Americans Against Escalation in Iraq

The. Party. Is. Over.

Liberty Belle — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:37:32 EST

As someone who has literally "partied for a living," (in special events) I claim this with absolute authority:

The. Party. Is. Over.

It's time to turn off the music, turn up the lights, present the bill, "gather up your jackets and move to the exits" and if necessary-and it obviously is necessary-call the cops. And yeah, I remember the number. It's 9/11.

The Republicrats need to go home, and don't even get me started about a third party-because what this country really needs is a second one.

Pat Tiberi Just Says NO! But Then Says YES!

Liberty Belle — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:18:47 EDT

Congressman Pat Tiberi and David Robinson square off on the BAilout and Economy

*Note: NO! photo or video is available for this story. Please see “Pat Tiberi Seeks to Silence the Free Press” for details.

On Monday, September 29 Representative Pat Tiberi and Democratic challenger David Robinson faced off in their first debate. This was following at least four previously held events where “Our Congressman” had disappointed the 12th District electorate by being unable to attend while the Democratic challenger David Robinson maintained perfect debate attendance.

The Delaware, Ohio debate was held in a local vocational school. Tiberi flew in from Washington just hours after he went “His Own Way” and said NO! to the $700 Billion bailout package.

That evening, Tiberi confidently addressed the audience of approximately 150 Delawareans saying:

“We had a vote today that I told the President, 'NO!'

"Some say I can't tell the president, 'NO!'

"But I told my party leadership, 'NO!'

“Because at the end of the day, when I look into my daughter's eyes, it's about her.

"It's about the next generation of Americans. It's not about party. It's about doing the right thing.”

Based on his opposition to the bill, The Liberty Voice posted our support on our website saying, “We salute Pat Tiberi on this choice.”

The Delaware Gazette reported, “Tiberi felt the bill didn’t adequately protect consumers and was jammed through Congress.”

According to Tiberi on Monday, his NO! vote represented the will of his constituents. He said,

“Main Street wasn't protected in that bill. That's who I got the phone calls from.

"The phone calls from Central Ohio were AGAINST it!!!

“We've got to deal with the reality of what we can do, cause at the end of the day, guess who's going to pay for it--WE ARE!”

Platinum Bootstraps, Pat Tiberi and Michael Moore

Liberty Belle — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:22:51 EDT

Economic collapse brings together the strangest bedfellows: Michael Moore and RINO Pat Tiberi.

Despite Pat Tiberi's voting record which has handed taxpayer money over to no-bid contractors and often supported corporate welfare, Pat Tiberi decided to actually "go his own way" (despite a 93% lock-step record with President Bush).

This is ironically the same choice of Michael Moore. We salute Pat Tiberi on this choice. I guess with $830,000 already in the Tiberi's WAR chest from financial and security companies over the past eight years, Tiberi would rather finally side with his voting block (and just in time for the election!) rather than again rewarding bad behavior. It remains to be seen however if the voters of Ohio's 12th Congressional District will have amnesia of the trillions of no-bid appropriations and corporate bailouts Tiberi has already approved.

Here is an excerpt from Michael Moore's proposal:

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout."
Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves! Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily.
George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?
I would like to propose my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, are predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps.
Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: There... is... no... free... lunch. And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there will be no handouts from us to you.

Read the rest of Michael's proposal here.

Tiberi Seeks to Silence the "Free" Press

Liberty Belle — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:19:53 EDT

Thelibertyvoice.com

“I, Pat Tiberi, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

Amendment I
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”

As the publisher of The Liberty Voice, I had made preparations to record the September 29th public debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, The Delaware Gazette and the Farm Bureau. This forum for local, state and federal candidates was held in a publicly-funded local school. As I am not able to write every word live, it is necessary that I record such events so that I may accurately transcribe what is said.

This was an especially important service to perform this evening, as “our Congressman” Pat Tiberi has repeatedly refused to answer our questions concerning his voting record which illustrates his gross and repeated violations of the US Constitution.

