Looks like the likelihood of the USA attacking Iran is dwindling somewhat--at least according to an article in today's BBC news.  Now if we can just keep the Israeli hotheads contained.

Not only would an attack on Iran endanger world peace and perhaps even our survival as a species--were we to survive nuclear war, gas prices would be so expensive that no one literally could afford gasoline.  The first thing that Iran would do is to close the Straits of Hormuz, through which oil is transported from the Gulf.  Look at a map and see the implications.

SOURCE FOR WHAT FOLLOWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7486971.stm

Administration at odds

Adm Mullen's opinion echoes what the then head of Central Command, Adm William Fallon, said last November, that an attack on Iran was not "in the offing".

Iran is not making highly enriched uranium suitable for a weapon, only low-enriched uranium useable as nuclear power fuel
Adm Fallon resigned in March amid reports that he was at odds with the administration over Iran.

Increasingly, the military option seems to be narrowing to an Israeli option.

This 4th of July, as we’re celebrating independence and freedom, many senators are getting ready to come back to Washington and sell out some of our most fundamental freedoms.

Don’t let it happen. Take action now.

Dear ACLU Supporter,

On Tuesday, July 8th, the Senate will consider an unconstitutional FISA bill that lets lawbreaking phone companies off the hook.

It is vital you contact your senators today and ask them to vote against this bill.

This July 8, senators will make a crucial decision: whether or not to eviscerate our treasured right to privacy in our own homes and let lawbreaking telecom companies off the hook for handing over private information without a warrant.

Email your senators today. Demand they protect your privacy and the rule of law.

The bottom line is that no president should have the power to monitor the phones and emails of Americans without getting a warrant. And no president should be given the power to pardon companies that broke the law.

Contact your senators today. Tell them what the 4th of July means to you and ask them to defend your freedom by opposing the unconstitutional FISA bill.

Sincerely,


Caroline Fredrickson, Director
ACLU Washington Legislative Office

P.S. Some senators, like Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold, are trying to improve this horrible legislation. And while we greatly appreciate these valiant efforts, these efforts should not -- and will not -- provide political cover for any senator who votes ‘yes’ on a final bill with warrantless wiretapping or immunity for telecommunications companies that broke the law. Let your senators know the bottom line: no bill with warrantless wiretapping or telecom immunity.

© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004

An article by Alissa Rubin that appeared in the New York Times on June 30th suggests that the the U.S. troops have more than worn out their welcome.

Iraqi government officials criticized the American Military for two recent attacks in which soldiers killed peoole who the government said were civilians.  One death occurred during a raid by American soldiers on Friday near Karbala.  Just two days earlier, three people described by the Interior Ministry as bank employees on their way to work were shot and killed near the Baghdad airport when they tried to pass an American convoy.

An Iraqi government statement demanded that the soldiers be held accountable in Iraq.  The issue is particularly delicate now because the two countries are negotiating a long-term security agreement and among the chief points of diagreement are whether the American military will be free to conduct operations and detain suspects and whether, if its soldiers kill civilians, they will have immunity from Iraqi law.

Both sides have their stories.  They always do. They did during My Lai too. 

The truth is that war makes perfectly normal human beings into monsters and the longer they are exposed to it, the more desensitized they become to killing.  Many of our troop have been deployed over to that hell hole for three times.

It is time to bring our troops home.  And speaking of Iraq and agreements with their government--who do you think is negotiating these agreements? 

You got it:  our lame duck president--the one that Congress should have impeached over a year ago.

It is absolutely disgusting that John McCain is travelling to Colombia to discuss trade agreements with the criminals that run that country and even more disgusting that American taxpayers are footing at least part of that bill.

In Jully of last year relatives of six Colombia Death Squad Victims sued the U.S. corporation Chiquita for arming and funding their killers.   These people were allegedly murdered by a Colombian paramilitary group that was partially fundeed by Chiquita.  Other multinational corporations in Columbia have also been accused of funding money and guns to right wing death squads who have murdered thousands of people over the past 8 years in Colombia.

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe is among the most corrupt.  In May of this year his cousin who is very close to the president was arrested for his connections to these death squads.

Go here for a video that explains it better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfsWD6PYMVw&feature=related

 DISGUSTING!

This is a country whose right wing government is so anti-labor that they send out death squads to kill people who try to start unions.

I just saw on the television where McCain is traveling to South America to try to carry on Mark Penn's job of pushing the Colombian Free Trade agreement.  I hope that the American people have had enough of such "free" trade agreement to realize that the "free" part is the slave labor that multinational corporation receive.

http://www.democracynow.org/2001/1/24/firings_and_beating_at_mexican_factoryhttp://33months.wordpress.com/2007/05/03/reynosa-mexico-the-new-galesburg/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HFZ3cH1UAI 

http://www.dickmeister.com/id12.html

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/26/slave-labor-used-to-contruct-us-embassy-in-baghdad/

http://www.usw.org/usw/program/adminlinks/docs//Pre_Nafta_Facts1.pdf

http://www.usw.org/usw/program/adminlinks/docs//Pre_Nafta_Facts2.pdf

http://www.usw.org/usw/program/adminlinks/docs//Pre_Nafta_Facts3.pdf

This morning I’m celebrating two American heroes:  General Wesley Clark and investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.  In an earlier post this morning I paid tribute to General Clark.  Now it is time for Seymour Hersh.

