The Ghost of Anbar (and the lies just keep on coming)

Shortly after the W's visit to the killing fields of Mesopotamia, our alleged ally in Anbar Province, "Shiek" Abu Risha, to whom the sharp decrease if not end of Sunni hostilities towards our troops is largely credited, was assassinated. Abu Risha's death "is a tragic loss," said Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. "It's a terrible loss for Anbar province and all of Iraq. It shows how significant his importance was, and it shows al-Qaeda in Iraq remains a very dangerous and barbaric enemy." Bush, in an address to the nation on September 13, noted the death of "one of the brave tribal sheiks who helped lead the revolt" against al-Qaeda in Iraq and said his fellow Sunni leaders fighting the extremists "can count on the continued support of the United States."

According to Greg Palast, the Shiek was not all he was cracked up to be:
"1. Sheik Abu Risha wasn't a sheik.
"2. He wasn't killed by Al Qaeda.
"3. The new alliance with former insurgents in Anbar is as fake as the sheik - and a murderous deceit."

Palast's daredevil cameraman, Rick Rowley made an amazing film expose of just who this guy was, which was shown on Al-Jazeeri English channel. Check it out:
Part One




Part Two


Here is some more of Palast's commentary: "Why was 'sheik' Abu Risha so important? As the New York Times put it ... , 'Abu Risha had become a charismatic symbol of the security gains in Sunni areas that have become a cornerstone of American plans to keep large numbers of troops in Iraq though much of next year.'

"In other words, Abu Risha was the PR hook used to sell the 'success' of the surge.

"The sheik wasn't a sheik. He was a fake. While proclaiming to Rick that he was 'the leader of all the Iraqi tribes,' Abu lead no one. But for a reported sum in the millions in cash for so-called, 'reconstruction contracts,' Abu Risha was willing to say he was Napoleon and Julius Caesar and do the hand-shakie thing with Bush on camera.

"Notably, Rowley and his camera caught up with Abu Risha on his way to a 'business trip' to Dubai, money laundering capital of the Middle East.

"There are some real sheiks in Anbar, like Ali Hathem of the dominant Dulaimi tribe, who told Rick Abu Risha was a con man. Where was his tribe, this tribal leader? 'The Americans like to create characters like Disney cartoon heros.' Then Ali Hathem added, 'Abu Risha is no longer welcome' in Anbar.

"'Not welcome' from a sheik in Anbar is roughly the same as a kiss on both cheeks from the capo di capi. Within days, when Abu Risha returned from Dubai to Dulaimi turf in Ramadi, Bush's hand-sheik was whacked. "On Thursday, Bush said Abu Risha was killed, 'fighting Al Qaeda' - and the White House issued a statement that the sheik was 'killed by al Qaeda.'

"Bullshit.

"There ain't no Easter Bunny and 'Al Qaeda' ain't in Iraq, Mr. Bush. It was very cute, on the week of the September 11 memorials, to tie the death of your Anbar toy-boy to bin Laden's Saudi hijackers. But it's a lie. Yes, there is a group of berserkers who call themselves 'Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.' But they have as much to do with the real Qaeda of bin Laden as a Rolling Stones "tribute" band has to do with Mick Jagger.

"Who got Abu Risha? Nothing - NOTHING - moves in Ramadi without the approval of the REAL tribal sheiks. They were none-too-happy, as Hathem noted, about the millions the US handed to Risha. The sheiks either ordered the hit - or simply gave the bomber free passage to do the deed.

"So who are these guys, the sheiks who lead the Sunni tribes of Anbar - the potentates of the Tamimi, Fallaji, Obeidi, Zobal and Jumaili tribes? Think of them as the Sopranos of Arabia. They are also members of the so-called 'Awakening Council' - getting their slice of the millions handed out - which they had no interest in sharing with Risha.

"But creepy and deadly or not, these capi of the desert were effective in eliminating 'Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.' Indeed, as US military so proudly pointed out to Rick, the moment the sheiks declared their opposition to Al Qaeda - i.e. got the payments from the US taxpayers - Al Qaeda instantly disappeared.

