PLAME WAS COVERT!!!!!
UPDATE: The CIA Leak: Plame Was Still Covert
Newsweek
Feb. 13, 2006 issue - Newly released court papers could put holes in the defense of Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, in the Valerie Plame leak case. Lawyers for Libby, and White House allies, have repeatedly questioned whether Plame, the wife of White House critic Joe Wilson, really had covert status when she was outed to the media in July 2003. But special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found that Plame had indeed done "covert work overseas" on counterproliferation matters in the past five years, and the CIA "was making specific efforts to conceal" her identity, according to newly released portions of a judge's opinion.
A Special Weekly Report From The Wall Street Journal's Capital Bureau
John Harwood.
Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jul 22, 2005. pg. A.4
Column Name:Washington WireSection: Politics & Policy
A key department memo discussing Joseph Wilson's Niger trip was classified "Top Secret," and the passage about his wife's CIA role was specially marked "S/NF" -- not to be shared with any foreign intelligence agencies.
Ex-Diplomat's Surprise Volley on Iraq
Drove White House Into Political Warfare Mode
By SCOTT SHANEPublished: July 24, 2005 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/politics/politicsspecial1/24leak.html?
Aboard the president's plane was a copy of a State Department memorandum on the Wilson matter faxed in-flight to Colin L. Powell, then the secretary of state. Officials who have seen the memorandum say that in a passage marked "S" for "secret," it included a crucial revelation: that Valerie Wilson was a C.I.A. officer who played a role in the agency's decision to send her husband to Africa.
Plame's Identity Marked As Secret
Memo Central to Probe Of Leak
Was Written By State Dept. Analyst
By Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff WritersThursday, July 21, 2005; A01http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072002517_pf.html
A classified State Department memorandum central to a federal leak investigation contained information about CIA officer Valerie Plame in a paragraph marked "(S)" for secret, a clear indication that any Bush administration official who read it should have been aware the information was classified, according to current and former government officials.
The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert, according to former senior agency officials.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the memo made it clear that information about Wilson's wife was sensitive and should not be shared. Yesterday, sources provided greater detail on the memo to The Post.
White House Effort To Discredit Critic
Examined in Detail
By Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 27, 2005; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/26/AR2005072602069.html
Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published. He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed.
Harlow said that after Novak's call, he checked Plame's status and confirmed that she was an undercover operative. He said he called Novak back to repeat that the story Novak had related to him was wrong and that Plame's name should not be used. But he did not tell Novak directly that she was undercover because that was classified.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
ASSROCKET ON PRES. FREDO
I had forgotten about this until I went to The Poorman to look at the Wanker of the Year nominations.
I realize that one has to consider an entire year of insane drivel but surely there could be a special award for this gem from AssRocket.
It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.
I realize that one has to consider an entire year of insane drivel but surely there could be a special award for this gem from AssRocket.
BEST MEDIAMATTERS EVER!!!!!!
Okay, that's pushing it but it was a great read. See the clip too - Neal Gabler rocks!
Here's the relevant transcript from MM:
From the December 3 edition of Fox News Watch:
ANNOUNCER: Is there a Grinch taking the holly-jolly out of Christmas? Why has this holy season become a target of the liberal media? Details next on Fox News Watch.
[...]
GABLER: Michelle Goldberg had a great article, and anybody interested in this issue -- in Salon -- ought to read it, in which she said that Henry Ford, back in 1921, declared that there was a war on Christmas. Of course, he blamed Jews. She cites the John Birch Society -- the reactionary John Birch Society -- in the 1950s saying there's a war on Christmas in 1959 by secularists.
BURNS: All right. Listen, hold it. Let's not call it a war necessarily --
[crosstalk]
GABLER: No, it is being -- it is being called a war --
BURNS: It is.
GABLER: --in certain places.
BURNS: Well, let's not do it here. But let's just say, isn't it ridiculous, Jane, to want to get rid of the word "Christmas tree" and say "holiday tree." But wait -- let me just mention this before you answer. You know, a few years ago in Pittsburgh, there was an edict in one of the school districts that if you were an employee in that school district, you couldn't say "Merry Christmas" to a kid. A memo came down -- you had to say, "Happy Sparkle Season."
[laughter]
BURNS: Serious. Aren't we going too far?
HALL: Well, if you cite those examples, yes. But I think there's -- there's a real question that I have here. I mean, the last time I checked, Jesus was for tolerance. And to have -- Bill O'Reilly has made this a huge issue. He's obviously getting a lot of feedback. John Gibson has a book about it, another Fox anchor. I think this is largely a fund-raiser for Jerry Falwell to pick up on some run-amok PC. I think to talk about the corporations, as Bill O'Reilly has been doing, and what they do -- I mean, he's certainly within his rights. But I think, what are they saying? Boycott the corporations that have holiday wishes? What is the point of that?
[...]
JAMES P. PINKERTON (Newsday columnist): This story was ignored by the mainstream media for --
GABLER: Because it's not a story, and that's why it was ignored. And as I said, in 1921 this began.
HALL: It's a fund-raiser.
GABLER: Now let's talk about the elephant in the room; let's talk about the media.
BURNS: Just a minute, Neal; if it started in 1921 --
GABLER: It's not a story.
BURNS: If I can just --
GABLER: It was a demagogic campaign.
BURNS: If I can just give three examples right now in different parts of the country --
GABLER: We're 300 million people. You know, I can give you --
BURNS: But there are -- just a minute, there are more than three examples to give --
GABLER: Three incidents of chicken pox doesn't make an epidemic.
HALL: But what is the media -- where is the media angle?
GABLER: The media angle right here -- Look, I want to talk about the media angle, because we've avoided it; it's the elephant in the room -- it's Fox News. Come on. It's O'Reilly; it's Hannity; it's Gibson. They're demagogues who realize that at Christmastime, you can -- you can --
[crosstalk]
GABLER: You rally the masses on this issue.
[crosstalk]
GABLER: They'll do it every Christmas. They did it last Christmas; they'll do it next Christmas.
BURNS: I spend this whole show sitting back most of the time. I don't think it is demagoguery to point out that there are people who are themselves being demagogues by trying to take away the worship terminology of 95 percent of Americans.
GABLER: Eric, we are at war. There's [the humanitarian crisis in] Darfur. There's an AIDS crisis. And you're worried about whether people are saying "Merry Christmas" or not?
BURNS: No.
GABLER: What world do you live in?
BURNS: Hey, Neal, it's one issue, and it's the issue that's the subject of this top -- that's the subject of this segment.
GABLER: And the media have been pumping it, and that's my point.
PINKERTON: All right.
GABLER: The media, particularly Fox media, has been pumping the hell out of this thing.
Here's the relevant transcript from MM:
From the December 3 edition of Fox News Watch:
ANNOUNCER: Is there a Grinch taking the holly-jolly out of Christmas? Why has this holy season become a target of the liberal media? Details next on Fox News Watch.
[...]
GABLER: Michelle Goldberg had a great article, and anybody interested in this issue -- in Salon -- ought to read it, in which she said that Henry Ford, back in 1921, declared that there was a war on Christmas. Of course, he blamed Jews. She cites the John Birch Society -- the reactionary John Birch Society -- in the 1950s saying there's a war on Christmas in 1959 by secularists.
BURNS: All right. Listen, hold it. Let's not call it a war necessarily --
[crosstalk]
GABLER: No, it is being -- it is being called a war --
BURNS: It is.
GABLER: --in certain places.
BURNS: Well, let's not do it here. But let's just say, isn't it ridiculous, Jane, to want to get rid of the word "Christmas tree" and say "holiday tree." But wait -- let me just mention this before you answer. You know, a few years ago in Pittsburgh, there was an edict in one of the school districts that if you were an employee in that school district, you couldn't say "Merry Christmas" to a kid. A memo came down -- you had to say, "Happy Sparkle Season."
[laughter]
BURNS: Serious. Aren't we going too far?
HALL: Well, if you cite those examples, yes. But I think there's -- there's a real question that I have here. I mean, the last time I checked, Jesus was for tolerance. And to have -- Bill O'Reilly has made this a huge issue. He's obviously getting a lot of feedback. John Gibson has a book about it, another Fox anchor. I think this is largely a fund-raiser for Jerry Falwell to pick up on some run-amok PC. I think to talk about the corporations, as Bill O'Reilly has been doing, and what they do -- I mean, he's certainly within his rights. But I think, what are they saying? Boycott the corporations that have holiday wishes? What is the point of that?
[...]
JAMES P. PINKERTON (Newsday columnist): This story was ignored by the mainstream media for --
GABLER: Because it's not a story, and that's why it was ignored. And as I said, in 1921 this began.
HALL: It's a fund-raiser.
GABLER: Now let's talk about the elephant in the room; let's talk about the media.
BURNS: Just a minute, Neal; if it started in 1921 --
GABLER: It's not a story.
BURNS: If I can just --
GABLER: It was a demagogic campaign.
