September 2007 archive

A misunderstanding is leading to a good argument, that the Lieberman-Kyl Amendment sucks, being argued with bad facts. In essence, the argument goes that this language:

that the United States should designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and place the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists…

triggers the September 18, 2001 AUMF. It does not. Let’s check the text:

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

Nowhere is there a finding that Iran was involved in the 9/11 attacks. No one can credibly argue that they were (after all, Saddam was behind 9/11 . . .)

Nothing in the Iran Amendment passed today authorizes the use of force (nor would it even if it was NOT a nonbinding “sense of the Senate” resolution.)

But what are the effects of having the IRG declared “Specially Designated Global Terrorists?” Let’s consider that question on the flip.

Oh, so you’ve braved the ‘Spoiler Alert’ and peeked inside to see what I’m spoiling…

Well, according to The New York Post’s page six, an extra has revealed some of the previously top-secret details of the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”.

Dare we explore??

My old friend, who is an ex-southern Baptist preacher and also who introduced me to Plato’s “Cave Allegory” as an undergraduate, told me of his new found philosophy of hell one day by relating a conversation he had with a woman. She was very upset after he asked her a question and answered it for her. His question to her was “Since Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within, where is hell?” “The Bible doesn’t say that,” she objected. He then told her the verse it came from  and answered his own question, “Since the Kingdom of Heaven is within, then hell is within.” She became angry at him in his story, and we both had a good laugh. He relished in telling the story, while I enjoyed it immensely. It speaks of how fundamentalist Christians ignore or care not to discover the very words their Master spoke when and if those liberating words do not suit them – fundamentalist Christians like John Hagee and his blind flock.

This is an OPEN THREAD. Here are four stories in the news at 4 o’clock to get you started. Better a handful of dried dates and content with that than to own the Gate of Peacocks and be kicked in the eye by a broody camel.

1. The New York Times reports the Bush administration is giving away $10 billion in federal oil and gas leases for little or nothing. The report, “prepared by the Interior Department’s inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, the report said that investigators found a ‘profound failure’ in the agency’s technology for monitoring oil and gas payments. ¶ It suggested that the agency was too cozy with oil companies and that internal critics had good reason to fear punishment… ¶ The report was the latest result of a long series of investigations into the troubled federal program for collecting oil and gas royalties. Last year, Mr. Devaney told a Congressional hearing that ‘short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior.’ ¶ The new report did not try to estimate the amount of money that might have been lost. Early in 2006, officials conceded that the government might lose about $10 billion in revenue over the next decade because of a legal mistake in oil and gas leases that had been ignored for six years.” Funny how the ‘mistake’ cropped up when Bush took office.

2. You think the dollar is about worthless now, just wait until the Republicans’ total war completely bankrupts the United States. The AP reports, Defense War Secretary Robert Gates seeks $190 Billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008. His request increases “initial projections by more than a third. ¶ In remarks prepared for a Senate hearing, Gates says the extra money is necessary to buy vehicles that can protect troops against roadside bombs, refurbish equipment worn down by combat and consolidate U.S. bases in Iraq.” Gate makes sure to link everything back to September 11th, 2001, concluding his prepared remarks “I would like to close with a word about something I know we can all agree on — the honor, courage and great sense of duty we have witnessed in our troops since September 11th.” According to the U.S. News & World Report, “the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was $173 billion in fiscal 2007.” The capitulation Congress is expected to rubber stamp the ’emergency’ request, but add ‘strings’ like a war with Iran. Lovely.

3. Yesterday, the House passed legislation expanding the federal-state Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) by a 265 to 159 vote. According to The New York Times, 45 House Republicans voted for it, along with 220 Democrats. “More than two-thirds of senators are expected to vote for the bill when it reaches the floor later this week. Without a fresh infusion of federal cash, a dozen states are expected to run out of money for coverage of children next month.” George W. Bush has promised to veto the legislation. “The money provided in the bill is $35 billion more than the current level of spending and $30 billion more than Mr. Bush wanted.” Insuring the health of American children is too expensive for the Republicans and the Bush administration, but according to House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican who did not vote for the bill’s passage. $190 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a “small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids.” According to the Washington Post, “If it comes to a veto override fight, Boehner will be the White House’s man on the Hill.” Bush’s $10 billion gift to the oil and gas industry could have paid for a third of this program.

