BUSHISM of the Day

"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically." ---March 29, 2001

Sojourner's Magazine commentary from David Batstone

A short article from Sojourner's SojoMail email newsletter, written by David Batstone--an interesting take on the dangers of war and its inevitable misguided consequences.  It is sad to hear stories of any casualties, but a story such as this seems all the worse!

 

Murder mystery in Iraq

by David Batstone

My friend Kirk von Ackermann has joined the list of American casualties in Iraq. Not that long ago he was designated as "missing." He is now "presumed dead." Suspiciously so.

According to a story in last Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, Kirk disappeared on the afternoon of Oct. 9, 2003, on a deserted road in Iraq that runs between Tikrit and Kirkuk. A tire on his car had gone flat, so he used a satellite phone to call a colleague to request a jack. When his colleague arrived about 45 minutes later, Kirk was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of struggle, not even footprints of possible assailants, which would seem to rule out a ragtag team of Iraqi resistance fighters. Robbery also is out for a motive - Kirk's satellite phone, a laptop computer, and a briefcase containing $40,000 were found left in his car, according to the article.

"It was as if he had been abducted by aliens," Ryan Manelick, another one of Kirk's colleagues in Iraq, told the Chronicle reporter. More like professional assassins, I might add. Manelick and Kirk worked for Ultra Services, a civilian contracting company that supplied U.S. troops in Iraq with essential living services (tents, toilets, etc.) and technology.

That's not the only significant observation Manelick had to make. He also shared with army investigators looking into Kirk's "disappearance" that Kirk was ready to blow the whistle on a kickback scheme that involved business operatives and a U.S. Army officer, according to the article.

Manelick voiced fears for his own safety because he also had divulged details about this scandal. "I'm in fear of my own life," he told the Chronicle reporter. "It's not Iraqis I'm worried about, either," he added. "It's people from my own country." The very next day after the interview, a car pulled up alongside Manelick's 4x4 and a gunner opened fire with a machine gun, according to the article, instantly killing him.

I first met Kirk a couple of years ago on a soccer field in Half Moon Bay, California. I was his son's soccer coach. When Kirk could get off work at his business software company, he would come out to the field to help me out with practices.

As our friendship evolved, Kirk shared with me his background as a former deputy director of intelligence for NATO operations in Kosovo. He told me that he subsequently had worked as a Pentagon advisor on counterterrorism and espionage, and had high-level security clearance. He confessed that he could not share details with me, but he was disturbed by the rise of terrorism internationally and the lack of thoughtful U.S. foreign policy that would nourish democracy and freedom abroad. One thing about Kirk: He was a true believer in the potential for America to do good in the world. In Kosovo, he was convinced that the U.S. presence had helped to stop genocide and build a fragile peace.

When Kirk told me that he was going to Iraq to work with Ultra Services, I could only guess what actual role he would be playing in intelligence and security. Early in April 2003, only weeks after the invasion, he wrote me an e-mail from Iraq, and it was flush with hope of a quick end to the conflict, yet also concern for the long-term destiny of the country:

"As I watch what appears to be the beginning of the conclusion of this conflict in Iraq, I'm struck by something that [I became familiar with] in Bosnia and Kosovo - the children. When I was in the Balkans, I always brought something along for the kids, who had suffered for reasons they simply did not understand. As I look at the Iraqi kids, I realize that [those] in their mid-20s were children when the suffering in Iraq started. After eight years of war with Iran, 12 years of sanctions, and this current war, I wonder what the children of Iraq must be thinking."

In that same e-mail, Kirk solicited my help in thinking through an economic and social development program that would offer Iraqi children a chance to build a new society. I received several e-mails over the ensuing month exuding this same passion to change the tides of an oppressive history.

As the months passed along, however, Kirk began to express a frustration and despair that other American military and business personnel did not share his lofty goals. On Oct. 6, three days before his disappearance, he wrote me the following e-mail:

"The real problem is that - not surprisingly - the [Bush] administration seems to have dramatically overestimated the willingness of corporate America to take the risks of Iraq. Other than myself, there really are no contractors operating in Tikrit, Samarra, Balad, etc.... It cannot be stressed enough that even pro-Saddam Iraqis are not anti-American. They are violently opposed to U.S. occupation forces, but not an individual American. The tribal leader in the city where Saddam was born told me, 'We have our Arab pride, we will fight, we will lose, and then we will move on. No one wanted these days, but these are what we have, although it will not forever be this way.' It's dangerous, but not like Bosnia was."