BURNS: If I can just give three examples right now in different parts of the country --
GABLER: We're 300 million people. You know, I can give you --
BURNS: But there are -- just a minute, there are more than three examples to give --
GABLER: Three incidents of chicken pox doesn't make an epidemic.
HALL: But what is the media -- where is the media angle?
GABLER: The media angle right here -- Look, I want to talk about the media angle, because we've avoided it; it's the elephant in the room -- it's Fox News. Come on. It's O'Reilly; it's Hannity; it's Gibson. They're demagogues who realize that at Christmastime, you can -- you can --
[crosstalk]
GABLER: You rally the masses on this issue.
[crosstalk]
GABLER: They'll do it every Christmas. They did it last Christmas; they'll do it next Christmas.
BURNS: I spend this whole show sitting back most of the time. I don't think it is demagoguery to point out that there are people who are themselves being demagogues by trying to take away the worship terminology of 95 percent of Americans.
GABLER: Eric, we are at war. There's [the humanitarian crisis in] Darfur. There's an AIDS crisis. And you're worried about whether people are saying "Merry Christmas" or not?
BURNS: No.
GABLER: What world do you live in?
BURNS: Hey, Neal, it's one issue, and it's the issue that's the subject of this top -- that's the subject of this segment.
GABLER: And the media have been pumping it, and that's my point.
PINKERTON: All right.
GABLER: The media, particularly Fox media, has been pumping the hell out of this thing.
BUSH LIED ABOUT IRAQ AGAIN
All the recent Bush regime happy-talk about the Iraqi security forces is a cover for the fact that a troop drawdown is inevitable and they need to look "tough" for their benighted followers, the Busheviks.
Here's what a local has to say:
Training of Iraq forces suffers 'setback'
By SALLY BUZBEE
Associated Press Writer
Dec 5, 3:48 PM EST
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The training of Iraqi security forces has suffered a big "setback" in the last six months, with the army and other forces being increasingly used to settle scores and make other political gains, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said Monday.
Al-Yawer disputed contentions by U.S. officials, including President Bush, that the training of security forces was gathering speed, resulting in more professional troops. Some of the recently trained Iraqi forces focus on settling scores and other political goals rather than maintaining security, he said.
Here's what a local has to say:
Training of Iraq forces suffers 'setback'
By SALLY BUZBEE
Associated Press Writer
Dec 5, 3:48 PM EST
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The training of Iraqi security forces has suffered a big "setback" in the last six months, with the army and other forces being increasingly used to settle scores and make other political gains, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said Monday.
Al-Yawer disputed contentions by U.S. officials, including President Bush, that the training of security forces was gathering speed, resulting in more professional troops. Some of the recently trained Iraqi forces focus on settling scores and other political goals rather than maintaining security, he said.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
ON GLOBAL WARMING
This didn't get spread around enough. I still hear and read Busheviks claiming that there is nothing to this.
Scientists demand action on climate
Ahead of next month's G8 summit,
science academies issue an unprecedented joint statement
By Stephen Pincock
Jun. 7, 2005
The Scientist
Scientific academies from the world's leading nations have issued an unprecedented joint statement today (June 7) urging the leaders of their countries to commit to taking prompt action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
The statement from Britain's Royal Society and the science academies of France, Russia, Germany, United States, Japan, Italy, and Canada was released ahead of a G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, at which climate change is expected to be a major focus. The academies of Brazil, China, and India, not members of G8, are also signatories.
"It is clear that world leaders, including the G8, can no longer use uncertainty about aspects of climate change as an excuse for not taking urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions," said Robert May, president of the Royal Society, in a statement. "The scientific evidence forcefully points to a need for a truly international effort. Make no mistake, we have to act now. And the longer we procrastinate, the more difficult the task of tackling climate change becomes."
May said that the current US policy on climate change was misguided. "The Bush administration has consistently refused to accept the advice of the US National Academy of Sciences [NAS]… Getting the US onboard is critical because of the sheer amount of greenhouse gas emissions they are responsible for."
May said that President Bush has a chance at Gleneagles to signal that his administration will no longer ignore the scientific evidence and act to cut emissions.
The United States isn't the only target of the academies' statement, however. "The problem with the UK, of course, is that it's all very well saying that it is an important issue, but you've got to make the difficult political decisions to back that up," said Ward.
"We don't want to hear any more statements from G8 leaders to the effect that we don't know enough about the science to be certain," Royal Society spokesman Bob Ward told The Scientist. "We want all the leaders to accept that we do know enough about the science to take action on climate change."
The academies urge the G8 nations to find cost-effective steps that can be taken immediately toward substantial and long-term reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions.
"Climate change is real," the academies write. "There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world's climate. However, there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring."
"We urge all nations," they conclude, "in the line with the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] principles, to take prompt action to reduce the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts, and ensure that the issue is included in all relevant national and international strategies. As national science academies, we commit to working with governments to help develop and implement the national and international response to the challenge of climate change."
Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth welcomed the academies' statement, but said it was disappointed they hadn't specified any targets or a timetable for action.
"The national science academies are right to call for prompt action on climate change. But this document lacks targets or a timetable for urgent action," The group's climate campaigner, Catherine Pearce, said in a statement. "It is crucial that the entire world—including the United States—recognizes that there is a window of opportunity to avert potentially catastrophic climate change. Emissions must peak and decline within the next decade. The world must act now before it is too late."
Friends of the Earth spokeswoman Katie Elliott told The Scientist, "They've got all the right sentiments in there... but we wanted some recognition that emissions need to peak and decline in the next decade."
"It's all very well taking these baby steps, but we really need to ramp things up now," Elliott added.
Scientists demand action on climate
Ahead of next month's G8 summit,
science academies issue an unprecedented joint statement
By Stephen Pincock
Jun. 7, 2005
The Scientist
Scientific academies from the world's leading nations have issued an unprecedented joint statement today (June 7) urging the leaders of their countries to commit to taking prompt action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
The statement from Britain's Royal Society and the science academies of France, Russia, Germany, United States, Japan, Italy, and Canada was released ahead of a G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, at which climate change is expected to be a major focus. The academies of Brazil, China, and India, not members of G8, are also signatories.
"It is clear that world leaders, including the G8, can no longer use uncertainty about aspects of climate change as an excuse for not taking urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions," said Robert May, president of the Royal Society, in a statement. "The scientific evidence forcefully points to a need for a truly international effort. Make no mistake, we have to act now. And the longer we procrastinate, the more difficult the task of tackling climate change becomes."
May said that the current US policy on climate change was misguided. "The Bush administration has consistently refused to accept the advice of the US National Academy of Sciences [NAS]… Getting the US onboard is critical because of the sheer amount of greenhouse gas emissions they are responsible for."
May said that President Bush has a chance at Gleneagles to signal that his administration will no longer ignore the scientific evidence and act to cut emissions.
The United States isn't the only target of the academies' statement, however. "The problem with the UK, of course, is that it's all very well saying that it is an important issue, but you've got to make the difficult political decisions to back that up," said Ward.
"We don't want to hear any more statements from G8 leaders to the effect that we don't know enough about the science to be certain," Royal Society spokesman Bob Ward told The Scientist. "We want all the leaders to accept that we do know enough about the science to take action on climate change."
The academies urge the G8 nations to find cost-effective steps that can be taken immediately toward substantial and long-term reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions.
"Climate change is real," the academies write. "There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world's climate. However, there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring."
"We urge all nations," they conclude, "in the line with the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] principles, to take prompt action to reduce the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts, and ensure that the issue is included in all relevant national and international strategies. As national science academies, we commit to working with governments to help develop and implement the national and international response to the challenge of climate change."
Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth welcomed the academies' statement, but said it was disappointed they hadn't specified any targets or a timetable for action.
"The national science academies are right to call for prompt action on climate change. But this document lacks targets or a timetable for urgent action," The group's climate campaigner, Catherine Pearce, said in a statement. "It is crucial that the entire world—including the United States—recognizes that there is a window of opportunity to avert potentially catastrophic climate change. Emissions must peak and decline within the next decade. The world must act now before it is too late."
Friends of the Earth spokeswoman Katie Elliott told The Scientist, "They've got all the right sentiments in there... but we wanted some recognition that emissions need to peak and decline in the next decade."
"It's all very well taking these baby steps, but we really need to ramp things up now," Elliott added.
AT LEAST THE BRASS IS CONSISTENT
2004:
Stunningly, last week, Chairman of Joint Chiefs Richard Myers, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at his side, said: "There is no way to militarily lose in Iraq. There is also no way to militarily win in Iraq." WSJ, 5/20/04
2005:
"This insurgency is not going to be settled - the terrorists and the terrorism in Iraq is not going to be settled - through military options or military operations," Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, the chief military spokesman in Iraq, told Knight Ridder earlier this month. "It's going to be settled in the political process." 6/20/05
Stunningly, last week, Chairman of Joint Chiefs Richard Myers, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at his side, said: "There is no way to militarily lose in Iraq. There is also no way to militarily win in Iraq." WSJ, 5/20/04
2005:
"This insurgency is not going to be settled - the terrorists and the terrorism in Iraq is not going to be settled - through military options or military operations," Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, the chief military spokesman in Iraq, told Knight Ridder earlier this month. "It's going to be settled in the political process." 6/20/05
GOV. JEEBUS OF ARIZONA?????