"This miraculous military change, where the enemy just evaporates, has one explanation: the sheiks ARE al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Just like the Sopranos extract 'protection' payments from New Jersey businesses, the mobsters of Anbar joined our side when we laid down the loot.

"What's wrong with that? After all, I'd rather send a check than send our kids from Columbus to fight them.

"But there's something deeply, horribly wrong with dealing with these killers. They still kill. With new US protection, weapons and cash, they have turned on the Shia of Anbar. Fifteen thousand Shia families from a single district were forced at gunpoint to leave Anbar. Those moving too slowly were shot. Kids and moms too.

"Do the Americans know about the ethnic cleansing of Anbar by our erstwhile 'allies'? Rick's film shows US commanders placing their headquarters in the homes abandoned by terrorized Shia.

"Rick's craziest move was to go and find these Shia refugees from Anbar. They were dumped, over a hundred thousand of them, in a cinder block slum with no running water in Baghdad. They are under the 'protection' of the Mahdi Army, another group of cutthroats. But at least these are Shia cutthroats.

"So the great 'success' of the surge is our arming and providing cover for ethnic cleansing in Anbar. Nice, Mr. Bush. And with the US press 'embedded,' we won't get the real story. Even Democrats are buying into the Anbar 'awakening' fairy tale.

"An Iraqi government official frets that giving guns and cover to the Anbar gang is like adopting a baby crocodile. 'A crocodile is not a pet,' he told Rick. It will soon grow to devour you. But what could the puppet do but complain about his strings?

"This Iraqi got it right: the surge is a crock."

Bush-owned Justice Department to Telecoms: "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours"

What a surprise! After re-monopoly AT&T (and perhaps Verizon and Comcast) happily cooperated with the NSA's illegal incursions into the private life of American citizens by willingly handing over Internet traffic records, that wholly-owned subsidiary of Bush Inc. formerly known as the Justice Department (checks and balances - what a quaint concept) has weighed in on Big Telecom's side concerning net neutrality. The Justice Department last Thursday said Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic. The agency told the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing high-speed Internet practices, that it is opposed to "Net neutrality," the principle that all Internet sites should be equally accessible to any Web user.

More articles on this issue:
AT&T forwards all Internet traffic into NSA
NSA to spy on 38% of world telecom traffic
AT&T Seeks to Hide Spy Docs
Whistleblower outs NSA's secret spy room at AT&T

Nobody says it better than George Carlin

Comedians may be the only spokespeople capable of penetrating the miasmal fog of delusion that so many of our fellow citizens wrap themselves up in when it comes to the true nature of 21st century America. Here, in less than 5 minutes, is the truth.

The blindness of loyalty

"It is sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons."
--George W. Bush, August 27, 2007

Heckuva job, Al.

The future of the Internet without Net Neutrality

LOLLAPALOOZA WEBCAST: SPONSORED/CENSORED BY AT&T?

From Pearl Jam's website:

"After concluding our Sunday night show at Lollapalooza, fans informed us that portions of that performance were missing and may have been censored by AT&T during the "Blue Room" Live Lollapalooza Webcast.

"When asked about the missing performance, AT&T informed Lollapalooza that portions of the show were in fact missing from the webcast, and that their content monitor had made a mistake in cutting them.

"During the performance of 'Daughter' the following lyrics were sung to the tune of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall' but were cut from the webcast:

"- 'George Bush, leave this world alone.' (the second time it was sung); and

"- 'George Bush find yourself another home.'

"This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media.

"AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.

"Aspects of censorship, consolidation, and preferential treatment of the internet are now being debated under the umbrella of "NetNeutrality." Check out The Future of Music or Save the Internet for more information on this issue."

Here is the unedited footage:

Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11

Here is a must read article by Wayne Barrett from the Village Voice about Rudy Giuliani's fictitious hero persona.

