Life in OUR America, Volume 5, the Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

"Guantanamo ruling heralds US political showdown"

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The president, who is struggling with the lowest poll ratings of his term mostly because of the unpopular Iraq war, and his political architect Karl Rove have played the national security card to successfully trump Democrats in previous elections.

Bush and Rove already have stepped up their attacks on Democrats in the past couple of weeks, accusing some of wanting to "cut and run" and "waving the white flag" in Iraq.

I was thinking on this earlier .....

And it came to me ...

That George W. Bush ...

Is the first American president .....

That I have ever heard ....

Who publicly gives ....

All the credit .....

For him being in the White House ....

To someone ....

Other than himself ...

And his own talents ....

And abilities .....

And so ....

George W. Bush ...

IS BEHOLDEN ....

To his POLITICAL ARCHITECT ....

KARL ROVE .....

For putting George W. Bush ....

In OUR WHITE HOUSE ....

And for making ...

George W. Bush ...

The COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ...

Of OUR United States military forces ....

And all the candid world ...

Should consider that relationship .....

In judging who is in control of things ...

Here in OUR America ...

Vis-a-vis this IRAQINAM WAR ...

And so ....

"Va. candidate Webb: GOP can't fix Iraq"

By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:46 p.m., Saturday, July 1, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. -- Neither President Bush nor the Republican-led Congress can extract the United States from a bloody quagmire of their own making in Iraq, said a former Republican who is seeking a Senate seat in Virginia.

Democrat Jim Webb, who was President Reagan's Navy secretary in 1987-88, said he knows from his own past as one of the Vietnam War's most decorated Marines how to "bring the Iraq War to an early and honorable end."

Webb bolted the GOP in 2003 over Bush's decision to invade Iraq and this year announced he would challenge Republican Sen. George Allen, a conservative former governor who's exploring a 2008 White House bid.

Opposition to the war is a cornerstone of Webb's campaign.

"I have believed strongly that when things aren't working well, it is the responsibility of our leaders to admit it, and to fix the problem," Webb said Saturday in the Democrats' weekly radio address.

"Some say that speaking out against a war is disloyal to the troops."

"Whoever says that should consider what it's like to be a troop, wishing someone would speak the truth."

Webb said the Republicans are no more able today to wrap up the military entanglement in Iraq than the Democrats and President Truman could disengage U.S. forces from Korea in 1952.

It took a change of parties and the election of war hero Dwight Eisenhower to bring the troops home then, he said, and the same is true now.

"I'm reminded of another time, with a leader who truly understood war," Webb said.

"He claimed that 'the old administration cannot be expected to repair what it failed to prevent.'"

Webb said the open-ended commitment to Iraq must end to enable the military to battle terrorism globally and give it "the mobility to confront the other strategic challenges, such as the threat of an emerging China."

Allen's campaign says Webb has offered widely conflicting views on how and when to withdraw from Iraq and claims Webb would back a "cut-and-run" strategy similar to that offered by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a Webb supporter.

In Missouri last week, Bush accused Democrats of waving "the white flag of surrender" and insisted he will keep combat forces in Iraq as long as they are needed to achieve victory.

Webb's radio remarks capped a week of searing rhetoric between Webb and Allen's campaign over a constitutional flag-burning ban that the Senate killed Tuesday.

Allen supported the amendment and criticized Webb for opposing it.

That brought a scathing reply from Webb's campaign describing Allen a coward who sat out the Vietnam War "playing cowboy at a dude ranch in Nevada."

Webb has begun referring to Allen using the middle name he is known to detest: Felix.

Webb is the first Democratic Senate challenger this year to offer the party's weekly radio address, said Phil Singer of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Webb won a rare preprimary endorsement last month from the DSCC and its chairman, New York Sen. Charles Schumer.

Both parties have targeted the Webb-Allen race as one of the nation's most competitive, and as an off-year test of Bush's policies and popularity.

------

On the Net:

Jim Webb: http://www.webbforsenate.com/

George Allen: http://www.georgeallen.com/

[Livyjr]

"5 GIs being investigated in 4 Iraq deaths"

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer

BEIJI, Iraq - The U.S. Army will investigate charges that five American soldiers were involved in the killings of four Iraqi relatives, including a woman who had been raped, military officials said Friday.

It's the sixth current inquiry into the alleged slayings of Iraqi civilians by American troops.

Some of the five soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman they are accused of assaulting in the March incident, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

"Guantanamo ruling heralds US political showdown"

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The president, who is struggling with the lowest poll ratings of his term mostly because of the unpopular Iraq war, and his political architect Karl Rove have played the national security card to successfully trump Democrats in previous elections.

Bush and Rove already have stepped up their attacks on Democrats in the past couple of weeks, accusing some of wanting to "cut and run" and "waving the white flag" in Iraq.

CUT, GEORGE?

AND RUN?

FROM WHAT?

FROM WHAT, GEORGE?

What on earth are you talking about, George?

CUT AND RUN FROM WHAT?

THE RAPES?

THE MURDERS?

THAT YOUR TROOPS ARE COMMITTING, GEORGE?

Or do you even know what you are talking about .........

Other than ...

It is what Karl Rove told you to say .....

And so ...

You do ...

MINDLESSLY .....

Because Karl said you should do that .....

To beat the Democrats ...

EXCEPT ...

Karl is a fool, George .....

And you are too ...

For listening to him ...

And so ....

GET IT IN YOUR HEAD, GEORGE ...

THERE ISN'T ANYTHING .....

TO CUT AND RUN FROM ....

THERE IS JUST A GREAT BIG MESS ...

OF YOUR MAKING ...

THAT WILL NEVER GET BETTER ...

WHILE OUR AMERICAN TROOPS ...

REMAIN ...

WHERE THEY NO LONGER HAVE BUSINESS BEING ...

And so ....

WAKE UP, GEORGE ...

Wake up and look around .....

At the MESS ....

You have made ...

Of people's lives ...

Over there in Iraq .....

And realize ...

THAT IT IS OVER, GEORGE ...

OVER .....

IT IS NOT YOUR COUNTRY .....

AND THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR SUBJECTS ...

And so ....

STOP SUBJUGATING THEM, GEORGE ...

Get out of their lives ...

Where you don't belong ...

Just like you don't belong ....

SNOOPING AROUND ....

In OURS ....

And so .....

CUT AND RUN .....

WHAT A CROCK!

And so ......

[Livyjr]

CUT, GEORGE?

AND RUN?

FROM WHAT?

FROM WHAT, GEORGE?

What on earth are you talking about, George?

CUT AND RUN FROM WHAT?

THE RAPES?

THE MURDERS?

THAT YOUR TROOPS ARE COMMITTING, GEORGE?

Or do you even know what you are talking about .........

Other than ...

It is what Karl Rove told you to say .....

And so ...

You do ...

MINDLESSLY .....

Because Karl said you should do that .....

"GOP candidates in N.Y. turn on each other"

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

Sat Jul 1, 9:31 AM ET

NEW YORK - The Clintons are no strangers to political soap opera, yet all the drama in New York revolves around the Republicans.

Accusations of bigamy and child abuse, illegitimate children and a tabloid description of one candidate curled in the fetal position after downing half a pint of ice cream sound like top-rated, daytime fiction.

Instead, it's the GOP Senate primary between a former Yonkers mayor, John Spencer, and a Reagan-era Pentagon official, Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland.

On top of a vivid clash of ideologies and social class, the two have given New Yorkers more than the usual amount of political theater.

Above all the drama is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is spending most of her time on Senate business and laying the groundwork for a possible 2008 presidential run.

The Democrat has more than $19 million in the bank and a comfortable, double-digit lead over the underfunded Spencer and McFarland in statewide polls.

With the state's GOP standard-bearer, Gov. George Pataki, stepping down this year, Republicans have struggled to identify promising candidates for statewide office.

Pataki's handpicked choice to challenge Clinton, former Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, was forced to abandon the race after an embarrassing set of missteps and is running for attorney general instead.

Still, GOP operative Nelson Warfield said the Spencer-McFarland spectacle doesn't necessarily indicate a full-bore Republican collapse in the state.

"Primaries are often ugly and unusual contests," Warfield said.

"The ultimate test is in November, and we'll know for sure how strong the party is then."

Spencer, 59, a tough-talking conservative, was elected mayor of Yonkers in 1996 and served two terms.