I think it would be great if he won the Republican primary because this guy really is a Dobson-style loon.
Activist readies run for Arizona governor
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
Tucson, Arizona Published: 12.02.2005
PHOENIX — Social conservative activist Len Munsil took the first steps Thursday to running for governor in next year's Republican primary.
Munsil formed an exploratory committee, allowing him to begin raising money. In a prepared statement, Munsil also said he is stepping down as president of the Center for Arizona Policy.
There, Munsil has made a name for himself on morality issues of abortion and gay rights.
Munsil, who has refused requests for interviews, said he plans to campaign on a platform that Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is out of the Arizona mainstream* and "how much further to the left she will move our state if elected to a second term."
*As reported by the Arizona Republic, Napolitano had a 57% approval rating in a poll done 10/6/05-10/9/05.
Activist readies run for Arizona governor
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
Tucson, Arizona Published: 12.02.2005
PHOENIX — Social conservative activist Len Munsil took the first steps Thursday to running for governor in next year's Republican primary.
Munsil formed an exploratory committee, allowing him to begin raising money. In a prepared statement, Munsil also said he is stepping down as president of the Center for Arizona Policy.
There, Munsil has made a name for himself on morality issues of abortion and gay rights.
Munsil, who has refused requests for interviews, said he plans to campaign on a platform that Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is out of the Arizona mainstream* and "how much further to the left she will move our state if elected to a second term."
*As reported by the Arizona Republic, Napolitano had a 57% approval rating in a poll done 10/6/05-10/9/05.
Monday, December 05, 2005
A LITTLE COMIC RELIEF
From GENERATION KILL
by EVAN WRIGHT
PAGE 53
Person, like many other Marines in First Recon, has practiced driving a Humvee at night wth NVGs only a few times. Nor does he have a military operating license for a Humvee. There are right now some 75,000 soldiers and Marines in thousands of vehicles converging on a handful of breaches in the berms at the border. There is as much traffic rolling as there is on sections of the San Diego Freeway at rush hour; only it’s dark and everyone’s in tanks and heavily armored Humvees. It’s a wonder the whole invasion doesn’t end in a gigantic pileup by the border. Most of the drivers are amped-up nineteen- and twenty-year olds, wrestling with the same problems Person has – the limitations of NVGs, screwy comms and orders that change constantly.
All of this is happening beneath a sky that has turned pink, red and orange from the ferocious bombardment being unleashed on Iraqi border positions ten to twenty kilometers in fron of us. Rockets and artillery shells fly overhead, filling the air with a cacophony of strange sounds – whistling, rumbling; some rockets make a sizzling sound. The horizon flashes as they impact.
“The is the shit,” Person says as he takes in the destruction in his NVGs, which are exponentially intensifying every flash. “I wish I had some shrooms.”
“Yeah, it’s the shiznit,” Colbert says. “Now, watch the fucking vehicle in front of you.”
by EVAN WRIGHT
PAGE 53
Person, like many other Marines in First Recon, has practiced driving a Humvee at night wth NVGs only a few times. Nor does he have a military operating license for a Humvee. There are right now some 75,000 soldiers and Marines in thousands of vehicles converging on a handful of breaches in the berms at the border. There is as much traffic rolling as there is on sections of the San Diego Freeway at rush hour; only it’s dark and everyone’s in tanks and heavily armored Humvees. It’s a wonder the whole invasion doesn’t end in a gigantic pileup by the border. Most of the drivers are amped-up nineteen- and twenty-year olds, wrestling with the same problems Person has – the limitations of NVGs, screwy comms and orders that change constantly.
All of this is happening beneath a sky that has turned pink, red and orange from the ferocious bombardment being unleashed on Iraqi border positions ten to twenty kilometers in fron of us. Rockets and artillery shells fly overhead, filling the air with a cacophony of strange sounds – whistling, rumbling; some rockets make a sizzling sound. The horizon flashes as they impact.
“The is the shit,” Person says as he takes in the destruction in his NVGs, which are exponentially intensifying every flash. “I wish I had some shrooms.”
“Yeah, it’s the shiznit,” Colbert says. “Now, watch the fucking vehicle in front of you.”
SHORTER LGF: "BOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
LizardWorld, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BushWorld, is pushing more agit-prop:
This comes from the Jerusalem Post, which got it from [presumably Israeli] Army Radio, which in turn got it from The Independent in England.
Now, what did El Baradei actually tell the Independent?
UPDATE:
A commenter showed Charles the light:
But it was too bright for Charles:
As opposed to...
"We know for a fact there are weapons there." - Ari Fleischer, Jan. 9, 2003
ElBaradei: Iran Only Months Away from Nukes
The leader of the UN’s toothless nuclear watchdog says Iran is only months away from having nuclear bombs.
This comes from the Jerusalem Post, which got it from [presumably Israeli] Army Radio, which in turn got it from The Independent in England.
Now, what did El Baradei actually tell the Independent?
Although IAEA officials have said it would take at least two years for Natanz to become fully operational, Mr ElBaradei believes that once the facility is up and running, the Iranians could be "a few months" away from a nuclear weapon. "That's why there is the concern of the international community about Iran," he said, "because lots of people feel it could be a dual purpose programme".
Did he believe the Iranians were building a nuclear weapon? "The jury's out," he said. "It's difficult to read their intention. We're still going through the programme to make sure it's all for peaceful purposes.
UPDATE:
A commenter showed Charles the light:
#597 Baldy 12/5/2005 10:02AM PST
Misleading Article in J Post: It Quotes the Independent, Which Says,
Although IAEA officials have said it would take at least two years for Natanz to become fully operational, Mr ElBaradei believes that once the facility is up and running, the Iranians could be "a few months" away from a nuclear weapon.
But it was too bright for Charles:
The IAEA, however, has been incredibly wrong so many times that we simply cannot trust this estimate.
As opposed to...
"We know for a fact there are weapons there." - Ari Fleischer, Jan. 9, 2003
Sunday, December 04, 2005
RADIO TIDBITS
I listened to some of the Tammy Bruce Show on Friday and she was complaining that the gays are responsible for a new killer bacteria because, um, well, they get AIDS and somehow this led to a new strain of bacteria.
The problem, as usual, is that this is false. The bacteria had been around for decades, long before AIDS arose:
Known as MRSA — methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or "mersa" — it is in fact a highly contagious bacteria that has developed strong resistance to most antibiotics, making it hard to treat and setting the stage for dangerous invasive disease.
Mersa itself is actually nothing new. This resistant form of staph bacteria has been around for decades, but was limited mostly to outbreaks in hospital and nursing-home patients. LINK
The problem, as usual, is that this is false. The bacteria had been around for decades, long before AIDS arose:
Known as MRSA — methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or "mersa" — it is in fact a highly contagious bacteria that has developed strong resistance to most antibiotics, making it hard to treat and setting the stage for dangerous invasive disease.
Mersa itself is actually nothing new. This resistant form of staph bacteria has been around for decades, but was limited mostly to outbreaks in hospital and nursing-home patients. LINK
AP SCORECARD FOR POWELL'S U.N. SPEECH
Powell's Case for Iraq War Falls Apart 6 Months Later
by Charles Hanley
Published on Monday, August, 11, 2003 by the Associated Press
It was the most comprehensive presentation of the U.S. case for war. Powell Marshaled what were described as intercepted Iraqi conversations, reconnaissance photos of Iraqi sites, accounts of defectors and other intelligence sources.
The defectors and other sources went unidentified. The audiotapes were uncorroborated, as were the photo interpretations. No other supporting documents were presented. Little was independently verifiable.Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told U.S. senators last month the Bush administration actually had no "dramatic new evidence" before ordering the Iraq invasion.
Satellite photos
Powell presented satellite photos of industrial buildings, bunkers and trucks, and suggested they showed Iraqis surreptitiously moving prohibited missiles and chemical and biological weapons to hide them. At two sites, he said trucks were "decontamination vehicles" associated with chemical weapons.
These and other sites have now undergone 500 inspections in recent months. Chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix, a day earlier, had said his well-equipped experts had found no contraband in their inspections and no sign that items had been moved. Nothing has been reported found since.
Addressing the Security Council a week after Powell, Blix used one photo scenario as an example and said it could be showing routine as easily as illicit activity. Journalists visiting photographed sites hours after the Powell speech found similar activity to be routine.
Norwegian inspector Jorn Siljeholm told AP on March 19 that "decontamination vehicles" U.N. teams were led to by U.S. information invariably turned out to be simple water or fire trucks. On June 24, Blix said of the entire Powell photo package, "We were not impressed with that particular evidence."
Amid Powell's warnings, a critical fact was lost: Iraq's military industries were to have remained under strict, on-site U.N.monitoring for years to come, guarding against the rebuilding of weapons programs.