Lately, I have recorded similar debates sponsored by two of the above-mentioned organizations without incident, so what changed?

Incumbent Pat Tiberi was there.

In the past four debates–all of which had invited “our Congressman” to come, he never bothered to make an appearance. However, it was anticipated that this would be a widely-attended debate, so there was great pressure for him to make a showing. Judging by what happened later in the evening, as a condition for Tiberi’s long-awaited participation in the debates and unbeknownst to me, Tiberi pressured the sponsoring groups to forbid the use of any recording devises–without exception granted even to the press.

As I was setting up my equipment before the debate began, I was asked to put my video recording devise away, as it was an event rule that all involved had agreed to in advance. When I challenged this, the organizers–in order to “prevent making a scene” –which most definitely did make a scene, reluctantly agreed that I could record.

Pat Tiberi is endorsed by the Columbus Dispatch Printing Company

Liberty Belle — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:17:59 EDT

ShareThis

Central Ohio residents were treated to yet more of the Columbus Dispatch Printing Company’s (CDPC) ‘fair and balanced’ judgment; Pat Tiberi, a republican currently holding the 12th Congressional seat at the People’s House, has gotten the local daily printing company’s endorsement for Congress.

Hopefully, CDPC readers will remember the past ‘judgment’ of the company’s endorsements–including George W. Bush for president in both 2000 and 2004, when shortly before the 2004 election, even the CDPC seemed to know better. In the midst of this latest fill-in-the-blank-shock-and-awe crisis, that presidential endorsement has shown where the loyalties of the Wolfe family media empire really LIE. Much like Washington serves its lobbyists, the CDPC likewise serves the corporations who pay for thier ads.

The fact that a local printing company’s public informational monopoly would find it within their job description to endorse a candidate before even informing the population of where all candidates stand on the issues that affect them most, is discrediting to not only to the endorsement, but raises questions as to the credibility of the CDPC itself.

The CDPC wrote, “Tiberi [is a] moderate Republican, reasonable in [his] approaches to policy issues and capable of the nitty-gritty legislative work that’s required.”

The most glaring omission in this statement is that Tiberi has never sponsored and passed even one piece of legislation in his nearly eight years of [dis]service.

By this same CDPC standard, Tiberi’s voting record indicates that he is as “moderate” as he is “capable”!

Let’s look at his “moderate” and “reasonable approach” from his congressional voting record, for as even the CDPC noted, “most candidates are fiscal conservatives during the campaign season; the proof is what happens when they get to Capitol Hill.”

Exactly.

The question is, why didn’t the CDPC look at that “proof” and relate that to their readers? The [t]reason is that Tiberi’s record is far from moderate.

An All-American Race

Liberty Belle — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:16:59 EDT

The 12th Ohio Congressional district, an "all-American district" in the view of Michael Alwood of WVKO's "Blue State Diner" offers a uniquely relevant contrast of candidates in this year's election that goes directly to the point of who controls our wayward government. David Robinson is a first-time candidate who has pledged devotion to the Constitution and is leading an all-volunteer group of supporters in an attempt to dislodge the four-term incumbent, Pat Tiberi, a Bush-loyalist. The following is excerpted from this interview on July 26, 2008.

Michael Alwood: If you look at the twelfth district, it is about as American as it gets. It parallels-almost exactly the national average demographics across the board. We are talking about the all-American district. I think of an all-American district as the people who are being hardest hit in these tough economic times. The institutions who back Republican incumbent Pat Tiberi-insurance companies, financial institutions, some pharmaceutical companies, and these are not people who have the best interest of average Americans in mind-they have the best interest of their stockholders in mind.

David Robinson: One of my central tasks in this campaign is to focus on Mr. Tiberi's voting record and awaken the citizenship to exactly what he is doing in DC. Voters should be asking themselves whether he's representing their interests and values.

The policy we articulated during the primary was the Apollo II Energy Initiative. Stated simply, it recognizes that many of the long-term problems facing our country: loss of jobs, national security issues and environmental concerns-all trace back to energy. It is my belief that by boldly changing the direction of our country-away from fossil fuels and towards next-generation renewables, we can revitalize our economy-especially here in Ohio. We are bound to benefit immensely from this program.

