Greetings, fellow Freedom Fighters™ and Defenders of Democracy™!

This week’s “Got MLK” issue is a wee bit overstuffed -- due to time constraints, we skipped last week.

Here are today’s top stories:

-- The war on Iran has already begun, and Bush claims there’s nothing Congress can do to stop it; Israel plans a nuclear attack on Iran (maybe that’s why our Congress “can’t” stop it)

-- Staying the course in Iraq by sending 21,000 more troops to murder, maim, be maimed, and die … and the 100,000 unaccountable and unaccounted-for mercenary guns-for-hire already there

-- The return of the “she asked for it” mentality of rape and other violence against women in America, inside or outside the military

-- Stem cells can be harvested from amniotic fluid

-- U.S.-backed invasion of yet another oil-rich region: Somalia

-- Media reform is critical to restoring our democracy

-- How Exxon-Mobil continues to mislead the public about global warming

-- How food contributes to precocious puberty

-- Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” ridicules “Left Behind” video game that exhorts “Christian” kids to murder “non-believers”

-- Bush’s Constitutional crisis

-- American corporations within panting distance of making off with Iraqi oil “prize” … the spoils of invasion

-- When the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation was called on the carpet for investing in Big Oil, Big Pharm, and other Big Business interests that operate antithetically to the foundation’s charitable charter, they decided to examine and perhaps reconsider the foundation’s investment strategies (whew!)

-- Mike McConnell and the DANGEROUS privatization of American intelligence (and the sale to the lowest corporate bidder of your private information)

-- Stephen Colbert’s tribute to MLK Jr.

If we do nothing else, we must all work together to mandate Congress to revoke any further funding for Bush’s wars and invasions of aggression and greed.

Keep the faith and keep fighting: together, we WILL win our nation back!

-----
From our mailbag

Reader D.F. sent in the following posts describing the U.S. and Israel’s plans to attach Iran (Israel plans a nuclear attack):

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/08/18344957.php
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2535310.html

Posted by Douglas Caddy
Experienced Member
Education Forum, educationforum.ipbhost.com

To understand what is happening in the Mideast, Professor Juan Cole’s daily blog is required reading. Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan, is a frequent guest on PBS’ Lehrer New Hour. Last Friday, before Suddam’s death, Prof. Cole in his blog printed a commentary by Larisa Alexandrovna, editor of www.rawstory.com. So perceptive are her observations that they merit immediate attention.

http://www.juancole.com/


By Larisa Alexandrovna

'PROLOGUE:

When someone does something obviously egregious, we tend to look past it because it is our nature to believe that people are naturally sane, good, and honest. We cannot imagine that anyone would willfully destroy their own country, violate their own laws, trample on their own people, and do it with such naked bravado while the world looked on.

But people have done it and do it even still, because there is also a darker side to human nature. Those of us who see the good in people look past actions that appear to be willfully evil not only because it is in our nature but it is also a foundation of our culture, as Americans, we believe guilt must be proved.

So we do not see what is going on before our eyes and directly in front of us. We look past it, around it, through it, but not at it. We cannot look directly at it, because if we do, we lose the vision of our beloved America and see something so sinister, that our minds would rather collapse than accept it.

But chess forces us to abandon our preconceptions and emotions. It pushes us to think in terms of cause and effect and it forces us to consider each action and counteraction in terms of the whole game. That is to say, chess forces us to think beyond our own present and fixed position, forcing us to reason every possible outcome of each action and counteraction.

Furthermore, chess teaches us to calculate not against a person, or a group, or a nation, but against a strategy that has no inherent religious, moral, or human characteristics. Master players can suspend their fixated self at will. Sadly, I am no master, and so I continue to struggle in seeing the game despite my human nature as an obstacle.

But sometimes, it just happens, something sets it off and there you are, inside the board, walking each action out in your mind and seeing the whole from beginning to end.

QUESTIONS AND SEEING THE BOARD

Sometime this morning, all the various and truly bizarre events the Bush administration has been engaged in recently with regard to troop levels and surges suddenly crystallized for me, as though I were sitting at a chess board and seeing the entire strategy unfold before my eyes.

This is of course my opinion and I may very well be wrong. In fact, I hope I am wrong. But the news that Saddam Hussein would be executed soon, and then the news that it would be in the next 48 hours, boggled my mind. Why on earth would anyone want to set off an ideological bomb during an already chaotic situation? I do not defend Saddam Hussein, not by any measure. But when Iraq is falling into total chaos and civil war, and as American troops continue to die, why would anyone want to add fuel to that fire, enough fuel to destroy what is left?

Suspend your emotions and think strategically. Now look at the question again and in context.

The administration is stalling as it supposedly weighs its Iraq options, when in fact they have already made their decision. How do I know they have made their decision? One need only look at the slow leaks coming out, not the least of which was Joe Lieberman’s op-ed in the Washington Post, to understand that we are going to be sending more troops to Iraq. So why does the administration wait to tell us this?

In the meantime, naval carriers are deployed to send Iran “a warning,” as though the threats thus far and the passing of sanctions are not warning enough. Add to that the detainment of Iranian diplomats invited to Iraq by the Iraqi leadership. Why is the US arresting diplomats invited to a country that the US claims is a sovereign nation governing itself?

And what about those sanctions, which ultimately mean nothing and sadly mean everything? The sanctions are so watered down as to have no real effect on the Iranian population or economy. Why even bother passing them?

Why censor Dr. Leverett's opinion piece on Iran when the CIA already cleared it?

Now given this entire context, ask yourself again why Saddam Hussein is being executed now, during Hajj even? What is the urgency?

THE UGLY STRATEGY I SEE

This is what I think may be playing out, my opinion of course. And yes, the strategy is so brazenly obvious, arrogant, and antithetical to everything America is supposed to be and stand for that it will be difficult to digest.

What the Bush administration appears to be waiting for, stalling for, while they allegedly mull over the Iraq question, is for the naval carriers and other key assets to fall into position. This will happen in the first week of January. Saddam Hussein is being executed (and I would not be surprised if every major network aired it) to enrage tempers and fuel more violence in Iraq. This violence will justify an immediate need for a troop surge, although I think it will be described as temporary. Remember too that the British press has for the past week done nothing but report that Britain will be attacked by the New Year. Clearly they are preparing themselves for a contingency, and that contingency is the massive violence that will erupt across the Muslim world as they watch (and I really believe it will be televised) Saddam’s hanging just before the New Year.

Why is the rush to execute Saddam Hussein not account for Hajj? Or does it?

The carriers will be in position. I imaging there will be an event of some sort in Iraq, or the violence will spill into friendly (our friends) territory. It will be dramatic, even more so than the immediate violence.

The attacks will be blamed on Iran, with the help of the Saudis and Pakistan. Iran will be blamed for something that happens in Iran. The naval carriers, again, will be in position. The sanctions, as watered down as they are, have given the administration the blank check they needed from the world (and they still have their blank check from Congress) to order aerial strikes. The surge troops will be in position, and I estimate that ground support will begin around late February, early March.

Saddam’s execution and the violence will also be a convenient cover while the administration moves pieces into position.

But what the planners in the administration don’t seem to realize is that the Persians are the most expert of chess players, and they are a patient, strategy minded opponent. They are watching this develop, all of it, and they too are planning their counteraction. They know better than to strike first, because in doing so, they would lose the moral argument in the eyes of the world, as well as the advantage of counteraction. The US has a superior air force, but Iran has a formidable navy, and while the house of Saud will fuel this, the fallout will be fatal. Why?

Here is why: Because the US is too stretched to be able to protect Israel, and Israel cannot sustain a long term attack. They can sustain a few hits, but they will not be able to sustain a full blown attack.

If you have any doubt, go back to the recent war with Lebanon. The British will pull out, despite promises of support. Blair is on his way out, and the British public will not tolerate support for Israel, because of its help in supporting US imperialistic aggression. Whatever terrorist cells lurk in the US, and make no mistake, our administration has done little to address this issue, will be activated.

Also consider that the house of Saud is not prepared to defend itself against an uprising, and that the US cannot protect it while simultaneously operating on three different fronts and covertly in god knows how many. Despite the various sectarian differences in the Muslim world, there are two enemies that they all agree to fight and die fighting against: the US and Israel. This attack will set off a Muslim counterattack so large, that nothing will be able to stop it or contain it.

But our leadership does not see this, because they cannot think strategically and won't think in human terms, so they are left with nothing but arrogance. And we ae left with a world ablaze.


Note: Larisa Alexandrovna maintains the blog At-Largely and is Managing Editor - of Raw Story.



Ron Ecker
Super Member

A Very Dangerous New Year

By Robert Parry

December 21, 2006

The first two or three months of 2007 represent a dangerous opening for an escalation of war in the Middle East, as George W. Bush will be tempted to “double-down” his gamble in Iraq by joining with Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to strike at Syria and Iran, intelligence sources say.

President Bush’s goal would be to transcend the bloody quagmire bogging down U.S. forces in Iraq by achieving “regime change” in Syria and by destroying nuclear facilities in Iran, two blows intended to weaken Islamic militants in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

The Israeli army and air force would carry the brunt of any new fighting albeit with the support of beefed-up U.S. ground and naval forces in the Middle East, the sources said. Bush is now considering a “surge” in U.S. troop levels in Iraq from about 140,000 to as many as 170,000. He also has dispatched a second aircraft carrier group to the coast of Iran.

So far, however, Bush has confronted stiff opposition from the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to the plan for raising troop levels in Iraq, partly because the generals don’t think it makes sense to commit more troops without a specific military mission.


But it’s unclear how much the generals know about the expanded-war option which has been discussed sometimes in one-on-one meetings among the principals – Bush, Olmert and Blair – according to intelligence sources.

Since the Nov. 7 congressional elections, the three leaders have conducted a round-robin of meetings that on the surface seem to have little purpose. Olmert met privately with Bush on Nov. 13; Blair visited the White House on Dec. 7; and Blair conferred with Olmert in Israel on Dec. 18.
All three leaders could salvage their reputations if a wider war broke out in the Middle East and then broke in their favor.

Bush and Blair spearheaded the March 2003 invasion of Iraq that has since turned into a disastrous occupation. In summer 2006, Olmert launched offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, drawing international condemnation for the deaths of hundreds of civilians and domestic criticism for his poorly designed war plans.

The three leaders also find themselves cornered by political opponents. Bush’s Republican Party lost control of both the House and Senate on Nov. 7; Blair succumbed to pressure from his own Labour Party and agreed to step down in spring 2007; and Olmert is suffering from widespread public disgust over the failed Lebanese war.

Yet, despite these reversals, the three leaders have rebuffed advice from more moderate advisers that they adopt less confrontational strategies and consider unconditional negotiations with their Muslim adversaries.

Most dramatically, Bush spurned a bipartisan Iraq Study Group plan that was co-authored by the Bush Family’s long-time counselor, former Secretary of State James Baker.

Instead of heeding Baker’s advice to begin a drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq and start talks with Iran and Syria, Bush rejected the notion of a “graceful exit” and then set unacceptable preconditions for talks with Iran and Syria.

In other words, Baker tossed a life preserver to Bush who threw it back.

Victory Agenda

Bush has continued to insist on “victory” in Iraq and has again ratcheted up his rhetoric. He now talks about waging a long war against Islamic “radicals and extremists,” not just the original goal of defeating “terrorists with global reach.”

At his news conference on Dec. 20, Bush cast this wider struggle against Islamists as a test of American manhood and perseverance by demonstrating to the enemy that “they can’t run us out of the Middle East, that they can’t intimidate America.”

Bush suggested, too, that painful decisions lay ahead in the New Year.

“I’m not going to make predictions about what 2007 will look like in Iraq, except that it’s going to require difficult choices and additional sacrifices, because the enemy is merciless and violent,” Bush said.

Rather than scale back his neoconservative dream of transforming the Middle East, Bush argued for an expanded U.S. military to wage this long war.

“We must make sure that our military has the capability to stay in the fight for a long period of time,” Bush said. “I’m not predicting any particular theater, but I am predicting that it’s going to take a while for the ideology of liberty to finally triumph over the ideology of hate. …

“We’re in the beginning of a conflict between competing ideologies – a conflict that will determine whether or not your children can live in a peace. A failure in the Middle East, for example, or failure in Iraq, or isolationism, will condemn a generation of young Americans to permanent threat from overseas.”

So, rather than looking for a way out of the Iraq quagmire, Bush – now waist deep in the muck – is determined to press on.

Bush’s dilemma, however, is that time is working against him. Not only are the American people increasingly angry about U.S. troops caught in the middle of a sectarian civil war in Iraq, but Bush’s domestic and international political bases continue to erode.

Blair, who is widely derided in the United Kingdom as “Bush’s poodle,” is nearing the end of his tenure, and Bush’s Republican Party is worried about Election 2008 if American soldiers are still dying in Iraq in two years.

Plus, few military analysts believe a temporary troop “surge” alone will stop the steady deterioration in Iraq. Bush acknowledged as much at his news conference.

“In order to do so [‘the surge’], there must be a specific mission that can be accomplished with more troops,” Bush said. “That’s precisely what our commanders have said, as well as people who know a lot about military operations. And I agree with them that there’s got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops before I agree on that strategy.”

Though not making much sense as a way to quell the civil strife in Iraq, a U.S. military buildup could help protect American interests in Iraq if Israeli attacks on Syria and Iran touch off retaliation against U.S. and British targets.

Wider War

For Bush, this idea of expanding the war outside Iraq also is not new.

Since spring 2006, Bush reportedly has been weighing military options for bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, but he has encountered resistance from senior U.S. military officers.

As investigative reporter Seymour Hersh wrote in The New Yorker, a number of senior U.S. officers were troubled by administration war planners who believed “bunker-busting” tactical nuclear weapons, known as B61-11s, were the only way to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities buried deep underground.

A former senior intelligence official told Hersh that the White House refused to remove the nuclear option from the plans despite objections from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Whenever anybody tries to get it out, they’re shouted down,” the ex-official said. [New Yorker, April 17, 2006]

By late April 2006, however, the Joint Chiefs finally got the White House to agree that using nuclear weapons to destroy Iran’s uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz, less than 200 miles south of Tehran, was politically unacceptable, Hersh reported.

“Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney were dead serious about the nuclear planning,” one former senior intelligence official said.

But – even with the nuclear option off the table – senior U.S. military officials worried about the political and economic fallout from a massive bombing campaign against Iran. Hersh wrote:
“Inside the Pentagon, senior commanders have increasingly challenged the President’s plans, according to active-duty and retired officers and officials. The generals and admirals have told the Administration that the bombing campaign will probably not succeed in destroying Iran’s nuclear program. They have also warned that an attack could lead to serious economic, political, and military consequences for the United States.”

Hersh quoted a retired four-star general as saying, “The system is starting to sense the end of the road, and they don’t want to be condemned by history. They want to be able to say, ‘We stood up.’ ” [New Yorker, July 10, 2006]

Beyond the dangers from Iran’s nuclear program, the Bush administration views the growing Shiite crescent across the Middle East as a threat to U.S. influence.