Audiotapes
Powell played three audiotapes of men speaking in Arabic of a mysterious "modified vehicle," "forbidden ammo" and "the expression 'nerve agents' " - tapes said to be intercepts of Iraqi army officers discussing concealment.
Two of the brief, anonymous tapes, otherwise not authenticated, provided little context for judging their meaning. It couldn't be known whether the mystery vehicle, however modified, was even banned. A listener could only speculate over the cryptic mention of "nerve agents."
The third tape, meanwhile, seemed natural, an order to inspect scrap areas for "forbidden ammo." The Iraqis had just told U.N. inspectors they would search ammunition dumps for stray, empty chemical warheads left over from years earlier.
They later turned four over to inspectors.
Powell's rendition of the third conversation made it more incriminating, by saying an officer ordered that the area be "cleared out." The voice on the tape didn't say that, but only that the area be "inspected," according to the official U.S. translation.
Hidden documents
Powell said "classified" documents found at a nuclear scientist's Baghdad home were "dramatic confirmation" of intelligence saying prohibited items were concealed this way.
U.N. nuclear inspectors later said the documents were old and "irrelevant" - some administrative material, some from a failed and well-known uranium-enrichment program of the 1980s.
Desert weapons
According to Powell, unidentified sources said the Iraqis dispersed rocket launchers and warheads holding biological weapons to the western desert, hiding them in palm groves and moving them every one to four weeks.
Nothing has been reported found, after months of searching by U.S. and Australian troops in the near-empty desert. Al-Saadi suggested the story of palm groves and weekly-to-monthly movement was lifted whole from an Iraqi general's written account of hiding missiles in the 1991 war.
U-2s, scientists
Powell said Iraq was violating a U.N. resolution by rejecting U-2 reconnaissance flights and barring private interviews with scientists. He suggested only fear of the regime kept scientists from exposing secret weapons programs.
On Feb. 17, U-2 flights began. By early March, 12 scientists had submitted to private interviews. In postwar interviews, with Saddam no longer in power, no Iraqi scientist is known to have confirmed any revived weapons program.
Anthrax
Powell noted Iraq had declared it produced 8,500 liters of the biological agent anthrax before 1991, but U.N. inspectors estimated it could have made up to 25,000 liters. None has been "verifiably accounted for," he said.
No anthrax has been reported found.
The Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, in a confidential report last September, recently disclosed, said that although it believed Iraq had biological weapons, it didn't know their nature, amounts or condition.
Three weeks before the invasion, an Iraqi report of scientific soil sampling supported the regime's contention that it had destroyed its anthrax stocks at a known site, the U.N. inspection agency said May 30. Iraq also presented a list of witnesses to verify amounts, the agency said. It was too late for inspectors to interview them; the war soon began.
Bioweapons trailers
Powell said defectors had told of "biological weapons factories" on trucks and in train cars. He displayed artists' conceptions of such vehicles.
After the invasion, U.S. authorities said they found two such truck trailers in Iraq, and the CIA said it concluded they were part of a bioweapons production line. But no trace of biological agents was found on them, Iraqis said the equipment made hydrogen for weather balloons, and State Department intelligence balked at the CIA's conclusion.
The British defense minister, Geoffrey Hoon, has said the vehicles aren't a "smoking gun." The trailers have not been submitted to U.N. inspection for verification. No "bioweapons railcars" have been reported found.
Unmanned aircraft
Powell showed video of an Iraqi F-1 Mirage jet spraying "simulated anthrax." He said four such spray tanks were unaccounted for, and Iraq was building small unmanned aircraft "well suited for dispensing chemical and biological weapons."
According to U.N. inspectors' reports, the video predated the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when the Mirage was said to have been destroyed, and three of the four spray tanks were destroyed in the 1990s.
No small drones or other planes with chemical-biological capability have been reported found in Iraq since the invasion. Iraq also gave inspectors details on its drone program, but the U.S. bombing intervened before U.N. teams could follow up.
'Four tons' of VX
Powell said Iraq produced four tons of the nerve agent VX. "A single drop of VX on the skin will kill in minutes. Four tons," he said.
Powell didn't note that most of that four tons was destroyed in the 1990s under U.N. supervision. Before the invasion, the Iraqis made a "considerable effort" to prove they had destroyed the rest, doing chemical analysis of the ground where inspectors confirmed VX had been dumped, the U.N. inspection agency reported May 30.
Experts at Britain's International Institute of Strategic Studies said any pre-1991 VX most likely would have degraded anyway. No VX has been reported found since the invasion.
'Embedded' capability
"We know that Iraq has embedded key portions of its illicit chemical weapons infrastructure within its legitimate civilian industry," Powell said.
No "chemical weapons infrastructure" has been reported found. The newly disclosed DIA report of last September said there was "no reliable information" on "where Iraq has - or will - establish its chemical warfare agent-production facilities."
Many countries' civilian chemical industries are capable of making weapons agents, and Iraq's was under close U.N. oversight. The DIA report suggested international inspections, swept aside by the U.S. invasion six months later, would be able to keep Iraq from rebuilding a chemical weapons program.
'500 tons' of chemical agent
"Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent," Powell said.
Powell gave no basis for the assertion, and no such agents have been reported found. An unclassified CIA report last October made a similar assertion without citing concrete evidence, saying only that Iraq "probably" concealed precursor chemicals to make such weapons. The DIA reported confidentially last September there "is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons."
Chemical warheads
Powell said 122 mm chemical warheads found by U.N. inspectors in January might be the "tip of an iceberg."
The warheads were empty, a fact Powell didn't note. Blix said on June 16 the dozen stray rocket warheads, never uncrated, were apparently "debris from the past," the 1980s. No others have been reported found since the invasion.
Deployed weapons
"Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons. ... And we have sources who tell us that he recently has authorized his field commanders to use them," Powell said.
No such weapons were used and none was reported found after the U.S. and allied military units overran Iraqi field commands and ammunition dumps. Even before Powell spoke, U.N. inspectors had found no such weapons at Iraqi military bases.
Revived nuclear program
"We have no indication that Saddam Hussein has ever abandoned his nuclear weapons program," Powell said.
Chief U.N. nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei told the council two weeks before the U.S. invasion, "We have to date found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq."
On July 24, Foreign Minister Ana Palacio of Spain, a U.S. ally on Iraq, said there were "no evidences, no proof" of a nuclear bomb program before the war. No such evidence has been reported found since the invasion.
Aluminum tubes
Powell said "most United States experts" believe aluminum tubes sought by Iraq were intended for use as centrifuge cylinders for enriching uranium for nuclear bombs.
Energy Department experts and Powell's own State Department intelligence bureau had already dissented from this CIA view, and on March 7, the U.N. nuclear agency's ElBaradei said his experts found convincing documentation - and no contrary evidence - that Iraq was using the tubes to make artillery rockets. Powell's scenario was "highly unlikely," he said. No centrifuge program has been reported found.
Magnets
Powell said "intelligence from multiple sources" reported Iraq was trying to buy magnets and a production line for magnets of "the same weight" as those used in uranium centrifuges.
The U.N. nuclear agency traced a dozen types of imported magnets to their Iraqi end users, and none was usable for centrifuges, ElBaradei told the council March 7. "Weight is not enough; you don't have a centrifuge magnet because it's 20 grams," ElBaradei deputy Jacques Baute told AP on July 11. No centrifuge program has been found.
Scuds, new missiles
Powell said "intelligence sources" indicate Iraq had a secret force of up to a few dozen prohibited Scud-type missiles. He said it also had a program to build newer, 600-mile-range missiles, and had put a roof over a test facility to block the view of spy satellites.
No Scud-type missiles have been reported found. In the 1990s, U.N. inspectors had reported accounting for all but two of these missiles. No program for long-range missiles has been uncovered. Powell didn't note that U.N. teams were repeatedly inspecting missile facilities, including looking under that roof, and reporting no Iraqi violations of U.N. resolutions.
by Charles Hanley
Published on Monday, August, 11, 2003 by the Associated Press
It was the most comprehensive presentation of the U.S. case for war. Powell Marshaled what were described as intercepted Iraqi conversations, reconnaissance photos of Iraqi sites, accounts of defectors and other intelligence sources.
The defectors and other sources went unidentified. The audiotapes were uncorroborated, as were the photo interpretations. No other supporting documents were presented. Little was independently verifiable.Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told U.S. senators last month the Bush administration actually had no "dramatic new evidence" before ordering the Iraq invasion.
Satellite photos
Powell presented satellite photos of industrial buildings, bunkers and trucks, and suggested they showed Iraqis surreptitiously moving prohibited missiles and chemical and biological weapons to hide them. At two sites, he said trucks were "decontamination vehicles" associated with chemical weapons.
These and other sites have now undergone 500 inspections in recent months. Chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix, a day earlier, had said his well-equipped experts had found no contraband in their inspections and no sign that items had been moved. Nothing has been reported found since.
Addressing the Security Council a week after Powell, Blix used one photo scenario as an example and said it could be showing routine as easily as illicit activity. Journalists visiting photographed sites hours after the Powell speech found similar activity to be routine.