Kirk obviously could not share with me over e-mail his deeper concerns. Apparently, he was aware of a corruption scam involving U.S. military and corporate services. Perhaps he did not know what real danger he had fallen into from his own people.

My personal connection to a lost American in Iraq adds to my sense of despair over U.S. engagement in Iraq. The smell of rotting fish continues to waft its way out of Iraq - and we catch mere glimpses of the misdirection of billions of dollars passing through the likes of Halliburton, Kellogg Brown & Root, and other less-than-credible corporate enterprises. We need to head down a different road, one driven by integrity.

Kirk worried about the children of Iraq, and their future: He wrote in one of his e-mails to me: "In Bosnia and Kosovo I noticed...the eyes of the kids - knowing that they weren't likely to die anymore, but still so far from hope. Of course, kids are kids and can take a stick and a rock and make up grand adventures, but when war's ravages have subsided it often takes something to reawaken the spirit of belief, especially in young people."

Kirk was right. It is not enough to wave the flags of democracy and freedom. We must live up to their lofty standards.

BUSHISM of the Day

"I talked about making the death tax permanent so that Rolf can pass his assets from---to a family member if he so chooses." --At a meeting with small business owners, March 18, 2002

New Book on U.S. Torture Memos

A significant new book, The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib, covering all of the administration memos placing the U.S. military and C.I.A. in a position that is absolutely antithetical to this nation's history, has been released by Cambridge University Press. The book was released in January, and I just found out about it in the last few days.

The most interesting aspects of these 'torture memos' are two-fold: (1) the absolute disallowal of torture by the U.S. military has its roots in our history with George Washington and continues throughout all military actions until approximately 2002 when it was countermanded by no less a figure than our new Attorney General; and (2) some of the most outspoken opponents of the Bush/Gonzales/Rumsfeld/Cheney new interpretation on the use of 'aggressive methods of interrogation' include Sen. John McCain (a POW in Vietnam, and a victim of torture), Sen. Chuck Hagel, and Sen. Lindsay Graham (a former Air Force JAG Colonel)--all conservative Republican legislators who have military experience and who understand the justification for the international ban on torture.

Unfortunately, it seems, the Chicken Hawks of the Bush administration have no direct understanding of the importance of forbidding torture for the purpose of protecting your own troops, let alone the moral implications that as a free nation, we much guarantee all civil rights to even the weakest citizens of the international community as well as to our own citizens. For some amazing reason, this administration sees the rights of enemies as non-existent; but it is the willingness of our nation to make all people's rights equal that sets us above those extremists who are willing to commit terrorist homocide. We must remember that "All men are created equal" and that all human beings have the same "inalienable rights" to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

From Amazon.com's reviews of the book, here is the Product Description:

The Torture Papers document the so-called 'torture memos' and reports which US government officials wrote to prepare the way for, and to document, coercive
interrogation and torture in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib. These
documents present for the first time a compilation of materials that prior to
publication have existed only piecemeal in the public domain. The Bush
Administration, concerned about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques,
understood the need to establish a legally viable argument to justify such
procedures. The memos and reports document the systematic attempt of the US
Government to prepare the way for torture techniques and coercive interrogation
practices, forbidden under international law, with the express intent of evading
legal punishment in the aftermath of any discovery of these practices and
policies.

This book comes out at a time when so much information is coming into public consciousness about the actions of the Bush administration in its, perhaps, illegal methods for dealing with terrorist suspects. The Jane Mayer article in the February 14-21 double issue of The New Yorker magazine brought to light the administration's use of 'extraordinary rendition,' transporting certain terrorist suspects to allied countries that are more willing to conduct torturous interrogations. We learn that one of Colin Powell's key revelations about Iraq at the United Nations leading to the war came from a tortured high-level member of Al Qaeda. The suspect claimed that Saddam had offered two locations for Al Qaeda training camps in Iraq. He was later transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and recanted his statements. More recent evidence points to the fact that this suspect would have had no knowledge of any connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda, even if it did exist.

BUSHISM of the Day

"The reason I believe in a large tax cut is because it's what I believe."  ---December 18, 2000

 

Or maybe it's because that is what his top advisors told him he needed to believe....