Washington Post foreign policy analyst Robin Wright wrote that U.S. officials told her that “for the United States, the broader goal is to strangle the axis of Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran, which the Bush administration believes is pooling resources to change the strategic playing field in the Middle East.” [Washington Post, July 16, 2006]

By summer 2006, Israeli sources were describing Bush’s interest in finding a pretext to hit back at Syria and Iran. That opening came when border tensions with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon led to the capture of three Israeli soldiers and a rapid Israeli escalation of the conflict into an air-and-ground campaign against Lebanon.

Bush and his neoconservative advisers saw the Israeli-Lebanese conflict as an opportunity to expand the fighting into Syria and achieve the long-sought “regime change” in Damascus, Israeli sources said.

One Israeli source told me that Bush’s interest in spreading the war to Syria was considered “nuts” by some senior Israeli officials, although Prime Minister Olmert generally shared Bush’s hard-line strategy against Islamic militants. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Bush Wants Wider War.”]

In an article on July 30, 2006. the Jerusalem Post also hinted at the Israeli rejection of Bush’s suggestion of a wider war into Syria. “Defense officials told the Post … that they were receiving indications from the US that America would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria,” the newspaper reported.

In August 2006, the Inter-Press Service provided additional details, reporting that the message was passed to Israel by Bush’s deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams, who had been a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s.

“In a meeting with a very senior Israeli official, Abrams indicated that Washington would have no objection if Israel chose to extend the war beyond to its other northern neighbor, leaving the interlocutor in no doubt that the intended target was Syria,” a source told the Inter-Press Service.

In December 2006, Meyray Wurmser, a leading U.S. neoconservative whose spouse is a Middle East adviser to Vice President Cheney, confirmed that neocons in and outside the Bush administration had hoped Israel would attack Syria as a means of undermining the insurgents in Iraq.

“If Syria had been defeated, the rebellion in Iraq would have ended,” Wurmser said in an interview with Yitzhak Benhorin of the Ynet Web site. “A great part of it was the thought that Israel should fight against the real enemy, the one backing Hezbollah. … If Israel had hit Syria, it would have been such a harsh blow for Iran that it would have weakened it and (changed) the strategic map in the Middle East.”

In early 2007, the revival of this neoconservative strategy of using the Israeli military to oust the Syrian government and to inflict damage on Iran’s nuclear program may represent a last-ditch – and high-risk – gamble by Bush and the neocons to salvage their historic legacy.

If that is the case, then Bush will approve “the surge” in U.S. forces into Iraq, which likely will be followed by some provocation that can be blamed on Syria or Iran, thus justifying the expanded war.

Betting the lives of American soldiers and countless civilians across the Middle East, Bush will follow the age-old adage of gambling addicts: in for a dime, in for a dollar.


Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.'

http://consortiumnews.com/2006/122006.html


Mark Stapleton
Super Member

It's a chillingly plausible scenario, Douglas.

I posted a similar article from Robert Parry the other day but I can't seem to find it on the Forum. Anyway, here it is:

http://www.alternet.org/story/45852/

Parry suggests a plan has been hatched by Bush, Blair and Olmert for Israel to attack Syria and the Iranian nuclear sites, with America providing logistical support. The three leaders have had a round robin of meetings over the last two months.

The unholy haste in executing Saddam Hussein is highly suspicious, as Alexandrovna alludes to. I suspect it was an action designed to provoke a response from America's enemies in the region as a pretext for further action. I thought he was originally scheduled to be executed in late January, so there must be a reason for bringing it forward, since my faith in the good intentions of the US/Israel axis has long ago evaporated. I have read several articles suggesting that the US Administration refuses to rule out the possibility of utilising bunker-busting nuclear weapons in its campaign against Iran. Nothing can be ruled out, as I believe this US Administration, supported by unseen forces of apparently limitless evil, is the most dangerous in living memory.

The chess analogy is a good one. As in 2003, the Bush alliance may open with a few bold moves. However, as we have seen, their end game stinks. A baboon has more chance against Kasparov. The pawns in this game are us, of course, and the Bush regime is prone to gladly sacrificing pieces in order to achieve their unachievable goal--control of the entire Middle East.

This post has been edited by Mark Stapleton: Jan 1 2007, 02:25 AM
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Michael Hogan
Advanced Member


Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health.
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

Excerpted Words and music by Pete Seeger (1967)

Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
by Bob Burnett
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0630-26.htm


John Simkin
Super Member




Thanks for posting that Doug. I agree that Bush will increase troop numbers in Iraq and that he will give Israel the go-ahead to bomb Iran. The timing of this is going to be very important. Bush will want to do it before Blair leaves office. It is also significant that Blair moved Jack Straw from the post of minister of defence. Straw had already made it clear that he was opposed to taking military action against Iran. When Blair made this decision in May, 2006, I posted on the forum that this was a sign that he was willing to go along with Bush over his military plans concerning Iran.

Interestingly, the reason why Clinton refused to sanction a US invasion of Iraq was his belief, that if he did so, the US would eventually become involved in a war with Iran. Ironically, this judgment was based on intelligence provided by the CIA.
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Robert Howard
Advanced Member


QUOTE(John Simkin @ Jan 1 2007, 08:24 AM) *
Thanks for posting that Doug. I agree that Bush will increase troop numbers in Iraq and that he will give Israel the go-ahead to bomb Iran. The timing of this is going to be very important. Bush will want to do it before Blair leaves office. It is also significant that Blair moved Jack Straw from the post of minister of defence. Straw had already made it clear that he was opposed to taking military action against Iran. When Blair made this decision in May, 2006, I posted on the forum that this was a sign that he was willing to go along with Bush over his military plans concerning Iran.

Interestingly, the reason why Clinton refused to sanction a US invasion of Iraq was his belief, that if he did so, the US would eventually become involved in a war with Iran. Ironically, this judgment was based on intelligence provided by the CIA.

There are many sad lessons of history, one of them concerns itself with the sad reality that history does indeed repeat itself cyclically. Among other lessons of history, is the fact that the actions of leaders of government's presupposes a moral bearing in which it is a very hopeful sign when the realm of politics is elevated from 'politicians' to 'statesmen.' The world stage in the current epoch is filled with politicians, but there are precious few statesmen.....The last lesson I will note is that the human condition being what it is, hate and bloodlust will always exist, the ideal is that statesmen rule with the goal of creating a better world for the next generation instead of engaging in geopolitical powerplays for global hegemony and control the aforementioned aspect of the human condition in their own domain, so that the common good is the prevailing norm as opposed to anarchy and chaos.

It is a historical fact that when conflicts of epic proportions [See WW1 & WW2] kill large amounts of humanity, and the cries of no more war, have faded......after two or three generations have passed the lesson of the last bloodletting are, in many way's forgotten...or, at least relegated to the history books....Songwriter David Byrne wrote the words once "Same as it ever was," which seems apropos.

While I wiil not offer my speculations as to whether what is being discussed will come to pass, I will say that if "it" happens, it would not be very surprising if it did.....

This post has been edited by Robert Howard: Jan 1 2007, 02:26 PM
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Sid Walker
Experienced Member


If the assault on Iran does proceed as some are predicting, I think we can safely say that 2006 was the end of an era.

One observation that makes me especially alarmed is that the (zionist) mass media is now spinning the proposition that the neocons have lost power and influence since 2003. I just watched the BBC World 'Service' replay this theme in a special 'insight' into current US politics

Now, it may be true that some independent-minded Americans in positions of influence are increasngly disturbed about the policies of the Bush Administration, but the implication is being cast that if Bush launches another mad and very much expanded war in the middle east, it will not at the behest of the Zionist/Israeli lobby at all - but his own personal adventure, a gamble "to save his political skin". Spin and lies? I think so.

I usually avoid speculation about the near future... When will the next terror attack strike? How many dead in Iraq next month? It's usually just a way to get dizzy. The only ones who really know are the would-be perpetrators - and they must constantly need to adapt their plans, in any case - to deal with the unexpected.

However, this new war proposition has such serious potential consequenees that it is appropriate to get out the maps and play scenarios, just like they do in Washington (and presumably in Tehran as well).

The President of Iran, it is said, is quietly confident that there will be no attack. This may be based on a realistic assessement of Iran's ability to wreak havoc on the world economy in retaliation. However, I fear it may also be based on a misapprehension. The Iranian Government may not realise the callousness of the warmonguers they face - and how they are perfectly willing to risk the health of the world economy to consolidate their power. Indeed, that may even be part of the game plan (watch out middle classes - your histoirical lucky run may be about to end).

Let's look, as others have done, at the scenario of a massive assault on Iran. I's hard to imagine the Iranians NOT retaliating by creating havoc in the Straights of Hormuz.

(IMG:http://www.middleeastfacts.com/images/map_middle_east.gif)

Blocking the straights to shipping would not be hard. The miracle really is that this narrow but crucial oil 'corridor' has operated so well for so long. Making the straights effectively unusable would cut the flow of a very high proportion of the world's oil (is it more than 50%? I'm not sure... but it's a huge slice of the oil extraction pie).



This would precipitate an oil shock on a scale that would make 1973 seem minor.

Presumably a massive global recession would follow in short order.

Meanwhile, violence flares throughout the middle east. The US / Israeli / British? gangster-invaders move to control the most oil rich parts of the Gulf and at least one major route to get oil out of the region. Is there an alternative to re-opening the Straights of Hormuz? A pipeline / pipelines through Saudi Arabia?

The mind boggles.

Do they have a plan to occupy southern Iran on a permanent basis? Northern Saudi Arabia?

The mind boggles again.

As an envonmentalist, I should say that there is some cold comfort in this scenario. Just as the US skies became somewhat cleaner (on a very temporary basis) in the days following 9-11, oil scarcity and sky-rocketing fuel prices would force a reduction in oil usage.

But what would be left of our civilization, now on a permanent war footing, locked in endless conflict, our mass media controlled, our civil liberties in tatters, our 'post-war' prosperity a memory, our society increasingly divided into rich and poor, visions of global peace and harmony mere relics of happier times.

The mind thrice boggles.

In my opinion, the one thing likely to stop this next war is if the ultimate perpetrators estimate that it might blow their cover for ever and a day - and that they could be named, blamed and brought to justice if they take this fateful extra step of turning proposals for a 100 years war into the real thing.

After 1990, after 2001, after 2003, after Walt and Mearsheimer... only fools would NOT hold the Zionist lobby accountable if there is an attack on Iran with the horrific, entirely predictable consequences.

Are most of the western intelligensia really such fools?

This post has been edited by Sid Walker: Jan 2 2007, 01:28 AM
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Dave Greer
Experienced Member


I couldn't believe that the US and UK Governments would be stupid enough to invade Iraq - sadly I was proved wrong.

I don't believe that the US is stupid enough to invade Iran - I hope I'm not proved wrong again. If they do go ahead (and heaven help us all if that's the case), then I'm assuming it will be on their own - I don't think the UK has the militray resources or political will to go to war in Iran.
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Douglas Caddy
Experienced Member


QUOTE(Dave Greer @ Jan 2 2007, 10:10 AM) *
I couldn't believe that the US and UK Governments would be stupid enough to invade Iraq - sadly I was proved wrong.

I don't believe that the US is stupid enough to invade Iran - I hope I'm not proved wrong again. If they do go ahead (and heaven help us all if that's the case), then I'm assuming it will be on their own - I don't think the UK has the militray resources or political will to go to war in Iran.


The New York Times today prints a large photograph of a group of American troops with the caption underneath: "Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division boarded a plane yesterday in North Carolina. About 3,300 are to be sent to Kuwait by the end of the week."

Another ominous development is reported below:

Second U.S. carrier group to deploy to Gulf: sources
By Kristin Roberts Wed Jan 3, 4:40 PM ET
Reuters

The Pentagon will send a second aircraft carrier and its escort ships to the Gulf, defense officials said on Wednesday, as a warning to Syria and Iran and to give commanders more flexibility in the region.
Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Bremerton, Washington-based USS John C. Stennis strike group would deploy this month. It will put 5,000 more U.S. sailors in the region, bringing the total to 16,000.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier group entered the Gulf in December.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment, saying the Defense Department would not discuss future deployments or ship movements. But military analysts said the move was intended to demonstrate U.S. resolve in the face of acts by Iran and Syria that it sees as provocative, such as Tehran's pursuit of its nuclear program.
The Stennis had been scheduled to deploy to the Pacific region. But the Pentagon agreed instead to send the carrier group to the Gulf after a request from U.S. Central Command, the military command responsible for Middle East operations.
Senior defense officials have said that request was aimed at increasing Central Command's flexibility in a variety of operations and providing deterrence in the region.
INCREASED U.S. PRESENCE
Washington has locked horns with Tehran over the Iranian nuclear program. American defense officials also regularly charge Iran and Syria with fanning sectarian violence in Iraq and contributing to the deteriorating situation there by providing arms and technologies.
The second carrier, while adding relatively few service members to the region, is valuable as a symbol of America's increased presence in the Gulf, military analysts said.
Longer term, however, the Bush administration must decide if it will keep two carrier groups in the Gulf indefinitely.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates previously said the increased American presence in the Gulf was a message to the region as a whole and not a response to any specific action by Iran.
"I think the message that we are sending to everyone, not just Iran, is that the United States is an enduring presence in this part of the world," Gates told reporters on a December visit to Baghdad. "We will be here for a long time and everybody needs to remember that -- both our friends and those who might consider themselves our adversaries."

Go to the top of the page


Mark Stapleton
Super Member


QUOTE(Douglas Caddy @ Jan 4 2007, 05:27 PM) *
QUOTE(Dave Greer @ Jan 2 2007, 10:10 AM) *
Defense Secretary Robert Gates previously said the increased American presence in the Gulf was a message to the region as a whole and not a response to any specific action by Iran.
"I think the message that we are sending to everyone, not just Iran, is that the United States is an enduring presence in this part of the world," Gates told reporters on a December visit to Baghdad. "We will be here for a long time and everybody needs to remember that -- both our friends and those who might consider themselves our adversaries."



Mark Stapleton
Super Member


QUOTE(Douglas Caddy @ Jan 4 2007, 05:27 PM) *
QUOTE(Dave Greer @ Jan 2 2007, 10:10 AM) *
I couldn't believe that the US and UK Governments would be stupid enough to invade Iraq - sadly I was proved wrong.

I don't believe that the US is stupid enough to invade Iran - I hope I'm not proved wrong again. If they do go ahead (and heaven help us all if that's the case), then I'm assuming it will be on their own - I don't think the UK has the militray resources or political will to go to war in Iran.


The New York Times today prints a large photograph of a group of American troops with the caption underneath: "Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division boarded a plane yesterday in North Carolina. About 3,300 are to be sent to Kuwait by the end of the week."