Pentagon: US War Dead Cremated In Same Facility As Pets

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:18:45 EDT

"We just believe our heroes deserve to be treated better than that."

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered a review of the handling of the remains of US war dead and apologized after learning that some were cremated in a commercial facility that also cremates pets, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said there was no evidence that any US servicemember was cremated in an incinerator used for pets.

But Gates believed that the use of a commercial facility that cremated both humans and pets, albeit in separate incinerators, was "insensitive and entirely inappropriate for the dignified treatment of our fallen," Morrell said.

"The families of the fallen have the secretary's deepest apology," he added.

Watch it:

Mothers Day: "Arise then... women of this day!"

Lorraine Bieber — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:55:33 EDT

It is indeed puzzling that so many Republican members of Ohio's congressional delegation voted no on H.R. 1113, “Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day” (full warm and fuzzy text here).

...until you consider the origins of Mother's Day.

Julia Ward Howe, who penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic, also authored a mothers' Declaration calling on women to oppose war, and worked to get recognition of a Mother’s Day for Peace. Says Code Pink: "Were she alive today, Julia probably would have told her kids to dispense with the roses and chocolates, and instead join her in an anti-war rally. Yes, Julia Ward Howe was a peacenik."

[Howe] saw some of the worst effects of the [civil] war -- not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She also saw the economic devastation of the Civil War, the economic crises that followed the war, the restructuring of the economies of both North and South.
In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause….She called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a Declaration, hoping to gather together women in a congress of action.

Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace, but her effort was carried on by Anna Jarvis, who had organized women during the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and then toward reconciliation of Union and Confederate neighbors.

Jarvis’ daughter, of the same name, then took up the campaign for Mother’s Day. After the custom spread to 45 states, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day in 1914.

Julia Ward Howe's Mothers' Declaration:

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Maybe Pryce, Schmidt, Tiberi, Chabot, Boehner, Regula, LaTourette, Hobson, and Turner have a thing against moms. But YOU can make this Mother's Day a Mother's Day For Peace.

Help CodePink help Iraqi refugee moms here.

Send a MomsRising Mother's Day card and tell the presidential candidates to fight for family-friendly policies. here.

Oh and don't forget to call the Congressional Switchboard at 1-800-839-5276 to give the above members of Congress a piece of your mind about H.R. 1113.

Do you have another suggestion for honoring Julia Ward Howe's Mothers' Declaration? Are you a mom working for peace? Leave a comment below.

Pat Tillman's Mother On 60 Minutes: The Govt. Still Hasn't Told The Whole Truth About Her Son's Death

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:17:41 EDT

What Really Happened To Pat Tillman?

(CBS) Pat Tillman was a heroic face of the war on terror - an NFL star who left behind a $3.6 million contract and his new wife to fight for his country after the attacks of Sept. 11. When he died in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004, the Army told his family he'd been killed by enemy fire after courageously charging up a hill to protect his fellow Army Rangers.

But as Katie Couric reports, that story didn't hold up. He had really been killed by friendly fire, shot accidentally by his fellow soldiers.

For the past four years, his family, led by his mother Mary, has been searching for answers about what really happened, beginning the day she heard the news from Pat Tillman's wife Marie.

Crooks ad Liars points out:

One part that stands out is when Couric asks Pete Geren, the new Secretary of the Army, about eyewitness statements that had been altered to falsely show that Tillman had been engaged with the enemy at the time of his death. He replied, “Well, that’s one of the questions that we will never completely answer.” That’s a telling statement because the Bush administration has exerted executive privilege over “certain papers relating to discussion of the friendly-fire shooting” because they claim they would “implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests.” Last August, when pressed directly about it, President Bush avoided making any promise to ever come clean about what really happened.