4. It just wouldn’t be Four at Four without a round-up of Blackwater news.

   • TPM Muckraker has obtained a forthcoming study by private-military contractor expert P.W. Singer concluding private security firms have hurt the U.S. efforts in Iraq. “What the contracting industry diminishes in political cost it compounds in actual cost to counterinsurgency. Iraqis view private companies like Blackwater as lawless, and they have no reason to distinguish between private contractors and U.S. troops — thereby compounding the danger to U.S. forces from infuriated Iraqis… ¶ Even more simply, private military contractors aren’t in the chain of command, meaning U.S. officers are powerless to stop them from engaging in activities deleterious to a command plan.” The Washington Post reports the U.S. military has made similar conclusions, putting the military at the state department at odds.

     In high-level meetings over the past several days, U.S. military officials have pressed State Department officials to assert more control over Blackwater, which operates under the department’s authority, said a U.S. government official with knowledge of the discussions. “The military is very sensitive to its relationship that they’ve built with the Iraqis being altered or even severely degraded by actions such as this event,” the official said…

     “This is a big mess that I don’t think anyone has their hands around yet,” said another U.S. military official. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing these guys are being held accountable. Iraqis hate them, the troops don’t particularly care for them, and they tend to have a know-it-all attitude, which means they rarely listen to anyone — even the folks that patrol the ground on a daily basis.”

     “This is a nightmare,” said a senior U.S. military official. “We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we’re trying to have an impact for the long term.”

   • The U.S. State Department is protecting Condoleezza Rice’s mercenary army in Iraq from Congressional oversight, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The State Department has interceded in a congressional investigation of Blackwater USA, the private security firm accused of killing Iraqi civilians last week, ordering the company not to disclose information about its Iraq operations without approval from the Bush administration… ¶ In a letter sent to a senior Blackwater executive Thursday, a State Department contracting official ordered the company “to make no disclosure of the documents or information” about its work in Iraq without permission.” The House oversight committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, had scheduled “a Blackwater hearing for next Tuesday, but Blackwater’s attorneys warned the committee that the State Department’s letter may complicate company executives’ testimony.” According to The New York Times, the State Department calls their interference just a “misundestanding”. “In response, a State Department statement late Tuesday said: ‘There seems to be some misunderstanding with regard to this matter. All information requested by the committee has been or is in the process of being provided.'” According to a statement on the House oversight committee’s website, “The State Department has sent a new letter to Blackwater informing Blackwater that the company should provide documents to the Committee.” I think Blackwater is a distraction to the real issue. Waxman must get Rice to publicly testify about private armies. Why, after six years are mercenaries still employed?

   • Despite allowing Blackwater back on the job, the Iraqi government might actually be asserting its sovereignty. According to the Financial Times, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told George W. Bush that Iraq’s investigation into Blackwater comes before Bush’s coveted new oil law. “But despite months of US pressure, the Iraqi parliament has yet to agree a new oil law, relax earlier de-Ba’athification measures or change the constitution. ¶ Instead, the Baghdad government indicated on Tuesday that it was proceeding with plans to put private security groups – such as the US company Blackwater, which was involved in a fatal shooting this month – firmly under national law.” However, the Los Angeles Times reports the meeting between Bush and Malaki was brief. “U.S. officials said the exchange was neither lengthy nor confrontational. Instead, there was ‘a general discussion of the importance of recognition of Iraqi sovereignty,’ said Stephen Hadley, Bush’s national security advisor. ¶ Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Maliki discussed the incident in greater detail after the formal meeting. The two countries are seeking better cooperation and coordination in security operations, while taking into consideration Iraqi sovereignty and the needs of protecting State Department personnel, Hadley said.”

   • NPR’s profile of the CEO of Blackwater, concluded Erik Prince has strong Republican and Christian group ties. Prince’s father “was a close friend and supporter of Christian evangelists, such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family, as well as a contributor to the Republican Party. He was an early benefactor of the Family Research Council.”

     Prince has been a steady contributor to the Republican National Committee, giving more than $200,000 since 1998. He also has supported various conservative candidates, including President Bush, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rick Santorum (R-PA), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).

     Other members of Prince’s family have been active in Republican politics. His sister, Betsy DeVos, has served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and her husband, Dick DeVos, was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor of Michigan in 2006. Dick DeVos, a member of the conservative family that co-founded Amway, succeeded his father as president of that company.

     Prince serves as a board member of Christian Freedom International, a nonprofit group that provides Bibles, food and other help to Christians in countries where they face persecution.

One more story below the fold…