Another ominous development is reported below:

Second U.S. carrier group to deploy to Gulf: sources
By Kristin Roberts Wed Jan 3, 4:40 PM ET
Reuters

The Pentagon will send a second aircraft carrier and its escort ships to the Gulf, defense officials said on Wednesday, as a warning to Syria and Iran and to give commanders more flexibility in the region.
Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Bremerton, Washington-based USS John C. Stennis strike group would deploy this month. It will put 5,000 more U.S. sailors in the region, bringing the total to 16,000.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier group entered the Gulf in December.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment, saying the Defense Department would not discuss future deployments or ship movements. But military analysts said the move was intended to demonstrate U.S. resolve in the face of acts by Iran and Syria that it sees as provocative, such as Tehran's pursuit of its nuclear program.
The Stennis had been scheduled to deploy to the Pacific region. But the Pentagon agreed instead to send the carrier group to the Gulf after a request from U.S. Central Command, the military command responsible for Middle East operations.
Senior defense officials have said that request was aimed at increasing Central Command's flexibility in a variety of operations and providing deterrence in the region.
INCREASED U.S. PRESENCE
Washington has locked horns with Tehran over the Iranian nuclear program. American defense officials also regularly charge Iran and Syria with fanning sectarian violence in Iraq and contributing to the deteriorating situation there by providing arms and technologies.
The second carrier, while adding relatively few service members to the region, is valuable as a symbol of America's increased presence in the Gulf, military analysts said.
Longer term, however, the Bush administration must decide if it will keep two carrier groups in the Gulf indefinitely.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates previously said the increased American presence in the Gulf was a message to the region as a whole and not a response to any specific action by Iran.
"I think the message that we are sending to everyone, not just Iran, is that the United States is an enduring presence in this part of the world," Gates told reporters on a December visit to Baghdad. "We will be here for a long time and everybody needs to remember that -- both our friends and those who might consider themselves our adversaries."


That's terrible news.

The US wants the oil so bad they are willing to risk a conflict to get it.

Two years until the next US election is too long.
Go to the top of the page


Dave Greer
Experienced Member



It's definitely getting more and more depressing.

Heard on a local radio news bulletin a couple of days ago, that plans are afoot to send up to 40,000 (?- unsure of figure as I was driving at the time, reception not good!) more US troops to Iraq, not to train the locally recruited security forces, but to actively seek out and disarm the militiamen who are helping destabilise the country.

Which ominously ties in with the prediction of more troops being sent to the region as a pre-cursor to an Iranian invasion...

-----
Here's an article sent in by Reader Dot Calm:

Future Of Iraq: The spoils Of War

The Independent

By Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson & Tim Webb

07 January 2007
Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.

The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.

The huge potential prizes for Western firms will give ammunition to critics who say the Iraq war was fought for oil. They point to statements such as one from Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said in 1999, while he was still chief executive of the oil services company Halliburton, that the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from?... The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.

Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise. But it will operate through "production-sharing agreements" (or PSAs) which are highly unusual in the Middle East, where the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's two largest producers, is state controlled.

Opponents say Iraq, where oil accounts for 95 per cent of the economy, is being forced to surrender an unacceptable degree of sovereignty.

Proposing the parliamentary motion for war in 2003, Tony Blair denied the "false claim" that "we want to seize" Iraq's oil revenues. He said the money should be put into a trust fund, run by the UN, for the Iraqis, but the idea came to nothing. The same year Colin Powell, then Secretary of State, said: "It cost a great deal of money to prosecute this war. But the oil of the Iraqi people belongs to the Iraqi people; it is their wealth, it will be used for their benefit. So we did not do it for oil."

Supporters say the provision allowing oil companies to take up to 75 per cent of the profits will last until they have recouped initial drilling costs. After that, they would collect about 20 per cent of all profits, according to industry sources in Iraq. But that is twice the industry average for such deals.

Greg Muttitt, a researcher for Platform, a human rights and environmental group which monitors the oil industry, said Iraq was being asked to pay an enormous price over the next 30 years for its present instability. "They would lose out massively," he said, "because they don't have the capacity at the moment to strike a good deal."

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih, who chairs the country's oil committee, is expected to unveil the legislation as early as today. "It is a redrawing of the whole Iraqi oil industry [to] a modern standard," said Khaled Salih, spokesman for the Kurdish Regional Government, a party to the negotiations. The Iraqi government hopes to have the law on the books by March.

Several major oil companies are said to have sent teams into the country in recent months to lobby for deals ahead of the law, though the big names are considered unlikely to invest until the violence in Iraq abates.

James Paul, executive director at the Global Policy Forum, the international government watchdog, said: "It is not an exaggeration to say that the overwhelming majority of the population would be opposed to this. To do it anyway, with minimal discussion within the [Iraqi] parliament is really just pouring more oil on the fire."

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman and a former chief economist at Shell, said it was crucial that any deal would guarantee funds for rebuilding Iraq. "It is absolutely vital that the revenue from the oil industry goes into Iraqi development and is seen to do so," he said. "Although it does make sense to collaborate with foreign investors, it is very important the terms are seen to be fair."


How the West will profit from Iraq's most precious commodity

So was this what the Iraq war was fought for, after all? As the number of US soldiers killed since the invasion rises past the 3,000 mark, and President George Bush gambles on sending in up to 30,000 more troops, The Independent on Sunday has learnt that the Iraqi government is about to push through a law giving Western oil companies the right to exploit the country's massive oil reserves.

And Iraq's oil reserves, the third largest in the world, with an estimated 115 billion barrels waiting to be extracted, are a prize worth having. As Vice-President Dick Cheney noted in 1999, when he was still running Halliburton, an oil services company, the Middle East is the key to preventing the world running out of oil.

Now, unnoticed by most amid the furore over civil war in Iraq and the hanging of Saddam Hussein, the new oil law has quietly been going through several drafts, and is now on the point of being presented to the cabinet and then the parliament in Baghdad. Its provisions are a radical departure from the norm for developing countries: under a system known as "production-sharing agreements", or PSAs, oil majors such as BP and Shell in Britain, and Exxon and Chevron in the US, would be able to sign deals of up to 30 years to extract Iraq's oil.

PSAs allow a country to retain legal ownership of its oil, but gives a share of profits to the international companies that invest in infrastructure and operation of the wells, pipelines and refineries. Their introduction would be a first for a major Middle Eastern oil producer. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's number one and two oil exporters, both tightly control their industries through state-owned companies with no appreciable foreign collaboration, as do most members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Opec.

Critics fear that given Iraq's weak bargaining position, it could get locked in now to deals on bad terms for decades to come. "Iraq would end up with the worst possible outcome," said Greg Muttitt of Platform, a human rights and environmental group that monitors the oil industry. He said the new legislation was drafted with the assistance of BearingPoint, an American consultancy firm hired by the US government, which had a representative working in the American embassy in Baghdad for several months.

"Three outside groups have had far more opportunity to scrutinise this legislation than most Iraqis," said Mr Muttitt. "The draft went to the US government and major oil companies in July, and to the International Monetary Fund in September. Last month I met a group of 20 Iraqi MPs in Jordan, and I asked them how many had seen the legislation. Only one had."

Britain and the US have always hotly denied that the war was fought for oil. On 18 March 2003, with the invasion imminent, Tony Blair proposed the House of Commons motion to back the war. "The oil revenues, which people falsely claim that we want to seize, should be put in a trust fund for the Iraqi people administered through the UN," he said.

"The United Kingdom should seek a new Security Council Resolution that would affirm... the use of all oil revenues for the benefit of the Iraqi people."

That suggestion came to nothing. In May 2003, just after President Bush declared major combat operations at an end, under a banner boasting "Mission Accomplished", Britain co-sponsored a resolution in the Security Council which gave the US and UK control over Iraq's oil revenues. Far from "all oil revenues" being used for the Iraqi people, Resolution 1483 continued to make deductions from Iraq's oil earnings to pay compensation for the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

That exception aside, however, the often-stated aim of the US and Britain was that Iraq's oil money would be used to pay for reconstruction. In July 2003, for example, Colin Powell, then Secretary of State, insisted: "We have not taken one drop of Iraqi oil for US purposes, or for coalition purposes. Quite the contrary... It cost a great deal of money to prosecute this war. But the oil of the Iraqi people belongs to the Iraqi people; it is their wealth, it will be used for their benefit. So we did not do it for oil."

Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Defense Secretary at the time of the war and now head of the World Bank, told Congress: "We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."

But this optimism has proved unjustified. Since the invasion, Iraqi oil production has dropped off dramatically. The country is now producing about two million barrels per day. That is down from a pre-war peak of 3.5 million barrels. Not only is Iraq's whole oil infrastructure creaking under the effects of years of sanctions, insurgents have constantly attacked pipelines, so that the only steady flow of exports is through the Shia-dominated south of the country.

Worsening sectarian violence and gangsterism have driven most of the educated élite out of the country for safety, depriving the oil industry of the Iraqi experts and administrators it desperately needs.

And even the present stunted operation is rife with corruption and smuggling. The Oil Ministry's inspector-general recently reported that a tanker driver who paid $500 in bribes to police patrols to take oil over the western or northern border would still make a profit on the shipment of $8,400.

"In the present state, it would be crazy to pump in more money, just to be stolen," said Greg Muttitt. "It's another reason not to bring in $20bn of foreign money now."

Before the war, Mr Bush endorsed claims that Iraq's oil would pay for reconstruction. But the shortage of revenues afterwards has silenced him on this point. More recently he has argued that oil should be used as a means to unify the country, "so the people have faith in central government", as he put it last summer.

But in a country more dependent than almost any other on oil - it accounts for 70 per cent of the economy - control of the assets has proved a recipe for endless wrangling. Most of the oil reserves are in areas controlled by the Kurds and Shias, heightening the fears of the Sunnis that their loss of power with the fall of Saddam is about to be compounded by economic deprivation.

The Kurds in particular have been eager to press ahead, and even signed some small PSA deals on their own last year, setting off a struggle with Baghdad. These issues now appear to have been resolved, however: a revenue-sharing agreement based on population was reached some months ago, and sources have told the IoS that regional oil companies will be set up to handle the PSA deals envisaged by the new law.

The Independent on Sunday has obtained a copy of an early draft which was circulated to oil companies in July. It is understood there have been no significant changes made in the final draft. The terms outlined to govern future PSAs are generous: according to the draft, they could be fixed for at least 30 years. The revelation will raise Iraqi fears that oil companies will be able to exploit its weak state by securing favourable terms that cannot be changed in future.

Iraq's sovereign right to manage its own natural resources could also be threatened by the provision in the draft that any disputes with a foreign company must ultimately be settled by international, rather than Iraqi, arbitration.

In the July draft obtained by The Independent on Sunday, legislators recognise the controversy over this, annotating the relevant paragraph with the note, "Some countries do not accept arbitration between a commercial enterprise and themselves on the basis of sovereignty of the state."

It is not clear whether this clause has been retained in the final draft.

Under the chapter entitled "Fiscal Regime", the draft spells out that foreign companies have no restrictions on taking their profits out of the country, and are not subject to any tax when doing this.

"A Foreign Person may repatriate its exports proceeds [in accordance with the foreign exchange regulations in force at the time]." Shares in oil projects can also be sold to other foreign companies: "It may freely transfer shares pertaining to any non-Iraqi partners." The final draft outlines general terms for production sharing agreements, including a standard 12.5 per cent royalty tax for companies.

It is also understood that once companies have recouped their costs from developing the oil field, they are allowed to keep 20 per cent of the profits, with the rest going to the government. According to analysts and oil company executives, this is because Iraq is so dangerous, but Dr Muhammad-Ali Zainy, a senior economist at the Centre for Global Energy Studies, said: "Twenty per cent of the profits in a production sharing agreement, once all the costs have been recouped, is a large amount." In more stable countries, 10 per cent would be the norm.

While the costs are being recovered, companies will be able to recoup 60 to 70 per cent of revenue; 40 per cent is more usual. David Horgan, managing director of Petrel Resources, an Aim-listed oil company focused on Iraq, said: "They are reasonable rates of return, and take account of the bad security situation in Iraq. The government needs people, technology and capital to develop its oil reserves. It has got to come up with terms which are good enough to attract companies. The major companies tend to be conservative."

Dr Zainy, an Iraqi who has recently visited the country, said: "It's very dangerous ... although the security situation is far better in the north." Even taking that into account, however, he believed that "for a company to take 20 per cent of the profits in a production sharing agreement once all the costs have been recouped is large".

He pointed to the example of Total, which agreed terms with Saddam Hussein before the second Iraq war to develop a huge field. Although the contract was never signed, the French company would only have kept 10 per cent of the profits once the company had recovered its costs.

And while the company was recovering its costs, it is understood it agreed to take only 40 per cent of the profits, the Iraqi government receiving the rest.

Production sharing agreements of more than 30 years are unusual, and more commonly used for challenging regions like the Amazon where it can take up to a decade to start production. Iraq, in contrast, is one of the cheapest and easiest places in the world to drill for and produce oil. Many fields have already been discovered, and are waiting to be developed.

Analysts estimate that despite the size of Iraq's reserves - the third largest in the world - only 2,300 wells have been drilled in total, fewer than in the North Sea.

Confirmation of the generous terms - widely feared by international non government organisations and Iraqis alike - have prompted some to draw parallels with the production-sharing agreements Russia signed in the 1990s, when it was bankrupt and in chaos.

At the time Shell was able to sign very favourable terms to develop oil and gas reserves off the coast of Sakhalin island in the far east of Russia. But at the end of last year, after months of thinly veiled threats from the environment regulator, the Anglo-Dutch company was forced to give Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom a share in the project.

Although most other oil experts endorsed the view that PSAs would be needed to kick-start exports from Iraq, Mr Muttitt disagreed. "The most commonly mentioned target has been for Iraq to increase production to 6 million barrels a day by 2015 or so," he said. "Iraq has estimated that it would need $20bn to $25bn of investment over the next five or six years, roughly $4bn to $5bn a year. But even last year, according to reports, the Oil Ministry had between $3bn and $4bn it couldn't invest. The shortfall is around $1bn a year, and that could easily be made up if the security situation improved.

"PSAs have a cost in sovereignty and future revenues. It is not true at all that this is the only way to do it." Technical services agreements, of the type common in countries which have a state-run oil corporation, would be all that was necessary.

James Paul of Global Policy Forum, another advocacy group, said: "The US and the UK have been pressing hard on this. It's pretty clear that this is one of their main goals in Iraq." The Iraqi authorities, he said, were "a government under occupation, and it is highly influenced by that. The US has a lot of leverage... Iraq is in no condition right now to go ahead and do this."

Mr Paul added: "It is relatively easy to get the oil in Iraq. It is nowhere near as complicated as the North Sea. There are super giant fields that are completely mapped, [and] there is absolutely no exploration cost and no risk. So the argument that these agreements are needed to hedge risk is specious."

One point on which all agree, however, is that only small, maverick oil companies are likely to risk any activity in Iraq in the foreseeable future. "Production over the next year in Iraq is probably going to fall rather than go up," said Kevin Norrish, an oil analyst from Barclays. "The whole thing is held together by a shoestring; it's desperate."

An oil industry executive agreed, saying: "All the majors will be in Iraq, but they won't start work for years. Even Lukoil [of Russia], the Chinese and Total [of France] are not in a rush to endanger themselves. It's now very hard for US and allied companies because of the disastrous war."