BUSHISM of the Day

"I think war is a dangerous place." ---May 7, 2003

BUSHISM of the Day

"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." ---April 23, 2002

Cheney Acknowledges Cost of Bush Plan

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Vice-President Dick Cheney acknowledged (see the WashPost story) that the Bush plan for revising Social Security could cost trillions of dollars over the next 10-20 years.  He justifies this information by saying that if the system is left alone, the cost could be even worse because Social Security is ready to go "belly up."  This argument reflects the one made by President Bush in his State of the Union speech and in his appearances around the country since then; however, it is completely at odds with most economists.  There is no pending crisis with Social Security.  The system was restructured in the early 1990s to provide full benefits for retirees through 2042, and will likely assure solvency for the program well beyond that year.

 

The Bush administration 'crisis' push is just another example of ideologues creating a crisis situation where one does not exist so that they can move their agenda forward.  Many would argue that the move the administration wants to make should have taken place when the federal government was projecting surpluses, not now that we have fallen into severe fiscal mismanagement at the hands of the Bush administration.  An interesting fact I heard yesterday is that the Bush plan for 'saving Social Security' has about 24% support across the country.  Obviously most people disagree that a crisis is at hand; or, maybe Americans have just learned to be cautious when this administration starts spouting words like 'crisis' and 'impending doom.'

NYTimes Quote of the Day

"There is a problem when the turnover in the United States House of Representatives is lower than it was in the Soviet Politburo."  ---NATHANIEL PERSILY, an election law expert at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

BUSHISM of the Day

"In other words, I don't think people ought to be compelled to make the decision which they think is best for their family." ---December 11, 2002

From CSMonitor--'Koranic duels ease terror' in Yemen

Judge Hamoud al-Hitar and four of his fellow judges decided that the best way to discourage Islamist insurgency in Yemen would be to have dialogues with imprisoned members of al Qaeda and other insurgency groups.  The judge proposed that if the Islamists could support their radical claims with evidence from the Qu'ran, then he (and his fellows) would join the cause; however, if the judges could present an opposing view supported by evidence from the Qu'ran, then the insurgents would agree to go home and renounce their violent ways.

 

Critics have taken a very disagreeable view toward these 'Koranic duels' because, they argue, the judges have allowed several known terrorists to go free.  The judge counters that all significant cases of terrorism in Yemen have been prosecuted, including those Islamists responsible for the U.S.S. Cole attack, and all of these cases have been resolved with the execution of the responsible individuals.  Those individuals that have been released have largely been recent recruits who have been duped by what the judge would call a 'false teaching' of Islam.

 

The presentation of the 'true Islam' to these individuals enables the judges to free them from their misguided understanding of the teachings of Mohammed.  According to the CSMonitor report, most (if not all) of those released prisoners have gone back to their homes to lead productive lives.  Many of them have enrolled in educational programs or have begun new jobs.  In addition to the efforts by these judges to re-educate the Islamists, Yemen has closed all madrassas in the country--hoping to eradicate the negative influence of the extreme views of Islam held by al Qaeda and the Wahhabists of Saudi Arabia.

 

This story just goes to show that education and dialogue can perhaps accomplish as much as bullets and tanks.

Rumsfeld will not attend German defense conference

The U.S. Secretary of Defense faces an indictment in German courts for war crimes violations.  Due to the pending court case, filed by a Human Rights group in New York after complaints by released detainees from Abu Ghraib, Mr. Rumsfeld will likely not attend the conference in Munich next weekend.

 

More info from the BBC at their news site here.

From FactCheck.org--Bush's State of the Union: Social Security "Bankruptcy?"

Summary from FactCheck.org

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush said again that the Social Security system is headed for "bankruptcy," a term that could give the wrong idea. Actually, even if it goes "bankrupt" a few decades from now, the system would still be able to pay about three-quarters of the benefits now promised.

Bush also made his proposed private Social Security accounts sound like a sure thing, which they are not. He said they "will" grow fast enough to provide a better return than the present system. History suggests that will be so, but nobody can predict what stock and bond markets will do in the future.

Bush left out any mention of what workers would have to give up to get those private accounts -- a proportional reduction or offset in guaranteed Social Security retirement benefits. He also glossed over the fact that money in private accounts would be "owned" by workers only in a very limited sense -- under strict conditions which the President referred to as "guidelines." Many retirees, and possibly the vast majority, wouldn't be able to touch their Social Security nest egg directly, even after retirement, because the government would take some or all of it back and convert it to a stream of payments guaranteed for life.

Click the link below for the full article:

http://www.factcheck.org/article305m.html