Norwegian inspector Jorn Siljeholm told AP on March 19 that "decontamination vehicles" U.N. teams were led to by U.S. information invariably turned out to be simple water or fire trucks. On June 24, Blix said of the entire Powell photo package, "We were not impressed with that particular evidence."
Amid Powell's warnings, a critical fact was lost: Iraq's military industries were to have remained under strict, on-site U.N.monitoring for years to come, guarding against the rebuilding of weapons programs.
Audiotapes
Powell played three audiotapes of men speaking in Arabic of a mysterious "modified vehicle," "forbidden ammo" and "the expression 'nerve agents' " - tapes said to be intercepts of Iraqi army officers discussing concealment.
Two of the brief, anonymous tapes, otherwise not authenticated, provided little context for judging their meaning. It couldn't be known whether the mystery vehicle, however modified, was even banned. A listener could only speculate over the cryptic mention of "nerve agents."
The third tape, meanwhile, seemed natural, an order to inspect scrap areas for "forbidden ammo." The Iraqis had just told U.N. inspectors they would search ammunition dumps for stray, empty chemical warheads left over from years earlier.
They later turned four over to inspectors.
Powell's rendition of the third conversation made it more incriminating, by saying an officer ordered that the area be "cleared out." The voice on the tape didn't say that, but only that the area be "inspected," according to the official U.S. translation.
Hidden documents
Powell said "classified" documents found at a nuclear scientist's Baghdad home were "dramatic confirmation" of intelligence saying prohibited items were concealed this way.
U.N. nuclear inspectors later said the documents were old and "irrelevant" - some administrative material, some from a failed and well-known uranium-enrichment program of the 1980s.
Desert weapons
According to Powell, unidentified sources said the Iraqis dispersed rocket launchers and warheads holding biological weapons to the western desert, hiding them in palm groves and moving them every one to four weeks.
Nothing has been reported found, after months of searching by U.S. and Australian troops in the near-empty desert. Al-Saadi suggested the story of palm groves and weekly-to-monthly movement was lifted whole from an Iraqi general's written account of hiding missiles in the 1991 war.
U-2s, scientists
Powell said Iraq was violating a U.N. resolution by rejecting U-2 reconnaissance flights and barring private interviews with scientists. He suggested only fear of the regime kept scientists from exposing secret weapons programs.
On Feb. 17, U-2 flights began. By early March, 12 scientists had submitted to private interviews. In postwar interviews, with Saddam no longer in power, no Iraqi scientist is known to have confirmed any revived weapons program.
Anthrax
Powell noted Iraq had declared it produced 8,500 liters of the biological agent anthrax before 1991, but U.N. inspectors estimated it could have made up to 25,000 liters. None has been "verifiably accounted for," he said.
No anthrax has been reported found.
The Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, in a confidential report last September, recently disclosed, said that although it believed Iraq had biological weapons, it didn't know their nature, amounts or condition.
Three weeks before the invasion, an Iraqi report of scientific soil sampling supported the regime's contention that it had destroyed its anthrax stocks at a known site, the U.N. inspection agency said May 30. Iraq also presented a list of witnesses to verify amounts, the agency said. It was too late for inspectors to interview them; the war soon began.
Bioweapons trailers
Powell said defectors had told of "biological weapons factories" on trucks and in train cars. He displayed artists' conceptions of such vehicles.
After the invasion, U.S. authorities said they found two such truck trailers in Iraq, and the CIA said it concluded they were part of a bioweapons production line. But no trace of biological agents was found on them, Iraqis said the equipment made hydrogen for weather balloons, and State Department intelligence balked at the CIA's conclusion.
The British defense minister, Geoffrey Hoon, has said the vehicles aren't a "smoking gun." The trailers have not been submitted to U.N. inspection for verification. No "bioweapons railcars" have been reported found.
Unmanned aircraft
Powell showed video of an Iraqi F-1 Mirage jet spraying "simulated anthrax." He said four such spray tanks were unaccounted for, and Iraq was building small unmanned aircraft "well suited for dispensing chemical and biological weapons."
According to U.N. inspectors' reports, the video predated the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when the Mirage was said to have been destroyed, and three of the four spray tanks were destroyed in the 1990s.
No small drones or other planes with chemical-biological capability have been reported found in Iraq since the invasion. Iraq also gave inspectors details on its drone program, but the U.S. bombing intervened before U.N. teams could follow up.
'Four tons' of VX
Powell said Iraq produced four tons of the nerve agent VX. "A single drop of VX on the skin will kill in minutes. Four tons," he said.
Powell didn't note that most of that four tons was destroyed in the 1990s under U.N. supervision. Before the invasion, the Iraqis made a "considerable effort" to prove they had destroyed the rest, doing chemical analysis of the ground where inspectors confirmed VX had been dumped, the U.N. inspection agency reported May 30.
Experts at Britain's International Institute of Strategic Studies said any pre-1991 VX most likely would have degraded anyway. No VX has been reported found since the invasion.
'Embedded' capability
"We know that Iraq has embedded key portions of its illicit chemical weapons infrastructure within its legitimate civilian industry," Powell said.
No "chemical weapons infrastructure" has been reported found. The newly disclosed DIA report of last September said there was "no reliable information" on "where Iraq has - or will - establish its chemical warfare agent-production facilities."
Many countries' civilian chemical industries are capable of making weapons agents, and Iraq's was under close U.N. oversight. The DIA report suggested international inspections, swept aside by the U.S. invasion six months later, would be able to keep Iraq from rebuilding a chemical weapons program.
'500 tons' of chemical agent
"Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent," Powell said.
Powell gave no basis for the assertion, and no such agents have been reported found. An unclassified CIA report last October made a similar assertion without citing concrete evidence, saying only that Iraq "probably" concealed precursor chemicals to make such weapons. The DIA reported confidentially last September there "is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons."
Chemical warheads
Powell said 122 mm chemical warheads found by U.N. inspectors in January might be the "tip of an iceberg."
The warheads were empty, a fact Powell didn't note. Blix said on June 16 the dozen stray rocket warheads, never uncrated, were apparently "debris from the past," the 1980s. No others have been reported found since the invasion.
Deployed weapons
"Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons. ... And we have sources who tell us that he recently has authorized his field commanders to use them," Powell said.
No such weapons were used and none was reported found after the U.S. and allied military units overran Iraqi field commands and ammunition dumps. Even before Powell spoke, U.N. inspectors had found no such weapons at Iraqi military bases.
Revived nuclear program
"We have no indication that Saddam Hussein has ever abandoned his nuclear weapons program," Powell said.
Chief U.N. nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei told the council two weeks before the U.S. invasion, "We have to date found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq."
On July 24, Foreign Minister Ana Palacio of Spain, a U.S. ally on Iraq, said there were "no evidences, no proof" of a nuclear bomb program before the war. No such evidence has been reported found since the invasion.
Aluminum tubes
Powell said "most United States experts" believe aluminum tubes sought by Iraq were intended for use as centrifuge cylinders for enriching uranium for nuclear bombs.
Energy Department experts and Powell's own State Department intelligence bureau had already dissented from this CIA view, and on March 7, the U.N. nuclear agency's ElBaradei said his experts found convincing documentation - and no contrary evidence - that Iraq was using the tubes to make artillery rockets. Powell's scenario was "highly unlikely," he said. No centrifuge program has been reported found.
Magnets
Powell said "intelligence from multiple sources" reported Iraq was trying to buy magnets and a production line for magnets of "the same weight" as those used in uranium centrifuges.
The U.N. nuclear agency traced a dozen types of imported magnets to their Iraqi end users, and none was usable for centrifuges, ElBaradei told the council March 7. "Weight is not enough; you don't have a centrifuge magnet because it's 20 grams," ElBaradei deputy Jacques Baute told AP on July 11. No centrifuge program has been found.
Scuds, new missiles
Powell said "intelligence sources" indicate Iraq had a secret force of up to a few dozen prohibited Scud-type missiles. He said it also had a program to build newer, 600-mile-range missiles, and had put a roof over a test facility to block the view of spy satellites.
No Scud-type missiles have been reported found. In the 1990s, U.N. inspectors had reported accounting for all but two of these missiles. No program for long-range missiles has been uncovered. Powell didn't note that U.N. teams were repeatedly inspecting missile facilities, including looking under that roof, and reporting no Iraqi violations of U.N. resolutions.
SUNDAY LINKS
Atrios links to an LA Times story about mercenaries private contractors and provides more information about Sammy "Shoot to Kill" Alito.
Crooks & Liars has a clip of National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley shilling for Dick "Last Throes" Cheney. ThinkProgress has the transcript.
AmericaBlog has a piece onclass warfare the inequity of the Federal tax cuts.
For those who haven't seen it yet, Crooks & Liars has the clip of mercenaries in Iraq going all drunken cowboy.
Crooks & Liars has a clip of National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley shilling for Dick "Last Throes" Cheney. ThinkProgress has the transcript.