Mr Muttitt echoed warnings that unfavourable deals done now could unravel a few years down the line, just when Iraq might become peaceful enough for development of its oil resources to become attractive. The seeds could be sown for a future struggle over natural resources which has led to decades of suspicion of Western motives in countries such as Iran.

Iraqi trade union leaders who met recently in Jordan suggested that the legislation would cause uproar once its terms became known among ordinary Iraqis.

"The Iraqi people refuse to allow the future of their oil to be decided behind closed doors," their statement said. "The occupier seeks and wishes to secure... energy resources at a time when the Iraqi people are seeking to determine their own future, while still under conditions of occupation."

The resentment implied in their words is ominous, and not only for oil company executives in London or Houston. The perception that Iraq's wealth is being carved up among foreigners can only add further fuel to the flames of the insurgency, defeating the purpose of sending more American troops to a country already described in a US intelligence report as a cause célèbre for terrorism.

America protects its fuel supplies - and contracts

Despite US and British denials that oil was a war aim, American troops were detailed to secure oil facilities as they fought their way to Baghdad in 2003. And while former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld shrugged off the orgy of looting after the fall of Saddam's statue in Baghdad, the Oil Ministry - alone of all the seats of power in the Iraqi capital - was under American guard.

Halliburton, the firm that Dick Cheney used to run, was among US-based multinationals that won most of the reconstruction deals - one of its workers is pictured, tackling an oil fire. British firms won some contracts, mainly in security. But constant violence has crippled rebuilding operations. Bechtel, another US giant, has pulled out, saying it could not make a profit on work in Iraq.

In just 40 pages, Iraq is locked into sharing its oil with foreign investors for the next 30 years

A 40-page document leaked to the 'IoS' sets out the legal framework for the Iraqi government to sign production- sharing agreement contracts with foreign companies to develop its vast oil reserves.

The paper lays the groundwork for profit-sharing partnerships between the Iraqi government and international oil companies. It also lays out the basis for co-operation between Iraq's federal government and its regional authorities to develop oil fields.

The document adds that oil companies will enjoy contracts to extract Iraqi oil for up to 30 years, and stresses that Iraq needs foreign investment for the "quick and substantial funding of reconstruction and modernisation projects".

It concludes that the proposed hydrocarbon law is of "great importance to the whole nation as well as to all investors in the sector" and that the proceeds from foreign investment in Iraq's oilfields would, in the long term, decrease dependence on oil and gas revenues.

The role of oil in Iraq's fortunes

Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves - 10 per cent of the world total. There are 71 discovered oilfields, of which only 24 have been developed. Oil accounts for 70 per cent of Iraq's GDP and 95 per cent of government revenue. Iraq's oil would be recovered under a production sharing agreement (PSA) with the private sector. These are used in only 12 per cent of world oil reserves and apply in none of the other major Middle Eastern oil-producing countries. In some countries such as Russia, where they were signed at a time of political upheaval, politicians are now regretting them.

The $50bn bonanza for US companies piecing a broken Iraq together

The task of rebuilding a shattered Iraq has gone mainly to US companies.

As well as contractors to restore the infrastructure, such as its water, electricity and gas networks, a huge number of companies have found lucrative work supporting the ongoing coalition military presence in the country. Other companies have won contracts to restore Iraq's media; its schools and hospitals; its financial services industry; and, of course, its oil industry.

In May 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), part of the US Department of Defence, created the Project Management Office in Baghdad to oversee Iraq's reconstruction.

In June 2004 the CPA was dissolved and the Iraqi interim government took power. But the US maintained its grip on allocating contracts to private companies. The management of reconstruction projects was transferred to the Iraq Reconstruction and Management Office, a division of the US Department of State, and the Project and Contracting Office, in the Department of Defence.

The largest beneficiary of reconstruction work in Iraq has been KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root), a division of US giant Halliburton, which to date has secured contracts in Iraq worth $13bn (£7bn), including an uncontested $7bn contract to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure. Other companies benefiting from Iraq contracts include Bechtel, the giant US conglomerate, BearingPoint, the consultant group that advised on the drawing up of Iraq's new oil legislation, and General Electric. According to the US-based Centre for Public Integrity, 150-plus US companies have won contracts in Iraq worth over $50bn.

30,000 Number of Kellogg, Brown and Root employees in Iraq.

36 The number of interrogators employed by Caci, a US company, that have worked in the Abu Ghraib prison since August 2003.

$12.1bn UN's estimate of the cost of rebuilding Iraq's electricity network.

$2 trillion Estimated cost of the Iraq war to the US, according to the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.


© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited

-----
Dot Calm also remarks ...

did you realize the dems didn't get
rebuttal time on 2 of the prime time
stations after a-h's speech last nite?...

donchu feel like you live in the soviet
union??

-----
From our information clearinghouse

These are items we receive from the countless mailing lists to which The Scallion collectively subscribes. They are worth the effort of at least a good skim.

-----
From AlterNet

2007 -- Another Year in Iraq; What Are We Going to Do?
By Don Hazen, AlterNet
A New Year, Saddam Hussein is dead, but nothing has changed in Iraq. It is time to take it up another notch to end the brutal occupation and bring the troops home.

Toxic Teflon: Compounds from Household Products Found in Human Blood
By Stan Cox, AlterNet
Evidence is piling up that emissions from the production of synthetic compounds in non-stick cookware, cleaning products, and a host of other common products may cause cancer and other health problems.

Global Warming is Here. Now What?
By Don Monkerud, Register-Pajaronian
Changing the course of global warming could take a major upheaval to affect public policy -- a Pearl Harbor-type event in the environment.

Army Attempts to Redefine Free Speech
By Sarah Olson, Editor & Publisher
When does political speech become a crime punishable by imprisonment? When the Army doesn't like what it hears. One journalist shares the battle she and her source face against censorship.

Sacrificing Dignity for Attention: How Underage Women Have Become Club Commodities
By Liz Funk, Women's eNews
Bars and clubs often pay young, pretty women to attract more business. For owners, that means a boost in image and revenue. For women, it means an increased risk of harassment, or even rape.

Silencing Saddam
By Robert Scheer, AlterNet
Did Saddam die because he knew too much about the United States' real role in Iraq?

Hello, 2007: New Year's Resolutions I'd Like to Hear
By Arianna Huffington, AlterNet
This year's batch of resolutions I'd like to hear assorted public figures make and keep.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web

Bush handed Saddam to sectarian lynch mob [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Managed to worsen Civil War ...

What a political opposition looks like
By Joshua Holland
Joshua Holland: A little insight for our Dem friends.

-----
Pig Hearts for Humans: What the Public Needs to Know About Biotech Risks
By Heather Gehlert, AlterNet
In her new book, Intervention, former NY Times technology columnist Denise Caruso talks about the risks of life on a genetically engineered planet.

A 10-Step Program For Democrats in 2007
By Jonathan Tasini, TomPaine.com
Let's start off the new year with some real resolutions like universal health care and a nationwide free wireless network.

The Aesthetics of Execution
By Am Johal, AlterNet
Saddam was executed partially for the violation of human rights, but also for not being a doormat to American empire. Was hanging him just?

Not Afraid of the F-Word: A Feminist in Command
By Emily Amick, Campus Progress
Feminist Linda Hirshman on women in the workplace, why men should be forced to take parental leave, and the ethics of abortion up until birth.

Meatpacking Laborers Victimized
By David Bacon, The American Prospect
Undocumented immigrants were recently arrested for securing jobs at meatpacking plants by using Social Security numbers that didn't belong to them. Their crime: paying for someone else's retirement.

Getting back to the future?
By Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
Dr. Oxy Moron sheds some light on how to make predictions for the new year in such uncertain times.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web

Edwards comes out swinging [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
The "McCain Doctrine" & 'What planet is [Bush] living on?'

Democrats to ignore GOP for first 100 hours
By Melissa McEwan
Payback's a bitch.

Is your local paper listening to soldiers dissent?
By Philip Barron
Only 1 of 3 active-duty soldiers approves of Bush's handling of Iraq -- but don't look to your local newspaper to tell you that.

Lessons from the ghost of liberal past ...
By David Sirota
One of history's most important -- and least remembered -- political organizers.

-----
America's Holy Warriors
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig
The radical Christian Right is coming dangerously close to its goal of taking over the country's military and law enforcement.

Feminist Blogs Respond to Club Culture and Rape Article
By Jessica Valenti, Evan Derkacz, AlterNet
Tuesday's article on young women, club culture and rape has the feminist blog world hopping mad.

Readers Write: Women As Club Commodities
By Heather Gehlert, AlterNet
AlterNet readers sound off about risks young women face in bars and nightclubs, the "she-asked-for-it" mentality, and who, if anyone, is a victim.

The Real Cost of the Iraq War: 50,000 U.S. Casualties
By Michael Munk, AlterNet
Death is not the only measure of loss in Iraq. What about all of the lost limbs, bloodshed and other casualties that aren't being reported?

Intelligent Growth: A Vision for a New Low-Energy Economy
By Stephan Harding, AlterNet
Continuing with standard economic growth will not halt the unfolding environmental crisis. But employing "tradable energy quotas" to ration the use of fossil fuels just might.

10% of Active Journalists in Iraq Were Killed in 2006
By Mohammed A. Salih, IPS News
After 64 journalists were killed in Iraq in 2006, Reporters Without Borders has described the country as "the world's most dangerous" for the media.

A 'Surge' to Save Bush's Legacy
By Robert Parry, Consortium News
With 3,000 American soldiers already dead along with possibly a half million or more Iraqis, Bush is determined to escalate the war in the Middle East into a pitched battle for his presidential legacy.

The Forbidden Racial Zone
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, AlterNet
Believe it or not, in America, in 2007, there's a forbidden zone where blacks risk death if they enter.

Saddam: A Monster of Our Creation
By Robert Scheer, AlterNet
The hanging of Saddam Hussein was an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of President Bush's claim it was "an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy."

Olbermann: Special Comment on Sacrifice of War [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Sacrifice, Mr. Bush? No, sir, this is not "sacrifice." This has now become "human sacrifice."

-----
What Al Gore Hasn't Told You About Global Warming
By David Morris, AlterNet
George Monbiot's new book Heat picks up where Al Gore left off on global warming, offering real solutions without sugar-coating the large personal sacrifices they will require.

Launching the 2008 Presidential Campaign with Ethnic Cleansing in Iraq
By Tom Hayden, HuffingtonPost.com
How the escalation in Iraq is both a campaign move and a way to force Sunnis out of Baghdad and into second-class status.

Pelosi: What Difference Will a Woman Make?
By Gloria Feldt, Women's Media Center
If Pelosi is as smart as we think she is, she will spend less time cultivating "Blue Dog" Democrats and recognize fellow progressive women as her greatest asset.

Mothers' Wombs Could Provide Stem Cells Without Ethical Controversy
By Alok Jha, The Guardian
A new process for harvesting stem cells could satisfy anti-abortion campaigners because it does not require using embryos.

Can We Create A World Without Waste?
By Andi McDaniel, Concious Choice
A new movement is working to make manufacturers more accountable by pushing them to stop producing anything that can't be resold, recycled or reused.

Destabilizing the Horn: American-Backed Warlords Invade Somalia
By Salim Lone, TomPaine.com
The Bush administration, undeterred by the horrors and setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, has opened another battlefront in this oil-rich quarter of the Muslim world.

Bush's New Intel Chief Could Overhype Danger of Iran
By Larisa Alexandrovna, Raw Story
Officials believe the White House chose new Intelligence chief in effort to darken Iran Intelligence Estimate, and broaden domestic surveillance.

Profiting from the Prophets
By Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
The death anniversary of a great spiritual leader provides insight into the distinction between "good" and "evil" and what passes for "religious" today.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web

Are We Feeling Global Warming? [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
ExxonMobil, 'one of the great corporate crimes of the late 20th and the early 21st century'...

100,000 mercenaries, the forgotten "Surge"
By Barry Lando
Nobody's got it right on the number already there...

Weird Coalitions -- Or, How to Make Bipartisanship Work for Us
By David Sirota
Sometimes embracing your traditional enemies can build the strongest coalitions of all.

-----
Democrats Draw Battle Lines Against Bush's Surge
By Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet
Key Democrats including Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha and Ted Kennedy have spoken out against increased defense spending and troop escalation. Will they back up their words with actions?

Digital Media: The Next Frontier for Media Reform
By Jeffrey Chester, AlterNet
The future of the progressive movement depends on our ability to harness the power of digital media.

New Hope For a Woman's Right to Choose
By Allison Stevens, Women's eNews
The Hyde Amendment has prevented federal funding of abortion services to low-income women for three decades. Now that its namesake has left Congress, pro-choicers are campaigning to dismantle it.

Readers Write: Atheist Sam Harris on Torture and Faith
By Tara Lohan, AlterNet
AlterNet readers give their views about the bestselling author of "End of Faith" and the meaning behind some of his more controversial ideas.

100-Mile Diet: Your Body Will Thank You
By Jeff Nield, The Tyee
The increasingly popular ecological approach of eating food that was grown near where you live is also very good for you.

Kennedy Says Escalation is Not the Answer
By Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, AlterNet
In a rousing speech today the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts introduced legislation to prevent Bush from escalating troop levels in Iraq.

Former Iraqi Official Offers Blueprint for Peace
By Ali Allawi, The Independent UK
Iraq's former defense minister details what it would take to stabilize the country -- a plan that has gotten much attention in Europe, but little notice in the U.S.

Science Fiction Made Me Do It
By Annalee Newitz, AlterNet
Ruminations on what makes a scientific project too ridiculous to get funded.

The Headless Horseman of the Apocalypse
By Norman Solomon, AlterNet
We can blame Bush all we want -- and he does hold the reins right now -- but his main enablers these days are the fastidious public servants in Congress.

'L-Word' Does Fake Abortion Clinics [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
'Kicking anti-choice ass'

Is the CIA counterfeiting dollars and blaming it on North Korea?
By Joshua Holland
And if so, what operations are they funding outside of the view of Congress?

CIA blocking Duke Cunningham investigation
By Lindsay Beyerstein
Spy agency still spooked by Hookergate scandal.

The Iraq War Is Not Michael Jordan
By David Sirota
We can hope to stop -- and at least contain -- the Iraq mess President Bush has gotten us into. In fact, Kennedy has just gone and done it...

-----
Vietnam All Over Again
By Bobby Muller, AlterNet
A well-known leader of Vietnam vets, paralyzed in combat, describes the frighteningly familiar path that is leading us into a widening conflict.

Does Media Reform Have a Chance in the Digital Age?
By Don Hazen, AlterNet
On the eve of the Media Reform Conference in Memphis, a new book by Jeffrey Chester documents the corporate media's behind-the-scenes efforts to transform our online media system into a powerful marketing machine. Media reformers and elected officials, please pay attention.

Bush's Speech Full of Reality-Based Desperation
By David Corn, TheNation.com
The president acknowledged that Iraq isn't the model of democracy and progress he's spent the past few years claiming it was, but his arrogance is leading his decision to escalate the occupation.

