Support Ted’s Work

•
Ted Rall

Another war crime
posted by TheDon
Corrected – note at bottom
First (as usual in the ongoing effort to win hearts and minds), the US military denies killing civilians in a bombing in Afghanistan, then admits to the slaughter of civilians, which has been an ongoing feature of the war on Afghanistan. First the ongoing feature:

An official close to the Uruzgan governor, who asked not to be identified because he was talking about preliminary estimates, said 70 to 75 civilians had been killed or wounded, while more than 100 Taliban and more than 35 police had been killed.
.
.
.
Coalition troops had “surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building,” said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. He accused the militants of not letting the children leave the compound that was targeted. “If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that air strike would have occurred,” said Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, another coalition spokesman.
According to Keith Olbermann last night, they now admit that they knew there were children there (and other civilians for a total of at least 30), but the terrorist they were after was such a high value target that it was worth killing them.
The reason they always deny killing civilians is that it is illegal to intentionally target them. The calculation has to be that the target is worth killing your own soldiers to capture/kill, not that he is worth killing children over. This is a war crime. Another war crime
The battle for hearts and minds has been well documented. Bombing weddings and soccer games doesn’t even warrant a headline anymore. “Shake and Bake” chemical warfare attacks never got any attention. At least not here. Torture. Kidnapping. Murder. Rape. The war crimes tribunal for the GWOT, in a just society at least, would last about 10 years at this point.
Just remember every time you read a headline bragging about how many “insurgents” or “Taliban” we kill – every time – they are leaving out civilian deaths that we just don’t give a shit about. And the first report is a lie. But you knew that.
Correction – the original post used a notation that I commonly use in email to indicate a “snipped” portion of the news story. Unfortunately, Blogger’s engine thought it was a meaningless html tag and eliminated it, giving the impression that the second part of the story was a continuation of the first. I was trying to give two types of information and failed. The first part of the story is about the ongoing slaughter of civilians, the second about the criminal murder of schoolchildren.
I regret the mistake, and have put in a vertical elipse, along with some clarifying verbiage.
Correction II – A kind reader pointed out the mistake above (I believe the word fool was used), and I *now* know that editing a post to correct it removes the comments. That was not my intent at all – lesson learned, apology extended. (hey! The comments are back. Must be a timing thing.)
The point of the reader was that the cowardly terrorists hid in a school, forcing us to kill the children. My point remains that when you want to kill someone who is hiding in a civilian population, you are required by law and by morals to risk as much of your own soldiers’ life as it takes to protect innocent human life. You can NOT drop bombs on civilian populations and then whine about the nasty tactics used by the guys in the black hats. If you aren’t willing to lose some of your soldiers to get a “high value” target, but you are willing to kill some of the brown children, you are a criminal and a coward.

•
Ted Rall

ITMFA
posted by TheDon
I have not been pro-impeachment for the very practical reason that impeachment would be a long political process, and it appeared that no matter what happened, it would be impossible to get the 2/3 guilty vote necessary for conviction. There are a lot of problems to solve, and I wouldn’t want the efforts derailed by an impeachment process. Additionally, the Goops debased the notion of impeachment so thoroughly that it would be hard to get the public backing necessary.

I did support the approach of investigating, building a case, following the evidence, and prosecuting anyone worthy of prosecution. I trust the people doing the investigations, too. Jerry Nadler. Carl Levin. Patrick Leahy. John Conyers. Brilliant minds, pursuing truth, justice and the American way. Except Joe Lieberman. ugh.

Now, just 5 months into the new Congress, the evidence of lawlessness in this administration is overwhelming. Setting aside anything to do with Iraq (which is more worthy of war crimes tribunals than impeachment), I think the vows to preserve, defend and protect the Constitution require action.

Although I have been saying for the last several months that the USA scandal is the one which will bring down this administration, we can now add the RNC mail accounts and signing statements to provable law breaking. The use of the RNC accounts was bad. Deleting the emails was illegal. Not stopping the use of the system and demanding the preservation of the emails is impeachable.