Protect America from itself

Forty-one Democratic Congresspeople voted "yea" on Bush's ironically named "Protect America Act;" 16 Democratic senators did likewise [Evan Bayh (Indiana); Tom Carper (Delaware); Bob Casey (Pennsylvania); Kent Conrad (North Dakota); Dianne Feinstein (California); Daniel Inouye (Hawai‘i); Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota); Mary Landrieu (Louisiana); Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas); Claire McCaskill (Missouri); Barbara Mikulski (Maryland); Bill Nelson (Florida); Ben Nelson (Nebraska); Mark Pryor (Arkansas); Ken Salazar (Colorado); Jim Webb (Virginia)]. What were these people thinking? Why exactly do they believe this incompetent sitting president deserves approbation for continued attack on our basic liberties?

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, angrily chastised his colleagues for bending to the administration's will. "The day we start deferring to someone who's not a member of this body ... is a sad day for the U.S. Senate," Feingold said. "We make the policy -- not the executive branch."

What's at stake?

The law:

• Defines the act of reading and listening into American's phone calls and internet communications when they are "reasonably believed" to be outside the country as not surveillance.
• Gives the government 6 months of extended powers to issue orders to "communication service providers," to help with spying that "concerns persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States." The language doesn't require the surveillance to only target people outside the United States, only that some of it does.
• Forces Communication Service providers to comply secretly, though they can challenge the orders to the secret Foreign Intelligence Court. Individuals or companies given such orders will be paid for their cooperation and can not be sued for complying.
• Makes any program or orders launched in the next six months last for a year after being authorized.
  
• Grandfathers in the the current secret surveillance program -- sometimes referred to as the Terrorist Surveillance Program -- and any others that have been blessed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
• Requires the Attorney General to submit to the secret surveillance court its reasons why these programs aren't considered domestic spying programs, but the court can only throw out those reasons if it finds that they are "clearly erroneous."
• Requires the Attorney General to tell Congress twice a year about any incidents of surveillance abuse and give statistics about how many surveillance programs were started and how many directives were issued.
• Makes no mention of the Inspector General, who uncovered abuses of the Patriot Act by the FBI after being ordered by Congress to audit the use of powerful self-issued subpoenas, is not mentioned in the bill.

In short, the law gives the Administration the power to order the nation's communication service providers -- which range from Gmail, AOL IM, Twitter, Skype, traditional phone companies, ISPs, internet backbone providers, Federal Express, and social networks -- to create possibly permanent spying outposts for the federal government.

These outposts need only to have a "significant" purpose of spying on foreigners, would be nearly immune to challenge by lawsuit, and have no court supervision over their extent or implementation.

Abuses of the outposts will be monitored only by the Justice Department, which has already been found to have underreported abuses of other surveillance powers to Congress.

[The above summary is from Ryan Singel's Wired Blog. Worth reading.]

How these Dems could willingly give these powers to a White House that has already shown the most egregious indifference to the rule of law is beyond me.

At least none of the candidates voted for it. And it lasts just 6 months. So Karl Rove has 6 months to wiretap all of the Democratic presidential candidates. In between leather parties, that is.

Why I hate Bill O'Reilly (or is Rupert Murdoch the anti-christ?)

I've never really known just what rock Bill O'Reilly crawled out from under. All of a sudden here was this celebrity Fox News wingnut propagandist, seemingly materialized out of some old coke-euphoria dream of G. W. Bush. I had never even known the guy existed before. Which leads me to suspect that, much like Jonah Goldberg, this odd form of human life is manufactured, promoted and elevated by the corporate media empires that find their personalities so useful.

There are actually many reasons why O'Reilly fills me with gleeful homicidal fantasies, but it can all be encapsulated by watching this snippet of his show where he treats a chapter president of Iraq Veterans Against The War with such callow and shallow disregard that I wanted to grab his scrawny rooster neck through the screen and pop his swollen head like a pimple. Of course, all of this is framed within the useful litany of lies that this boor espouses daily on behalf of the junta of thugs and criminals currently ruining the country.

My favorite little moment of pearl-like disingenuousness is when Willy Boy actually uses the word "propaganda" to describe the truth about the war in Iraq, a wonderful example of the Orwellian techniques by which the FoxNews machine bamboozles its base of brain-addled couch potatoes. All-in-all Geoffrey Millard conducted himself with aplomb against the lily-livered chickenhawk.

