Mike's Blog

More stories of Bush's success in the Middle East

Iraq to Execute More Than One Hundred Gays

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Posted on: April 3, 2009 9:23 AM, by Ed Brayton

Here's a very disturbing story:

More than 100 prisoners in Iraq are facing execution - and many of them are believed to have been convicted of the 'crime' of being gay, the UK-based Iraqi-LGBT group revealed this afternoon.

According to Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT, the Iraqi authorities plan to start executing them in batches of 20 from this week. There is, said Mr. Hili, at least one member of Iraqi-LGBT who are among those to be put to death.

And the London-based group, which believes that a total of 128 executions are imminent, is calling on the UK Government, international human rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva to intervene "with due speed" to prevent "this tragic miscarriage of justice" from going ahead.

It gets worse:

"Iraqi-LGBT has been a banned from running activities on Iraqi soil," he revealed.

"Raids by the Iraqi police and Ministry of Interior forces cost our group [to the extent of] disappearing and killing of 17 members working for Iraqi-LGBT since 2005.

"The death penalty has been increasing at an alarming rate in Iraq since the new Iraqi regime reintroduced it in August 2004.

"In 2008, at least 285 people were sentenced to death, and at least 34 executed. In 2007 at least 199 people were sentenced to death and 33 were executed, while in 2006 at least 65 people were put to death.

"The actual figures," Mr. Hili suggested, "could be much higher as there are no official statistics for the number of prisoners facing execution."

I'm sure glad we gave Iraqis the freedom to live in a brutal theocracy. (link)

McCain's forward to the book The Best and the Brightest - about the Vietnam war

From McCain's forward to The Best and the Brightest. via Hullabaloo

Monday, May 05, 2008

            

             

"A Shameful Thing"    

                    

John McCain's flip-flops, corrections, and red-faced clarifications are getting an increasing amount of attention. But let's not forget the mother of all memory hole shuntings. From McCain's foreword to Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest (I'm still waiting for the candidate to be asked about this):

It was a shameful thing to ask men to suffer and die, to persevere through god-awful afflictions and heartache, to endure the dehumanizing experiences that are unavoidable in combat, for a cause that the country wouldn’t support over time and that our leaders so wrongly believed could be achieved at a smaller cost than our enemy was prepared to make us pay. No other national endeavor requires as much unshakable resolve as war. If the nation and the government lack that resolve, it is criminal to expect men in the field to carry it alone. (link)

"bringin' 'em freedum and demockrasy"

In your name    

                    

Five years of this shit.  Look at it.  It's our doing.

Two-year-old Ali Hussein is pulled from the rubble of his family's home in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. The child, who later died at the hospital, was in one of four homes destroyed by U.S. missiles. More than two dozen people were killed when Shiite militants ambushed a U.S. patrol in Baghdad's embattled Sadr City district, bringing the death toll in area on Tuesday to more than 30, a U.S. military spokesman and Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (link Rising Hegemon)

Bush admits to knowlege, consent and approval of war crimes

Why is Bush not impeached and in prison! He admits to war crimes and just doesn't give a shit as he knows he is immune. Bush admits to being a criminal and guilty of war crimes and thumbs his nose at the world.  I'm very thankful that most people in the world judge Americans as individual people and do not necessarily judge me solely because I am an citizen of a country who's government commits and openly admits to war crimes.

I can not see how anyone can "support the troops". I do not have any animosity for individual troops nor do I blindly "support" them. They are a pawn of the government. But I see no reason to praise and support them. Just as I do not see any reason to hate any older Germans just because they were part of the Nazi party in Germany. Other actions may rile up some hostility but I don't feel any sort of retroactive "support"for Nazi soldiers. The same feelings go towards Japanese WWI soldiers, Israeli IDF or Iraqis who feel they are fighting against oppression by occupying forces.,\

Bush Admits To Knowledge of Torture Authorization by Top Advisers (4/12/2008)

                   

ACLU Calls for Independent Counsel to Investigate Administration's Approval of Torture and Abuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312, [email protected]; (917) 251-8654 or [email protected]

TAKE ACTION Demand Accountability for Bush's Top-Down Torture Policy

WASHINGTON – In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA's use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, "I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved." Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.

Recent reports indicate that high-level advisers including Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and George Tenet were part of the National Security Council's "Principals Committee" that met regularly and approved the CIA's use of "combined" "enhanced" interrogation techniques, even pushing the limits of the now infamous 2002 Justice Department "torture memo." These top advisers reportedly signed off on how the CIA would interrogate suspects – whether they would be slapped, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning. ...(link)

Bush Aware of Advisers' Interrogation Talks

President Says He Knew His Senior Advisers Discussed Tough Interrogation Methods

By JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG, HOWARD L. ROSENBERG and ARIANE de VOGUE
April 11, 2008

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President Bush says he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details about how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to an exclusive interview with ABC News Friday.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

"Well, we started to connect the dots in order to protect the American people." Bush told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. "And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."

As first reported by ABC News Wednesday, the most senior Bush administration officials repeatedly discussed and approved specific details of exactly how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the CIA.

The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

These top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding, sources told ABC news....(link ABC)

 

Iraqi war hero

Winning the hearts and minds...

Iraqi Soldier Who Killed U.S. Troops is a Hero in Iraq

By Ali Al-Fadhily, IPS News. Posted January 8, 2008.

The story of an Iraqi soldier defending a pregnant woman against U.S. troops is front page news in Iraq.

...

The witness said the U.S. captain began to shout at his soldiers and the women, and his men then started to grab the women and pull them by their hair.

"The soldier we knew later to be Kaissar shouted at the Americans, 'No, no,' but the captain shouted back at the Iraqi soldier," the witness told IPS. "Then the Iraqi soldier shouted, 'Let go of the women, you sons of bitches,' and started shooting at them." The soldier, he said, then ran off.

