue to come into Iraq, but those who have served a year in Iraq and were expecting their tour to be over, they got a 120 extension to their stay in Iraq. I can tell you that is not going to win any votes amongst military personnel or their families.

But what if these attacks from Shiite insurgents turn into a general Shiite uprising. We would need a large number of troops added to the field. And the only realistic way to accomplish that is to reinstate the draft. It would obviously not happen before the election, but it could be a reality in 2005. These draftees would of course be months away from being able to enter combat. But the Pentagon could take a number of National Guard units and incorporate them permanently into the active duty forces. The draftees would then take the posts vacated by those former National Guard troops.

I don't think the policy makers in Washington understand the backlash that reinstating the draft would bring about. Americans, especially young Americans, have come to believe that the draft was a tool of the past that those in Washington would almost never dare use again. And if they did, it would be because the United States territory was itself threatened, or that of Western Europe. If the President and the Congress thought they saw protests before the war started, they have no idea what an instant movement of constant protest a new draft would precipitate. These are of course just my projections, based on the attitudes of draft-age men and women that I know.

I believe the only way to proceed in Iraq is to take whatever option the United Nations suggests for the turnover of sovereignty on June 30th. Let the United Nations take over the whole political operation if they wish. If our stated goal is a our real goal - to establish democracy in Iraq - I believe we can trust the U.N. to do as good or better of a job than the United States could. For one thing, having a body other than the occupying Coalition serve as a facilitator in establishing Iraqi government would probably go a lot smoother. The U.N. has not attacked Iraq (except in 1991), and they voted down the U.N. resolution to proceed with this foolish war.

But if the Bush administration continues to try to do everything themselves, and in their usual arrogant way, that draft could become more and more of a possibility next year. And God help the President who asks Congress to reinstate the draft. If it's George W. Bush, we just may find out if Tecumseh's Curse really was broken by Ronald Reagan. Or will being elected in a year ending in "0" continue to be a death sentence.

Posted by Brian Adams at 03:10 | Permalink | |

 
The Power to Declassify

From Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo:

A quick question. In the last six weeks, how many documents has the Bush administration declassified for the exclusive and explicit purpose of attacking a political enemy?

Posted by Brian Adams at 02:59 | Permalink | |

 
Iraq in Chaos at One-Year Anniversary of Fall of Saddam Hussein

Here's a map of battles and hostages taken in the last three days. The dates at the top are wrong ( I believe that should be April 7-9), unless it's a forecast or goal for the insurgents. I highly doubt that. Regardless, it gives you a good idea of the widespread nature of this two-front uprising, including the cities in danger, the Coalition nation's troops in the area, and the place taken and nationality of those kidnapped.



Posted by Brian Adams at 23:36 | Permalink | |

 
SpaceWeather.com's Aurora Gallery

I encourage everyone to visit SpaceWeather.com, and go to their pages of submitted aurora borealis photos. They are simply awe-inspiring! Here's a couple to whet your appetite:


Hinton, Alberta, 9 March 2004


Big Bay, Ontario, 9 March 2004

Posted by Brian Adams at 05:55 | Permalink | |

 
Space Station Flyby, In Front of Saturn



This is an amazing image. From SpaceWeather.com:

"This is no April Fool's joke," says Edelmann, who recorded the event using a Celestron C9.25 telescope and a Phillips Toucam digital camera. "The two frames showing the ISS are just 1/15s apart! I processed the image of Saturn separately to enhance the planet's faint moons."

Posted by Brian Adams at 05:46 | Permalink | |

 
Our War President



This is a mosaic composed of the photos of the American service men and women who have died in Iraq. No photograph is used more than three times. A quick count by me showed a 30x47 matrix containing 1410 images. The images were found at the following blog:

American Left - War President

Medium size image (800 x 935 pixels)
Large size image (1890 x 2209 pixels)

Posted by Brian Adams at 05:13 | Permalink | |

 
Bush's Approval Ratings Falling Across the Board

From the Pew Research Center:



Posted by Brian Adams at 05:37 | Permalink | |

 
American "civilian" security personnel killed in Fallujah were illegal combatants

Four American security guards were killed, and their mutilated bodies subsequently dragged through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq this past weekend. It was a brutal attack, and a horrific photo op for the Iraqi insurgency. No man deserves to meet the end that these men met. But let's examine their role as security in Iraq.

From Warblogging:

The men killed and mutilated in Fallujah were armed, were acting as combatants and were not subject to the military chain of command or military discipline. They were not part of the armed forces of the United States. They were instead employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, a North Carolina-based company that provides "security training" and "defense services".

While in Iraq employees of Blackwater provide training to Iraqi security services, security to American proconsul L. Paul Bremer and also "provide security for food shipments", including, apparently, food shipments through Fallujah. Blackwater employees dress in plain clothes but carry heavy weapons and, presumably, engage in combat against Iraqi resistors who could be considered part of a "national liberation movement."

...the Blackwater employees do share one thing in common with their murderers, and with the men languishing in the cages of Guantanamo Bay: They were illegal combatants.

This is because the Blackwater "security guards" do not wear uniforms clearly identifying them as combatants. They instead wear civilian clothes while engaging in combat. The photograph [to the right], of a Blackwater USA security guard serving in L. Paul Bremer's bodyguard force, makes this clear. The man is carrying an assault rifle while wearing civilian clothes.

He is, therefore, an illegal combatant -- just like the un-uniformed Afghans and Arabs "detained" at Gitmo.

Note, however, that being an illegal combatant does not make you subject to death and mutilation. It simply makes you a criminal who may be punished according to local laws for engaging in hostilities. It also makes those who employ you -- those that hold "enemy combatants" and "illegal combatants" indefinitely and refuse to extend to them the rights of POWs -- hypocrites.

Hypocrisy perpetrated by the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Bush administration in general, should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention throughout this Iraq fiasco. But the fact that the Coalition Authority is employing private U.S. security guards, who are paid at a much higher rate than U.S. military personnel, and who are most definitely "illegal combatants," should come as a great surprise to Americans back home.

Posted by Brian Adams at 00:51 | Permalink | |