Watch it here.

Which brings me to my parenthetical subtitle regarding O'Reilly's führer. I love the irony that Britain and Australia's most successful purveyor of tabloid soft core porn is the standard bearer for the right wing noise machine. Y'know, family values and all that. But their hypocrisy is already legion - we know. How many rabid born-again flag waving GOP homophobe buttwads have now been revealed as philanderers, pederasts and closeted homosexuals (and how many are still to be outed, eh, Karl?).

So now Murdoch has his hands on the bulwark of the oligarchy, the Wall Street Journal. Editorially, the WSJ has always been extremely rightwing, but everyone at least gave them plaudits for keeping their news reportage objective and meticulous (I don't know - I never read it). Most analysts figure that will soon be a thing of the past, as Rupert positions his new acquisition to counter the perceived "liberal bias" of the NY Times.

I figure that there can only be 2 reasons why Rupert has showered Hillary Clinton's campaign with money. He either figures she is absolutely the Dem that any mediocre Republican can defeat, or else he views her as the one Dem he can work with if she gets elected. I think it the latter, personally. Hillary is a corporate soldier through and through. Never forget it was her hubby's administration who got the media consolidation ball running by which Mr. Murdoch has profited so royally.

The radicalization of libertarian Republicans

Paul Craig Roberts has been one of the most virulent critics of the Bush administration. For that matter so has reactionary Pat Buchanan, but Roberts is the more interesting because of his pedigree. Robert was a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Reagan administration. Recently, Roberts went so far as to suggest that the Bush administration is preparing to orchestrate a staged terrorist attack in the United States, transform the country into a dictatorship and launch a war with Iran within a year. He first issued this warning in his syndicated column, and then amplified it in an interview on the Thom Hartmann radio show.

Now, if a reasoned individual like Roberts is ready to basically throw in with the 9-11 conspiracists (sort of - I am taking some poetic license here), you have to wonder, when will the clearly progressive majority of the American people rise up and demand an end to the illegal, immoral dictatorship of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney?

Here is a link to Thom Hartmann's radio program archives. It appears that access is now free, but you still have to use a username and password (listed onthe page). The Roberts interview was on July 19. The link above is to several downloadable versions of the Roberts segment alone.

The progressive majority in America

I've always found the Libertarian line a bit daft - I mean, I have little faith in the "free" market to regulate itself. Human greed and avarice are just too overpowering motivations to allow room for altruism. And according to a recent study, most Americans really do believe that government should be the watchdog over the common good, making sure that those left behind by get a helping hand. A great deal of the information comes from a massive Pew Research Center study of American values from 1987-2007.

Some highlights of this report are:

On Health Care: 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

On Energy Policy: 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources"; 64 percent are willing to pay a higher energy tax to pay for renewable energy research; 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.

On the Economy: 77 percent of Americans believe Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.

On Government's Role: 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves." Twice as many people (43 percent to 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as want government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."

On Immigration: 62 percent of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should be given a chance to "keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status." 49 percent believe the best way to reduce illegal immigration from Mexico is to penalize employers, not more border control.

Go to Iraq and fight, Mr. President

Keith Olbermann, on fire.



"You have condemned yourself to a place among that remarkably small group of Americans whom Americans cannot forgive: those who have sold this country out and who have willingly declared their enmity to the people at whose pleasure they supposedly serve."

The real Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani, the leading Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2008, is the perfect heir to the Bushite assault on American ideals. Painting himself in the colors of false heroism, this man, this monster, will only lead us further into penultimate decline. So, here, in the public interest, is a primer of readings on the real Giuliani:

Paul Craig Roberts on The Criminal Career of Rudy Giuliani.

Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone, "Giuliani: Worse Than Bush."

Giuliani Gets Exposed As Fraud by Firefighters:

In the interests of fairness, a critique at the above video.


Cashing In on Catastrophe by Wayne Barrett & Dan Collins.

Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, book by Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins.

The Full Rudy: The Man, the Mayor, the Myth by Jack Newfield.

