I don’t often feel compelled to write to politicians, nor am I naïve enough to think that anything I can say to the Obama campaign will prompt reconsideration of their policy on holding the Bush administration accountable. Nonetheless, for some reason this one was clearly going to bug me until I did it. So, a few days ago, I sent this letter (below) to the Obama campaign.
The point: Congress (and apparently the Obama campaign, as expressed by legal advisor Cass Sunstein) have made a short term, political "cost/benefit" assessment about holding Bush administration officials accountable for their crimes. They all seem to have decided that the cost is too high, the benefit too small. For everyone’s sake, I suggest they recalculate with an eye on the mid-to-long-term costs of NOT holding these criminals accountable.
I love the Olympics, and I really love the opening ceremonies. They give me hope that some day we will all progress past the "me first" attitude of "better us than them" which causes so much pain and suffering in the world.
I love seeing the athletes crossing over to talk to their counterparts of other nations, smiling and joined by a common love of athleticism and competition.
Friendly competition gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling, kind of like the cute panda mascot.
So, I was disgusted by NBC's commentators last night, politicizing, no, propagandizing this moment of world harmony.
I was not watching the t.v., following a spate of ads, when a roar of applause and cheers caused me to look up and see that the French had arrived in the stadium, acting tres, tres, tres...well, French.
If you didn't catch it there is an article on CNN on the latest on the issue of who's too blame for the 19 soldiers that died in Iraq.....trying to get clean.
Don your rubber soled shoes and gloves, pick up your non-conducting tools, and follow me down the conduit. And don't forget to trip the breaker.
Dick Perle: true war criminal and war profiteer. Shameless to the end.
Perle, one of the most influential proponents of 2003 invasion of Iraq, is in talks to join a consortium of investors with the Kurdish Regional Government, today's Wall Street Journal reports.
In 2006 we had a crop of Congressional challengers that was poised to win in tough districts and take back the House and Sente. It was a cautious list, at times a moderate list, and while there have been some excellent progressive lawmakers from that group (Steve Cohen, John Hall, Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown come to mind), overall it was a list full of more Democrats instead of better ones. You never know what you're really going to get from a candidate until they're in office, but this year there are some promising signs that the class of 2008 is substantively better on several issues.
Two weeks ago, when I first posted my interview with Ben Carter, many people applauded him for having the courage to come forward and talk about his first-hand experience in Iraq with Halliburton subsidiary KBR. He described, in great detail, KBR's negligence in their contract to provide safe non-potable water to the troops. Hundreds and hundreds responded by e-mailing DoD Chief Financial Officer Tina Jonas, telling her not to give KBR another penny of thegovernment's money until a full public investigation was fulfilled. Note: After receiving an influx of emails from activists, Ms. Jonas blocked her email address. We have now made the action into a petition which will be delivered to her.
What do you get if you cross an influence-peddler with a war profiteer? According to Lindsay Beyerstein of Majikthise, you get John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser.
Asked about higher U.S. cigarette exports to Iran, John McCain said "Maybe that’s a way of killing them." The syntax may be clumsy, but foreign policy and military affairs expert McCain is surely onto a good thing here. Considering that Iraq and Afghanistan have cost us trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of casualties, McCain proposes that our next war be a casualty-free, profit-making venture. Who could possibly object to that?
Back in early 2003 the three of us got together to see if we could figure out something to write that would express some of the outrage and feelings of going crazy we had about what was going on around Iraq.
The House Committee on Oversight and Govemment Reform is investigating yet another "Iraq For Sale" oil scandal. This scandal involves awarding contracts to International Oil Trading Company (IOTC), a company that was not the lowest bidder for contracts. IOTC is headed by Harry Sargeant, a McCain campaign "Trailblazer" who has raised at least $100,000 in donations. Sargeant is also finance chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Contracts awarded to IOTC total more than one billion dollars.
Just when you thought you couldn't swear more profusely and violently than you have...
BBC Panorama tonight reveals what Henry Waxman calls quite possibly "the largest war profiteering in history."
At least 23 billion dollars. Billion. Not million. Billion. 23 Billion dollars to private contractors - Halliburton apparently number one on the list of more than 70 companies.
And why is it the BBC covering this major theft from Americans, instead of WaPo or the NYT or any one of our other media outlets? Because the Bush administration has placed a gag order on the discussion.
The BBC has a story regarding war profiteering in Iraq. With Barack as president maybe we'll see the end of this great loss of tax payer dollars. McSame's idea of where USA $ should go is vastly different from Obama's.
The BBC reports that... Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious....It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history."
So, what sort of business does McSame have in mind? More of the same likely.
Over a year ago reporter/columnist Peter Byrne wrote a series of investigative columns about how Diane Feinstein's husband benefitted financially (think billion$) from knowledge Senator Feinstein was privy to in her role on the Senate Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. The articles, which appeared in the northern California alternative newspaper, The Bohemian, are available at bohemian.com -- titled Senator Warbucks (Jan. 24, 2007), Daddy Kleinbucks (Jan. 31, 2007), Blum Rap (Feb. 28, 2007), Feinstein Resigns (March 14, 2007), DiFi Backlash (Aug. 8-14, 2007).
After reading these articles, I couldn't help brooding over questions about Feinstein's can of worms. (Especially after learning that The Nation reneged on its agreement to pick up Byrne's article.) The questions won't go away:
o Why was Senator Feinstein never under review for unethical behavior by her Senate peers?
Throughout the entire tenure of the George W. Bush Administration, they have been lying to us. Congressional Republicans who served any time since 2001 can no longer deny their role and complicity. The final bits are coming to light now that vindicate the cries of those of us who insisted that the invasion of Iraq was intended from day one of this Administration's tenure -- long before 9-11 happened.
It also bodes ill for Iran's short-term prospects.
There's a dKos diary that hit with this news early -- by Framlingham. Go give Recommends & tips.
The implications -- for the US, for the next President, for the current pResident, for members of the GOP who were in Congress anytime during the 2001-2008 timeframe. Now, we're talking about intention to deceive and malice aforethought.
Now we're assured of an Administration leaving behind a unholy, historic legacy of treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity, dereliction of duty, war profiteering, negligence, graft, corruption, voter suppression, obstruction of justice, and even major violations of the RICO act.
This story is headlining over at cnn.com, and it is appalling. Since it doesn't appear to be on dkos at all, here's the story. [correction: gregmitch covered this story already, before cnn.com did]
As has been noted in a IGTNT diary, Green Beret Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, passed away in Iraq.
But...not as a fallen soldier on the battlefield. Maseth was a casualty of the war profiteer KBR, which colluded with corrupt Bush government officials to rip off taxpayers for shoddy work and inferior contracts.
McCain has been Ahmed Chalabi's best pal. Chalabi's been playing the U.S.A. for a fool, dallying with the Iranians, and getting rich of the whole venture (Back at the Liberal Milblog Springboard, see here,here, here, here and here for background.) McCain is Chalabi's buddy, and it's time for Obama to start brining that relationship up..
Why? Because the long-established McCain/Chalabi love-fest calls McCain's "National Security" credentials into question. It'd be interesting to know how much good McCain (and his lobbyist buddies) have done for this nasty, Iranian-Agent-of-Influence and likely terrorist-enabler named Ahmed Chalabi...