Why Fixing the Media System Should Be on the Feminist Agenda
By Jennifer L. Pozner, Women in Media & News
If we truly care about women's rights and social justice, we must simply roll up our sleeves and tackle corporate media's failings, while strengthening independent media.

Al Qaeda's Godfather
By Rolf Potts, The Believer
The inspiration behind much of today's violent jihadi culture was a shockingly dopey tourist.

Queens of the Hill: Women Move to Leadership Positions in Congress
By Clara Bingham, Washington Monthly
Women will not just be represented in the new Congress -- to a remarkable extent, they will be running the place.

Bush's Speech Is a Sad Attempt to Salvage His Name
By Robert Scheer, Truthdig
Bush's talk of escalating the war is nothing more than a desperate strategy for salvaging what remains of his reign.

Waiter, There's a Surge in My Soup
By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
Bush's announced 'surge' is one of the more outrageous media deceptions in the history of an Iraq war that has been rife with them.

McCain: Iraq was 'easy' [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Senator's New Doctrine: nothing after Mission Accomplished.

Action alert: Shut down Guantanamo and stop troop escalation
By Deanna Zandt
Help Witness Against Torture, UFPJ, MoveOn and more end the torture and violence carried out in your name.

Updated: Look! Up in the sky! It's an 'escalation'! It's a 'surge'! It's a...
By Evan Derkacz
$6.5 billion & 21,500 troop 'Gentle uptick in carbon-based resources'...

-----
Sam Harris's Faith in Eastern Spirituality and Muslim Torture
By John Gorenfeld, AlterNet
The best-selling author of "The End of Faith" may argue against Christianity, but he is also supportive of phenomena such as reincarnation and ESP, and calls for "compassionately killing" terrorist suspects from the "Muslim hordes."

Our Meaningless 'Sacrifice' in Iraq Must Stop
By Keith Olbermann, Countdown
President Bush may not be very good at dealing with reality, but he is still gifted at letting American troops be killed, and then turning their deaths to his own political advantage.

The Next Stage of Capitalism
By David Morris, AlterNet
In his new book Capitalism 3.0, Peter Barnes writes that the costs of our current capitalist system are clear: inequality, stressful lives and a dwindling financial safety net. But how do we revise such a complex system?

For Female Soldiers, Sexual Assault Remains a Danger
By Celina R. De Leon, AlterNet
According to the Pentagon, there were 2,374 reported cases of sexual assault against women in uniform over the past year. But as the saga of military police officer Suzanne Swift shows, numbers alone don't tell the whole story.

MoveOn's Amazing Election Tool
By Adam Doster, In These Times
MoveOn.org's Web-based phone-banking program Call for Change enabled volunteers to make more than 7 million calls leading up to the November elections -- and may have flipped a lot of races for the Dems.

AWOL Soldiers Get Cold Shoulder from Canada
By Mary Ambrose, New America Media
Canada's official reception to war-resisting American soldiers resisting the Iraq war has been frosty.

A Historic Moment took place in America Today [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Nancy Pelosi, the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in American history...

Confused about global warming? Thank ExxonMobil
By Tara Lohan
The petro giant was nabbed again in their plot to misinform the American people and muddy the scientific waters.

Are you pro-union? You're fired!
By Joshua Holland
From the "what you already knew but couldn't put a number to" files ...

-----
Bush and the Neocon's 'Surge' to Nowhere
By Robert Dreyfuss, Tomdispatch.com
Bush is still the Christian-crusader President, still lodged inside a bubble universe filled with neocon advisors -- and that means more troops in Iraq, even if the idea doesn't make a lick of sense.

'Precocious Puberty' Is on the Rise
By Kim Ridley, Ode
Hormone-mimicking chemicals found in food, water, and many consumer goods may well be the cause of why children as young as eight are showing signs of sexual development.

Government Documents Are Declassified in Name Only
By Jon Wiener, LA Times
Starting in the new year, the government declassified 270 million pages of FBI files -- but if you tried to access them, you'd have been told that none of them are available, and won't be, maybe for years.

The Other Rocky: Salt Lakes City's Visionary Mayor
By Sasha Abramsky, The Nation
Rocky Anderson has done what few mayors would dare in Utah: He's participated in anti-Bush rallies, implemented the Kyoto Protocols, restructured the criminal justice system, and supported gay rights. But how far will our political system really allow a man of his caliber to rise?

Labor Rights Are Not Optional
By Susan Ariel Aaronson, TomPaine.com
The U.S. should not enforce labor laws only for people living within its borders, which is what the Bush Administration has been doing to save money. Will the new Congress correct these costly mistakes?
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web

MoveOn protests McCain/Lieberman troop surge [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Tom Matzzie: If the president listens to them that's like a heroin addict going back to the needle...

Daily Show: Left Behind Video Game [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Violent Christian video game solves conundrum of how to capture the kids (other than literally)...

Conspiracy Fact: lowest gas prices of 2006 during election week
By Joshua Holland
Just following up on a loose end.

-----
Will Bush Provoke a Constitutional Crisis?
By Jeremy Brecher, Brendan Smith, AlterNet
The new Democratic Congress will likely subpoena documents that the White House may refuse to hand over -- if that happens, we may witness a struggle that puts our democratic republic on the brink.

Transforming Fear into Power: The Politicization of Child Sexual Abuse
By Ingrid Drake, AlterNet
Politicians trying to gain points are pushing laws to "get tough" on child sexual offenders. But a new movement has a better idea -- work with offenders instead of ostracizing them.

Western Oil Companies a Step Away from Iraq's 'Prize'
By Andrew Murray-Watson, Danny Fortson, Tim Webb, The Independent UK
Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies.

Pelosi Tells Bush to Justify Any Iraq Escalation
By Bob Geiger, AlterNet
New Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made it clear on Sunday that Democrats will likely withhold any funding for the escalation of the Iraq war that George W. Bush is expected to announce in the coming week.

An Agenda for the Democrats' Second Hundred Hours
By Sally Kohn, AlterNet
Who wants publicly financed elections, quality health care, and a public education system that works?
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web

Daily Show: Left Behind Video Game [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Violent Christian video game solves conundrum of how to capture the kids (other than literally)...

Why Mitt Romney's Mormonism ain't like Kennedy's Catholicism
By Jan Frel
While Kennedy was able to promise the public a divided church and state, but Romney intends to be a darling of the religious right, which wants a theocracy. And explaining himself won't help his cause.

Why, oh Y?
By Sarah Posner
Do the "Macho Dems" really spell bad news for Democratic women?

-----
How to Finish off the GOP Machine
By Zachary Roth, Washington Monthly
The Machiavellian case for public financing of elections.

Claiming the Prize: War Escalation Aimed at Securing Iraqi Oil
By Chris Floyd, Information Clearing House
The reason that Bush insists that "victory" is close at hand is because Iraqi ministers are likely to approve a new law opening the door to their oil reserves.

Women's Beauty Routines: Maintenance or Masochism?
By Andrea Bartz, Sirens Magazine
There's a line between working hard to get gorgeous and subjecting yourself to all-out pain. Being swollen, inflamed, and bruised is not pretty.

Tax the Rich, End the War
By Nicholas von Hoffman, The Nation
Congress should levy a 'Victory Over Terror' tax on the superrich which would expire once our troops are safely home.

For Foreigners in America, Growing Old Can Mean Growing Isolated
By Ngoc B. Lam, New America Media
Ngoc B. Lam came to America in 1975 as a refugee and worked as an accountant for more than 20 years. As she gets older, she feels isolated from her Americanized children and grandchildren.

AlterNet article on Iraq's Oil mentioned in House of Representatives [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Joshua Holland's article is a must-read according to Seattle's rep...

Highlights from the Wingnut-in-Chief (with snark!)
By Joshua Holland
Bush: "I didn't do it! It was like that when I found it."

Invasion of Iranian mission a distraction from the distraction ...
By Joshua Holland
Interesting timing.

-----
Ten Ways to Make Hollywood Hate Your Cinematic Masterpiece
By Sheerly Avni, Truthdig
How do you make the best movie of the year -- possibly the decade -- and still get pummeled at the box office by Ben Stiller and a CGI dinosaur? Hollywood's complete obsession with the box office is the answer.

The Nightmare Weaponry of Our Future
By Frida Berrigan, Tomdispatch.com
The Armed Forces can't adequately equip those already in uniform, but the Pentagon is committing itself to massive corporate contracts for new high-tech weapons systems slated to come on-line decades from now.

Bush's Iraq Plan: Goading Iran into War
By Trita Parsi, IPS News
President George W. Bush's address on Iraq Wednesday night was less about Iraq than about its eastern neighbour, Iran.

Bush's Legacy Enshrined for $500 Million?
By Bill Berkowitz, Media Transparency
With an expected half-billion dollar from a handful of megadonors, George W. Bush's 'truest believers' plan the mother of all presidential libraries and conservative think tanks.

A Frank Mother-Son Conversation on Drugs
By Marsha Rosenbaum, John Irwin, AlterNet
One mother shares the advice she offered her son on drugs before he entered high school. Eight years later, as a college graduate, he tells how successful the advice was.


Stand Up Against the "Surge"
By Molly Ivins, AlterNet
We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders and we need to raise hell.

Republican Warns that Bush might Fake pretext to Iran Invasion [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
Doesn't matter if it's us or Israel...

Iranian bloggers defy censorship
By Evan Derkacz
It was never going to happen but the Iranian government tried to do it anyway.

Murtha unveils $$ plan to stop Bush's escalation...
By Evan Derkacz
... Gitmo, Abu Ghraib -- the whole shebang.

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Be Your Own King
By Sean Gonsalves, AlterNet
Behind all the Kumbaya-ism in this federal holiday is a prophetic preacher who talked not just about race, but about war and poverty.

Dems Drive Another Stake into the Conservative Project
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
The Democrats' passage of tough budget rules in Congress mark another step in righting the course of GOP profligacy.

Globalization Has Increased the Wealth Gap
By Terrence McNally, AlterNet
Nobel prize-winning economist Joeseph Stiglitz talks about what's gone wrong with globalization.

'Enemy Combatant' Languishes in a South Carolina Brig
By A.C. Thompson, The Progressive
Three-and-a-half years ago, the Bush Administration effectively disappeared an al-Qaeda suspect, and even the Pentagon's own internal report finds fault with his treatment there.

New Bill Would Help Domestic Violence Victims
By Allison Stevens, Women's eNews
A new bill being drafted by Sen. Biden would create a network of 100,000 legal volunteers to work on behalf of domestic violence victims.
PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web

MLK Jr. Day Essentials [VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
The "Mountaintop," "Beyond Vietnam," and "I Have a Dream" speeches... and Colbert.

MLK Jr. Comic Book
By Evan Derkacz
"The Montgomery Story," a 1956 comic book, details some key events and spiritual underpinnings of the Civil Rights Era.

Dobson Disses McCain [AUDIO/VIDEO]
By Evan Derkacz
I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.

Surging to Baghdad-The Blockbuster Remake
By Barry Lando
George W. Bush has given us a sensational if ghastly remake of a British battlefield classic.

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From Bishop Accountability

January 6, 2007

Dear Friend,

On this date five years ago, an article in the Boston Globe brought the centuries-old abuse crisis in the Catholic church into the Internet age. Read again the powerful Globe article on accused priest John Geoghan, with links added by BishopAccountability.org to original documents from Geoghan's personnel file, including the remarkable exchange between Cardinal Medeiros and Margaret Gallant.
Those documents show that the archdiocese received its first known warning about Geoghan over fifty years ago in 1954. The public learned about him when the mother of three survivors filed the first suit in 1996, and in 2001 Kristen Lombardi wrote a groundbreaking article in the Boston Phoenix.

We are resuming regular emailings of our Monitor newsletter to bring you breaking news, document features like this one on Geoghan, and new postings of diocesan documents from California, Texas, Massachusetts, and elsewhere. We will post over 10,000 pages of diocesan files in the next year. I hope that you'll remain a subscriber to the Monitor by clicking here.

My assurances to you: We will never give or sell your email address to anyone, and we'll fully protect your privacy. At any time, you may choose to stop receiving the Monitor by clicking on the "SafeUnsubscribe" link at the bottom of this email.
Visit BishopAccountability.org

Happy New Year to you, and thank you for your continued caring and interest.

Sincerely,

Terry McKiernan
BishopAccountability.org

email: staff@bishop-accountability.org
phone: 508-479-9304
web: http://www.bishopaccountability.org

-----
From the Center for American Progress

GOOD NEWS

"Togo has become one of few African countries to legalise abortion if the pregnancy is the result of rape or an incestuous relationship."

STATE WATCH

MASSACHUSETTS: The Massachusetts Legislature "yesterday advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: After 200 years, D.C. residents may get a vote in Congress.

ETHICS: States take the lead on ethics reform.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: NBC's Tom Brokaw: Hussein execution "resembled the worst kind of nightmare out of the old American west."

THINK PROGRESS: Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA): Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's (D-MN) election shows we are "vulnerable to infiltration" by those who want another 9/11.

TPM MUCKRAKER: House conservatives push "Minority Bill of Rights" first advanced by Pelosi which Hastert refused to respond to.

CAPITAL GAMES: William Kristol to be "star" columnist at Time magazine.

DAILY GRILL

"Over the past 12 months, as optimism collided with reality, Mr. Bush increasingly found himself uneasy with General Casey's strategy. ... Mr. Bush grew concerned that General Casey, among others, had become more fixated on withdrawal than victory."
-- New York Times, 1/2/07

VERSUS

"I've got great confidence in General John Abizaid and General George Casey. These are extraordinary men who understand the difficulties of the task."
-- President Bush, 9/15/06

-----
GOOD NEWS

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) will propose a plan to offer his state's 763,000 uninsured children "guaranteed medical insurance as part of the health care overhaul he intends to unveil next week."

STATE WATCH

WISCONSIN: "Many convenience stores in Milwaukee have again placed condoms behind the counter to keep shoplifters from pocketing them."

VIRGINIA: Arlington goes green.

LOUISIANA: Insurers begin canceling policies in New Orleans.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: President Bush promises to "knock our socks off" at State of the Union with a five-year-old "energy independence" pledge.

ARMS CONTROL WONK: Bush aide responsible for stem cell policy tackles North Korea policy.

HUFFINGTON POST: Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) again takes the lead on Iraq.

DAILY KOS: Prominent political bloggers launch book publishing house, release first title.

DAILY GRILL

"President Bush promised yesterday to produce a plan to balance the federal budget in five years and challenged lawmakers to slash their special pet projects in half next year."
-- Washington Post, 1/4/07

VERSUS

"Bush has never proposed a balanced budget since it went into deficit, never vetoed a spending bill when Republicans controlled Congress and offered little sustained objection to earmarks until the issue gained political traction last year."
-- Washington Post, 1/4/07

-----
GOOD NEWS

By the end of this year, the contents of all 1,800 courses taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology "will be available online to anyone in the world, anywhere in the world."