...

"His blood rose and he asked the occupying soldiers to stop beating the woman," they said in the statement. "Their answer through the translator was: 'We will do what we want.' So he opened fire on them."...(link via AMERICAblog)

Hmm, I wonder how well "let's convert the USA to Islam starting in Alabama and build madrasses" would go over? About as well as this idea?

Bush's solution is for the Arab countries to be more like Israel. I could  hardly believe he said that when I saw this. The quote from the article is below. He actually said this.

                  Bush tells Iraqis to act more like Israel                   
by John Aravosis (DC)                   ·  6/28/2007 03:19:00 PM ET
  Discuss this post here: Comments (111) ·  digg it · reddit · FARK ·  · Link

So our secret plan for democratizing Arab countries is to remake them in the image of their mortal enemy, Israel?  That's gonna go over well. (link AMERICAblog)

                       

Bush cites Israel as model for Iraq                

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours,  17 minutes ago

NEWPORT, R.I. - President Bush held up Israel as a model for defining success in Iraq, saying Thursday the U.S. goal there is not to eliminate attacks but to enable a democracy that can function despite violence.

...
He suggested Israel, the frequent target of terrorist attacks and a country in a decades-long, intractable and often violent dispute with Palestinians, as a standard to strive for.
... (link)

South Korea wants us to stay - Iraqi's want us to leave!

Why does BushCo and their supporters think the phrases "please stay" and "please leave" mean the same thing?

...
Yesterday, the president's press secretary, Tony Snow, said the president envisions the length of US military involvement in Iraq to be similar to Korea. The United States has maintained a presence in Korea for more than 50 years.

"Maybe the White House hasn't been keeping track of the news, but American troops haven't faced constant fire from insurgents in Korea, and the Koreans have asked us to stay there. Poll after poll shows we are not welcome by the majority of Iraqi civilians, and saying that we're going to stay for fifty years whether they like it or not just serves to create enemies at a faster clip. We cannot overestimate how incredibly irresponsible and dangerous the president's stated position is," Soltz added.

A USA Today Poll this year showed 78% of Iraqi adults oppose the presence of coalition forces in Iraq; only 22% support it. Only one percent of Iraqis want the US military presence to go on without end.
...(link AMERICAblog)

When you're a Republican there's never too much of a good thing

Too early to tell, last throes, just 6 more months (only one more Friedman unit). Gosh I thought I'd missed my chance. I guess it's still a good time to buy Halliburton stock.

                  Tony Snow: We're staying in Iraq 50 years
by John Aravosis (DC)                   ·  5/31/2007 10:59:00 AM ET
  Discuss this post here: Comments (628) ·  digg it · reddit · FARK ·  · Link

BUMP: This is rather important, I'm bumping this from last night.

50 years is the current thinking for when we'll complete our withdrawal.  Certifiably insane.  From AP:

President Bush envisions a long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to the one in South Korea where American forces have helped keep an uneasy peace for more than 50 years, the White House said Wednesday.

    The comparison was offered as the Pentagon announced the completion of the troop buildup ordered by Bush in January. The last of about 21,500 combat troops to arrive were an Army brigade in Baghdad and a Marine unit heading into the Anbar province in western Iraq....

In South Korea, about 29,500 U.S. troops are stationed...

And a second rather important point, the Bushies keep telling us how all the surge troops won't even be all there in Iraq until July, so it's way too early to talk about success or failure. Now we learn that the combat troops have all arrived - it's only May. Yes, another lie. But just as important, it means that September will be ample time to judge the success or failure of the "surge."

More on this from C&L, CarpetBagger, and TPM. (link AMERICANblog)

                                                                           

Min 26690 - Max 30051

That's the estimated number of Iraqi fatalities that coincides with the official 2000th US fatality in Iraq. Of course the 2000 number doesn't count the 272  American civilians who have died or the fatalities as a result of the wounded that have not returned to duty either through death as a direct result of injuries, suicide or just too psychologically messed up to continue and go back to the US to join the ranks of homeless people on the street.  And of course there are the official count of wounded 15220.

DoD listing of deaths and wounded.(pdf) http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

Tally of Iraqi civilians killed. http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

The Iraqi fatalities are about 1000/month.

The 30,000 is one of the lower estimates. The British medical journal Lancet estimated the death toll at 100,000 in October of 2004. 

"Free kool-aid for all", Cheney cheers

Iraq insurgency in 'last throes,' Cheney says

Tuesday, May 31, 2005 Posted: 3:50 AM EDT (0750 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office.

... Cheney said he was "absolutely convinced we did the right thing in Iraq." He said the United States was making "major progress" in Iraq, where a transitional government took power in April and was working on drafting a new constitution.

"America will be safer in the long run when Iraq, and Afghanistan as well, are no longer safe havens for terrorists or places where people can gather and plan and organize attacks against the United States," he said....(link CNN)

Of course some opinions (can we say facts?) differ.

Suicide Attacks Rising Rapidly

By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer

BAGHDAD — Suicide bombings have surged to become the Iraqi insurgency's weapon of choice, with a staggering 90 attacks accounting for most of last month's 750 deaths at the militants' hands.

Suicide attacks outpaced car bombings almost 2-to-1 in May, according to figures compiled by the U.S. military, The Times and other media outlets. In April, there were 69 suicide attacks, more than in the entire year preceding the June 28, 2004, hand-over of sovereignty.
The frequency of suicide bombings here is unprecedented, exceeding that of Palestinian attacks against Israel and of other militant insurgencies, such as the Chechen rebellion in Russia. Baghdad saw five suicide bombings in a six-hour span Sunday.

Early today, three suicide bombers killed at least 16 Iraqis in blasts north of Baghdad... (link LA Times)