Watch it:

McCain Said In Cleveland Today He "Would Be Reluctant To Ever Declare Mission Accomplished In Iraq" But He Already Has

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:18:33 EDT

Speaking in Cleveland earlier today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) defended President Bush, saying he should not be held responsible for the “Mission Accomplished” banner that was visible aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln when Bush declared that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended” on May 1, 2003:

“Do I blame him for that specific banner? I can’t,” McCain said. “But I do say that statements are made, ‘a few dead-enders,’ ‘last throes,’ those are, as opposed to the banner, direct statements which were contradicted by the facts on the ground.”

McCain then said of the banner: “I thought it was wrong at the time.” But while the White House has actually acknowledged making an error, McCain himself used the term “mission accomplished” when talking about the Iraq war on at least two occasions in 2003:

– “Their morale could not be higher. This is a mission accomplished. They know how much influence Saddam Hussein had on the Iraqi people, how much more difficult it made to get their cooperation.” [This Week, ABC, 12/14/03]

– During an appearance on Fox News, host Neil Cavuto said, “many argue the conflict isn’t over.” McCain answered, “Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier? Look, the — I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict — the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished.” [FOX, Your World With Neil Cavuto, 6/11/03]

Watch it:

In 2003, McCain Claimed ‘Mission Accomplished’ In Iraq, Now Claims ‘I Thought It Was Wrong At The Time’

McSame: Mission Accomplished!

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:55:01 EDT

Watch it:

Here, then, is a look back on John McCain's words on the mission accomplished in Iraq:

On the Run-Up to War

"Look, we're going to send young men and women in harm's way and that's always a great danger, but I cannot believe that there is an Iraqi soldier who is going to be willing to die for Saddam Hussein, particularly since he will know that our objective is to remove Saddam Hussein from power."
John McCain, September 15, 2002.

"But the fact is, I think we could go in with much smaller numbers than we had to do in the past. But any military man worth his salt is going to have to prepare for any contingency, but I don't believe it's going to be nearly the size and scope that it was in 1991."
John McCain, September 15, 2002.

"He's a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart."
John McCain, on Ahmed Chalabi, 2003.

On Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction

"Proponents of containment claim that Iraq is in a "box." But it is a box with no lid, no bottom, and whose sides are falling out. Within this box are definitive footprints of germ, chemical and nuclear programs."
John McCain, February 13, 2003.

"I remain confident that we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
John McCain, June 11, 2003.

On Being Greeted as Liberators

"Absolutely. Absolutely."
John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?" March 12, 2003.

"Not only that, they'll be relieved that he's not in the neighborhood because he has invaded his neighbors on several occasions."
John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "And you think the Arab world will come to a grudging recognition that what we did was necessary?" March 12, 2003.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we will prevail and there's no doubt in my mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators."
John McCain, March 24, 2003.

On a Rapid Victory and Mission Accomplished

"I think the victory will be rapid, within about three weeks."
John McCain, January 28, 2003.

"It's clear that the end is very much in sight...It won't be long. It, it'll be a fairly short period of time."
John McCain, April 9, 2003.

"Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier?"
John McCain, responding to assertion by Fox News' Neil Cavuto that "many argue the conflict isn't over," June 11, 2003.

"I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate."
John McCain, June 11, 2003.

"I'm confident we're on the right course."
John McCain, March 7, 2004.

"We're either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months."
John McCain, November 12, 2006.

"My friends, the war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years."
John McCain, February 25, 2008.

On the Safe Streets of Baghdad

"[There] there "are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today."
John McCain, after touring a Baghdad market wearing a bulletproof vest and guarded by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead, April 1, 2007.

"There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know."
John McCain, March 8, 2008.

On President Bush and His Team

"We are very fortunate that our president in these challenging days can rely on the counsel of a man who has demonstrated time and again the resolve, experience, and patriotism that will be required for success and the hard-headed clear thinking necessary to prevail in this global fight between good and evil."
John McCain, on Dick Cheney, July 16, 2004.

"I think he strengthened our national defenses. I think he has a good team around him."
John McCain, on President Bush, September 3, 2004.

