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POPSThe sleazy advocacy of a leading "liberal hawk" What Galbraith kept completely concealed all these years was that a company he formed in 2004 came to acquire a large stake in a Kurdish oil field whereby, as the NYT put it, he "stands to earn perhaps a hundred million or more dollars." In other words, he had a direct -- and vast -- financial stake in the very policies which he was publicly advocating in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and countless other American media outlets, where he was presented as an independent expert on the region. As Cobban wrote: Galbraith has never expressed any such regrets, and last November, he was openly scornful of Bush's late-term agreement to withdraw from Iraq completely. The revelation that for many years Galbraith had a quite undisclosed financial interest in the political breakup of Iraq may now further reduce the clout, and the ranks, of the remaining liberal hawks.
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POPSBlackwater:Ain't Misbehaving, Saving My Contracts for You
Of course the US government was blind to this - they didn't want to know, they turned a blind eye to what Blackwater was doing because it would have been too hard to arrange for another contractor to do all the security missions that it had ongoing. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, there are as many private contractors as there are uniformed military personnel. Most of them are not security guards as Blackwater's most visible function was. The lack of oversight is abhorrent but not surprising; the State Dept's failure to can this company is inexcusable. My only observation on this article is to suggest how the US government got into this predicament, and it's pretty easy to see. The Bush administration wanted to hold onto the fiction of a few conservative principles, one of those being the concept of a small federal government. Since it already blew that "principle" with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, I'm betting there was White House guidance that directed "no mo
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POPSHillary Clinton: US Wants Israel To Stop Building West Bank Settlements 'Forever' But Clinton has had to do a lot of explaining since last Saturday, when she stood with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and praised his offer to limit settlement construction without halting it. Clinton has since tried to clarify the remarks, saying that the Israeli offer does not got far enough. Still, she has indicated that the Palestinians should resume negotiations with Israel without a full settlement halt as they demand.
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POPSNew row over Colombia-US accord Venezuela has broken off diplomatic relations with Bogota and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned that Colombian military bases could be used by the US to attack his country. Other countries in the region, including Brazil and Chile, have also expressed concern. The BBC's Jeremy McDermott, in Colombia, says Colombia is increasingly isolated in the region, but does not seem to care, just so long as it has US support.
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POPSYoung Afghan struggles to adapt after Guantanamo He says he was grabbed by police who beat him and threatened to kill his family unless he put his thumbprint to paper and admitted he'd tried to kill two U.S. soldiers. The Pashto speaker, largely illiterate, didn't understand their Persian and had little idea what he'd agreed to, he says. A U.S. judge would later agree. That day, a grenade had been thrown at a U.S. Army vehicle, injuring the two soldiers and an interpreter. Jawad was charged with attempted murder based on the confession, held at Kabul's Bagram air base, then moved to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in early February 2003. But it spills out. He talks about having his hands bound behind his back and being forced to eat like a dog, being kicked, beaten and pepper-sprayed and subjected to excessive heat, loud noise, solitary confinement. After a year, Guantanamo records show, Jawad tried to commit suicide by banging his head against his cell wall repeatedly. "I was tortured and faced many problems
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POPSPuerto Rico Unions Protest Job Cuts From the article: Several protesters, holding signs demanding work, directed their criticism at Gov. Luis G. Fortuño. He was elected to his first term last year as a Republican, promising to jumpstart the economy, but so far, job losses and negative growth have continued, punishing the island with its fourth year of recession. Governor Fortuño has said repeatedly that he did not want layoffs, but had no choice. In interviews on radio and television on Thursday, he said that it was the only way to avoid a government shutdown because of the territory’s $3.2 billion deficit. “There was no alternative,” Mr. Fortuño said. “And there is no turning back.” ----- Which I can tell you is an total lie.
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POPSPuerto Rico: Massive Layoffs and a Scramble to Resist Critics say the layoffs, together with unprecedented budget cuts, will have a devastating impact on workers and their families—in addition to crippling many government agencies, including those that provide basic services and serve vulnerable groups, such as battered women and the elderly.
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POPSThe Return of the Iran-Contrarians A retired Central Intelligence Agency official has confirmed to the Senate Intelligence Committee that on the secret mission to Teheran last May, Robert C. McFarlane and his party carried a Bible with a handwritten verse from President Reagan for Iranian leaders. According to a person who has read the committee's draft report, the retired C.I.A. official, George W. Cave, an Iran expert who was part of the mission, said the group had 10 falsified passports, believed to be Irish, and a key-shaped cake to symbolize the anticipated ''opening'' to Iran.
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POPSWhy Did The DoD Ignore Requests From Their Own Attorney For A War Crimes Investigation? Air Force Maj. David Frakt, the attorney for former detainee Mohammed Jawad, says over the past 16 months he sent multiple memos to Defense Department and military leaders asking them to account for what a military judge called “abusive conduct and cruel and inhuman treatment” of his client. Jawad, who was arrested when he says he was 12 years old for allegedly tossing a grenade at U.S. military, was moved from cell to cell 112 times during a 14-day period to disrupt his sleep patterns, according to military documents. Frakt said he believes the treatment constituted torture, violated the Geneva Convention, war crime laws and Defense Department regulations.