He attracted controversy as mayor when he fathered two children with his chief of staff while still married to his first wife.

He has since divorced that wife and married the staffer.

McFarland, 54, has lived for 20 years in a Park Avenue duplex with her husband, an investment banker.

She has been criticized for telling a campaign audience that Clinton had sent helicopters to spy on her.

She claimed she was joking, but the remark seemed more bizarre than funny.

Tabloid newspapers began calling her "Kooky KT."

McFarland told a columnist last week that the helicopter hubbub nearly did her in.

"I sat in a ratty old robe, tears spilling down my face," McFarland told the New York Post's Cindy Adams.

"I killed off half a pint of ice cream."

"Next morning I was in a fetal position."

Throughout the campaign, Spencer has derided McFarland as a "liberal elitist" and mocked her upper-crust pedigree.

McFarland has relied on her pugilistic strategist, veteran operative Ed Rollins, to respond in kind.

In a recent New York magazine article, Rollins appeared to scoff at Spencer's service in the Vietnam War.

"There were so many guys getting killed in Vietnam that it wasn't so difficult (for Spencer to be made first lieutenant) and it wasn't so difficult to get a Bronze Star," Rollins was quoted as saying.

He later claimed the magazine misquoted him.

Earlier in the campaign, Rollins trashed the candidate's unconventional marital history.

"He runs around saying 'I'm a good Catholic.'"

"... That's bigamy where I come from," Rollins said in a television interview.

He also called Spencer's children with his former aide "illegitimate."

This week, McFarland's campaign was roiled by controversy after she went public with allegations that she had been beaten and whipped as a child by her father.

She made the disclosure after New York magazine published excerpts of a letter she sent to her parents in 1992, in which she said her father's abusive behavior had driven her gay brother into a sexually reckless lifestyle that led to his death from AIDS.

"This was the single most intimate thing I'd ever written in my life," McFarland said in an interview with The Associated Press, apparently mystified that the campaign had stripped her of so much privacy.

Her father, Augie Troia, denied McFarland's allegations after a New York Post reporter visited his Wisconsin home.

"You know darn well I never did any of that," Troia, 80, said in Friday's New York Post.

For her part, Clinton has had nothing to say about the Spencer-McFarland melodrama.

"My job is not to be a political commentator," she said.

[Livyjr]

"Kerry faces hard road in presidential bid"

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:56 p.m., Saturday, July 1, 2006

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Seeking the presidency is harder the second time around.

As the race for 2008 builds, Democratic Sen. John Kerry has left little doubt about his intentions to try again after his narrow loss to President Bush in 2004.

He isn't the only also-ran considering another marathon.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has the look of a White House hopeful.

Three Democrats -- 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware -- sound a lot like presidential candidates; Al Gore, the Democrats' nominee in 2000, says he has all but ruled out running for president in 2008.

Kerry faces a challenge of major proportions, convincing Democratic activists that a candidate who just lost an election can still carry his party's White House hopes.

"I think the Democratic Party, unlike the Republican Party, has had a historic reluctance to give people a second chance," said Democratic activist Jerry Crawford, a Des Moines lawyer who was chairman of Kerry's 2004 campaign in Iowa.

It's rare when Democrats give the nomination to a candidate who just failed.

Adlai Stevenson got a second chance against President Eisenhower in 1956, but many suspect that Democrats were pessimistic about the odds of unseating a popular president.

Their doubts were realized when Stevenson lost again.

Republicans, on the other hand, are more willing to give their nominees another try.

Richard M. Nixon lost the presidency in 1960 and won the White House in 1968.

Bob Dole sought his party's nomination in 1980 and 1988.

He secured the GOP nod in 1996 but lost the general election to President Clinton.

Dole said the climb gets steeper on the next try.

"I think the advantage is the first time you are fresh and new to a lot of people and they haven't formed a judgment about you," the former Kansas senator said.

"The second time around, some people might say he's had his chance, we need a new face."

Kerry's allies acknowledge the struggle but are unwilling to give up the cause.

"Historically, the Democratic Party has tended to shoot its wounded," said former New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Joe Keefe.

"John Kerry has done everything within his power to rewrite that chapter."

The Massachusetts senator has raised nearly $9 million for candidates and the party and has campaigned actively across the country.

In statements the party's liberal base has welcomed, Kerry has said he was wrong to vote for the Iraq war resolution in 2002 and has called for an end to the conflict.

The Vietnam War veteran also has come out in favor of a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

But he got precious little support, even among fellow Democrats, in recent Senate debate.

The amendment failed 86-13 and Kerry's push for the measure frustrated some in the party leadership.

Kerry has made three trips to Iowa.

The state's caucuses launch the nominating season and Kerry's surprising victory in January 2004 propelled him to the nomination.

Attitudes have changed among state Democrats, with a recent Des Moines Register poll putting Kerry a distant third behind 2004 running mate Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Democratic consultant and Kerry ally Jenny Backus said Kerry must overcome "the Democratic curse" of dismissing losing candidates, no matter how well they perform.

"He has grown from the devastation of the last election," said former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia.

"A lot of people who are reacting to Kerry are reacting to the Kerry of '04."

Kerry, who raised $233 million as a presidential candidate, had about $15 million left after the November 2004 election.

That was a sore point with many Democrats who questioned why he did not spend it all to unseat Bush.

Kerry gave about $3 million of that money to various Democratic committees and spent about $2 million to buy the e-mail donor list from his campaign.

After covering various campaign debts, he had millions left and has been adding to his accounts since then.

As Kerry moves to involve himself in the next campaign, some point to the flaws in his last run as evidence he shouldn't be the standard bearer again.

"I think he has to make an argument that he could do better than he did in 2004," said Democratic strategist Jeff Link, who is consulting with the political action committee of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a potential Kerry rival.

"We had an unpopular president who had launched an unpopular war and Democrats were as motivated as I've ever seen them, but he couldn't close the sale."

"I think that's going to give a lot of Democrats pause," Link said.

John Norris, who managed Kerry's campaign in Iowa and ran his field operations in the general election, said candidates learn valuable lessons in a national campaign that could be put to use in a second bid.

Sadly, he said, voters do not see it that way.

"That sentiment you talked about is really strong out there," Norris said.

"You know, 'He's had his chance.'"

"I think that's shortsighted."

Link said there is an inherent reluctance to give a candidate a second chance, regardless of how well they performed.

He worked for Gore during the disputed 2000 election.

"I was a very strong supporter of Al Gore and when he sort of put his toes in the water in 2004 he didn't find the support I think he had hoped for," Link said.

"And he had arguably won the 2000 election."

Veteran Democratic strategist Ron Parker said it isn't a very complicated set of dynamics.

"For most folks, Kerry's selling point was less about ideology, about experience, it was the fact that he was the most electable candidate," Parker said.

"It turns out that wasn't true and that opens the door for somebody new in 2008."

Crawford, a close ally of Bill Clinton, said electability is critical to the Democrats.

"We, as a party, are going to get to January of 2008 and take a look at the national landscape."

"And if it looks like Hillary Clinton can win a general election, the great possibility is she will be our nominee," Crawford said.

"If we get to January of 2008 and it looks like she can't win a general election, then it's open season and we'll go from there."

[Livyjr]

And from now ...

We go back to "then" .....

For a moment ....

To the days .....

Before there was ...

An "OUR America" .....

And so ....

"Artifacts recall Arnold's heroism - Divers comb lake to find relics from Revolutionary War's Battle of Valcour Island"

By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, July 1, 2006

PERU -- Gen. Benedict Arnold led a "wretched, motley" crew of sailors on Lake Champlain against a far superior British fleet near here on Oct. 11, 1776.

The rebels lost.

But their dogged fight delayed British movement south for a year, when they would be defeated in the Battles of Saratoga.

Historians today consider the Battle of Valcour Island a "victory in defeat" that gave Colonial forces a chance to win at Saratoga -- and eventually win the Revolutionary War.

Divers who have spent the last seven years combing the lake bottom in search of "battlefield scatter" from the pivotal fight pulled up dozens of artifacts this week.

They displayed them by the shores of the battle site Friday: cannon fragments, solid iron cannonballs, a brass powder scoop, a trigger guard, spectacles, bombs.