Attaching signing statements, we were told, was not illegal, we had to wait until they were used to break the law. Well now they have been. A cursory study found intentional violation of the law based on the signing statements. Even beyond impeachment, I think this administration is eligible for prosecution under the RICO Act. Mike Malloy nailed it, calling this administration the Bush Crime Family. The current crop at the DOJ makes John Ashcroft look honorable. JOHN ASHCROFT!!!

The evidence keeps rolling in, faster than I imagined it would. There is no doubt that systematic lawbreaking was encouraged and covered up by this administration, on so many fronts. It is provable, undeniable, and more people are willing to testify every day. The dominoes are falling faster and faster, the rats are leaving the ship. You have all the evidence you need, Congress. What are you going to do?

Listen to your inner Dan Savage. ITMFA.

•
Ted Rall

DC Rall-tastic Event #2: 7/7/07 Cartoonists With Attitude Slideshow w/ Rall, Reid, Knight, Bolling, Bors, McMillan and more!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

The Cartoonists With Attitude gang storms the capital on July 7 with an edgy satirical cartoon slideshow and book signing!

  • When: Saturday, July 7, 2 p.m.
  • Where: Borders 18th & L Streets NW Washington, DC 20006 ( 202.466.4999)
  • Price: Free!

Celebrate Independence Day weekend with a slideshow and signing with edgy, groundbreaking and controversial alternative cartoonists from around the country! Be there or the torturers, bombers, ex-gays and wire-tappers win! Meet:

And in case you weren’t aware, you should really read our group blog (also available as an RSS feed if you want to get all our blogs and most of our cartoons in one convenient place. We also have a not-so-frequently updated Cartoonists With Attitude MySpace page if you want to be our friend.

DC Rall-tastic event #1 is, of course, Cartoonapalooza.

•
Ted Rall

DC Rall-tastic Event #1: 7/3 Cartoonapalooza Cocktails w/ Rall, Toles, Knight, Bolling, Fiore and more!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid


Cartoons & Cocktails and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Present:

Cartoonapalooza: Fireworks in Pen and Ink!

Meet prize-winning political cartoonists from across the country as they discuss their most controversial cartoons.

Why did Tom Toles of The Washington Post get dressed down by the Joint Chief of Staff? How did Ted Rall invoke the wrath of a legion of 9/11 widows? Why did a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Atlanta take out a half-page ad to apologize for a Mike Luckovich cartoon? Meet ten of the nation’s best political cartoonists as they discuss their most controversial cartoons. Cartoonapalooza, the kick-off event for the 50th anniversary convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), is a rare opportunity for the public to meet prize-winning political cartoonists from across the country as they discuss their most controversial cartoons. Join Tom Toles, Ted Rall, Mike Peters, Mike Luckovich, Rob Rogers and five other brilliant, ground-breaking editorial artists as they talk politics, the election, Bush and beyond. The public is invited to a cocktail reception before the panel discussion to meet the artists.

The proceeds from this event will go to support Newspapers In Education’s “Cartoons for the Classroom” program, a non-profit program that provides editorial cartoon-related lesson plans for teachers. Cartoonapalooza is the must-attend event of the year for all political buffs and cartoon afficionados!

Door prizes at the reception will include signed original cartoons and books.

Featured Cartoonists:

  • Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate
  • Tom Toles, Washington Post
  • Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution
  • Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News
  • Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  • Jack Ohman, The Oregonian
  • Ruben Bolling, Tom the Dancing Bug
  • Ann Telnaes, Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate
  • Keith Knight, The K-Chronicles
  • Mark Fiore, Animated Political Cartoonist

DC Rall-tastic event #2 is, of course, the free Cartoonists With Attitude Slideshow at Borders at 2 p.m. on 7/7/2007. More on that in another post.

