Common Sense Democracy

From bad to worse.

The deaths of Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. and 1st Lt. Andre D. Tyson were originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol near Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2004.

But the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command found that one or more of the Iraqis attached to the American soldiers on patrol fired at them, a military official said Tuesday.

A Pentagon spokesman knew of no other similar incident, calling it “extremely rare.”

Interesting that he did not say “was a single exception” because “rare” implies it has happened on other occasions.

“When they come I have my list of questions ready, and I want these answers and I don’t want lies,” McCaffrey’s mother, Nadia McCaffrey, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Soldiers who witnessed the attack have told her that two Iraqi patrolmen opened fire on her son’s unit. The witnesses also said a third gunman simultaneously drove up to the American unit in a van, climbed onto the vehicle and fired at the Americans, she said.

“Nothing is clear. Nothing is clear,” she said. Her son was shot eight times by bullets of various calibers, some of which penetrated his body armor, she said. She believes he bled to death.

Iraqi troops killed American soldiers

I understand why we are using mercenaries, but this has never sat well with me. Besides the outrageously high taxpayer costs, the lack of control and oversite, the ability to avoid impacting the nation as much as possible (and allowing people to ignore the problem), one of the big problems that I have with these guys is the statelessness of these people. They are just hired guns /mercenaries and will take anyone’s money to do anything.

Is that who we want representing America in such a delicate environment? The people who join these companies are clearly doing it just for the cash which may be understandable from a personal perspective, but from a US perspective, it’s not quite as compelling. It’s the owners who I find most disturbing because they give the impression to doing anything, for anyone, for cash.

Cofer Black, a former head of the CIA Counterterrorism Center and now vice-chairman of Blackwater, said the company is ready to tackle more hot spots.

“My company could deploy a reasonable small force under guidance or leadership of any national authority and do a terrific job of protecting, you know, innocent women from being raped, young kids from having their arms hacked off with machetes.”

Somehow I’m just not seeing them as a “rape protection” outfit or just being there to prevent kids arms from being cut off. Sounds like marketing spin/bullshit to me.

Cash from chaos - mercenaries riding the war wave

This is the course.

From the Wash Post:

Two U.S. soldiers missing since an attack on a checkpoint last week have been found dead near a power plant in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, according to U.S. officials, and Iraqi officials say the soldiers had been tortured.

To George Bush, they’re just numbers.Two kidnapped US soldiers found dead, tortured

The latest from “Last Throes” Cheney is that we’ve made “significant progress” in the war on terror. One of the problems with responding to this administration is that they’re wrong in so many ways, it’s hard to know where to start. So let’s briefly deconstruct some of this:

The unpopular Vietnam War and the Watergate scandals allowed Congress to take more authority at the expense of the executive branch, Cheney said. He and the president believed it was important to “have the balance righted, if you will.”

If by “balance righted” he means an executive power grab on shaky (at best) legal ground that has been condemned by Democratic and Republican legislators and judges, then yes, it’s been righted. Also, I wonder if he is on record with this opinion from when he was actually IN Congress.

We have been engaged in a debate about the wisdom of the [NSA domestic eavesdropping] program and whether or not it’s legal, but it clearly is legal, we believe. It is consistent with the Constitution.

If it’s consistent with the Constitution, why not, say, put it before the courts? So they can, y’know, confirm that it’s Constitutional? Unless, of course, the new “balance righted” means the Executive branch now determines Constitutionality.

“I believe we are [winning the war on terrorism],” Cheney said. “I think we’ve made significant progress, if you look back on the last nearly five years now.”

This is the really infuriating part. This administration has systematically misprioritized the war against terrorists, starting when they shifted focus from al Qa’ida in Afghanistan to pursue a miserable strategy in Iraq and continuing through foolish North Korea policy, irrational Iran policy, stunted intelligence reform, resistance to establishing a Department of Homeland Security, and an unprecedented alienation of foreign allies (and potential allies). The administration has taken its eye off the ball, and we’re less safe because of it. Normally you keep your eye on the ball so you can smack it, but as Jean Schmidt memorably revealed, “We have to keep our eye on the ball or the ball will come back to harm us.” Actually, in this case, she may be right.

Cheney defended his comment last year […] that the Iraqi insurgency was “in its final throes.” He said he was referring to a series of events — including elections and the drafting and acceptance of a new Iraqi constitution — that he believes history will show to be pivotal.

That’s not what he was referring to. Why not just say, “I was totally wrong?” Just own up to it. Come on. Party of personal responsibility and all. Your approval rating is near the single digits anyway.

And finally:

“I don’t think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we’ve encountered,” Cheney said. He said much of the continuing violence has its roots in “the devastation” that 30 years of Saddam Hussein’s iron-fisted rule “had wrought on the psychology of the Iraqi people.”

What drives the insurgency, and what really affects the psychology of the Iraqi people, is a completely and utterly lawless society. Given that a horrendous strategy and continued mismanagment caused the lawlessness in which Iraq’s government fails to provide for the basic needs of its people, Cheney’s admission that he underestimated the strength of the insurgency is a cover for the greater issue: the screwups that he, Bush, Rumsfeld, and the rest made helped establish the conditions that created the insurgency.There he goes again

Safavian is guilty:

A jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff.

Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He had resigned from his White House post last year as the federal government’s chief procurement officer.

Bush aide/Abramoff accomplice guilty

It’s an especially ugly day in Iraq:

• Iraq officials report finding 2 dead American soldiers who had been kidnapped
• Car bomb explosion in Baghdad market - 4 dead, 16 wounded
• Suicide bomber blows up self, kills 2, 3 wounded in Basra home for elderly

Breaking: American soldiers’ bodies found in Iraq

Safavian Guilty

Christy: From left to right, convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, golf organizer Jason Murdoch, former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, former Bush administration official David Safavian and Rep. Bob Ney, R-OH. Quite the photo, isn’t it?…read on“

A jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff. Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He had resigned from his White House post last year as the federal government’s chief procurement officer….read on“

Safavian Guilty

A Cheney Reminder

A Cheney Reminder