"The battlefield objects unveiled here today are tangible connections to the people and times when the concepts of liberty, independence, insurgency and freedom were being debated and defined by this country," said Art Cohn, executive director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vt.

The museum, a partner in the Valcour Bay Research Project, will begin exhibiting the artifacts Saturday.

A first peek was given during a lakeside ceremony across from Valcour Island.

The jewel among the finds is a cannon from a Colonial gunboat called the New York.

The cannon exploded -- no one knows why -- sending fragments flying into the water and killing a lieutenant named Thomas Rogers.

Portions of the gun were found a few years ago.

Divers have now recovered three more fragments, allowing them to jigsaw the pieces together.

They also have discovered a heavily oxidized sword nearby with the tip broken off that "may well have been Thomas Rogers' sword," said Adam Kane, an archaeologist with the museum.

Most people working on the project are volunteers, including one of the lead divers, Ed Scollon.

The finds so far come from where the Colonial ships lined up for battle, though divers hope to work their way to the British line.

Had Arnold died in the Battle of Valcour, he would be famous mostly for cunning and bravery, instead of treachery.

He took on the bigger British boats in a narrow straight that made it difficult for them to maneuver.

Pummeled by the British fleet all day, Arnold sneaked his boats past them that night in a retreat.

The British gave chase the next morning.

Arnold burned some of his boats to keep them out of British hands and led hundreds of men to Fort Ticonderoga on foot.

By the time fighting was over, snow was falling.

The British, fatefully, paused their campaign for the winter.

Arnold stalled the British attempt to take the Hudson Valley and cut the Colonies in two.

"His battle plan was brilliant," Scollon said.

[Livyjr]

"Artifacts recall Arnold's heroism - Divers comb lake to find relics from Revolutionary War's Battle of Valcour Island" 
 
By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press
First published: Saturday, July 1, 2006

PERU -- "The battlefield objects unveiled here today are tangible connections to the people and times when the concepts of liberty, independence, insurgency and freedom were being debated and defined by this country," said Art Cohn, executive director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vt.

And from then .....

In the early days of OUR American history .....

When the concepts .....

OF LIBERTY ....

INDEPENDENCE ....

INSURGENCY ...

AND FREEDOM ....

Were being debated ...

AND DEFINED ....

By this country ....

We come forward in time .....

TO WHEN ....

THE CONCEPTS ...

OF LIBERTY ....

INDEPENDENCE ....

INSURGENCY ...

AND FREEDOM ....

FROM GEORGE W. BUSH'S TYRANNY ....

And debasement of humanity ...

ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN ....

Are now being debated .....

For further definition ....

BY THE PEOPLE OF IRAQINAM ....

AS IS THEIR RIGHT ...

AS FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS ....

On this planet of OURS ...

And so .....

"Muslim group condemns reports of U.S. rape"

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

29 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An influential Sunni organization in Iraq said Sunday that allegations U.S. soldiers raped an Iraqi woman, then killed her and her family were "a sign of shame to the American invaders."

U.S. officials have said a group of American soldiers entered the home of a Sunni family in the insurgent-ridden town of Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, raped and killed the woman, then set fire to her body and killed three of her family members in an apparent cover-up attempt.

The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars condemned the alleged crimes and said "raping this girl then mutilating her is shameful and will remain as a sign of shame to American invaders."

The allegations threaten to stoke public anger in the wake of a series of other cases of U.S. troops accused of killing and abusing Iraqi civilians, although Iraqi media have so far paid little attention to the case.

The U.S. military has stressed it is taking the allegations seriously and a criminal investigation has been launched to determine who should stand trial.

"We can't undo anything that has happened, but we can and will hold accountable anybody found guilty of offenses," military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said in an e-mail.

"Before that happens, we must be given time to conduct a thorough investigation into the facts of what occurred," he said.

"The rule of law will prevail in this incident."

Iraq is a conservative, strongly religious society where many women are sheltered from contacts with males who are not family members.

"The mean behavior and terrible violations committed by the invaders show the truth of the ugly American face and shows that their claims of supporting humanity and liberation are false," said the Sunni association, a strong critic of U.S.-led efforts in Iraq.

"We call the world and all humanitarian organizations as witnesses to this ugly crime and urge them to face the American recklessness that went way too far," it added.

U.S. officials investigating the case said they knew of the deaths but thought the victims died as a result of sectarian violence.

A local police official, Capt. Ihsan Abdul-Rahman, said Iraqi officials received a report March 13 alleging that American soldiers had killed the family in the Khasir Abyad district about 6 miles north of Mahmoudiya.

end quotes

IT IS ...

A REAL SIGN ...

OF THE TIMES ...

THAT WE FIND OURSELVES IN ...

OR ME, ANYWAY ......

THAT WE ...

THE GREATEST COUNTRY ....

ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, ALLEGEDLY, ANYWAY ....

HAVE TO BE REMINDED ...

THAT RAPING ....

AND KILLING ...

YOUNG WOMEN ...

IS FAR BEYOND MERELY SHAMEFUL ....

BY SOME PEOPLE ...

OVER IN IRAQ .....

INSTEAD OF BY THIS NATION'S LEADERSHIP ...

WHICH ALWAYS REMAINS MUTE ....

AND INDIFFERENT .....

ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS ...

TO THESE WOMEN ...

AND GIRLS .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Roosevelt, Wilson and today's war in Iraq"

By PETER S. CANELLOS
First published: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson don't bestride American history with the grandeur of George Washington.

They aren't credited with giving new life to the American Dream, like Abraham Lincoln.

With their granny glasses and watch fobs, they seem the product of an era of affectation; and, indeed, few political leaders cultivated their images more vainly than did Roosevelt and Wilson.

But this year, with the Fourth of July here, it is T.R. and Wilson -- not the Founding Fathers or the Great Emancipator -- who are being brought to mind in books, magazine covers and essays.

"We're all Wilsonians now," announced columnist Jonah Goldberg recently.

Theodore Roosevelt "still has many things to teach us," opined presidential adviser Karl Rove in last week's Time magazine, which has Roosevelt on the cover.

Meanwhile, Oxford Press last month issued the paperback edition of John B. Judis' book, "The Folly of Empire: What George W. Bush Could Learn from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson."

Roosevelt and Wilson are the men of the hour because the war in Iraq so perfectly combines Roosevelt's big-stick approach to forcing smaller countries into line and Wilson's idealistic dream of promoting democracy.

Roosevelt and Wilson truly hated each other, probably more than any other two former presidents, but the Iraq war is clearly their turbulent, angry child.

Although the amiable, walruslike William Howard Taft served four years in the White House between Roosevelt and Wilson, the two self-styled Great Men dominated the first two decades of the 20th century.

It was an eventful two decades.

The Industrial Revolution had created wealth, but also great tension and disparities.

Neither Roosevelt nor Wilson put much faith in the businessmen of their era.

Instead, each used the levers of government to rein in the excesses of capitalism -- and can each be considered the fathers of modern liberalism just as easily as the fathers of modern neoconservatism.

But each also advocated for a strong U.S. presence in the world.

Roosevelt created the modern U.S. Navy to assert American power overseas.

A famous world-traveling big-game hunter, Roosevelt was fascinated by other cultures.

But he also viewed other nations as inferior to the United States, in somewhat the same way that the statesmen of Edwardian Britain assumed a parent-child view of the world.

During his years in power, Roosevelt was often accused of adventurism overseas; the U.S. ran the governments of Cuba and the Philippines, and the Panama Canal was cut through Central America due to his boundless aggressiveness.

Wilson also believed in American greatness and exceptionalism, but was less interested in running roughshod over the world; instead, he believed that American ideas should do the job for him, building a world in America's image.

Wilson's administration covered World War I, during which the monarchies of Europe turned on each other in a conflict so bloody and senseless that few could argue against the idea that an American-style government might be preferable.

Wilson knew he couldn't establish democracy everywhere; rather, his goal was to make the world "safe for democracy" by promoting a League of Nations to conduct diplomacy in an atmosphere of democratic idealism.

The president sailed triumphantly to Paris to help supervise the peace conference that would carve up the world; much of the carving centered on the Middle East and Africa, and the disputed boundaries of 1919 set the stage for many wars in the centuries that followed.

Iraq was cut out of the former Ottoman Empire and served up to Britain like a piece of meat.