STATE WATCH

CALIFORNIA: New poll "shows that nearly eight in 10 California voters believe employers should be forced to provide health insurance for their workers or pay into a state fund that would do so."

VIRGINIA: Flowers blooming early as a result of a mild winter.

FLORIDA: Gov. Charlie Crist (R) tackles jargon.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Rep. John Murtha (R-PA) plans to deny Bush funding for troop escalation.

FIRST DRAFT: Video: History made as Nancy Pelosi becomes first female House Speaker.

HORSE'S MOUTH: Right-wing pundit Michelle Malkin's attack on the Associated Press backfires.

TPM MUCKRAKER: New bills target profiteering, public corruption.

DAILY GRILL

"When I voted to support this war, I knew it was probably going to be long and hard and tough."
-- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 1/4/07

VERSUS

"But the point is that, one, we will win this conflict. We will win it easily."
-- McCain, 1/22/03

-----
GOOD NEWS

"States are planning large expansions in health care coverage this year in an aggressive and potentially expensive attempt to reduce the ranks of the 42.4 million Americans who are uninsured."

STATE WATCH

CALIFORNIA: "Health insurers in California refuse to sell individual coverage to people simply because of their occupations or use of certain medicines," even if "they are in good health and can afford coverage."

NEW MEXICO: Gov. Bill Richardson (D) visits Sudan and urges the government to open the Darfur region to U.N. peacekeeping forces.

MICHIGAN: Last week, Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) "signed into law several bills designed to help create a statewide network of umbilical cord blood stem cell banks."

ECONOMY: See a breakdown by state, year, or minimum wage amount in a new interactive map by American Progress.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Bush escalation plan: "I intend to support him."

ON FAITH: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) blogs on the "myth of scarcity."

ESCHATON: Sen. John Warner's (R-VA) three months are up.

NEWS HOUNDS: Fox News adds polar bears to its hit list.

DAILY GRILL

"President Bush is likely to send anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 additional troops to Iraq as part of his yet-to-be-announced new Iraq strategy."
-- CNN, 1/3/07

VERSUS

"Sending more Americans would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in this fight. And sending more Americans would suggest that we intend to stay forever, when we are, in fact, working for the day when Iraq can defend itself and we can leave."
-- President Bush, 6/28/05

-----
GOOD NEWS

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has introduced legislation to raise auto fuel efficiency standards from the current 27.5 miles a gallon to 40 miles per gallon by 2017.

STATE WATCH

CALIFORNIA: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to announce today that he will order a 10% cut in motor vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide."

NEW YORK: Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) promised to propose legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in New York State.

GEORGIA: Anti-choice groups hold a "public hearing" today to rally support for "a proposed abortion ban similar to the one defeated in South Dakota."

PENNSYLVANIA: State legislature tackles "secretive ethics, rules panels."

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) refuses to raise taxes to pay for war: "I'm not sure what the point would be."

CREW BLOG: Fundraiser photo of Bush and criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff surfaces.

TPM MUCKRAKER: White House hires lobbyist to replace Harriet Miers as counsel.

HOMELAND SECURITY WATCH: Cost of building border fence is five to 25 times greater than congressional leaders forecast last year.

DAILY GRILL

"After speaking with our military commanders on the ground, I strongly believe that additional U.S. troops must be deployed to Baghdad."
-- Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), 12/21/06, referring to a recent trip to Iraq with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

VERSUS

"McCain and Lieberman talked to many of the same officers and senior NCOs I covered for Fox News during my most recent trip to Iraq. Not one of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen or Marines I interviewed told me that they wanted more U.S. boots on the ground. In fact, nearly all expressed just the opposite: 'We don't need more American troops, we need more Iraqi troops,' was a common refrain."
-- Fox News military analyst Oliver North, 1/5/07

-----
GOOD NEWS

"The European Union put climate change at the heart of a broad new energy policy on Wednesday as it moved to boost renewable fuels, cut consumption and curb its dependence on foreign suppliers of oil and gas."

STATE WATCH

ALASKA: "President Bush lifted the drilling ban Tuesday for Alaska's Bristol Bay, clearing the way for the Interior Department to open the fish-rich waters to oil and natural gas development."

LOUISIANA: Racial strife in Louisiana.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The District could become one of the first jurisdictions in the country to require girls younger than 13 years old to get vaccinated against cervical cancer.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) calls Sen. Ted Kennedy s (D-MA) Iraq escalation bill "a good idea."

TPM MUCKRAKER: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduces public campaign finance bill.

WASHINGTON MONTHLY: Leon Panetta says administration officials opposed escalation in private interviews with Iraq Study Group.

FREEDOM TO SERVE: Gay U.S. officer will train Afghan police.

DAILY GRILL

"You know that the mission accomplished banner was put up by members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, and the president, on that very speech, said just the opposite, didn't he?"
-- White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, 1/10/07

VERSUS

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.
-- President Bush, 5/1/03

-----
GOOD NEWS

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced yesterday it "would review its investments to determine whether its holdings were socially responsible."

STATE WATCH

SOUTH DAKOTA: "South Dakota will provide girls ages 11-18 with a free vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer."

MICHIGAN: "A Michigan public school district is under pressure to provide a constitutionally suspect and factually flawed Bible course to its high school students."

IOWA: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is "suing Gov.-elect Chet Culver for allegedly violating the state's official English law."

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Fox News anchor calls Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) a "hostile enemy right here on the home front."

WARREN REPORTS: A glimpse of life making $7.25/hour.

THE ONE BLOG: Final hours to tell Congress to replace nearly a billion dollars for the fight against extreme poverty.

MEDIA MATTERS: Broadcast networks ignore Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-IL) televised response to Bush's address calling for redeployment.

DAILY GRILL

"The military's new strategy for Iraq envisions creating 'gated communities' in Baghdad -- sealing off discrete areas and forcibly removing insurgents, then stationing American units in the neighborhood to keep the peace and working to create jobs for residents."
-- Los Angeles Times, 1/11/07

VERSUS

"The gated communities plan has been tried -- with mixed success -- in other wars. In Vietnam, the enclaves were called 'strategic hamlets' and were a spectacular failure."
-- Los Angeles Times, 1/11/07

-----
GOOD NEWS

The Bush administration yesterday eased post-9/11 security restrictions "that have been used to prevent thousands of asylum-seekers and refugees from gaining entry to the United States."

STATE WATCH

HEALTH CARE: "Wide split in access to health care," with poor, minority, and uninsured patients generally receiving the poorest care.

TEXAS: "Two conservative lawmakers want a new law triggering an abortion ban in Texas should the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverse its landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion."

ETHICS: Governors nationwide making ethics reform a priority.

BLOG WATCH

THINK PROGRESS: Chris Matthews battles White House Press Secretary Tony Snow over Iran attack, says he fears "extra-constitutional war."

RAW STORY: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will filibuster any resolution against Iraq escalation.

GAWKER: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice caught on tape: "My Fox guys, I love every single one of them."

MEDIA MATTERS: Bill Kristol: I wish Bush had said "a little more about winning" and "a little less about helping the Iraqis."

DAILY GRILL

"The truth of the matter is, if people end poverty, many of them would marry and work 40 hours a week, they would be out of poverty."
-- Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), 1/11/07, on why raising the minimum wage would do nothing for poor Americans

VERSUS

"Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."
-- Kingston, 12/7/06, defending the 109th Congress' three-day work week

-----
From "Democracy Now!"

* Read Amy Goodman's latest column *

Iraq deadly for journalists, with 120-plus killed so far
http://www.azstarnet.com/altds/pastframe/opinion/162134

Shooting the Messenger is a War Crime
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/297417_amy28.html

Also, Sean Bell's mother has begun a 24-hour a day vigil outside the 103rd
precinct of the NYPD, outraged that there has been no indictments following
the murder of her son. Read Amy Goodman's column on the Sean Bell shooting:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/296605_amy21.html

You can ask your local paper(s) to carry Amy Goodman's weekly column.
Write, email or call your paper, and let them know that Amy Goodman is a new
columnist being syndicated by King Features.

= = = = = = = = =

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Visit our special year-end (and new year) donation page here:

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TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:

* The Hanging of Saddam Hussein: A Roundtable Discussion on International
Law, the U.S. Role, the Kurdish Response and the Media's Glossing Over of
U.S. Ties to Saddam *

Democracy Now! talks to Param Preet Singh of Human Rights Watch;
international law expert Richard Falk; Najmaldin Karim, President of the
Washington Kurdish Institute; and Professor John Collins.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/02/1526255


* U.S. Army Subpoenas Independent Journalist to Testify in Court-Martial of
War Resister First Lt. Ehren Watada *

Sarah Olson and Dahr Jamail speak out against the Army's efforts to force
journalists to testify on behalf of the military.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/02/1527206


* Headlines for January 2, 2007 *

- Protests Continue Over Execution of Saddam Hussein
- Execution Could Lead to Greater Sectarian Violence
- Human Rights Watch, Amnesty, Vatican Condemn Execution
- U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Tops 3,000
- Political Violence Reaches Record High in Iraq
- FCC OKs AT&T-BellSouth Merger
- Bush, Kissinger to Eulogize Gerald Ford
- Minimum Wage Increases Go Into Effect in Seven States
- Mother Of Sean Bell Begins 50-Day Vigil Outside NYPD Station

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/02/1526234

-----
* Exclusive Rare Interview With Saddam Hussein Shortly
After First Gulf War *

Shortly after the first Gulf War, filmmaker Jon Alpert traveled to Baghdad
and became one of the last American journalists to interview Saddam Hussein.
The interview was originally slated to air on ABC but it was never
broadcast.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/03/1459240


* As Rudy Giuliani's Secret Presidential Campaign Plan is Revealed, A Look
At His Run for the White House & the Untold Story of Giuliani and 9/11 *

Journalist Wayne Barrett, author of "Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of
Rudy Giuliani and 9/11," and filmmaker Kevin Keating ("Giuliani Time")
discuss Giuliani's run for president and his handling of the 9/11 attacks.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/03/1459244


* Headlines for January 3, 2007 *

- Iraq to Investigate Saddam Hussein Execution
- US Officials Claim Attempt to Delay Hanging
- Iraq: 12,000 Civilians Killed
- Ford Eulogized at National Cathedral Memorial
- UN Facing Sex Abuse Allegations in Sudan
- New FBI Documents Disclose Gitmo Abuse
- Officers in New Orleans Shooting Surrender to Jail

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/03/1459236

-----
* Despite Greater Prominence on Congressional Committees, African American
Lawmakers Pressured to Curb Initiatives *

The new Congress will elevate more black lawmakers to positions of power
than ever before - four African Americans are likely to head committees and
up to 20 are expected to lead subcommittees. But black lawmakers are already
facing pressure from the Democratic leadership to hold back on pushing an
agenda sought by traditional party allies. We speak with Ron Walters,
Director of the African American Leadership Institute at the University of
Maryland and advisory chair to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/04/151252


* Haitian Folk-Singing Legend and ex-Political Prisoner So An Auguste on her
Arrest by US Marines and the US Role in Haiti's Ongoing Turmoil *

Popular Haitian-American folk singer and political activist Annette "So An" Auguste, was released in August after spending over two years in a Haitian
jail. So An was jailed by US Marines shortly after the 2004 coup that ousted
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. She joins us in our firehouse
studio.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/04/159201


* Headlines for January 4, 2007 *

- Congress Reconvenes With 1st Dem. Majority in 12 Years
- Peace Activists Call on Democrats to End Iraq War
- Iraq Arrests Guard in Hussein Execution
- Ford Buried in Michigan Hometown
- Voting-Machine Testing Lab Suspended
- Negroponte to Resign, Become Deputy Secretary of State
- UK Climate Office: 2007 to be Warmest on Record
- Nixon, Reagan Ordered Spying on Rehnquist Witnesses

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/04/155257

-----
* With New Congressional Majority, Should Democrats Focus on Domestic Agenda as
Bush Escalates Iraq War? *

On the opening day of the 110th Congress, the Democrats took control of the
House and Senate for the first time in 12 years. The Democrats have outlined an
ambitious domestic agenda for its first 100 hours in power, including raising
the minimum wage and negotiating lower prescription drug prices for Medicare
recipients. Peace activists are criticizing the Democrats for not focusing on
Iraq amid the Bush administration's plans for a troop surge. We host a debate
between peace mom Cindy Sheehan and Roger Hickey of the Campaign for America's
Future.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/05/1539243


* FBI Documents Reveal Nixon, Reagan Intimidated Rehnquist Witnesses, and Detail
the Late Chief Justice's Addiction to Painkillers *

Newly released FBI documents reveal how the Nixon and Reagan administrations
used the FBI to intimidate witnesses set to testify against the late chief
justice William Rehnquist at his confirmation hearings. The documents also
reveal Rehnquist's dependency on pain medication once led him to try to escape
a hospital stay in his pajamas after convincing himself of a CIA plot against
his life. We speak with the reporter who broke the story.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/05/1541237


* Zapatistas, Internationals Gather for Meeting of the Zapatista Villages with
the Peoples of the World *

Democracy Now! producer Elizabeth Press files a report from the southern Mexico
state of Chiapas, where thousands of Zapatistas and their supporters gathered
last weekend for what was described as a Meeting of the Zapatista Villages with
the Peoples of the World.
Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/05/1542208


* Headlines for January 5, 2007 *

- Pelosi Elected 1st Female House Speaker
- Dems Pass Broad Ethics, Lobbying Measure
- Bush to Announce Iraq Strategy, Replace Generals
- Iraq to Execute Hussein Co-Defendants
- Bush Admin Asserts Powers to Open US Mail
- Nuclear Head Resigns over Security Breaches
- Spc. Swift Released from Military Confinement

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/05/1539252

-----
* Global Warming Heat Wave? January Temps Hit Record Highs Across Northeast *

Temperatures this weekend reached record highs across the Northeast climbing to
72 degrees in New York and New Jersey and hitting almost 70 in Boston and
Connecticut. The world's 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1994 with
2006 the sixth warmest on record. We take a look at global warming with
Greenpeace USA executive director, John Passacantando.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/08/1413248


* Norman Finkelstein vs. Gil Troy On Jimmy Carter's Controversial Book
"Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" *

Controversy continues over Jimmy Carter's recent book "Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid." We host a debate on the former president's book with two leading
scholars: DePaul University professor Norman Finkelstein, author of "Beyond
Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History" and McGill
University professor Gil Troy, author of "Why I Am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish
Identity, and the Challenges of Today."