"I said no. My answer is still no. No confidence."
John McCain, on whether he had confidence in Bush Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, December 15, 2004.

On the Non-Existent Alliance Between Al Qaeda and Iran

"But Al Qaeda is there, they are functioning, they are supported in many times, in many ways by the Iranians."
John McCain, February 28, 2008.

"As you know, there are al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq."
John McCain, March 17, 2008.

"[Iranian operatives are] "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
John McCain, March 18, 2008.

"[It is] common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate."
John McCain, March 18, 2008.

"Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."
McCain campaign statement, March 19, 2008.

"To think that I would have some lack of knowledge about Sunni and Shia after my eighth visit and my deep involvement in this issue is a bit ludicrous."
John McCain, March 19, 2008.

"Do you still view Al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat? Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shiites overallâ€¦"
John McCain, questioning General David Petraeus, April 8, 2008.

On a Permanent American Military Presence in Iraq

"We cannot keep our forces indefinitely staged in the region. Were we to attempt again to contain Saddam, we would eventually have to withdraw them. The world is full of dangers and, more likely than not, we will need some of those brave men and women to face them down."
John McCain, February 13, 2003.

"We have had troops in South Korea for 60 years and nobody minds."
John McCain, June 7, 2007.

"Make it a hundred."
John McCain, told that President Bush had said American troops could remain in Iraq for 50 years, January 3, 2008.

"I asked McCain about his 'hundred years' comment, and he reaffirmed the remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned."
David Corn, January 3, 2008.

"The U.S. could have a military presence anywhere in the world for a long period of time."
John McCain, February 20, 2008.

From the always great Perspectives Blog

US troop deaths hit 7-month high in Iraq

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:05:34 EDT

BAGHDAD — The killings of three U.S. soldiers in separate attacks in Baghdad pushed the American death toll for April up to 47, making it the deadliest month since September.

One soldier died when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. The other died of wounds sustained when he was attacked by small-arms fire, the military said Wednesday.

Both incidents occurred Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad. A third soldier died in a roadside bombing Tuesday night in the east of the capital, the military said.

The statement did not give a more specific location. But the eastern half of Baghdad includes embattled Sadr City and other neighborhoods that have been the focus of intense combat between Shiite militants and U.S.-Iraqi troops for more than a month.

In all, at least 4,059 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Cross Posted From:

RNC: If You Keep Showing John McCain Saying "Make It 100 Years" In Iraq, We'll Sue You

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:34:51 EDT

The Republican National Committee wants CNN and MSNBC to stop airing the DNC's new national television advertisement, calling it "false and defamatory" and illegally coordinated.

"This is a complaint about the facts that are being misrepresented in the ad, and this being a deliberate falsehood, that we are saying, stations have an obligation to protect the public from airing a deliberate falsehood," said Sean Cairncross, an RNC lawyer.

The RNC provided no evidence to support their change that the communication was illegally coordinated, aside for a few newspaper articles pointing out that some Democrats work for both a candidate and the committee, like pollster Cornell Belcher. DNC chairman Howard Dean said this morning that neither campaign saw or heard the ad before the put it out.

The RNC is ginning up the threat of legal action to give weight to their criticism of the ad's content. Cairncross would not say whether the party will sue CNN or MSNBC, the two cable networks airing the ad, if they refuse to kill it.

Democratic Party chief Howard Dean said "there's nothing false" about the ad.

"We deliberately used John McCain's words. This isn't some ominous consultant's voice from Washington. This is John McCain's own words. And we've been very upfront about everything that he's said."

Watch The Ad:

Sadr Gives "Final Warning" As Violence In Iraq Escalates

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:51:05 EDT

"So I am giving my final warning ...... to the Iraqi government ...... to take the path of peace and abandon violence against its people," al-Sadr said. "If the government does not refrain ...... we will declare an open war until liberation." - Muqtada al-Sadr

Anti-US cleric al-Sadr threatens new uprising in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) — Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gave a "final warning" to the government Saturday to halt a U.S.-Iraqi crackdown against his followers or he would declare "open war until liberation."