The reasons for this -- balancing power with France, and creating an open air route to India -- may have seemed vital at the time, but the folly of creating a country with warring ethnic groups remains evident today.

Now, Bush is committing himself to Wilsonian principles -- or at least to what history considers Wilsonian principles -- in endeavoring to build a democracy in Iraq.

But there are other lessons to be taken from the Paris Peace Conference.

"There is danger, it seems to me, for great powers in looking outwards from their great capitals at the world and imagining all the things you might do," said Margaret MacMillan, a prominent historian of the 1919 conference, in a lecture in 2003, near the start of the Iraq war.

"The pieces out there in the rest of the world, however, are not as malleable as you might like and ordering them about may not be as easy as you think."

Peter S. Canellos writes for The Boston Globe.

[Livyjr]

"Roosevelt, Wilson and today's war in Iraq" 
 
By PETER S. CANELLOS
First published: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Theodore Roosevelt "still has many things to teach us," opined presidential adviser Karl Rove in last week's Time magazine, which has Roosevelt on the cover.

Teddy Roosevelt ....

IS DEAD .....

For quite some time, now, actually ......

So far as I know, anyway .....

And I think I would ....

Being from up here ...

Where I am ...

For as long as I have been .....

BECAUSE IF TEDDY ROOSEVELT ......

WERE STILL AROUND .....

IT IS MY BET .....

THAT IT WOULD BE ALL OVER THE NEWS .....

OLD TEDDY ROOSEVELT ...

CLEANING UP CORRUPTION ...

DOWN THERE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. .....

BY GIVING ....

KARL ROVE ....

A GREAT BIG BOOT ....

RIGHT IN THE *** ....

TO ENCOURAGE KARL .....

TO GET HIS ACT ....

ALL HIS LIES ....

ALL HIS DECEITS ....

OUT OF THE PEOPLE'S TOWN ....

OF WASHINGTON, D.C. ......

And so ...

THAT IS THE LESSON .....

THAT KARL ROVE WOULD LEARN .....

FROM OLD TEDDY ROOSEVELT ....

IF TEDDY ....

WERE STILL AROUND ....

KEEP TELLING LIES ....

TO THE PEOPLE ...

AND THE PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVE ...

IS GOING TO COME ....

AND KICK YOUR *** FOR IT .....

And so .....

And not only could Teddy Roosevelt do that .....

If he had to ...

If it was the necessary thing to do ...

That moment ....

Well, old Teddy Roosevelt .....

Wouldn't mewl ....

And whine ....

And cry ...

OR LIE ....

He would ...

GET IT DONE .....

AND GET IT GONE ....

Right then and there ...

Right in front of everybody .....

And in the other person's face ....

Not creeping ...

And crawling ...

Around ...

Behind people's backs ...

As Karl does .....

Doing them dirt ...

Through a host of surrogate liars .....

That form the CORE ...

Or CORPS ....

Of Karl Rove's POWER ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And so ...

THAT IS THE LESSON .....

THAT KARL ROVE WOULD LEARN .....

FROM OLD TEDDY ROOSEVELT ....

IF TEDDY ....

WERE STILL AROUND ....

KEEP TELLING LIES ....

TO THE PEOPLE ...

AND THE PEOPLE'S REPRESENTATIVE ...

IS GOING TO COME ....

AND KICK YOUR *** FOR IT .....

And so .....

People never think about it ....

But before he went to Washington, D.C. .....

Which is where most people know him from ....

Teddy Roosevelt .....

Was an Assemblyman up here .....

In the corrupt State of New York .....

And in the corrupt capital city .....

Of Albany, New York .....

Teddy Roosevelt ...

Stood out ...

Like a sore thumb ....

Because he was not "in it for his pocket" ....

And so ....

And then .....

He was the Governor up here .....

And his image ...

That remains ...

IS AS A MAN OF INTEGRITY ....

Who would never give credit .....

OR NEED TO .....

To an OPERATOR like KARL ROVE ....

For getting old Teddy Roosevelt ......

Into office .....

Like George W. Bush had to do ...

Because George couldn't get in there, on his own ....

UNLIKE TEDDY ROOSEVELT .....

Who George W. Bush shares little in common with ....

Outside of them both being presidents .....

Of OUR America ...

George with no integrity and all ....

Where Teddy had plenty .....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Roosevelt, Wilson and today's war in Iraq" 
 
By PETER S. CANELLOS
First published: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Theodore Roosevelt "still has many things to teach us," opined presidential adviser Karl Rove in last week's Time magazine, which has Roosevelt on the cover.

Starting with INTEGRITY, KARL .....

Which means .....

NOT LYING TO US .....

And manipulating ...

The facts ...

Eliminating some ...

And enhancing ...

Or creating ...

Others ....

TO SERVE YOUR WHIMS, KARL ...

AND YOUR LUST ....

FOR POWER ...

OVER US ...

IN OUR OWN COUNTRY ....

WHICH IS NOT YOURS, KARL ...

TO BRING LOW ...

FOR YOUR OWN ENDS ...

And so ....

"Supreme Court ruling troubles GOP senators"

By PETE YOST, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:21 a.m., Monday, July 3, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Of all the steps the Supreme Court could have taken to undercut President Bush's legal position in the war on terror, applying international law to al-Qaida probably would have been the worst.

That development came to pass Thursday and now Republicans are rushing to protect the cornerstone of Bush's thinking:

Suspected terrorists are not entitled to protection under the Geneva Accords.

Sens. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham said Sunday that Congress must address the Supreme Court ruling embracing Article 3 of the conventions in the military commission case of Osama bin Laden's former driver.

Article 3 prohibits outrages upon personal dignity, "in particular humiliating and degrading treatment," and bars violence, including murder, mutilation and torture.

In an election year, declaring that international law governs the war on terror reminds voters of some of the Republican administration's lowest moments: controversies over Justice Department "torture" memos and allegations of abuse against detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

McConnell, R-Ky., the second-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, said the 5-3 court decision "means that American servicemen potentially could be accused of war crimes."

"I think Congress is going to want to deal with that," McConnell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He called the ruling "very disturbing."

The Geneva Conventions' Article 3 is "far beyond our domestic law when it comes to terrorism, and Congress can rein it in, and I think we should," said Graham, R-S.C., assigned as a Reserve Judge to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.

Graham spoke on "Fox News Sunday."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also expressed concern about the decision, saying it "is somewhat of a departure, in my view, of people who are stateless terrorists." McCain appeared on ABC's "This Week."

McConnell wants Congress to deal with the Geneva Accords issue at the same time it addresses the court's overturning of the military commissions created to try a limited number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Addressing the commission issue, McCain and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Congress might devise broader changes than the White House wants in trials of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

As a starting point for debate, McCain said Congress should embrace the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the bedrock of military law protecting the rights of accused soldiers.

The Bush administration has skirted the code for nearly five years in dealing with Guantanamo Bay prisoners it has classified as enemy combatants.

Specter said "we have to reconcile" what the Bush administration thinks it can do and what the Supreme Court decision says.

Specter spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Many Republicans in Congress say detainees in the war on terror should not have the same legal protections as those in the military.

Congress, they say, should give its imprimatur with little or no change to the Pentagon's military commissions.

McCain agreed that justice afforded to enemy combatants "shouldn't be exactly the same as applied to a member of the military."

He added, however, that the Uniform Code of Military Justice is "a good framework."

The Supreme Court said Bush's military commissions violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the four Geneva Conventions signed in 1949.

Under military commission rules, the court noted, such panels may block an accused and his civilian lawyer from ever learning of evidence the prosecution presents that is classified.

In addition, commissions can permit the admission of any evidence it deems to have probative value to a reasonable person.

end quotes

IT ELUDES ME .....

HOW ...

THE REPUBLICANS ...

CAN EQUATE ....

GEORGE W. BUSH ...

ACTING ...

IN A LAWLESS MANNER ....

AS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ....

HAS JUST MADE CLEAR ....

WITH BEING TOUGH ON ANYTHING ....

OTHER THAN ...

THE RULE OF LAW ...

AND OUR UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION ....

BOTH OF WHICH ...

GEORGE W. BUSH ...

AND THE LAWLESS REPUBLICANS ...

DISDAIN ....

And so ...

IT MUST BE ...

SOME TYPE ....

OF "NEW MATH" ....