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/08/1414201


* Headlines for January 8, 2007 *

- Bush to Call For Escalation of Iraq War
- Pelosi & Reid Oppose Sending More Troops to Iraq
- Report: 17,000 Iraqis Died in Last Six Months of 2006
- Iraq Prepares to Open Up Oil Reserves to Foreign Companies
- Report: Israel Preparing to Use Tactical Nukes Against Iran
- Bush Taps Former NSA Chief to Become Director of National Intelligence
- Imam from Ohio Disappears Following His Deportation
- Human Rights Delegation Heads to Guantanamo
- 1,200 Activists Make Giant "Impeach" Sign on Beach

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/08/1413238

-----
* Study: Dems '100 Hours' Agenda Does Little to Address Economic Divide Between
Whites and People of Color *

House Democrats are set to begin their first "100 legislative hours" today. A
new study has found their new agenda does little to address the economic divide
between whites and people of color. We speak with the executive director of
United for a Fair Economy.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/09/1454248


* U.S. Launches Targeted Assassination Air Strikes in Somalia, Many Reported
Killed *

U.S. Special Operations forces have launched a pair of air strikes on Somalia.
Many people are believed to have been killed. The Pentagon says the target of
the strikes were members of Al Qaeda connected to the 1998 bombings of the U.S.
embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/09/1454248


* Report: Gates Foundation Causing Harm With the Same Money It Uses To Do Good *

The Los Angeles Times has revealed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has
made millions of dollars each year from companies blamed for many of the same
social and health problems the Foundation seeks to address. We speak with the
lead reporter on the LA Times investigative team that broke the story.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/09/1455200


* Headlines for January 9, 2007 *

- U.S. Special Ops Forces Strike Somalia
- As Bush Calls For More Troops, Approval Rating Plummets
- Tony Snow Defends Iraq Policy: We "Don't Want Another Sept. 11"
- UN Seeks Emergency Funds for 1.7 Million Iraq Refugees
- Bush to Name Fred Fielding as White House Counsel
- NYC Subway Bomb Plotter Says He Was Set Up By Police
- Report: Millionaires Benefited Most From Bush's Tax Cuts
- White House Backs Airing of Cuban Propaganda Station in Florida

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/09/1454242

-----
* Police Entrapment in Terror Case? NYC Subway Bomb Plotter Says He Was Set Up
By Paid NYPD Informant *

On Monday, 24 year-old Pakistani immigrant Shahawar Matin Siraj was sentenced to
30 years in prison for plotting to bomb the Herald Square subway station in New
York City. Attorneys for Siraj said he was set up by a police informant and
that the informant was the one who pushed the bombing. Siraj had no explosives,
no timetable for an attack and little understanding about explosives. We speak
with Siraj's defense attorney, Martin Stolar.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/151203


* Should State-Run Media Be Broadcast in the United States? A Debate on Radio
and TV Marti Airing in South Florida *

The Bush administration recently reached deals with two South Florida commercial
Spanish-language TV and radio stations to broadcast Radio and TV Marti. The
Martis are run by the U.S. government and have historically been beamed into
Cuba as part of an effort to overthrow the Castro government. The deal comes
despite a U.S law prohibiting broadcasting of propaganda inside the country. We
host a debate on the issue.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/151208


* Bush Admin Shuts Door to Iraqis as Iraq's Refugee Crisis Gets Worse *

Ahead of President Bush's expected announcement to send more troops to Iraq, we
take a look at Iraq's growing refugee crisis. The UN estimates one in eight
Iraqis have fled their homes and that 1.7 million Iraqis are now displaced.
Until recently, the Bush administration planned to settle only 500 Iraqi
refugees in the United States this year.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/151214


* Headlines for January 10, 2007 *

- Baghdad Clashes Intensify Ahead of Bush Plan to Escalate War
- Dem. Leaders Plan Non-Binding Votes on Iraq Troop Increase
- Blair: Manner of Hussein Execution "Completely Wrong"
- Death Toll in US Strike on Somalia Unknown
- Ex-Prisoner Returns to Gitmo to Call for Prison Closure
- Climate Center: Global Warming Factor in Record 2006 Warmth
- Public Housing Officials Protest Subsidized Housing Cuts

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/150255

-----
* Bush Escalates Iraq War with 20,000 More Troops; Threatens Iran, Syria with
Military Action *

President Bush announced plans Wednesday night to escalate the war in Iraq and
send over 20,000 more troops. He said he took responsibility for past mistakes
but that more troops are needed to pacify Baghdad and other parts of the
country. The President also threatened military action against Iran and Syria.
We play excerpts of his address.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536230


* EXCLUSIVE..."I'm Scared Out of My Mind" - Live From Iraq, Active Duty Army
Sgt. Speaks Out Against War Escalation *

In an Democracy Now! exclusive, we go to Iraq to speak with Army Sergeant Ronn
Cantu who is serving his second tour in Iraq. Cantu recently signed a petition
to Congress - known as an Appeal for Redress - calling for the withdrawal of
U.S. troops. He says, "Everything we do here is on the defense. Any troops
increase over here - they will just be more sitting ducks, more targets."

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536236


* As Bush Commits More Troops to Iraq, UFPJ Calls For March on Washington to End
War *

We speak with Leslie Cagan, the national director of United For Peace and
Justice. The group has called for a March on Washington on January 27 to end
the war. Cagan says, "I do not think anybody really understood just how deeply
the feeling against the war is in this country was until Nov. 7th."

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536241


* Iraqi-American in Najaf: More U.S. Troops Will Result in More Resistance *

As President Bush announces plans to escalate the war in Iraq and send over
20,000 more troops, we go to Najaf to get response from Sami Rasouli, an
Iraqi-American living in Najaf.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536247


* Torture, Suicide and Imprisonment: A Look Back at Five Years of Guantanamo *

Today is the fifth anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to the U.S.
prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since then, more than 750 men and boys
from 40 countries have been imprisoned at there. Not one of them has been put
on trial. Hundreds have been released without charge and sent home. Three have
committed suicide at least 40 others have tried to do so. We look back at some
of our coverage over the years, including interviews with former Guantanamo
detainees and interrogators, attorneys, human rights activists and more.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536252


* Former Guantanamo Prisoner, Brother of Current Prisoner in Cuba to Call for
Closure of Prison Camp *

Protests are scheduled across the world today as part of the International Day
to Shut Down Guantanamo. We speak with a former Guantanamo detainee currently
in Cuba as part of an international delegation calling for the closure of the
prison camp as well as the brother of a Guantanamo detainee who has been held
there since 2002.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536256


* "A Deep Sense of Depression and Hopelessness" - Guantanamo Attorney on State
of Imprisoned Clients *

We speak with Gita Gutierrez, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional
Rights and has traveled to Guantanmo many times to represent detainees there.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1537200


* Headlines for January 11, 2007 *

- Bush to Send 20,000 More Troops to Iraq
- US Raids Iran Consulate After Bush Threatens Iran, Syria
- Report: UK to Withdraw 3,000 Troops by May
- Hamas Leader Softens Israel Stance
- Protests Worldwide for Gitmo Closure
- Dems. Pass Minimum Wage Increase
- Gates Foundation Reviews Investments Following Expose

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536223

-----
* Mike McConnell, Booz Allen and the Privatization of Intelligence *

Mike McConnell, the man President Bush tapped to replace John Negroponte as
National Intelligence Director, has been a leading figure in outsourcing U.S.
intelligence operations to private industry. McConnell is a former director of
the National Security Agency and the current director of defense programs at
Booz Allen. We take a look at McConnell and the privatization of intelligence
with journalist Tim Shorrock.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/12/151224


* As Thousands Gather in Memphis for National Media Reform Conference, A Look at
the State of the U.S. Media *

We broadcast from Memphis, Tennessee where several thousand people are gathering
for the National Conference on Media Reform. Speakers include Bill Moyers, the
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Phil Donahue, Jane Fonda, Helen Thomas and scores of
others. We take a look at the state of the U.S. media with FCC Commissioner
Jonathan Adelstein and Free Press co-founder Robert McChesney.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/12/151235


* Young People of Color Take on Clear Channel Dominance in Bay Area *

We speak with Youth Media Council director, Malkia Cyril who has been working
with youth activists and people of color to take on the dominance of Clear
Channel in the Bay area. She says the 1996 Telecommunications Act, "Manifested
in fewer young people on the air, fewer local artists able to get on the
air...in the digital age, it depends on people of color to take to activism."

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/12/151242


* Headlines for January 12, 2007 *

- Poll: 71% Oppose Iraq War Escalation
- Gates: No Timetable on Troop Surge
- "Most Dangerous Foreign Policy Blunder Since Vietnam"
- Soldiers Barred from Media at Bush Speech
- Pentagon Drops Limits on Reservists

-----
* Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on April 3, 1968: "Let Us Develop a Kind
of Dangerous Unselfishness" *

In March of 1968, King came to Memphis to support striking African-American
sanitation workers who were demanding better working conditions and facing
massive resistance from white city officials. He was assassinated on April 4,
1968 -- days before he was to lead a march in Memphis. The night before he was
killed he gave his "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1534245


* Former Sanitation Worker and Community Organizers Recall the 1968 "I Am A Man"
Sanitation Worker Strike & King's Last Hours in Memphis *

In our special broadcast from Memphis, we speak with former sanitation worker
and union leader Taylor Rogers and community organizers in Memphis and led a
local black power group called the Invaders. Cabbage and Smith were working
with Dr. King to organize the march in Memphis in support of the sanitation
workers.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1534250


* Rev. Jesse Jackson on Witnessing the Assassination of Dr. King *

As a young aide, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was with Dr. King on the balcony of
the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. We speak to Rev. Jackson about the killing
he witnessed before his eyes.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1534259


* Retired Memphis Policeman: No Black Officers Assigned to Martin Luther King on
Day of Assassination *

We speak with retired Memphis police sergeant Jerry Williams about the day Dr.
Martin Luther King was assassinated. Williams, who worked in the homicide
bureau, was twice assigned to head King's security team on his visits to
Memphis, but on the day he was assassinated, Williams says no black officers
were assigned to King's detail.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1534255


* National Civil Rights Museum: The Motel Where Dr. King was Shot Today a Museum
that Preserves his Legacy *

The Lorraine Motel is today part of the National Civil Rights Museum. On the
balcony outside room 306, where Dr. King last stood, museum co-founder Judge
D'army Bailey talks about Dr. King's legacy and the long struggle for the
museum that honors it.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1535210


* Headlines for January 15, 2007 *

- Pentagon Domestic Surveillance Program Exposed
- Bush Orders Military to Target Iranian Interests in U.S.
- Bush: Congress Can't Stop Escalation of Iraq War
- Two Saddam Hussein Aides Executed
- As Rice Meets Olmert, Israel Expands Settlements
- 3,500 Gather for Media Reform Conference
- Maoist Rebels Join Nepalese Government
- Alice Coltrane, 1937-2007

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/15/1534234

-----
From the League of Conservation Voters

No More Taxpayer Handouts to Big Oil!

Spread the Word Today

Like me, you would like to see billions of our taxpayer dollars recovered from Big Oil and invested in cleaner and cheaper energy. With your signature on our petition, we are that much closer to making it happen. Thank you!

Today you can take us several steps even closer to victory by asking everyone you know to sign our petition to end unfair Big Oil taxpayer handouts.

Click here to ask your friends and family to sign today.

The House is expected to vote next week to repeal billions of dollars in Big Oil subsidies and tax breaks. This is a top priority in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 100-hour agenda, but she needs all the support she can get.

Victory will mean a new beginning and new energy for America in 2007. We are on the verge. You can make the difference!

A vote is expected any day.

Your friends and family are key to victory please send them a note today!

Thank you for your commitment to a cleaner, better future. We ll certainly keep you updated on the vote.


Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski
President
League of Conservation Voters

-----
From Greg Palast

WAIST DEEP IN THE BIG MUDDY
by Greg Palast
Thursday, January 11, 2007

George W. Bush has an urge to surge. Like every junkie, he asks for just one more fix: let him inject just 21,000 more troops and that will win the war.

Been there. Done that. In 1965, Tom Paxton sang,

Lyndon Johnson told the nation
Have no fear of escalation.
I am trying everyone to please.
Though it isn't really war,
We're sending 50,000 more
To help save Vietnam from the Vietnamese.

Four decades later, Bush is asking us to save Iraq from the Iraqis.

There's always a problem with giving a junkie another fix. It can only make things worse. Our maximum leader says that unless he gets to mainline another 21,000 troops, "Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons," and terrorists "would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people."

Excuse me, but didn't we hear that same promise in 2003? Nearly four years ago, on the eve of invasion, this same George Bush promised, "The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed."

Instead of diminishing the threat from terrorists, Bush now admits, "Al Qaeda has a home base in Anbar province" -- something inconceivable under Saddam's rule.

Four years ago, Bush promised us, "When the dictator has departed, [Iraq] can set an example to all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation." Just send in the 82d Airborne and, lickety-split, we'd have, "A new Iraq that is prosperous and free."

Well, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Here's my question: Who asked the waiter to deliver this dish? Who asked for the 21,000 soldiers?

We know the US military didn't ask for the 21,000 troops. (Outgoing commander General George Casey called for a troop reduction.)

We know the Iraqi government didn't ask for the 21,000 troops. (Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is reportedly unhappy about a visible increase in foreign occupiers).

So who wants the occupation to continue? The answer is in Riyadh. When the King of Saudi Arabia hauled Dick Cheney before his throne on Thanksgiving weekend, the keeper of America's oil laid down the law to Veep: the US will not withdraw from Iraq.

According to Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi who signals to the US government the commands and diktats of the House of Saud, the Saudis are concerned that a US pull-out will leave their Sunni brothers in Iraq to be slaughtered by Shia militias. More important, the Saudis will not tolerate a Shia-majority government in Iraq controlled by the Shia mullahs of Iran. A Shia combine would threaten Saudi Arabia's hegemony in the OPEC oil cartel.

In other words, it's about the oil.

So what's the solution? What's my plan? How do we get out of Iraq? Answer: the same way we got out of 'Nam. In ships.

But can we just watch from the ship rail as Shia slaughter Sunnis in Baghdad, Sunnis murder Shia in Anbar, Kurds "cleanse" Kirkuk of Turkmen and so on in a sickening daisy-chain of ethnic atrocities?

No. There's a real alternative. And it isn't more troops, George.

Let's imagine that somehow we could rip away the strings that allow Cheney and Rove and Abdullah to control our puppet president and he somehow, like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, suddenly grew a brain. His speech last night would have sounded like this:

"My fellow Americans. Iraq is going to hell in a handbag. So the whole shebang doesn't collapse into mayhem and madness, we need to send in 21,000 more troops. So I've just wired King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and told him to send them.

"My missive to the monarch reads: Dear Abdullah. It's time your 16,000 princelings got out of their Rolls Royces and formed the core of an Islamic Peacekeeping Force to prevent mass murder in Iraq. The American people are tired of you using the 82d Airborne as your private mercenary army. It seems like the Saudi military's marching song is, 'Onward Christian Soldiers.'

"Well, King Ab, we're out of here. We're folding tents and loading the wagons. For four years now, Saudis have been secretly funding the berserkers in the Iraqi 'insurgency' while the Iranians are backing the crazies in the militias. Well, we're telling you and the Persians: you're going to have to stop using your checkbooks to fund a proxy war and instead start keeping the peace. It's time you put your own tushies in the line of fire for a change."

"If the African Union nations, poor as they are, can maintain a peacekeeping force to stop killings in Sudan and Senegal, you Saudis, with all the military toys we've sold you, can certainly join with your Muslim brothers in Jordan, Iran and Turkey to take responsibility for your region's peace.