•
Ted Rall

We’re so sorry… that you don’t understand why we had to kill your kids!
Posted by Mikhaela Reid

A few weeks ago, I did a cartoon about the U.S. trying to spin civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Once again, the U.S. is upset about civilian casualties in Afghanistan. And once again, they’re not upset that the U.S. military killed seven children in a “targeted” airstrike, but that those unreasonable Afghan civilians just don’t understand it’s not REALLY the U.S.’s fault–there was nothing they could do! From the NY Times this morning (“7 Children Killed in Airstrike in Afghanistan”):

Seven children were killed during an airstrike by the United States-led coalition against a religious compound thought to be a Qaeda sanctuary in remote eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said Monday.

The death of the children on Sunday may well add to the crescendoing anger many Afghans feel about civilian casualties from American and NATO military operations. More than 130 civilians have been killed in airstrikes and shootings in the past six months, according to Afghan authorities.

The article goes on to say that the toll may rise to about 180 once the death toll from another airstrike are confirmed. But as for these murdered children, the U.S. had stock apologies and little sympathy:

The air raid against the religious compound was a targeted strike rather than a pitched battle. “We are truly sorry for the innocent lives lost in this attack,” said Maj. Chris Belcher of the United States Army about Sunday’s raid against several structures, including a school and mosque, in Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan.

And

The American ambassador, William B. Wood, said the coalition went to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties. “Unfortunately, when the Taliban are using civilians in this tactical way, instances of civilian casualties, just like instances of casualties from friendly fire, cannot be completely avoided,” he said.

Consider those hearts and minds WON.

•
Ted Rall

More Dawgs!
posted by TheDon
Over the last two weeks, my rescue group has placed 15 more dogs in their forever homes, and had a tent at a local festival to raise awareness. This is Nellie, who was hit by a car and badly injured. Her two pups were delivered by C-Section and we have been giving her the medical care she needs. So far it’s approaching $2000, but we are doing very well raising money for her. She is a very, very sweet girl, and almost fully recovered.

•
Ted Rall

Twice as Good
posted by TheDon
So there’s a new bio of Condi. I assume the title refers to how effective she would have to be before she would be considered acceptably competent. She’s gone from the NSA who didn’t give a damn about terrorism until after 9/11 to a SecOfState who has won’t talk to anyone but our allies. Heckuva a job, Condi!