THAT THESE LAWLESS REPUBLICANS ....

ARE USING ...

TO "BALANCE" ....

THEIR FAULTY LOGIC ...

IN THEIR "EQUATION" .....

TO HAVE US THINK ....

THAT ACTING ...

IN A LAWLESS MANNER ...

MAKES GEORGE W. BUSH ...

"TOUGH" .....

ON TAY-RIZM ....

WHEN ALL GEORGE IS REALLY DOING ....

IS OPENLY MOCKING ...

US ....

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION ....

AND THE CONCEPT ...

OF RULE OF LAW ...

HERE IN OUR AMERICA ...

And so .....

WHO WANTS ...

MANIPULATORS .....

AND LAWBREAKERS ....

AND OATH FORSAKERS .....

IN CHARGE ...

OF OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT?

BESIDES KARL ROVE ....

AND THE REPUBLICANS, THAT IS ....

And so .....

[Snuffysmith]

ONLY IN AMERICA

'CROSS COUNTRY' [EXCERPT] - ROBERT SULLIVAN (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 2): ?The America that I see is an America that tells you to keep moving, to move on to something better, to get on the road and keep going, to stop only briefly to refuel your car and yourself but then to keep pushing toward the place that is closer to where you should be, or could be, if only you would keep going. America says move, move on, don't sit still.?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/books/ch...agewanted=print

WHAT PERCENT OF COLLEGE FACULTY ARE PART-TIME? USA TODAY (JULY 3): Part time college faculty represent 46% of all instructors, up from just 23% in 1971.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/snapshot.htm?...006-07-03-profs

[Livyjr]

ONLY IN AMERICA

'CROSS COUNTRY' [EXCERPT] - ROBERT SULLIVAN (NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 2): ?The America that I see is an America that tells you to keep moving, to move on to something better, to get on the road and keep going, to stop only briefly to refuel your car and yourself but then to keep pushing toward the place that is closer to where you should be, or could be, if only you would keep going. America says move, move on, don't sit still.?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/books/ch...agewanted=print

I guess that I am some kind of an oddity, here in OUR America .....

Living now where I did when I was young ....

On the same land ...

Like I was John Adams or something like that, anyway ....

Not getting sucked in to this thing that this article descrbes above here ......

The search ....

For the land .....

At the end of the rainbow ....

The place where it is always going to be ...

Better than it was ...

In the last place you were at ...

And so .....

If you aren't content ....

With that space ...

Directly above your shoe tops ....

No sense looking for something better ...

Down the road .....

That's my thought, anyway ....

And if you are satisified with that space ....

Well ...

What do you even need a road for?

You're already home ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

"Supreme Court ruling troubles GOP senators" 
 
By PETE YOST, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:21 a.m., Monday, July 3, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Of all the steps the Supreme Court could have taken to undercut President Bush's legal position in the war on terror, applying international law to al-Qaida probably would have been the worst.
 
Sens. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham said Sunday that Congress must address the Supreme Court ruling embracing Article 3 of the conventions in the military commission case of Osama bin Laden's former driver.

McConnell, R-Ky., the second-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, said the 5-3 court decision "means that American servicemen potentially could be accused of war crimes."

"I think Congress is going to want to deal with that," McConnell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He called the ruling "very disturbing."

I AM ......

AN AMERICAN .....

JUST AS MUCH ....

AS REPUBLICAN UNITED STATES SENATOR MITCH McCONNELL IS ....

AND I DO NOT SEE ....

ANYTHING WRONG .....

WITH A UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT RULING .....

THAT CALLS A SPADE ....

A SPADE ....

IF AMERICANS ...

ARE GUILTY ...

OF WAR CRIMES .....

THEN THEY MUST BE PUNISHED ...

SIMPLE AS THAT .....

NOT PROTECTED ....

WHICH WOULD BE AN ABOMINATION ....

AS WELL AS ...

A REAL MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE ...

IN THIS WORLD OF OURS ....

WHERE WAR CRIMINALS OF ANY STRIPE ...

AND ESPECIALLY AMERICAN WAR CRIMINALS ....

ARE UNWANTED ...

AND UNWELCOME .....

THE PROBLEM FOR THE REPUBLICANS .....

OF COURSE ...

IS THAT THEY ...

WANT TO HAVE ....

A FOREIGN POLICY .....

THAT ALLOWS THEM ....

TO DO THINGS ....

THAT WERE CONSIDERED WAR CRIMES ...

WHEN DONE BY THE NAZIS .....

AND THE JAPANESE ....

DURING WWII ....

And so .....

[Livyjr]

"Guantanamo ruling heralds US political showdown"

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats see the Supreme Court's Guantanamo ruling as repudiation of a power-hungry White House.

Republicans say it shows how tough President George W. Bush is on terrorists and voters will eat it up.

Both parties face a contentious political debate over the decision declaring military tribunals illegal as they look to capitalize on a national security issue ahead of crucial congressional elections in November.

"How do you go back to Chicago, Illinois, or Las Vegas, Nevada, and say 'You know what? The president is just being too mean to these people," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.

"That's a very difficult argument to make."

In Thursday's ruling, the nation's highest court found the tribunals, which Bush created right after the September 11 attacks for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, violated the Geneva Conventions and U.S. military rules.

HAMDAN v. RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, et al.

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit

No. 05-184. 

Argued March 28, 2006--Decided June 29, 2006

Even assuming ....

That Hamden is a dangerous individual ....

Who would cause great harm ....

Or death .....

To innocent civilians ....

Given the opportunity ....

The Executive (GEORGE W. BUSH) ....

Nevertheless ....

Must comply .....

With the prevailing ....

Rule of law .....

In undertaking .....

To try him .....

And subject him ....

To criminal punishment .....

[Livyjr]

IT ELUDES ME .....

HOW ...

THE REPUBLICANS ...

CAN EQUATE ....

GEORGE W. BUSH ...

ACTING ...

IN A LAWLESS MANNER ....

AS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ....

HAS JUST MADE CLEAR ....

WITH BEING TOUGH ON ANYTHING ....

OTHER THAN ...

THE RULE OF LAW ...

AND OUR UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION ....

BOTH OF WHICH ...

GEORGE W. BUSH ...

AND THE LAWLESS REPUBLICANS ...

DISDAIN ....

And so ...

"Guantanamo ruling heralds US political showdown"

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In Thursday's ruling, the nation's highest court found the tribunals, which Bush created right after the September 11 attacks for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, violated the Geneva Conventions and U.S. military rules.

The White House has been accused of using the war against terrorism to grab executive power at the expense of the U.S. Congress.

Bush and Rove already have stepped up their attacks on Democrats in the past couple of weeks, accusing some of wanting to "cut and run" and "waving the white flag" in Iraq.

HAMDAN v. RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, et al.

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit

No. 05-184. 

Argued March 28, 2006--Decided June 29, 2006

The military commission, a tribunal neither mentioned in the Constitution nor created by statute, was born of military necessity.

See W. Winthrop, Military Law and Precedents 831 (rev. 2d ed. 1920) (hereinafter Winthrop).

Though foreshadowed in some respects by earlier tribunals like the Board of General Officers that General Washington convened to try British Major John André for spying during the Revolutionary War, the commission "as such" was inaugurated in 1847.

Id., at 832; G. Davis, A Treatise on the Military Law of the United States 308 (2d ed. 1909) (hereinafter Davis).

As commander of occupied Mexican territory, and having available to him no other tribunal, General Winfield Scott that year ordered the establishment of both "'military commissions'" to try ordinary crimes committed in the occupied territory and a "council of war" to try offenses against the law of war.

Winthrop 832 (emphases in original).

When the exigencies of war next gave rise to a need for use of military commissions, during the Civil War, the dual system favored by General Scott was not adopted.

Instead, a single tribunal often took jurisdiction over ordinary crimes, war crimes, and breaches of military orders alike.

As further discussed below, each aspect of that seemingly broad jurisdiction was in fact supported by a separate military exigency.

Generally, though, the need for military commissions during this period--as during the Mexican War--was driven largely by the then very limited jurisdiction of courts-martial:

"The occasion for the military commission arises principally from the fact that the jurisdiction of the court-martial proper, in our law, is restricted by statute almost exclusively to members of the military force and to certain specific offences defined in a written code."