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POPSWill NATO's 60th Anniversary Be Its Last? The painful truth is that NATO may be suffering from a terminal illness. Its current mission in Afghanistan, the alliance's most significant and far-flung muscle-flexing to date, might be its last. Afghanistan has been the graveyard of many an imperial power from the ancient Macedonians to the Soviets. It now seems to be eyeing its next victim. For NATO, this year should have been a celebration, not a dirge. After suffering a transatlantic rift of epic proportions during the Bush years, the alliance thrilled to the election of Barack Obama and his politics of conciliation. The new American administration swore it would shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to give NATO more of what it wanted to fight "the right war." Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both promised to push the "reset button" on U.S.-Russian relations, potentially removing one of the greatest obstacles to NATO's health and well-being. And in a final flourish for the alliance's diamond jub
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POPSClosing The Book On The Bush Legacy But few would argue that national economic policy is irrelevant to economic outcomes. And rightly or wrongly, voters still judge presidents and their parties largely by the economy's performance during their watch. In that assessment, few measures do more than the Census data to answer the threshold question of whether a president left the day to day economic conditions of average Americans better than he found it. If that's the test, today's report shows that Bush flunked on every relevant dimension-and not just because of the severe downturn that began last year.
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POPSU.S. Military Base Plan Puts Colombia in Hot Water Foreign Minister Bermudez insists that any activities carried out by the Americans would be confined to Colombian territory. But South American governments plan to pursue the issue at another presidential summit in Buenos Aires later this month.
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POPSBlackwater Founder Implicated in Murder(s) The former employee, identified in the court documents as "John Doe #2," is a former member of Blackwater's management team, according to a source close to the case. Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on information provided to him by former colleagues, "it appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct." John Doe #2 says he worked at Blackwater for four years; his identity is concealed in the sworn declaration because he "fear violence against me in retaliation for submitting this Declaration." He also alleges, "On several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince's employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death and violence."
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POPSA Modest Proposal for Garrisoned Lands Whatever the costs turn out to be, they will not be included in our already bloated military budget, even though none of these structures is designed to be a true embassy -- a place, that is, where local people come for visas and American officials represent the commercial and diplomatic interests of their country. Instead these so-called embassies will actually be walled compounds, akin to medieval fortresses, where American spies, soldiers, intelligence officials, and diplomats try to keep an eye on hostile populations in a region at war. One can predict with certainty that they will house
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POPSLimbaugh's living large while radio boss Clear Channel implodes Cont.... The astronomical worth of Limbaugh's eight-year pact: $400 million. The amount of money Clear Channel execs have been trying to scrimp and save this year as they lay off thousands from the struggling company: $400 million. Ironic, don't you think? Context: Clear Channel now pays Limbaugh more than NBC pays late-night ratings king Jay Leno. Who thinks Limbaugh brings in more ad revenue for Clear Channel than Leno does for NBC? FYI, The Tonight Show generates approximately $200 million annually for NBC.
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POPSThe current Republican party mantra 1. Phony War 2. Ignorance is King 3. Do whatever you want, I will protect you 4. The illusion of safety over the basic needs of a nation 5. Culture....who needs that!
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POPSJesus Killed Mohammed: Religious Extremism inside the U.S. Armed Forces Cont.... "“Jesus kill Mohammed!” chanted the interpreter. “Jesus kill Mohammed!” A head emerged from a window to answer, somebody fired on the roof, and the Special Forces man directed a response from an MK-19 grenade launcher. “Boom,” remembers Humphrey. The head and the window and the wall around it disappeared. “Jesus kill Mohammed!” Another head, another shot. Boom. “Jesus kill Mohammed!” Boom. In the distance, Humphrey heard the static of AK fire and the thud of RPGs. He saw a rolling rattle of light that looked like a firefight on wheels. “Each time I go into combat I get closer to God,” DeGiulio would later say." Who are the religious fanatics here?
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POPSIraq Orders Sunni Gunmen In Baghdad Area To Disarm Cont.... The councils help man checkpoints and guard neighborhoods, playing a major role in turning the tide against the Sunni insurgency. Your request is being processed... Iraq Orders Sunni Gunmen In Baghdad Area To Disarm digg Share this on Facebook Huffpost - Iraq Orders Sunni Gunmen In Baghdad Area To Disarm stumble reddit del.ico.us ShareThis RSS SINAN SALAHEDDIN | March 29, 2009 10:00 AM EST | AP Compare other versions » Compare and versions I Like ItI Don’t Like It Read More: Iraq, Sunni Gunmen, Sunnis, Warwire, World News Be the First to Submit This Story to DiggBuzz up! U.S. troops take position on a major street after a gunfight sparked Saturday at the dominantly Sunni neighborhood of Fadhil in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 29, 2009. U.S. and Iraqi troops exchanged gunfire Sunday with Sunni militants in central Baghdad in a second day of clashes following the arrest of a local leader of Sunni security volunteers who had broken with al-Qaida. (AP Photo/Ha
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POPSThe Imperial Unconscious In the U.S., "covert war" has long been a term for wars like the U.S.-backed Contra War against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in the 1980s, which were openly discussed, debated, and often lauded in this country. To a large extent, when aspects of these wars have actually been "covert" -- that is, purposely hidden from anyone -- it has been from the American public, not the enemies being warred upon. At the very least, however, such language, however threadbare, offers official Washington a kind of "plausible deniability" when it comes to thinking about what kind of an "American face" we present to the world.
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POPS'Family Guy' to parody 'Return of the Jedi' The show's previously announced parody of "The Empire Strikes Back" is titled "Something-Something-Something Dark Side." Unfortunately, Fox won't air "Dark Side" until the fall. But with Carrie Fisher playing a recurring role on "Family Guy" as Peter Griffin's boss, there's some hope around the show's campfire that she'll do a voiceover in the "Empire" spoof (not as Princess Leia, since Lois plays Leia, but as another character...)
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