Bush, today, apparently with a straight face (from the White House website): First, we’re going to work with the Iraqi government to increase the training Iraqi police recruits receive in human rights and the rule of law, so they understand the role of the police in a democratic society. Yup. The Bush Administration is going to teach Iraqis about human … Read More
Torture Is Not Over
The McCain Amendment was passed by Congress, and forbids the use of torture. Bush signed it into law Friday, issuing the following statement: The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act, relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in … Read More
Neo-Bedwetters
TBogg is tired of the conservative machismo from the right blogosphere. It’s thinly-masked fear used as a moral justification for sacrificing our hard-fought constitutional liberties: Now I may not be as "emotionally or morally sophisticated" as Roger L Simon, but then I didn’t spend the afternoon of 9/11 flushing away my beliefs and convictions in a piddle-stained panic. So please … Read More
Chickenhawk Squawk
Atrios: Murtha says he wouldn’t join military now. Numerous conservatives, many of whom appear to be of prime fighting age and who haven’t served, condemn him. Hilarious. Or something.
Further Proof That Things Are Getting Better In Iraq
U.S. soldier death toll for 2005: 844 U.S. soldier death toll for 2004: 849 [Source]
Military Not As Crazy About Bush
From the Military Times: Support for President Bush and for the war in Iraq has slipped significantly in the last year among members of the military’s professional core, according to the 2005 Military Times Poll. Approval of the president’s Iraq policy fell 9 percentage points from 2004; a bare majority, 54 percent, now say they view his performance on Iraq … Read More
Speaking Of Whistleblowers…
Craig Murray was once Britain’s Ambassador to the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan. At the time, he objected — loudly — to the U.S. use of "extraordinary rendition" (and Britain’s complicity in it). Specifically, Iraqi and Afghani war detainees were transferred by the Americans and Brits to Uzbek security forces, who extracted "torture-tainted" information. No longer serving in the British … Read More
Cry Me A River
Reuters is reporting that Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier incarcerated for abusing detainees in Iraq (pictured right), was badly burnt in a prison kitchen accident. Terrie England, Lynndie’s mother was very upset. England works in the prison’s kitchen, where she suffered second- and possibly third-degree burns from being splattered with grease over her chest as she removed chickens from a … Read More
Wrong Investigation
The Justice Department is starting an investigation into the leak about the secret illegal NSA wiretaps. Once again, the investigation isn’t about the wiretaps themselves, but about the leaking of the fact of the wiretaps to the press. You know …trying to determine who the whistleblower is. Oy. This is all a nice segue to a guest post at Bradblog … Read More
Do These People Vote?
I’m constantly amazed by the incredible ignorance of a relatively large segment of Americans: Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. adults believe that Saddam Hussein had "strong links to Al Qaeda." Twenty-two percent (22%) of adults believe that Saddam Hussein "helped plan and support the hijackers who attacked the United States on September 11." Twenty-six percent (26%) of adults believe that … Read More
Visit The NSA Website; Get A Cookie
Seems like the NSA was doing more than monitoring phone calls: The National Security Agency’s Internet site has been placing files on visitors’ computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them. These files, known as "cookies," disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week, and agency … Read More
Are We At War?
Kevin Drum makes an interesting point: Of course, their argument is not that the president has the inherent power to authorize domestic surveillance anytime he wants, only that he has that power during wartime. And as near as I can tell, that’s the elephant in the room that no one is really very anxious to discuss: What is "wartime"? Is … Read More
Standing On Principle
A U.S. Judge with the FICA court (you know, the one that the government is supposed to go with warrants for wiretaps) resigns, apparently in protest: A federal judge on a court that oversees intelligence cases has resigned to protest President George W. Bush’s authorization of a domestic spying program, The Washington Post said. US District Judge James Robertson resigned … Read More
More Dissenters From The Right
I already mentioned George Will. Here’s some more: Former Rep. Bob Barr (from paper edition of WaPo): The American people are going to have to say, ‘Enough of this business of justifying everything as necessary for the war on terror.’ David Keene, Executive Director of the American Conservative Union, on today’s Diane Rehm Show: Keene: […] Having said that as … Read More