AmericaBlog has a piece on
For those who haven't seen it yet, Crooks & Liars has the clip of mercenaries in Iraq going all drunken cowboy.
SOMETHING LIKE THE TERROR ALERTS?
From OldFashionedPatriot, via Atrios:
Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!
This list isn't all inclusive but I am noticing a pattern here:
Nov 19th - 9 US Soldiers Killed
Nov 20th - al-Zarqawi Dead? Al Qaeda Terrorist Perhaps Killed in Firefight
Nov 16th - 8 US Soldiers Killed
Nov 16th - IRAQ: US MILITARY ANNOUNCES CAPTURE OF KEY AL-QAEDA OFFICER
Nov 2nd - 7 US Soldiers Killed
Nov 3rd - Top Al Qaeda Leader Believed Captured
Sep 28th - 7 US Soldiers Killed
Sep 28th - Al-Qaida chief killed, says Pakistan
Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!
This list isn't all inclusive but I am noticing a pattern here:
Nov 19th - 9 US Soldiers Killed
Nov 20th - al-Zarqawi Dead? Al Qaeda Terrorist Perhaps Killed in Firefight
Nov 16th - 8 US Soldiers Killed
Nov 16th - IRAQ: US MILITARY ANNOUNCES CAPTURE OF KEY AL-QAEDA OFFICER
Nov 2nd - 7 US Soldiers Killed
Nov 3rd - Top Al Qaeda Leader Believed Captured
Sep 28th - 7 US Soldiers Killed
Sep 28th - Al-Qaida chief killed, says Pakistan
3 YEARS OLD
Wright was embedded with a platoon of Marines of First Recon during the invasion.
GENERATION KILL
by EVAN WRIGHT
PAGE 215
One thing the Marines haven't trained for, or really even thought through, is the operation of roadblocks at night. The basic idea is simple enough: Put an obstacle like concertina wire in the road and point guns at it. If a car approaches, fire warning shots. If it keeps coming, shoot it. The question is: Do the Iraqis understand what's going on? When it gets dark, can Iraqi drivers actually see the concertina wire? Even Marines have been known to drive through concertina wire at night. The other problem is warning shots. In the dark, warning shots are simply a series of loud bangs and flashes. It's not like this is the international code for "Stop your vehicle and turn around." As it turns out, many Iraqis react to warning shots by speeding up. Maybe they just panic. Consequently, a lot of Iraqis die at roadblocks.
PAGES 218-19
Graves, whose team beautifully destroyed the building that shielded the enemy gunmen during the assault through Al Hayy, approaches the car with another Marine. Graves sees a little girl curled up in the backseat. She looks to be about three, the same age as his daughter at home in California. There's a small amount of blood on the upholstery, but the girl's eyes are open. She seems to be cowering. Graves reaches in to pick her up - thinking about what medical supplies he might need to treat her, he later says - when the top of her head slides off and her brains fall out. When Graves steps back, he nearly falls over when his boot slips in the girl's brains. It takes a full minute before Graves can actually talk. The situation is one he can only describe in elemental terms. "I could see her throat from the top of her skull," he says.No weapons are found in the car. Meesh asks the father, sitting by the side of the road, why he didn't heed the warning shots and stop. The father simply repeats, "I'm sorry," then meekly asks permission to pick up his daughter's body. The last the Marines see of him, he is walking down the road, carrying her corpse in his arms.
GENERATION KILL
by EVAN WRIGHT
PAGE 215
One thing the Marines haven't trained for, or really even thought through, is the operation of roadblocks at night. The basic idea is simple enough: Put an obstacle like concertina wire in the road and point guns at it. If a car approaches, fire warning shots. If it keeps coming, shoot it. The question is: Do the Iraqis understand what's going on? When it gets dark, can Iraqi drivers actually see the concertina wire? Even Marines have been known to drive through concertina wire at night. The other problem is warning shots. In the dark, warning shots are simply a series of loud bangs and flashes. It's not like this is the international code for "Stop your vehicle and turn around." As it turns out, many Iraqis react to warning shots by speeding up. Maybe they just panic. Consequently, a lot of Iraqis die at roadblocks.
PAGES 218-19
Graves, whose team beautifully destroyed the building that shielded the enemy gunmen during the assault through Al Hayy, approaches the car with another Marine. Graves sees a little girl curled up in the backseat. She looks to be about three, the same age as his daughter at home in California. There's a small amount of blood on the upholstery, but the girl's eyes are open. She seems to be cowering. Graves reaches in to pick her up - thinking about what medical supplies he might need to treat her, he later says - when the top of her head slides off and her brains fall out. When Graves steps back, he nearly falls over when his boot slips in the girl's brains. It takes a full minute before Graves can actually talk. The situation is one he can only describe in elemental terms. "I could see her throat from the top of her skull," he says.No weapons are found in the car. Meesh asks the father, sitting by the side of the road, why he didn't heed the warning shots and stop. The father simply repeats, "I'm sorry," then meekly asks permission to pick up his daughter's body. The last the Marines see of him, he is walking down the road, carrying her corpse in his arms.
MICHAEL WARE vs. PRES. FREDO
Crooks & Liars has a clip of Ware being interviewed by Anderson Cooper and has the longest comment thread I've ever seen on C&L.
Ware previously disputed Fredo's claim that Iraqi units took the lead at Tal Afar.
More from ThinkProgress:
Embedded TIME Reporter: Bush Lied In Speech Yesterday About Iraqi Security Forces
Yesterday, President Bush claimed that Iraqi security forces “primarily led” the assault on the city of Tal Afar. Bush highlighted it as an “especially clear” sign of the progress Iraq security forces were making in Iraq.
Ware previously disputed Fredo's claim that Iraqi units took the lead at Tal Afar.
More from ThinkProgress:
Embedded TIME Reporter: Bush Lied In Speech Yesterday About Iraqi Security Forces
Yesterday, President Bush claimed that Iraqi security forces “primarily led” the assault on the city of Tal Afar. Bush highlighted it as an “especially clear” sign of the progress Iraq security forces were making in Iraq.
TIME Magazine reporter Michael Ware, who is embedded with the U.S. troops in Iraq who participated in the Tal Afar battle, appeared on Anderson Cooper yesterday. He said Bush’s description was completely untrue:The progress of the Iraqi forces is especially clear when the recent anti-terrorist operations in Tal Afar are compared with last year’s assault in Fallujah. In Fallujah, the assault was led by nine coalition battalions made up primarily of United States Marines and Army — with six Iraqi battalions supporting them…This year in Tal Afar, it was a very different story. The assault was primarily led by Iraqi security forces — 11 Iraqi battalions, backed by five coalition battalions providing support.
I was in that battle from the very beginning to the very end. I was with Iraqi units right there on the front line as they were battling with al Qaeda. They were not leading. They were being led by the U.S. green beret special forces with them.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
THE ACLU & RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The wingnuts often claim that the ACLU is anti-religion but a review of some of the cases it has taken on reveals just the opposite:
September 20, 2005: ACLU of New Jersey joins lawsuit supporting second-grader's right to sing "Awesome God" at a talent show.
August 4, 2005: ACLU helps free a New Mexico street preacher from prison.
May 25, 2005: ACLU sues Wisconsin prison on behalf of a Muslim woman who was forced to remove her headscarf in front of male guards and prisoners.
February 2005: ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully defends the right of an African American Evangelical church to occupy a church building purchased in a predominantly white parish.
December 22, 2004: ACLU of New Jersey successfully defends right of religious expression by jurors.
December 14, 2004: ACLU joins Pennsylvania parents in filing first-ever challenge to "Intelligent Design" instruction in public schools.
November 20, 2004: ACLU of Nevada supports free speech rights of evangelists to preach on the sidewalks of the strip in Las Vegas.
November 12, 2004: ACLU of Georgia files a lawsuit on behalf of parents challenging evolution disclaimers in science textbooks.
November 9, 2004: ACLU of Nevada defends a Mormon student who was suspended after wearing a T-shirt with a religious message to school.
August 11, 2004: ACLU of Nebraska defends church facing eviction by the city of Lincoln.
July 10, 2004: Indiana Civil Liberties Union defends the rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets.
June 9, 2004: ACLU of Nebraska files a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim woman barred from a public pool because she refused to wear a swimsuit.
June 3, 2004: Under pressure from the ACLU of Virginia, officials agree not to prohibit baptisms on public property in Falmouth Waterside Park in Stafford County.
May 11, 2004: After ACLU of Michigan intervened on behalf of a Christian Valedictorian, a public high school agrees to stop censoring religious yearbook entries.
March 25, 2004: ACLU of Washington defends an Evangelical minister's right to preach on sidewalks.
February 21, 2003: ACLU of Massachusetts defends students punished for distributing candy canes with religious messages.
October 28, 2002: ACLU of Pennsylvania files discrimination lawsuit over denial of zoning permit for African American Baptist church.
July 11, 2002: ACLU supports right of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at school.
April 17, 2002: In a victory for the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the ACLU of Virginia, a federal judge strikes down a provision of the Virginia Constitution that bans religious organizations from incorporating.