•
Ted Rall

So you don’t have to – 6/18
posted by TheDon

Meat the Press
Surprise! The Iraq “surge” is failing to slow down the violence, much less stop it.
Bigger Suprise! The politicians in Iraq are making no progress.
Biggest Suprise! Our ambassador, Bug-eye McLiar is willing to lie about it.
Responding to a Pentagon report which points out the facts on the ground, including the fact that violence has merely shifted to different parts of Iraq, Ambassador Bug-eye decides to accentuate the positive – violence in 40% of Baghdad is down, and Anbar province is less violent. While he decries the news that violence elswhere is “bad news”, he still goes with “the surge is working” and “violence is down in the two areas where we have the surge”. Sigh. Apparently, if we send in 10 million more troops we’ll be halfway home.
Timmeh calls it “whack-a-mole”, Bug-eye says Baghdad is central to solving Iraq. I truly believe that the only thing these bastards (ours, not theirs) care about is getting the oil rights law signed.
Bug-eye refers to the “surge” allowing us to whack a whole lot of moles at once. Yeah. I guess he never went to the arcade and doesn’t realize that the moles pop up one at a time, then pop up again somewhere else. And there’s always a fresh supply of moles.
After a small dust-up over Petraeus’s level of denial, a Colin Powell clip is shown. He has shown great courage and honesty in talking about this war, and deserves a medal for it. Well, he would have if he had done this THREE YEARS AGO!!! Asshole.
Timmeh asks Bug-eye about Maliki’s attitude about the US arming the Sunni insurgents. “The Iraqis are right to focus on it”. Jeebuz. Apparently they are forming a committee to decide how smart the strategy is. If they call me, I think I know…
Bug-eye Crocker is still pretending that there will be an assessment of the “surge” in September. I’m not holding my breath. He also gives some of the talking points supporting an attack on Iran. Also claims the Iraqis are closely following the political debate in the US. Says they are working hard to meet the benchmarks. What a load.
Let’s play roundtable!
Eugene Robinson calls out the Whitehouse for a bait-and-switch on September benchmarks.
The execrable Kate O’Beirne seems to agree that meeting deadlines is important. Wow. They’ve lost Kate. Getting lonelier in the loonie bin!
Mitch McConnell must be worried about his re-election. That reliable administration bitch is talking big about changing Eye-rack policies by year’s end by congressional action. Boehner too. I guess he was shedding tears for more reasons than one.
Even administration mouthpiece Byron York is skeptical, but doesn’t embrace a change in strategy, just notes that it seems inevitable.
Harry Reid is jumped for insulting Peter Pace, and E.J. Dionne sticks up for the 1st Ammendment, and points out the well-noted fact that Straight-out-the-ass-Talk McCain pounded Peter Pace recently.
Kate, of course, thinks it was dumb to “malign” Petraeus. She can’t really believe that, unless she’s more stupid than I think. She’s a shameless shill.
Robinson questions the willingness of congress-critters to defund the war, pointing out that it’s the only way to change Bush.
York points out that the really hard-core righties want a larger presence in Iraq. (more torture, too, Byron)
Immigration rears its multiple heads. This is not going to happen for a lot of reasons. It’s such a compromise that nobody really likes it. And no Democrat wants to give W the victory. I want them to kill it until we have a Democratic president and Congress, then get the bill we really want, and lock up the Hispanic vote 4evah!
Bob Novak has suggested releasing Gonzo and pardoning Libby, saying it would “hearten his base”. Neither one will happen. The “base” is way more worried about amnesty than Libby, and wants Gonzo around, you moron. Kate thinks that’s a grand idea, says there is something liberating about being below freezing in the polls. She thinks his base is the chattering class inside the beltway.
EJ points out that pardoning Libby makes the administration more lawless, and the public knows it.
Timmeh points out that the Democratic Congress is unpopular, but neglects to point out that it’s because they won’t stop the war. Oops, he just pointed it out.
Clinton is way ahead of Obama in the national polls, but trailing in South Carolina. My gut (having lived there) is that it is a reflection of the large African-American population. Ok, just agreed to by the panel.
Giuliani is way up, but Thompson is catching up fast, beating him in SC. This is a reflection of a lack of good candidates, and lead in the water system. Kate says his coverage and name-recognition means he can enter the race at this late date. I don’t know what her calendar says, but mine says mid-June, 2007. Late?
Seems to be a consensus that Thompson is seen as relief from a weak field. Once again I will admit that I don’t understand the appeal of a life-long lobbyist and wife-leaving party boy in the family-values set. Or Giuliani. Or Romney. Or McCain.
And I’ve reached my limit on primary wanking today. I’m sure every week will afford another opportunity to talk about them. I still think the only flip-flop Romney can make to get the base votes is to convert to christianity.
Oh Jeebuz! They’re talking about Bloomie and Arnie running. That should be good for some laughs. The Jesse Ventura candidate. Yipes.
===================================
Fawkes News
Kewl! General David Petraeus picks the perfect outlet for shredding the vestiges of his reputation as a truth-teller. Good call!
General Odierno says the US only controls 40% of Baghdad. 40% my ass. I guess it depends on what the meaning of the word “control” is.