Id., at 831 (emphasis in original).

Exigency alone, of course, will not justify the establishment and use of penal tribunals not contemplated by Article I, §8 and Article III, §1 of the Constitution unless some other part of that document authorizes a response to the felt need.

See Ex parte Milligan, 4 Wall. 2, 121 (1866) ("Certainly no part of the judicial power of the country was conferred on [military commissions]"); Ex parte Vallandigham, 1 Wall. 243, 251 (1864); see also Quirin, 317 U. S., at 25 ("Congress and the President, like the courts, possess no power not derived from the Constitution").

And that authority, if it exists, can derive only from the powers granted jointly to the President and Congress in time of war.

See id., at 26-29; In re Yamashita, 327 U. S. 1, 11 (1946).

The Constitution makes the President the "Commander in Chief" of the Armed Forces, Art. II, §2, cl. 1, but vests in Congress the powers to "declare War ... and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water," Art. I, §8, cl. 11, to "raise and support Armies," id., cl. 12, to "define and punish ... Offences against the Law of Nations," id., cl. 10, and "To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces," id., cl. 14.

The interplay between these powers was described by Chief Justice Chase in the seminal case of Ex parte Milligan:

"The power to make the necessary laws is in Congress; the power to execute in the President."

"Both powers imply many subordinate and auxiliary powers."

"Each includes all authorities essential to its due exercise."

"But neither can the President, in war more than in peace, intrude upon the proper authority of Congress, nor Congress upon the proper authority of the President ... ."

"Congress cannot direct the conduct of campaigns, nor can the President, or any commander under him, without the sanction of Congress, institute tribunals for the trial and punishment of offences, either of soldiers or civilians, unless in cases of a controlling necessity, which justifies what it compels, or at least insures acts of indemnity from the justice of the legislature."

4 Wall., at 139-140.21

Whether Chief Justice Chase was correct in suggesting that the President may constitutionally convene military commissions "without the sanction of Congress" in cases of "controlling necessity" is a question this Court has not answered definitively, and need not answer today.

For we held in Quirin that Congress had, through Article of War 15, sanctioned the use of military commissions in such circumstances.

317 U. S., at 28 ("By the Articles of War, and especially Article 15, Congress has explicitly provided, so far as it may constitutionally do so, that military tribunals shall have jurisdiction to try offenders or offenses against the law of war in appropriate cases").

Article 21 of the UCMJ, the language of which is substantially identical to the old Article 15 and was preserved by Congress after World War II, reads as follows:

"Jurisdiction of courts-martial not exclusive."

"The provisions of this code conferring jurisdiction upon courts-martial shall not be construed as depriving military commissions, provost courts, or other military tribunals of concurrent jurisdiction in respect of offenders or offenses that by statute or by the law of war may be tried by such military commissions, provost courts, or other military tribunals." 64 Stat. 115.

We have no occasion to revisit Quirin's controversial characterization of Article of War 15 as congressional authorization for military commissions.

Cf. Brief for Legal Scholars and Historians as Amici Curiae 12-15.

Contrary to the Government's assertion, however, even Quirin did not view the authorization as a sweeping mandate for the President to "invoke military commissions when he deems them necessary."

Brief for Respondents 17.

Rather, the Quirin Court recognized that Congress had simply preserved what power, under the Constitution and the common law of war, the President had had before 1916 to convene military commissions--with the express condition that the President and those under his command comply with the law of war.

See 317 U. S., at 28-29.23

That much is evidenced by the Court's inquiry, following its conclusion that Congress had authorized military commissions, into whether the law of war had indeed been complied with in that case.

See ibid.

The Government would have us dispense with the inquiry that the Quirin Court undertook and find in either the AUMF or the DTA specific, overriding authorization for the very commission that has been convened to try Hamdan.

Neither of these congressional Acts, however, expands the President's authority to convene military commissions.

First, while we assume that the AUMF activated the President's war powers, see Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U. S. 507 (2004) (plurality opinion), and that those powers include the authority to convene military commissions in appropriate circumstances, see id., at 518; Quirin, 317 U. S., at 28-29; see also Yamashita, 327 U. S., at 11, there is nothing in the text or legislative history of the AUMF even hinting that Congress intended to expand or alter the authorization set forth in Article 21 of the UCMJ.

Cf. Yerger, 8 Wall., at 105 ("Repeals by implication are not favored").

Likewise, the DTA cannot be read to authorize this commission.

Although the DTA, unlike either Article 21 or the AUMF, was enacted after the President had convened Hamdan's commission, it contains no language authorizing that tribunal or any other at Guantanamo Bay.

The DTA obviously "recognize[s]" the existence of the Guantanamo Bay commissions in the weakest sense, Brief for Respondents 15, because it references some of the military orders governing them and creates limited judicial review of their "final decision[s]," DTA §1005(e)(3), 119 Stat. 2743.

But the statute also pointedly reserves judgment on whether "the Constitution and laws of the United States are applicable" in reviewing such decisions and whether, if they are, the "standards and procedures" used to try Hamdan and other detainees actually violate the "Constitution and laws." Ibid.

Together, the UCMJ, the AUMF, and the DTA at most acknowledge a general Presidential authority to convene military commissions in circumstances where justified under the "Constitution and laws," including the law of war.

Absent a more specific congressional authorization, the task of this Court is, as it was in Quirin, to decide whether Hamdan's military commission is so justified.

It is to that inquiry we now turn.

[Livyjr]

HAMDAN v. RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, et al.

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit

No. 05-184. 

Argued March 28, 2006--Decided June 29, 2006

Contrary to the Government's assertion, however, even Quirin did not view the authorization as a sweeping mandate for the President to "invoke military commissions when he deems them necessary."

"Al-Zarqawi's death fails to stop bloodshed"

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 58 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Deaths among Iraq civilians, police and soldiers dropped slightly last month but the number of wounded rose, indicating little easing of violence since the killing of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, government figures showed Monday.

The tallies from the defense, interior and health ministries did not specify how many of the deaths and injuries occurred before the June 7 airstrike that killed the al-Qaida in Iraq leader.

Of the 1,006 Iraqis reported killed in political or sectarian violence last month, 885 were civilians, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press.

The overall figure was down from the 1,053 deaths recorded by the three ministries in May.

Despite the dip in deaths, the number of Iraqis wounded rose from 1,426 in May to 1,769 in June.

In all, about 5,062 Iraqis were killed and 6,898 were wounded in the first six months of this year, the figures said.

Those totals do not include the 66 people killed and about 100 wounded in Saturday's car bombing in Baghdad's Shiite-dominated district of Sadr City.

That was the deadliest attack in Iraq since the unity government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took office in May, pledging to curb the violence so Iraqi forces can take over their own security within 18 months so American troops can begin withdrawing.

In announcing al-Zarqawi's death, U.S. officials cautioned against expecting any quick reduction in violence, particularly the suicide attacks and car bombings against Shiite civilians that have been the hallmark of his group.

Al-Qaida quickly announced a new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who vowed to continue the fight.

Since al-Zarqawi's death, al-Qaida in Iraq has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the brutal slayings of two U.S. soldiers captured south of Baghdad last month.

Nevertheless, American and Iraqi officials believe that over time, the death of the charismatic al-Zarqawi will help dampen the violence and encourage other insurgent groups to talk with the government about ending the insurgency.

"Attacks have increased since al-Zarqawi's death, but the group is being weakened and is disintegrating because they have lost their most important symbol," Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Ali Rashid said, citing no figures.

Still, his comments offer little comfort to Iraqis, who face daily bombings and shootings.

Taxi driver Firas Hussein learned how precarious life can be.

On June 20, the 38-year-old Shiite taxi driver stopped his vehicle near a Baghdad market to let the engine cool from the baking, 110-degree heat.

Moments later, a minivan exploded, killing four people and hurling shards of hot metal into his leg.

Fifteen other people were injured.

"Three pieces of shrapnel penetrated my left leg," Hussein recalled.

"I looked around and saw dead and wounded people on the ground."

There are no generally accepted figures on the number of Iraqis killed or wounded since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Government institutions did not start functioning again until more than a year after the invasion, and the Iraqi Health Ministry only began tabulating civilian deaths in April 2004, when heavy fighting broke out between U.S. forces and gunmen in Fallujah and Najaf.