"And when you get to Fallujah, don't forget to drop us a postcard."

Well, that's my fantasy. But instead, War Junkie George will get his fix of another 21,000 American soldiers.

It reminds me far too chillingly of a Pete Seeger tune written when LBJ was saving Vietnam from Vietnamese. It was based on the true story of a US platoon in training, wading into the rising Mississippi, whose commander order them to keep going, deeper and deeper -- until they drowned.

We're waste deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.

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From ImpeachBush.org

Click here to see the full ad
Click here to help us place more ads

Today's New York Times carries the full page ad calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush (Jan. 12, 2007). Congratulations to all members of ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach.org who helped place this New York Times ad. This is the third full-page impeachment ad to run in the New York Times. With everyone's support, we have also placed ads in the San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, USA Today, and other newspapers around the country.

The timing for the ad is excellent. Coming 36 hours after Bush brazenly announced an expansion of his criminal war and occupation in Iraq, the country is seething with anger. Because Bush remains in office, thus far escaping impeachment, thousands more Iraqis and U.S. soldiers will be killed and wounded in a war that should never have happened.

We want to seize the momentum and place the ad in various other newspapers. We will also be having a major impeachment contingent on March 17, the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, at the March on the Pentagon in Washington DC. We can place more ads and organize the nationwide grassroots campaign, including this contingent, with everyone's continued support and commitment to ImpeachBush.org. If you can help, click here.

The danger that Bush poses is extreme. His speech of Wednesday night, directly in opposition to the wishes of the American people, not only announced his plan to deepen the war in Iraq, but made clear his direct threat to attack Syria and Iran. Impeachment is imperative. Congress must act before more and more are killed and before Bush's war spreads into other countries. We cannot wait two more years.

Please take action today:

1. Forward this email to all of your lists and your friends and families. You can do so by clicking here.
2. Be sure to sign the referendum for impeachment and get everyone you know to sign it too. We will be announcing the new calendar and plan of action shortly to everyone who has signed up.
3. Donate now, your help is urgently needed for the impeachment effort. Click here.

The coming months are critical for the impeachment movement. Not only do 70% of the people oppose Bush's expansion of the Iraq war, the so-called "surge," the majority believe that Bush should be impeached if he lied about the reasons for the Iraq war, or if he engaged in illegal wiretapping. He did both. This is a people's movement and everyone's help is needed. As ImpeachBush.org has stated, "The Constitution cannot defend itself. The people must act."

If every member and supporter of the impeachment movement made a donation, this ad could be placed in newspapers across the country. If you have contributed before, consider making another donation now. If you have never donated this is the time to take action. Please donate today by clicking here.

Your work and support has taken the Impeachment movement to a significant moment in U.S. politics. People throughout the United States are now openly and frequently discussing the possibility of impeachment and urging their Congressional representatives to take the right step. The letters to the editor and full page ads that you have worked to place have forced the mass media to acknowledge that impeachment is a real issue for this President. Check your email in the coming days for announcements of the next steps and actions, and be sure to get as many as you can to sign the referendum and get involved.

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The 2006 one-time-only Telephone Tax Credit (yes, it has been checked on Snopes and is not a hoax)

http://money.CNN.Com/2006/05/25/news/telephonetax_refund/index.htm

A SPECIAL ONE TIME TAX CREDIT ON YOUR 2006 TAX RETURN

When it comes time to prepare and file your 2006 tax return, make sure you don't overlook the

"federal excise tax refund credit." You claim the credit on line 71 of your form 1040. A similar line

will be available if you file the short form 1040A. If you have family or friends who no longer file a tax

return AND they have their own land phone in their home and have been paying a phone bill for years,

make sure they know about this form 1040EZ-T.

What is this all about? Well the federal excise tax has been charge to you on your phone bill for years.

It is an old tax that was assessed on your toll calls based on how far the call was being made and how

much time you talked on that call. When phone companies began to offer flat fee phone service,

challenges to the excise tax ended up in federal courts in several districts of the country. The

challenges pointed out that flat fee/rate phone service had nothing to do with the distance and the

length of the phone call. Therefore, the excise tax should/could not be assessed.

The IRS has now conceded this argument. Phone companies have been given notice to stop assessing

the federal excise tax as of Aug 30, 2006. You will most likely see the tax on your September cutoff

statement, but it should NOT be on your October bill.

But the challengers of the old law also demanded restitution. So the IRS has announced that a one time

credit will be available when you and I file our 2006 tax return as I explained above. However, the IRS

also established limits on how BIG a credit you can get. Here's how it works.

If you file your return as a single person with just you as a dependent, you get to claim a $30 credit on

line 71 of your 1040.

If you file with a child or a parent as your dependent, you claim $40.

If you file your return as a married couple with no children ,you claim $40.

If you file as married with children, you claim $50 if one child, $60 if two children.

In all cases, the most you get to claim is $60 - UNLESS you h ave all your phone bills starting AFTER

Feb 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006 (do not use any bills starting Aug 1, 2006.), then you can add up the ACTUAL TAX AS IT APPEARS ON YOUR BILLS AND CLAIM THAT FOR A CREDIT.

Now if you have your actual phone bills and come up with an ACTUAL TAX AMOUNT, you cannot use

line 71 on your tax return. You have to complete a special form number 8913 and attach it to your tax

return.

Individuals using the special from 1040EZ-T will have to attach this form 8913 also.

One final point - this credit is a refundable credit. That means you get this money, no matter how your

tax return works out. If you would end up owing the IRS a balance, the refund will reduce that balance

you owe. If you end up getting a refund, the credit will be added and you get a bigger refund by that $30

to $60, depending on how many dependents are on your return.

Feel free to pass this on or make copies for family and friends who don't have computers.

-----
From Media Savvy

Media Savvy's latest media business headlines for Friday Jan 12, 2007:

How Does Bush Compare To Past Presidents?
Looking at the continuing fallout from Bush's Iraq speech: can media pundits agree over whether Bush is more like Nixon or Lincoln?

Do Pundits Pay Consequences For Being Wrong About Iraq?
Radar finds that prescience and good judgement are not things which are valued by the media market.

Beyond The Call To Surge, The Need To Purge The Media
The News Dissector looks at the aftermath of Bush's call for more troops in Iraq in 2007, a 'surge' or 'escalation' which is already underway.

Rory O'Connor To Cover Scooter Libby Trial For Media Bloggers
A familiar face will be covering the Libby trial for Media Bloggers and MediaChannel.

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From Stop the War on Iran

Join U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Bishop Thomas Gumbleton; Harold Pinter; historian Howard Zinn; George Galloway MP; former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dennis Halliday; Tony Benn, and 20,000 more signers to say No War on Iran!

The growing threat of military action against Iran was made very clear last week as President Bush used his prime time "surge" speech to issue threats against the people of Iran. This speech was immediately followed by a U.S. attack on the Iranian consulate in northern Iraq and the arrest of Iranian consular personnel.

As this time, the U.S. has deployed two full carrier groups to the Persian Gulf. Each carrier carries more than 80 combat aircraft including F/A-18 Hornets, F-14 Tomcats, SH-60 Seahawks, S-3B Vikings, E-2C Hawkeyes and EA-6B Prowlers, capable of flying more than 150 strikes a day. In addition, each carrier group includes guided missile cruisers, fast frigates, guided missile destroyers, and submarines, all equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

We know from reports last year that the Pentagon's Central Command and Strategic Command planners are already identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an attack and that the planned strikes could kill thousands of Iranian people. We must mobilize now to against the threat of a new war. Over the next few days and weeks, Stop War On Iran will be organizing meetings, rallies, and protests across the country to build a movement to stop another disastrous war.

So far, we've gotten more than 20,000 signatures on the Stop War On Iran petition, and we've sent nearly half a million petitions to Bush, Cheney, Congress, and Halliburton. But we must do more--the threat of an imminent attack is growing. We need your help. We cannot count on politicians (of either major party) to stop the war--we must build a grassroots movement to stop another brutal war. Here's how you can help:


- Sign the petition - Send a message to Bush, Cheney, Congress, and Halliburton - http://stopwaroniran.org/petition.shtml

- Tell a Friend - Help get the word out - http://www.stopwaroniran.org/friend.shtml

- Donate - Help with organizing meetings, teach-ins, protests - http://stopwaroniran.org/donate.shtml

- Put a link to Stop War On Iran on your website - http://www.stopwaroniran.org/link.html

-----
From HuffPo

Merrill Markoe: Why Bush's Suit Bugs Me So Much...

AP

From Merrill Markoe's Blog:

There is a reason why every picture of George W. Bush bears no physical resemblance to any other pictures you can find of burdened world leaders.

A casual perusal of photographs of other heads of state in times of crisis reveals men with lined faces who appear to have been sitting at long stressful meetings. Although all of our presidents, from FDR to Hoover to Kennedy to George HW Bush, have been expensively, and even nattily attired, their clothes still look worn. They look creased and disheveled from activity...

...That is not the case with this president.

Every picture of him, (not counting the famous one on the aircraft carrier) shows him wearing the most thoroughly unrumpled suit I have ever seen on a man who wasn't standing behind a podium introducing guests.
Click here to read more.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Arianna Huffington: The White House Dumps Another Body Over the Side of Its Sinking Iraq Ship

Marty Kaplan: Alternate History: NSFW

Chris Kelly: The Good Shepherd Something Something George Bush

Dr. Julianne Malveaux: Got Milk? Got Hormones? -- Exploiting Food Fear

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Rep. John Murtha: I Will Be Recommending Extensive Hearings On Iraq...

AP

From Rep. John Murtha's Blog:

I will be recommending to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that we begin extensive hearings starting on January 17, 2007 that will address accountability, military readiness, intelligence oversight and the activities of private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We will be demanding substantive answers to questions that have gone unanswered for far too long.
Click here to read more.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Arianna Huffington: D.C. Notes: Murtha Again Taking the Lead on Iraq

Marty Kaplan: Talk Broder, Walk Gingrich

Robert L. Borosage: 100 Hours Mark the Change

Richard Dawkins: Executing Saddam Hussein was an Act of Vandalism

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Sen. Charles E. Schumer: The People Want Us To Go To Work For Them...

From nytimes.com

Excerpted From Sen. Charles E. Schumer's Blog:

...We are ready to work with Republicans in Congress and the Administration. We realize that's the only way things can get done. But we're going to have to work on the issues that matter to people on a daily basis: security, life-saving medical research, fair wages, comprehensive immigration reform, energy independence and affordable education and prescription drugs. People across the country want us to go to work for them again and that's just what we're going to do...
Click here to read more.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Arianna Huffington: Wes Clark is Steamed, Jane Harman Isn't, and Terry McAuliffe is High on Hillary (Big Shock There, Huh?)

Melinda Henneberger: D.C. Notes: Welcome to the Democratic Majority

Rep. Jane Harman: Put the Iraq War "On Budget"

Sen. Tom Harkin: Bringing the Hopes of Stem Cell Research One Giant Step Closer to Reality

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Marty Kaplan: How To Find A Billion Dollars To Pay For An Iraqi Jobs Program...

AP

Excerpted From Marty Kaplan's Blog:

...Bush's Iraqi jobs program is reportedly going to cost a billion dollars -- a billion American dollars. Where should that money come from?...

...Congress should repeal one zillionth of one percent of the cut in capital gains tax (or in the estate tax, or in the top tax bracket) that Bush gave the wealthiest Americans. That would raise a billion in a heartbeat...
Click here to read more.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Esther Dyson: Welcome to Myself! [By Way of Disclosure]

Nick Seaver: Sign Up for Al Gore's Climate Project

Della Turque-Henneberger: Nancy P., in the Eyes of a 10-Year-Old

Elayne Boosler: Welcome Back, My Next Guest is the Supreme Court

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Sen. Kennedy: "A Military Escalation In Iraq Would Not Strengthen Our National Security...Instead It Would Further Weaken It"...

AP

From Sen. Edward Kennedy's Blog:

Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam, and we cannot allow history to repeat itself any longer. Our troops deserve better. We must act now.

Today, I introduced legislation to reclaim the people's right to a full voice in the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq. My bill will say that no additional troops can be sent and no additional dollars can be spent on such an escalation unless and until Congress approves the president's plan.

Congress must exert its constitutional authority and demand a vote before any escalation in Iraq. In October 2002, Members of Congress authorized a war against the regime of Saddam Hussein, not to send our troops into a civil war. I voted against that resolution and feel an escalation of this war only compounds the original mistake of going in the first place.
Click here to read more.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Gary Hart: A Surge of Constitutionalism

Bob Cesca: Kennedy Offers A Slam Dunk To End The War

Alec Baldwin: Time Is Up

Stephen Elliott: Apology As Policy In Iraq

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Arianna Huffington: Bush Is Even Incompetent At Admitting His Own Incompetence...

CNN

Excerpted From Arianna Huffington's Blog:

...But the president has already admitted mistakes in Iraq. His mistake now is in not changing course (except rhetorically) after the earlier admissions of mistakes. The reason why admitting mistakes is considered a good thing to do is the assumption that you'll stop making them -- or at least stop making the same ones. But Bush is even incompetent at admitting his own incompetence. It's like an alcoholic admitting he's started drinking again, then announcing he plans to get back on the wagon by drinking even more. You should not get credit for admitting mistakes unless the admission is accompanied by an effort to stop making them...
Click here to read more.

ON THE BLOG TODAY

Joseph Nye: Failure in Iraq

Nathan Gardels: Bush's Escalation: Honor Killings for the Empire

Rep. John Conyers: Escalating Folly: Will Congressional Republicans Share Bush's Tin Ear?

Marty Kaplan: There Is No "Itself" There

-----
And now here's something you'll REALLY like!

Bush: End of an Error
That's OK, I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway
Let's Fix Democracy in this Country First
Bush. Like a Rock. Only Dumber.
If You Can Read This, You're Not Our President
Of Course It Hurts: You're Getting Screwed by an Elephant
Hey, Bush Supporters: Embarrassed Yet?
George Bush: Creating the Terrorists Our Kids Will Have to Fight
Impeachment: It's Not Just for Blowjobs Anymore
America: One Nation, Under Surveillance
They Call Him "W" So He Can Spell It
Whose God Do You Kill For?
Jail to the Chief
No, Seriously, Why Did We Invade Iraq?
Bush: God's Way of Proving Intelligent Design is Full Of Crap
Bad President! No Banana.
We Need a President Who's Fluent In At Least One Language
We're Making Enemies Faster Than We Can Kill Them
Is It Vietnam Yet?
Bush Doesn't Care About White People, Either
Where Are We Going? And Why Are We In This Handbasket?
You Elected Him. You Deserve Him.
Dubya, Your Dad Shoulda Pulled Out, Too
When Bush Took Office, Gas Was $1.46
Pray For Impeachment
The Republican Party: Our Bridge to the 11th Century
What Part of "Bush Lied" Don't You Understand?
One Nation Under Clod
2004: Embarrassed 2005: Horrified 2006: Terrified
Bush Never Exhaled
At Least Nixon Resigned