A full-blown uprising by al-Sadr, who led two rebellions against U.S.-led forces in 2004, could lead to a dramatic increase in violence in Iraq at a time when the Sunni extremist group al-Qaida in Iraq appears poised for new attacks after suffering severe blows last year.

Al-Sadr's warning appeared on his Web site as Iraq's Shiite-dominated government claimed success in a new push against Shiite militants in the southern city of Basra. Fighting claimed 14 more lives in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Fighting in Sadr City and the crackdown in Basra are part of a government campaign against followers of al-Sadr and Iranian-backed Shiite splinter groups that the U.S. has identified as the gravest threat to a democratic Iraq.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite, has ordered al-Sadr to disband the Mahdi Army, Iraq's biggest Shiite militia, or face a ban from politics.

In the statement, al-Sadr lashed back, accusing the government of selling out to the Americans and branding his followers as criminals.

Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, said he had tried to defuse tensions last August by declaring a unilateral truce, only to see the government respond by closing his offices and "resorting to assassinations."

"So I am giving my final warning ... to the Iraqi government ... to take the path of peace and abandon violence against its people," al-Sadr said. "If the government does not refrain ... we will declare an open war until liberation."

Body of War

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:20:58 EDT

Body of War is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of war today.

Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine - wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week.

Body of War is his coming home story as he evolves into a new person, dealing with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war.

The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro; Karen Bernstein is co-producer; and Bernadine Colish serves as editor. The film features two original songs by Eddie Vedder.

Twenty-two year-old Tomas Young called his Army recruiter on September 13, 2001. He wanted to go to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Instead, his unit was sent to Iraq in March 2004. Less than a week after arriving, Young suffered a shot to the collarbone that left him paralyzed from the chest down.

While Young was recovering at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC, he met former talk-show host Phil Donahue. “I didn’t know then that I was going to make a movie,” Donahue said last night at a Reel Progress screening of the film. But upon hearing Young’s story, he wanted to show the human costs of war to a larger audience.

Donahue had never made a movie, so he partnered with documentary filmmaker Ellen Spiro. The resulting film, “Body of War,” follows Young from his 2005 wedding, through his daily struggles with physical disability, to his involvement in Iraq Veterans Against the War, all set against the backdrop of the 2002 congressional debate over whether to authorize the president to use military force in Iraq. The past year has seen a glut of films about the Iraq conflict, but none so pointedly from the perspective of a returned soldier.

Young cannot cough, nor can he control his bowel movements or body temperature. He has to wear a vest packed with ice when in warm environments. When Young tells Bobby Muller, a similarly paralyzed Vietnam veteran and president of Veterans for America, that he was only in the hospital for two or three months after his injury, Muller is shocked at the VA’s impetuousness.

When Muller was injured, he spent almost a year in the hospital, and another nine months as an outpatient. As Eddie Vedder sings in a song inspired by Young’s experience, “Nothing is too good for a veteran, so nothing’s what they’ll get.”

“Why do the American people tolerate this?” asked Donahue, referring both to the broken system of care for returning veterans and to the continued devastation the war is causing to families like Young’s and the U.S. military.

But, said Young, “The majority of families don’t feel the sting or sacrifice” for this war. “Until they do feel that sting, we will not have a strong enough groundswell to stop it.”

John W. McBush on Iraq

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:48:40 EDT

Watch it:

Close to 1 in 5 Iraqis are refugees...

User from Columbus, OH — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:51:36 EDT

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Video: Biden Clashes With McCain Over Iraq On Countdown

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:32:48 EDT

Crooks And Liars Reports:

Senator Joe Biden joined Keith Olbermann on Tuesday’s Countdown to talk about his foreign policy speech today, in which he knocks away John McCain’s ever-changing rationales for staying in Iraq and his embrace of the failed Iraq policies of George Bush. Biden notes the ongoing Democratic primary battle between Obama and Clinton, but makes it very clear that Democrats are more than willing to engage him on in a debate about Iraq and national security.