January 18, 2002: ACLU defends Christian church's right to run "anti-Santa" ads in Boston subways.
September 20, 2005: ACLU of New Jersey joins lawsuit supporting second-grader's right to sing "Awesome God" at a talent show.
August 4, 2005: ACLU helps free a New Mexico street preacher from prison.
May 25, 2005: ACLU sues Wisconsin prison on behalf of a Muslim woman who was forced to remove her headscarf in front of male guards and prisoners.
February 2005: ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully defends the right of an African American Evangelical church to occupy a church building purchased in a predominantly white parish.
December 22, 2004: ACLU of New Jersey successfully defends right of religious expression by jurors.
December 14, 2004: ACLU joins Pennsylvania parents in filing first-ever challenge to "Intelligent Design" instruction in public schools.
November 20, 2004: ACLU of Nevada supports free speech rights of evangelists to preach on the sidewalks of the strip in Las Vegas.
November 12, 2004: ACLU of Georgia files a lawsuit on behalf of parents challenging evolution disclaimers in science textbooks.
November 9, 2004: ACLU of Nevada defends a Mormon student who was suspended after wearing a T-shirt with a religious message to school.
August 11, 2004: ACLU of Nebraska defends church facing eviction by the city of Lincoln.
July 10, 2004: Indiana Civil Liberties Union defends the rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets.
June 9, 2004: ACLU of Nebraska files a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim woman barred from a public pool because she refused to wear a swimsuit.
June 3, 2004: Under pressure from the ACLU of Virginia, officials agree not to prohibit baptisms on public property in Falmouth Waterside Park in Stafford County.
May 11, 2004: After ACLU of Michigan intervened on behalf of a Christian Valedictorian, a public high school agrees to stop censoring religious yearbook entries.
March 25, 2004: ACLU of Washington defends an Evangelical minister's right to preach on sidewalks.
February 21, 2003: ACLU of Massachusetts defends students punished for distributing candy canes with religious messages.
October 28, 2002: ACLU of Pennsylvania files discrimination lawsuit over denial of zoning permit for African American Baptist church.
July 11, 2002: ACLU supports right of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at school.
April 17, 2002: In a victory for the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the ACLU of Virginia, a federal judge strikes down a provision of the Virginia Constitution that bans religious organizations from incorporating.
January 18, 2002: ACLU defends Christian church's right to run "anti-Santa" ads in Boston subways.
AN AOL WINGNUT ON THE ACLU
SandViper6 persists in promoting lies, smears and distortions. Here's just one example:
The mother also disagreed:
Nguon sued after Santiago High School Principal Ben Wolf told her mother about her sexuality last year.
"The person to decide when and how to talk with our family about this should have been my daughter, not her principal," her mother, Crystal Chhun, said in a statement.
just yesterday that court case in CA to take away the right of parents to be told by their childrens schools of the behavior of their children. That specific case was of a HS girl, regularly kissing and hugging her girlfriend on campus. The school Pricincipal told the girls mother that her daughter seemed to be a praciticing lesbian. If the girl had been 20 well, that would be the girls business, but in this case she was 16, the mother had the right to know, but the ACLU disagreed.
The mother also disagreed:
Nguon sued after Santiago High School Principal Ben Wolf told her mother about her sexuality last year.
"The person to decide when and how to talk with our family about this should have been my daughter, not her principal," her mother, Crystal Chhun, said in a statement.
Friday, December 02, 2005
RADIO TIDBITS
This AM, Bill "Slots" Bennett and his on-air stooge offered some commentary about a WaPo article on Rep. Murtha. Here's an excerpt from the paper:
Ignoring the phone calls & e-mails, Bennett and the stooge concentrated on the standing ovation at Starbucks. Their main point: Starbucks is (you guessed it) LIBERAL!!!!
Aides to Pelosi said yesterday that they are confident she and Murtha speak for a broader group. Since Murtha announced his position, he has received 14,000 e-mails, faxes and phone calls, 80 percent in support, aides said. Over Thanksgiving week, Murtha received a standing ovation in a Dallas Starbucks.
Ignoring the phone calls & e-mails, Bennett and the stooge concentrated on the standing ovation at Starbucks. Their main point: Starbucks is (you guessed it) LIBERAL!!!!
SCHIEFFER CALLS FOUL ON BUSH
Imus and Bob Schieffer of CBS News
talk about how the war in Iraq is going.
Bob Schieffer: "Well the problem now, we're at a point where the more troops you put in, it just makes us look more like an occupying force and that's not the answer either. I think it's whatever we can do to prepare these people to do it for themselves. And it's not a great answer..."
Imus: "Well they don't want to do it for themselves."
Bob Schieffer: "...But I think that's about all that's left. You know for the last week they've been telling us, the administration, that the Iraqis are taking over more of the fight, and I suppose they are taking somewhat more of the fight over. But you know Don Rumsfeld was talking the day before the President spoke and he said you know, the Iraqis, he cited as an example, are now in control of the highway from Baghdad to the Baghdad airport. Well Lara Logan who's there for us, she was out on that highway during the first part of September and the last part of August. She went back out there the day before yesterday and she said it's just not true. That it's the Americans who have the helicopters, that have the heavy artillery and stuff is guarding that highway and it's still not safe. It's still not entirely safe to go from the airport into Baghdad. This thing is just not going very well."
Imus: "Do you have any CBS reporters who tell you that they run into any Iraqis who are willing to fight and die for their country?"
Bob Schieffer: "Well there are some, yes. Lara yesterday was out with what they think is one of their best trained units, the Wolf Battalion and yet they're having to buy their own uniforms. They're having to buy their own armor. What they're so afraid of is they go home at night, a lot of them still live in their home and they have no pistols to take with them and they train all day and then they'll go home and they're targeted for assassination and they have no way to fight back. I mean this is just a long way from being anywhere close to some sort of a successful resolution of this. It's a dreadful situation."
talk about how the war in Iraq is going.
Bob Schieffer: "Well the problem now, we're at a point where the more troops you put in, it just makes us look more like an occupying force and that's not the answer either. I think it's whatever we can do to prepare these people to do it for themselves. And it's not a great answer..."
Imus: "Well they don't want to do it for themselves."
Bob Schieffer: "...But I think that's about all that's left. You know for the last week they've been telling us, the administration, that the Iraqis are taking over more of the fight, and I suppose they are taking somewhat more of the fight over. But you know Don Rumsfeld was talking the day before the President spoke and he said you know, the Iraqis, he cited as an example, are now in control of the highway from Baghdad to the Baghdad airport. Well Lara Logan who's there for us, she was out on that highway during the first part of September and the last part of August. She went back out there the day before yesterday and she said it's just not true. That it's the Americans who have the helicopters, that have the heavy artillery and stuff is guarding that highway and it's still not safe. It's still not entirely safe to go from the airport into Baghdad. This thing is just not going very well."
Imus: "Do you have any CBS reporters who tell you that they run into any Iraqis who are willing to fight and die for their country?"
Bob Schieffer: "Well there are some, yes. Lara yesterday was out with what they think is one of their best trained units, the Wolf Battalion and yet they're having to buy their own uniforms. They're having to buy their own armor. What they're so afraid of is they go home at night, a lot of them still live in their home and they have no pistols to take with them and they train all day and then they'll go home and they're targeted for assassination and they have no way to fight back. I mean this is just a long way from being anywhere close to some sort of a successful resolution of this. It's a dreadful situation."
A CAPTAIN IN IRAQ
(Via DKos)
Letters to the Editor for Monday, November 28, 2005
Stars and Stripes
War based on a lie
Weapons of mass destruction? I’m still looking for them, and if you find any give me a call so we can justify our presence in Iraq. We started the war based on a lie, and we’ll finish it based on a lie. I say this because I am currently serving with a logistics headquarters in the Anbar province, between the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. I am not fooled by the constant fabrication of “democracy” and “freedom” touted by our leadership at home and overseas.
This deception is furthered by our armed forces’ belief that we can just enter ancient Mesopotamia and tell the locals about the benefits of a legislative assembly. While our European ancestors were hanging from trees, these ancient people were writing algebra and solving quadratic equations. Now we feel compelled to strong-arm them into accepting the spoils of capitalism and “laissez-faire” society. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching Britney Spears on MTV and driving to McDonald’s, but do you honestly believe that Sunnis, Shias and Kurds want our Western ideas of entertainment and freedom imposed on them? Think again.
I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic. The reality in Iraq is that the United States created a nightmare situation where one didn’t exist. Yes, Saddam Hussein was an evil man who lied, cheated and pillaged his own nation. But how was he different from dictators in Africa who commit massive crimes again humanity with little repercussion and sometimes support from the West? The bottom line up front (BLUF to use a military acronym) is that Saddam was different because we used him as an excuse to go to war to make Americans “feel good” about the “War on Terrorism.” The BLUF is that our ultimate goal in 2003 was the security of Israel and the lucrative oil fields in northern and southern Iraq.