Former General Antonio Taguba says the senior leadership was involved in the Abu Gharib torture and that he was forced to retire for persuing the investigation. Duh and duh. Another good man forced out for having honor. They have truly broken our Army.
On a side rant, the dismissal of Peter Pace does seem like prima facie evidence that he was a good, honorable man. In this “backwards day” administration, which uses Presidential Medals to reward the worst of the worst, being forced out is a mark of honor. I’m not ready to embrace Peter Pace, but he at least deserves a fair hearing based on his forced retirement.
Chris Wallace lobs softballs to Petraeus, as expected. Petraeus happily swings for the fences. Petraeus claims we are ahead of where he expected, but behind in some places. Claims success in Anbar – guess he hasn’t heard that the coalition with the tribal leaders is falling apart.
Claims concern in 30% of the neighborhoods in Baghdad. He’s really stressing the fight against Al Queda. I guess I don’t blame him.
And it’s a high hard fastball – Weekly attacks are up, and violence is unchanged during surge. Petraeus acknowledges the figures, says initially sectarian violence was down, then up, and is “trending back down”. ummmmm…. as opposed to the cycles before the surge? Whatevs.
Lobs the Harry Reid softball – Petraeus claims plenty of signs of normalcy. Soccer in the streets! Well that’s different! Pop the corks and send our kids home!
Wallace re-lobs the softball – Petraeus didn’t swing nearly hard enough at it the first time.
Chimpy blames violence on AQ, Wallace shows the Pentagon report blaming sectarian violence. OH! Petraeus goes for broke – Sunni violence IS AQ violence! That would be a GREAT argument if we weren’t funding Sunni insurgents! Really great argument…
Wallace actually questions that strategy, but in a softball way. Petraeus has a great plan for tracking people and building trust in them It might work in a video game, but sounds pretty dicey IRL. Is dumb-assy a word? Lotsa straw-grasping going on.
Wallace starts into the failure of Iraqi politicians to do any real work. Petraeus of course talks about the oil revenues. It’s the only thing the “base” cares about anyway. Then they both talk about how hard it is to build a country. Really? Just figuring that out now?
DP backs off of September report while claiming that he’s not backing off of the September report. Here’s a guess. In September they will claim the “surge” is starting to work. Just a guess.
About the third time Wallace lobs “you certainly don’t think the work of the ‘surge’ will be complete by September, do you” Petraeus picks up on it and agrees.
NEWS! General Petraeus still thinks we can “win” in Iraq, and “leave behind” a “democracy”. Whoda thunkit?
Panel time.
Chimpy promises a signed amnesty immigration reform bill this year. Won’t happen. Won’t even get close. Yawn – next topic.
Hamas takes over Gaza. What does it mean? If I thought any of these people had a clue I would listen. But Charles Krauthammer? Please. Besides, didn’t we force the election that put Hamas in charge? Oops.
Power player of the week – Thomas Friedman?!?!? yikes. Can’t even listen to this version of the blind leading the blind.
=============================
This Weak
OH GOD! Joe Biden and Huckleberry Graham. My thumb is about to go nuts on the fast-forward button.
first up – Biden
click
“surge”
click
break Iraq into three countries
click
civil war
click
can’t stop the funding
click
we’re depending on republicans to change
click
some thing worth losing elections over
click
did Senator Reid slander the generals
click
the truth is the truth – this policy is a failure
click
credible report in September? Yes
click
one last chance
click
gaza
click
iran arming our enemies (GS)
click
iran is the new USSR
click
tighten the diplomatic noose
click
EEEEEEEEEEEK! It’s Lieberman wanting to strike Iran
clickclickclickclick
Hillary disagrees GWOT is a bumper-sticker
click
this administration doesn’t distinguish between threats
click
created more terrorists than existed before
click
(GS) who’s better qualified to be commander-in-chief, you or Senator Clinton
(JB) me, by a longshot.
click
(GS) are you going to raise enough money to stay in the race?(JB) yes
click
Now Graham. I don’t have the words to describe how little I care about his dishonest views.clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick….hey! Subway has pizzas! clickclickclickclick…
Roundtable
W – “Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing democracy, based on tolerance and liberty”
Um……. didn’t we dance this same dance right before they elected Hamas? And who the hell is chimpy to complain about leaders compromised by terror? Or does torture and unprovoked war not count?
Oh shit! That was 2002. My bad. He might not have publicly authorized torture at that point.
Amusingly, George Will comes out against Democracy, and declares Condi’s statement “Nobody saw it coming” the eptiaph of this administration.
General agreement that visible progress in Iraq by September is unlikely at best. George Will says that Republicans are “scheduled to panic in September”. I think that may be the first Iraq deadline which will be met.
The subpeonas are coming, the subpeonas are coming! Scooter’s going to jail! This could be a fun summer.
Daaaaaaaaaamn! George Will thinks it would be unethical to pardon Libby. There must be a story behind that.
In Memoriam
Ruth Bell Graham.
Mr Wizard.
Kurt Waldheim.
And 17 service members.
18 big losses, a nazi and a who cares.
Martin Sheen supports drug courts – drug therapy instead of prison. Sounds right to me. I wish he was still president.