Many deaths are believed to go unreported, and families sometimes collect bodies from the hospital before they can be recorded at the morgue, making a reliable count difficult.

Iraq Body Count, a private group that bases its figures in part on reports by 40 media outlets, puts the number of civilian deaths since the conflict began at between 38,786 and 43,215.

Deputy Health Minister Adel Mohsen said Baghdad's main morgue had recorded some 25,000 victims of violence since 2004 — 8,000 so far this year, 10,500 in 2005 and 6,500 the year before.

The morgue figures only cover Baghdad and its outskirts, excluding the volatile western Anbar region, the relatively quiet Kurdish north or southern Shiite areas that witness fewer attacks than Sunni regions where the insurgency is active.

In December, President Bush estimated that at least 30,000 Iraqis had been killed so far during the conflict.

Some 2,750 coalition troops, including more than 2,500 Americans, have died in Iraq since the war began.

But it is clear that Iraqi civilians are suffering the most.

"What we are seeing is a significant increase in civilian casualties, Iraqi civilian casualties," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said last week.

"They account for about 70 percent of all casualties on a daily basis within Iraq."

"They are, unfortunately, the ones who are taking the brunt of this insurgent activity."

[Livyjr]

"Al-Zarqawi's death fails to stop bloodshed"

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Deaths among Iraq civilians, police and soldiers dropped slightly last month but the number of wounded rose, indicating little easing of violence since the killing of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, government figures showed Monday.

Since al-Zarqawi's death, al-Qaida in Iraq has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the brutal slayings of two U.S. soldiers captured south of Baghdad last month.

"Army: Policy violated in GIs' abductions, deaths - Military says soldiers who were kidnapped and slain had been left alone"

REUTERS

Updated: 8:45 p.m. ET July 1, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three U.S. soldiers killed by insurgents south of Baghdad last month had been left alone at a checkpoint in violation of military procedure, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Saturday.

An investigation is already under way into how the soldiers came to be on their own in an armored Humvee vehicle in an al-Qaida hotspot known as the "Triangle of Death" as night fell.

Militants abducted and killed two of them in an attack in which the third soldier also died.

"A lone vehicle does not fit standard operating procedures and does not match published guidance," Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Martin-Hing told Reuters.

"The investigation will look at the circumstances surrounding this event and how it was that this vehicle was there by itself."

Major General James Thurman, commander of U.S.-led forces in the Baghdad area, ordered the probe into the deaths of Privates First Class Kristian Menchaca, 23, Thomas Tucker, 25 and David Babineau, 25.

He has been reluctant to comment on whether a breach in military procedure made them vulnerable to attack, saying this will form part of the investigation.

'No one has a good answer'

The mutilated and booby-trapped bodies of Menchaca and Tucker were found three days after militants captured them on June 16 near the village of Yusufiya.

Babineau was killed in the attack on the checkpoint on a canal bridge.

The Army Times quoted Martin-Hing as saying that "no one has a good answer" for the apparent lapse in security procedure.

The newspaper said in its latest edition that "a three-Humvee minimum has evolved as the standard for combat patrols and convoys".

Martin-Hing told the newspaper that two Humvees, part of the same patrol, had been manning a traffic control point slightly to the northeast of the bridge crossing.

They were in radio communication with the lone Humvee but not in visual range.

Thurman said this week it took 15 minutes for a quick reaction force to reach the site after U.S. soldiers in the area heard small arms fire and explosions near the checkpoint.

The deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, has since ordered his commanders to look at procedures for combat patrols, Martin-Hing said.

[Livyjr]

"U.S. automakers' sales decline in June"

By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer

12 minutes ago

DETROIT - Domestic automakers' sales slid in June, lashed by higher gas prices and by tough comparisons with last summer's discount-driven bonanza, the companies said on Monday.

Struggling General Motors Corp. got the worst beating; its sales plunged 25.7 percent last month.

But rising fuel costs were a boon to Toyota Motor Corp., which credited its fuel-efficient lineup for much of its 14.4 percent sales increase over June 2005.

Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. sales were flat.

Sales from a year ago slipped 15.5 percent at DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group and 6.8 percent at Ford Motor Co., the companies reported Monday.

Across the industry, sales were down 10.5 percent, with truck sales plummeting 19.4 percent and cars inching up 1.6 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

The seasonally adjusted sales rate for June, which shows what total sales would be if they remained at the same rate for the entire year, was 16.3 million vehicles.

Automakers sold 17 million vehicles in 2005.

GM had warned that its June sales would be down significantly because of aggressive discounts last summer.

Paul Ballew, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, said comparisons with last year were difficult because of the promotion, which allowed all customers to purchase vehicles at the price given to employees.

"The Employee Discount for Everyone program and the success of that program was probably a once-in-a-decade home run for the industry and certainly for ourselves," Ballew said in a conference call.

He said this June's performance was in line with the company's expectations.

High gas prices cut into sales of pickups and big sport utility vehicles — traditionally the stronger segment at both GM and Ford.

GM's truck sales fell 37 percent in June, while cars were down less than half a percent.

Year-to-date, GM's sales fell 12.2 percent, including a 13 percent drop for trucks and an 11 percent dip for cars.

At Ford, sales of light trucks plummeted 14.6 percent.

But the company saw a bright spot in car sales, which rose 8.6 percent, as demand for new midsize sedans — the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr — remained high.

Sales of truck-based sport utility vehicles have been declining across the industry for four years in a row, but until recently, pickups were relatively immune from the phenomenon, Ford said.

However, pickup buyers now appear to be delaying purchases because of the pressure of high fuel costs, said Al Giombetti, president of marketing and sales for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury.

In a statement, Giombetti said the increase in car sales is "cause for optimism because it shows we can win in the industry's most competitive segment."

For the first half of the year, Ford's sales fell 3.8 percent, with truck sales sliding 9.7 percent and car sales rising 7.8 percent.

Toyota, however, continued to gain ground in trucks, selling 4.8 percent more last month than in June 2005.

But its biggest gains were in car sales, which climbed 21.9 percent.

Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota's U.S. division, pointed to a 38.7 percent increase in sales of the Toyota Corolla, one of the most fuel-efficient models, as evidence of the impact of gas prices.

Year-to-date, Toyota's sales rose 9.8 percent, including a 10.4 percent increase in cars and a 9.1 percent increase in trucks.

Honda's car sales crept up 3.8 percent, while truck sales fell 5 percent.

The company reported increased demand for small cars, including a 3.9 percent increase in sales of the Civic.

Demand for the Fit, a new subcompact, continued to outpace supply, Honda said.

Not all the Japanese manufacturers escaped the pain, however.

Nissan Motor Co. saw total vehicle sales drop 19 percent.

Chrysler blamed gas prices for its sales decrease, though its biggest drop was in cars, which fell 32.7 percent, compared with a 10 percent drop in truck sales.

For the first six months of the year, Chrysler sales were down 4.9 percent, including a 6.5 percent drop in car sales and an 8.4 percent drop in trucks.

Chrysler said it expects an employee pricing program it launched over the weekend, along with its "Ask Dr. Z" ad campaign, featuring DaimlerChrysler Chairman Dieter Zetsche, to boost sales.

Last summer, Chrysler matched GM's employee discount program, as did Ford.

But GM and Ford have said they will not take that route this year.

Instead, GM is offering zero percent financing for up to 72 months on many models through July 5, while Ford is offering it for 60 months on many models and 72 for the Expedition large sport utility vehicle.

The Ford offer expires July 31, as does Chrysler's employee discounts for everyone.

The Associated Press reports unadjusted sales figures, calculating the percentage change in the total number of vehicles sold in one month compared with the same month a year earlier.

Some automakers report percentages that are adjusted for the number of sales days in a month.

Ford shares fell 22 cents, or 3.2 percent, to close at $6.71 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

GM shares fell 38 cents to $29.41, and DaimlerChrysler shares rose 29 cents to $49.65.
___

On the Net:

Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com

General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com

Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com

DaimlerChrysler AG: http://www.daimlerchrysler.com

Honda Motor Co.: http://www.honda.com

Nissan Motor Co.: http://www.nissandriven.com

[Livyjr]

"Guantanamo ruling heralds US political showdown"

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "How do you go back to Chicago, Illinois .....

Or Las Vegas, Nevada ....

And say 'You know what?