Weapons of mass destruction? Call me when you find them. In the meantime, “bring ’em on” so we can get our “mission accomplished” and get out of this mess.
Capt. Jeff Pirozzi
Camp Taqaddum, Iraq
Letters to the Editor for Monday, November 28, 2005
Stars and Stripes
War based on a lie
Weapons of mass destruction? I’m still looking for them, and if you find any give me a call so we can justify our presence in Iraq. We started the war based on a lie, and we’ll finish it based on a lie. I say this because I am currently serving with a logistics headquarters in the Anbar province, between the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. I am not fooled by the constant fabrication of “democracy” and “freedom” touted by our leadership at home and overseas.
This deception is furthered by our armed forces’ belief that we can just enter ancient Mesopotamia and tell the locals about the benefits of a legislative assembly. While our European ancestors were hanging from trees, these ancient people were writing algebra and solving quadratic equations. Now we feel compelled to strong-arm them into accepting the spoils of capitalism and “laissez-faire” society. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching Britney Spears on MTV and driving to McDonald’s, but do you honestly believe that Sunnis, Shias and Kurds want our Western ideas of entertainment and freedom imposed on them? Think again.
I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic. The reality in Iraq is that the United States created a nightmare situation where one didn’t exist. Yes, Saddam Hussein was an evil man who lied, cheated and pillaged his own nation. But how was he different from dictators in Africa who commit massive crimes again humanity with little repercussion and sometimes support from the West? The bottom line up front (BLUF to use a military acronym) is that Saddam was different because we used him as an excuse to go to war to make Americans “feel good” about the “War on Terrorism.” The BLUF is that our ultimate goal in 2003 was the security of Israel and the lucrative oil fields in northern and southern Iraq.
Weapons of mass destruction? Call me when you find them. In the meantime, “bring ’em on” so we can get our “mission accomplished” and get out of this mess.
Capt. Jeff Pirozzi
Camp Taqaddum, Iraq
HAYEK ON CONSERVATIVES
From "Why I am not a Conservative" in The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960):
Let me return, however, to the main point, which is the characteristic complacency of the conservative toward the action of established authority and his prime concern that this authority be not weakened rather than that its power be kept within bounds. This is difficult to reconcile with the preservation of liberty. In general, it can probably be said that the conservative does not object to coercion or arbitrary power so long as it is used for what he regards as the right purposes. He believes that if government is in the hands of decent men, it ought not to be too much restricted by rigid rules. Since he is essentially opportunist and lacks principles, his main hope must be that the wise and the good will rule - not merely by example, as we all must wish, but by authority given to them and enforced by them.[7]
7. I trust I shall be forgiven for repeating here the words in which on an earlier occasion I stated an important point: "The main merit of the individualism which [Adam Smith] and his contemporaries advocated is that it is a system under which bad men can do least harm. It is a social system which does not depend for its functioning on our finding good men for running it, or on all men becoming better than they now are, but which makes use of men in all their given variety and complexity, sometimes good and sometimes bad, sometimes intelligent and more often stupid." (Individualism and Economic Order [London and Chicago, 1948], p. 11).
Let me return, however, to the main point, which is the characteristic complacency of the conservative toward the action of established authority and his prime concern that this authority be not weakened rather than that its power be kept within bounds. This is difficult to reconcile with the preservation of liberty. In general, it can probably be said that the conservative does not object to coercion or arbitrary power so long as it is used for what he regards as the right purposes. He believes that if government is in the hands of decent men, it ought not to be too much restricted by rigid rules. Since he is essentially opportunist and lacks principles, his main hope must be that the wise and the good will rule - not merely by example, as we all must wish, but by authority given to them and enforced by them.[7]
7. I trust I shall be forgiven for repeating here the words in which on an earlier occasion I stated an important point: "The main merit of the individualism which [Adam Smith] and his contemporaries advocated is that it is a system under which bad men can do least harm. It is a social system which does not depend for its functioning on our finding good men for running it, or on all men becoming better than they now are, but which makes use of men in all their given variety and complexity, sometimes good and sometimes bad, sometimes intelligent and more often stupid." (Individualism and Economic Order [London and Chicago, 1948], p. 11).
Thursday, December 01, 2005
A GREAT QUESTION
Iraq: U.S. Policy and Iraqi Reaction
Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign ServiceWednesday, November 30, 2005; 12:00 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/11/29/DI2005112901004.html
Washington Post foreign correspondent Jonathan Finer will be live from Baghdad on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Noon ET to discuss Iraqi reaction to talk of withdrawal and Bush's speech. Finer wrote about Iraqi reaction to the U.S. military presence in Iraq in Wednesday's Post: U.S. Debate on Pullout Resonates as Troops Engage Sunnis in Talks
Anonymous: I'm confused. On the one hand the White House claims the insurgents have little popular support, and the al Qaeda types only make for a tiny part of the insurgency. On the other hand, Bush raises the prospect that if the U.S. leaves, al Qaeda will take over the country.
I'm sure the military wargamed the withdrawal scenario. Is a Zarqawi takeover considered a likely outcome?
Jonathan Finer: I think the prospect of insurgents actually being able to "take over" Iraq is probably remote. But the chances of a surge in violence if the U.S. withdraws is one plenty of people here take seriously. Others think the insurgency would lose much of its legitimacy and therefore its support if the U.S. left. Its a question policy-makers are grappling with, I'm sure.
Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign ServiceWednesday, November 30, 2005; 12:00 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/11/29/DI2005112901004.html
Washington Post foreign correspondent Jonathan Finer will be live from Baghdad on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Noon ET to discuss Iraqi reaction to talk of withdrawal and Bush's speech. Finer wrote about Iraqi reaction to the U.S. military presence in Iraq in Wednesday's Post: U.S. Debate on Pullout Resonates as Troops Engage Sunnis in Talks
Anonymous: I'm confused. On the one hand the White House claims the insurgents have little popular support, and the al Qaeda types only make for a tiny part of the insurgency. On the other hand, Bush raises the prospect that if the U.S. leaves, al Qaeda will take over the country.
I'm sure the military wargamed the withdrawal scenario. Is a Zarqawi takeover considered a likely outcome?
Jonathan Finer: I think the prospect of insurgents actually being able to "take over" Iraq is probably remote. But the chances of a surge in violence if the U.S. withdraws is one plenty of people here take seriously. Others think the insurgency would lose much of its legitimacy and therefore its support if the U.S. left. Its a question policy-makers are grappling with, I'm sure.
9 B.C.
And I thought "the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory" (James Webb) was bad -
Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid
for a Foolish War
By MARTIN VAN CREVELD
November 25, 2005
For misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war since Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C sent his legions into Germany and lost them, Bush deserves to be impeached and, once he has been removed from office, put on trial along with the rest of the president's men. If convicted, they'll have plenty of time to mull over their sins.
Martin van Creveld, a professor of military history at the Hebrew University, is author of "Transformation of War" (Free Press, 1991). He is the only non-American author on the U.S. Army's required reading list for officers.
Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid
for a Foolish War
By MARTIN VAN CREVELD
November 25, 2005
For misleading the American people, and launching the most foolish war since Emperor Augustus in 9 B.C sent his legions into Germany and lost them, Bush deserves to be impeached and, once he has been removed from office, put on trial along with the rest of the president's men. If convicted, they'll have plenty of time to mull over their sins.
Martin van Creveld, a professor of military history at the Hebrew University, is author of "Transformation of War" (Free Press, 1991). He is the only non-American author on the U.S. Army's required reading list for officers.
SOME GOOD RELIGIOUS NEWS
Jewish leader blasts 'religious right'
By KRISTEN HAYS
Associated Press Writer
Nov 19, 8:25 PM EST
HOUSTON (AP) -- The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person." "What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through Sunday.
Yoffie did not mention evangelical Christians directly, using the term "religious right" instead. In a separate interview, he said the phrase encompassed conservative activists of all faiths, Including within the Jewish community.
He used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals. He said he understood that traditionalists have concluded gay marriage violates Scripture, but he said that did not justify denying legal protections to same-sex partners and their children.
The Union for Reform Judaism represents about 900 synagogues in North America with an estimated membership of 1.5 million people. Of the three major streams of U.S. Judaism - Orthodox and Conservative are the others - it is the only one that sanctions gay ordination and supports civil marriage for same-gender couples.
By KRISTEN HAYS
Associated Press Writer
Nov 19, 8:25 PM EST
HOUSTON (AP) -- The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, said "religious right" leaders believe "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person." "What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through Sunday.
Yoffie did not mention evangelical Christians directly, using the term "religious right" instead. In a separate interview, he said the phrase encompassed conservative activists of all faiths, Including within the Jewish community.
He used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals. He said he understood that traditionalists have concluded gay marriage violates Scripture, but he said that did not justify denying legal protections to same-sex partners and their children.
The Union for Reform Judaism represents about 900 synagogues in North America with an estimated membership of 1.5 million people. Of the three major streams of U.S. Judaism - Orthodox and Conservative are the others - it is the only one that sanctions gay ordination and supports civil marriage for same-gender couples.
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