•
Ted Rall

Republicans demand conviction
posted by TheDon

As the impeachment trial of President Clinton approaches, Republicans have filled the National Mall with a tent city so large that it reminds local residents of the 1963 rally of Martin Luther King, but with catering. Her trial is the final act of a series of trials and legislation which were promised in the 2006 election campaign by Republicans who ran on the slogan “Not In Our Name”.
Promising to restore the rule of law over an out-of-control executive and Justice Department, the Republicans vowed to end extraordinary renditions, secret detentions, illegal wiretapping, torture of prisoners, extra-judicial detention and the blatant politicization of the DOJ. Having been swept into office by an electorate weary of a botched war in Iraq and angry over the lack of oversight by the Democratic majority, Republicans immediately passed a series of laws banning all of the secret programs which President Clinton had first denied, then called “essential” when they were exposed by the New York Times. All reporters who were imprisoned by the Clinton DOJ are out of jail now. Clinton had no choice in signing the “Restoring the Rule of Law Act” after a veto-proof majority rejected the idea of breaking the Geneva conventions and imprisoning U.S. citizens with no habeus corpus.
While many of Clinton’s appointees resigned in shame, her Attorney General, Alberta Gonebraindead Gonelawless, required an impeachment trial and an escort by Capitol Hill police to leave her duties, chief of which seemed to be protecting Mrs Clinton. The case against the AG was best summed up by House Speaker Tom Delay, when he noted that “Anyone who has spent a day in law school knows that the United States does not torture, does not spy on its citizens without a warrant, and that the Geneva Conventions are the law of the land. An Attorney General who advises the President otherwise, and who participates in the coverup of these outrages has violated her sworn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.”
The President’s impeachment on charges of lying to the public and manipulating intelligence to start an unnecessary and disatrous war with Iraq was a stunning rebuke of her administration as a whole, and of her individually. Her claims that the intelligence was wrong has long been discredited, and won her no friends among the remaining Democrats.
President Clinton seems to be clinging to the hope that the required 2/3 majority will not vote to convict her, having reportedly told her staff that “impeachment is not conviction”. This strategy of hanging on seemed to have a slim possibility of succeeding until Senator Joseph Lieberman of CT switched parties and became a vocal advocate of removal of President Clinton during his regular appearances on Sunday political shows.
Jokingly referred to as the third host of Fox’s Hannity and Colmes show, he has attacked the current administration as being lawless, and as having lost their way. “Fighting terrorists is important, but our Constitution is vital. We cannot defeat evil by giving up our morals and standards. I have sorrowfully come to the conclusion that President Clinton must be removed to restore our freedoms and to restore our standing in the world. Forcing the end of the Iraqi occupation was an important step, but removing the Commander in Chief who attacked their sovereign country is equally important.”
President Clinton’s trial starts Tuesday and is expected to last six to eight weeks. Vice President Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the compromise candidate who replaced disgraced former VP Rahm Emanuel after his impeachment and resignation, has repeatedly said she will not comment on the trial which likely will conclude with her as the new president. Her acceptance by President Clinton and the Senate ended what many observers called an unseemly and embarassing attempt by Speaker Delay to prevent any vice president from being confirmed, opening the door to his presidency.
VP Hutchinson’s replacement, Senator George W Bush is widely expected to vote for conviction, after a fair trial, of course. Senator Bush showed his hand on Meet The Press when he told guest host Robert Novak, “It’s puzzlin’, confusin’ and disappointin’ when our officials don’t follow the law. During my failed campaign for the presidency I promised that we would not just do what was legal, but what was right. That we would restore honor and dignity to the White House. By removing President Clinton, we can start dignityfying and honorating the presidency once again.”
keyboard_arrow_up
css.php