The president is just being too mean to these people,"

Said Don Stewart, spokesman for Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.

"That's a very difficult argument to make."

Bush and Rove already have stepped up their attacks on Democrats in the past couple of weeks, accusing some of wanting to "cut and run" and "waving the white flag" in Iraq.

And so ....

As for me ...

ON THIS FOURTH OF JULY ....

ESPECIALLY ....

I DO NOT SUPPORT THE "TROOPS" ....

I AM FOR THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION ....

AND ANY OF GEORGE W. BUSH'S "TROOPS" ....

WHO SUPPORT HIM ....

AND WHO HAVE SWORN FEALTY TO HIM ....

ARE ENEMIES .....

OF THAT CONSTITUTION ....

AND HENCE .....

ARE ENEMIES ...

OF OUR AMERICA ....

And so .....

THAT IS WHERE I STAND ....

AS A LOYAL AMERICAN CITIZEN THIS MORNING .....

And so ....

According to the REPUBLICANS .....

George W. Bush ...

IS GIVING ...

THOSE IRAQI WOMEN ....

JUST WHAT THEY DESERVE ....

And so ....

"Ex-GI charged in rape of Iraqi, killings"

By TIM WHITMIRE, Associated Press
Last updated: 3:42 a.m., Tuesday, July 4, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When U.S. military officials found the bodies of four Iraqis inside a burned house near Mahmoudiya in March, they at first blamed insurgents.

Three of the bodies had gunshot wounds, and the body of a woman was burned.

Authorities believe she was raped before being shot in the head.

But on Monday, federal prosecutors revealed the outcome of a joint military and FBI investigation: the culprits, they now believe, are U.S. soldiers who manned a checkpoint a short distance from the home.

Officials have charged one of them, Steven D. Green, a skinny, 21-year-old former private who was honorably discharged this spring by the Army because of a "personality disorder."

He was accused Monday of rape and four counts of murder during an appearence in a federal courtroom in Charlotte.

Wearing baggy shorts, flip-flops and a Johnny Cash T-shirt, Green spoke only to confirm his identity and stared as a federal magistrate ordered him held without bond on murder and rape charges that carry a possible death penalty.

Green became the first person identified in the latest case of alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops.

According to a federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division had talked about raping the young woman, whom they first saw while working at a traffic checkpoint near her home.

On the day of the attack, the document said, Green and other soldiers drank alcohol and changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the woman's house, with Green using a brown T-shirt to cover his face.

Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family -- an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old -- into a bedroom.

Shots were heard.

"Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them'."

"'All are dead,'" the affidavit said.

The affidavit is based on FBI and military investigators' interviews with three unidentified soldiers assigned to Green's platoon.

Two of the soldiers said they witnessed another soldier and Green rape the woman.

"After the rape, (the soldier) witnessed Green shoot the woman in the head two to three times," the affidavit said.

One of the three soldiers interviewed said he was left behind to mind the radio at the traffic checkpoint.

That soldier said Green and three others returned from the woman's house "with blood on their clothes, which they burned."

"Immediately after this, they each told (the soldier) that this is never to be discussed again."

An official familiar with details of the investigation in Iraq told The Associated Press that a flammable liquid was used to burn the rape victim's body in an attempted cover-up.

The affidavit noted that prosecutors have photos taken by Army investigators in Iraq of all four bodies found inside a burned house and a photo of a burned body of "what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso."

The age of the young woman was unclear.

FBI documents estimated her age at 25, but a neighbor of the family said the rape victim was 14 and her sister was 10.

The Washington Post reported the rape victim was 15 and that her mother worried her daughter had attracted the attention of U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint.

The mother asked a neighbor if the girl could sleep at his house.

The neighbor agreed but the girl and her family were attacked the next day, according to the Post.

Green, who was arrested Friday in the town of Marion northwest of Charlotte, is being prosecuted in federal, rather than military court because he is no longer in the Army.

According to the affidavit, his 11-month-stint ended "before this incident came to light."

The soldiers accused in the rape and killings are from the same platoon as two soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found June 19, three days after they were abducted by insurgents near Youssifiyah, southwest of Baghdad.

Military officials say they believe guilt over the mutilations may have spurred a confession by one of the soldiers during a combat-stress debriefing late last month.

No other soldier has been charged in the case, said Maj. Joseph Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.

However, military officials have said four Army soldiers have had their weapons taken away and were being confined to their base near Mahmoudiya.

The mayor of Mahmoudiya, Mouayad Fadhil, said Monday that Iraqi authorities had started their own investigation.

He said U.S. Army officers were also seeking permission to exhume one of the bodies; the U.S. military declined to comment on the report because the investigation is ongoing.

According to the affidavit, Green was arrested while traveling back to Fort Campbell after attending a funeral for one of the mutilated soldiers in Arlington, Va.

Court officials said Green will have a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing on July 10 in Charlotte, and will then be brought to Louisville to stand trial.

He was quoted in December by the Fort Campbell Courier about a search for insurgents and expressed surprise at the ease of the mission.

"I was surprised by how many people weren't home, but the ones who were there were submissive and let us look through their things," he said.

------

Associated Press writers Brett Barrouquere in Louisville, Mark Sherman in Washington and Kim Gamel and Robert H. Reid in Baghdad contributed to this report.

end quotes

PUNKS .....

IN PARATROOPER SUITS .....

WHO RAPE AND KILL WOMEN .....

FOR GEORGE W. BUSH ...

AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

ARE NOT REAL AIRBORNE TROOPERS .....

NOR ARE THEY REAL AMERICAN SOLDIERS ......

THEY'RE JUST A BUNCH .....

OF BUSHCOS ...

And so ....

[Livyjr]

PUNKS .....

IN PARATROOPER SUITS .....

WHO RAPE AND KILL WOMEN .....

FOR GEORGE W. BUSH ...

AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

ARE NOT REAL AIRBORNE TROOPERS .....

NOR ARE THEY REAL AMERICAN SOLDIERS ......

THEY'RE JUST A BUNCH .....

OF BUSHCOS ...

And so ....

"Iraq seeks oversight of rape-slaying case"

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 24 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's justice minister demanded Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council ensure a group of U.S. troops is punished for allegedly raping and murdering a young Iraqi woman and executing her family, calling the attack "monstrous and inhuman."

Justice Minister Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shebli condemned the attack a day after former private Steven D. Green appeared in federal court in North Carolina to face charges of killing the woman's family so he and other soldiers could rape her.

At least four other U.S. soldiers still in Iraq are under investigation in the March 12 rape and killings in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad.

"If this act actually happened, it constitutes an ugly and unethical crime, monstrous and inhuman," said al-Shebli, a Sunni Arab.

"The Iraqi judiciary should be informed about this investigation which should be conducted under supervision of international and human organizations."

"Those involved should face justice."

"The ugliness of this crime demands a swift intervention of the U.N. Security Council to stop these violations of human rights and to condemn them so that they will not happen again," he added.

On Tuesday, Iraq's largest newspaper, Azzaman, expressed skepticism that the soldiers would be severely punished.

The newspaper said in an editorial that the rape "summarizes what has been going in Iraq for the past years not only by the American occupation army, but also by some Iraqi groups."

"The U.S. Army will conduct an investigation and the result at best is already known."

"One or two U.S. soldiers will receive a 'touristic punishment' and the whole crime will be forgotten as it happened with Abu Ghraib criminals," the newspaper said, referring to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards at a prison in west Baghdad.

Iraq's influential Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars condemned the alleged crimes Sunday, saying they were "a sign of shame to American invaders."

According to a federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division had talked about raping the young woman, whom they first saw while working at a traffic checkpoint near her home.

On the day of the attack, the document said, Green and other soldiers drank alcohol and changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the woman's house.

Green used a brown T-shirt to cover his face.

Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family — an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old — into a bedroom.

Shots were heard.

Green allegedly shot the woman in the head after he and another soldier raped her, the affidavit said.

Green was dishonorably discharged from the Army because of a "personality disorder" before the attack came to light, the affadavit said.

He is being prosecuted in federal, rather than military, court because he is no longer in the Army.

end quotes

Calling on the U.N. to do something about this ...

Would be just the same ...

As calling on George W. Bush ....

And the REPUBLICAN PARTY ....

WHOSE TROOPS THESE ARE ...

And so ....