The infamous "Thank God that George Bush is our president, and thank God that Dick Cheney, a man with his experience and his knowledge and his strength and his background, is our vice president."

16 Reasons Why Rudy Giuliani Sucks

What America Needs to Know About Rudy Giuliani by Barbara O'Brien

Heckuva job, Rudy!

Giuliani's 9/11 Conspiracy Theory

Dude, where's my constitution?

We Americans are famous for taking everything for granted, whether it be cheap gasoline, clean water, Social Security when we retire. Oh, and a representative democracy based on an extraordinary document called the Constitution (accompanied by a Bill of Rights), replete with a system of checks and balances that prevents any one component of our government - executive, legislative and judicial - from amassing unmitigated power.

Right?

George Bush's legacy, which we are told has become of increasing concern to to this damaged shell of a man, will of course be the gravest attack on the principles of our democracy in the 200 years of its history. We no longer have a President, we have a king, and the king has a magic want called "executive privilege," with which the "people's business" suddenly has been placed on a "needs to know" basis. And we, the American people, apparently have no need to know.

From today's Washington Post: "Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority Thursday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege."

The American people should be outraged, but don't hold your breath waiting for the somnambulant masses to rise up in indignation. As for me, I am calling not only my own congresswoman, but a hell of a lot of others. I want impeachment proceedings started against these bastards NOW!

As for democracy? You don't miss your water until the well runs dry.

'Nuff said, you friggin' hypocrite

"I'm not going to answer endless questions about it all over again and again and again and again. That might sell newspapers, but it wouldn't serve my family or my constituents well."-- Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), 7/16/07, speaking out publicly for the first time about appearing on the D.C. Madam's list.

VERSUS

"Some current polls may suggest that people are turned off by the whole Clinton mess and don't care. ... But that doesn't answer the question of whether President Clinton should be impeached and removed from office because he is morally unfit to govern."-- Vitter, 10/29/98

Who knows where those thumbs have been... Just another hypocrite for Christ.

Bill Moyers Journal: Tough Talk on Impeachment

If you missed the excellent Bill Moyers' broadcast on the case for impeachment, head over here. All I have to say is: "ITMFA!"














But...

Olbermann on Chertoff's Colonic Creationism

When I begin to despair of any mainstream American media outlet providing any offset to the roiling gasbags of Fox News, Keith Olbermann rises forth and provides counterpoint to this unelected administration and their policy of deception and cruelty. By now, you've all heard of Department of Homeland Stupidity honcho Chertoff's prophetic gut. Here, Olbermann puts the clown's gastric prescience into perspective.



"You have by now heard the remark — instantly added to our through-the-looking-glass lexicon of the 21st century, a time when we suddenly started referring to this country as 'the homeland,' as if anybody here has used that term since Charles Lindbergh or the German-American Bund in 1940. Michael Chertoff’s 'gut feeling.'"

New Dope in Town

I've begun a new blog, sort of a MTV (Mirsky TV) featuring videos of my favorite singer-songwriters. Little did I know that YouTube could be such a treasure chest of vintage and/or obscure music video. Right now, there's just one artist featured, but I anticipate many by the time I've exhausted myself. Hopefully, something I post will constitute a new discovery for at least one visitor - then my job is done. Escuche.

Save the Internet - Act Before July 16

Act now!

Hot for Hil?

Well, not me, but this parody video is better than any of the candidate's, that's for sure. even that Sopranos take-off.



And here's Ms. Southern's blog.

Now, in the interest of equal time for the two poll leaders:




Now, don't you just love the political theater of our nation's electoral process?

LIBBY'S LIBERTY: Rehearsal for Pardon

One of my absolute favorite bloggers is video producer and writer Tom Degan, up in Goshen, NY. Rather than attempt to encapsulate my own thoughts on the totally unsurprising commutation of Scooter Libby's 30 month jail term while awaiting sentencing on his litany of lies to protect his boss Blackheart Dick and our soulless president, I point you to Tom's well-scribed take on the issue:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan: LIBBY'S OFF THE HOOK