Biden, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, tells Keith that regardless of how Senator McCain meant his 100 years in Iraq statement, the American people are against it and it sends the wrong message to the people of the Middle East. Americans don’t want permanent bases in Iraq and as Biden puts it, it feeds into the theory that we’re only there to control their oil:

McCain Says He Won't Support The Bipartisan New GI Bill

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:31:59 EDT

Despite his claim that he is “a consistent supporter of educational benefits for the men and women of the military,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) indicated yesterday that he will not support the bipartisan 21st Century GI Bill, stating that he is working on his own proposal. McCain has been largely absent on the issue, even though Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) — the bill’s chief sponsor — had been urging McCain “to get on the bill.” Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has now taken out a full-page ad in a South Carolina newspaper pressuring Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to support the legislation.

In 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the original GI Bill, ensuring that eight million combat veterans coming home from Germany and Japan would be able to afford an education. Called the “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act,” the World War II GI Bill covered tuition, fees, and books, and gave veterans a living stipend while they were in school. Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, Senators Bob Dole and Patrick Moynihan, and authors Norman Mailer and Frank McCourt all relied on the GI Bill.

Experts have argued that the GI Bill “reinvented America” after a half-decade of war. Indeed, a 1988 Congressional study showed that every dollar spent on educational benefits under the original GI Bill added seven dollars to the national economy in terms of productivity, consumer spending, and tax revenue. But in his signing statement, President Roosevelt spoke more simply:

“[The GI Bill] gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.”

Today, 1.5 million troops are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to a very different future than the one FDR made possible for the Greatest Generation. The current educational benefits offered to veterans are far lower than the original GI Bill. Today, after paying a nonrefundable contribution from their first military paychecks, troops can receive a total of up to $39,600 towards their education. Unfortunately, this covers only 60-70% of the average cost of four years at a public college or university, or less than two years at a typical private college.

In addition, structural problems and bureaucratic delays discourage veterans from using their GI Bill benefits. National Guardsmen and Reservists, including those who have served multiple combat tours, typically receive only a fraction of their GI Bill benefits. Moreover, 30% of troops who pay the nonrefundable $1,200 contribution do not end up using the GI Bill at all. These veterans have paid the government $230 million, but received nothing in return.

Today’s veterans deserve a real reintegration program to help adjust to the civilian world. At the same time, a renewed GI Bill is a practical answer to the military’s troop shortage. Despite investing $4 billion in recruiting annually, the military has had serious problems recruiting high-caliber personnel. The Pentagon has responded by lowering age, education, and aptitude standards for new recruits, as well as upping the number of recruiters and increasing enlistment bonuses. These stopgap measures will not address long-term problems with recruiting, especially as the overall size of the armed forces is expanded.

Rather than continuing to spend billions in bonuses for lower-standard enlistees, increasing GI Bill benefits would encourage high-aptitude young people to join the military. The GI Bill is the military’s single most effective recruitment tool: the number-one reason civilians join the military is to get money for college. As our military recovers and resets in the coming years, an expanded GI Bill will play a crucial role in ensuring that our military remains the strongest and most advanced in the world.

McCain Reveals Confusion Over Petraeus Role

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:49:17 EDT

It seems that "Military McCain" who has recently made numerous gaffes about who we are fighting in Iraq demonstrated today in his press event with the AP that he also doesn't know what General David Petraeus' command and role is:

The Army Times Reports:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona may not have been paying the closest of attention last week during hearings on the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
Speaking Monday at the annual meeting of the Associated Press, McCain was asked whether he, if elected, would shift combat troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to intensify the search for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
“I would not do that unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that,” McCain said, referring to the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Petraeus, however, made clear last week that he has nothing to do with the decision.
Testifying last week before four congressional committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee on which McCain is the ranking Republican, Petraeus said the decision about whether troops could be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan was not his responsibility because his portfolio is limited to the multi-national force in Iraq.
Decisions about Afghanistan would be made by others, he said.