It is past time for Americans to ask:  Who are the real terrorists?  The answer to that is becoming clearer by the day.  The real terrorists are within the Bush Administration itself.

The purpose of these activities are to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. In this article, Hersh also discusses the firing of General Fallon, one of the most outspoken military critics against the war in Iraq and against attacking Iran at some length.

General Wesley has never attacked the character of John McCain.  He only dared to question the claim that being shot down over Vietnam qualifies any one for the office of the presidency.  Last night on MSNBC’s Dan Abrams show, General Wesley Clark was a 30 minute free advertisement for Obama.  It was great.  As much as Abrams tried the traditional Republican tactics of twisting the words of another to suit their purposes, he could not twist the truth of what General Wesley Clark was saying.

Dear VoteVets.org Supporter,

Yesterday, on Face the Nation, General Wesley Clark spoke honestly and bluntly about what it takes to be Commander in Chief.  In doing so, while he said Senator John McCain’s service made him a hero to millions, including Clark himself, that experience does not trump the poor judgment that Senator McCain has shown on some of the most important issues in recent years.

What General Clark said was right, but the right-wing has been in an uproar. And even CNN accused Clark of "swift-boating" McCain. We need to fight back.

SIGN OUR PETITION THANKING GENERAL CLARK AND TELLING HIM TO NOT BACK DOWN

Let’s show General Clark that we have his back, and will not stand for any attempts to shut down this important debate.

We all honor Senator McCain's service, as General Clark said.  But that does not mean that on matters of security, the military, and veterans issues that Senator McCain is beyond reproach. Nor does it mean that his service trumps the poor judgment he has shown in some of the most important issues of our time, including on the war in Iraq, the efforts to get Osama bin Laden, and veterans legislation like the 21st Century GI Bill.

THANK GENERAL CLARK RIGHT HERE, FOR SPEAKING HONESTLY AND BLUNTLY

It is important for General Clark to not back down, and to keep treating the American people like adults who can handle a real, honest, and blunt debate in these important times.

It some circles, this is called ‘straight talk,’ and it’s exactly what we need right now.

Thank you for your support,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org

PAID FOR BY VOTEVETS.ORG POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE

As I’ve mentioned in several posts, some of which date back to October of 2007, Bush is hell-bent on manufacturing a reason to justify a pre-emptive strike against Iran before he leaves the office.

The Kyle-Lieberman amendment, one of the first official Iran saber rattling pieces of legislation was passed by the September 26, 2007, almost a year ago now.  I remember it well because on that same day, or close to it the Senate voted also to condemn Moveon.org for their “Gen. Betrayus” ad and the spineless House followed soon after with their overwhelming 341-79 vote. The two actions, supporting an Iran invasion and condemning MoveOn go hand in hand. (  Go here if you are interested in the yeas and nays on the MoveOn vote:  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/26/13021/7964 )  Ironic thing about this vote is that a lot of these Democratic elected officials who voted to condemn MoveOn would never have gotten into office without the assistance of MoveOn—talk about biting the hand that fed you!

 “General Betrayus” is a perfect name for the General.  Bush fired General Fallon, a General with far more experience than Petraeus and who was/is very much opposed to any invasion of Iran, and who is furthermore committed to the opinion that US withdrawal from Iraq better serves not only our nation, but the world.  Bush’s military strategy for the Middle East is a consistent one:  fire any general who disagrees with him and don’t stop until the perfect yes-man has been appointed to a position of authority in the Middle East.

LOL.  I just read a great article from the summer issue of New York:  "Raise High the Rafters" by Sam Anderson.

Here is an excerpt for you:
". . . A major reason that Obama’s rhetoric seems to soar so high is that our expectations have sunk so low. In a new book, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin T. Lim subjects all the words ever publicly intoned by American presidents to a thorough statistical analysis—and he finds, unsurprisingly, an alarmingly steady decline. A century ago, Lim writes, presidential speeches were pitched at a college reading level; today, they’re down to eighth grade, and if the trend continues, next century’s State of the Union addresses will be conducted at the level of “a comic strip or a fifth-grade textbook.” (“Iran’s crawling with bad guys: BAP!”) Since 1913, the length of the average presidential sentence has fallen from 35 words to 22. Between Nixon and the second Bush, the average presidential sound bite shrank from 42 seconds to 7. . ."

 The famouse quote of Cassius in Shakespeare's "Julius Ceasar" seems fitting here:
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."

For the entire enchilada, go here:

http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2008/48007/

What with all the Iran saber rattling going on, many Americans would think that every Jew in the world is united in the Bush Administration backed path to attack Iran within the next few months.

This is far from the truth, and many sites are cropping up on the Internet to prove this point.  Jew Street is among those sites.  Jew Street bills itself as "the new address for Middle East Peace and Security.

Last Monday, J Street ran a full-page ad in The New York Times calling out mainstream pro-Israel organizations on their silence in the wake of the Gaza ceasefire, talks with Syria and overtures to Lebanon. Click here to view the full ad (PDF).

Here is the link to J Street.

http://www.jstreet.org/

 Morning.  I thought I would pass this along to those who are interested.

Today's the day. If you haven't already, today is your last chance to enter to win a day at The Nation. It'd be such a pleasure to meet you and introduce you to the incredible people that I have the honor of working alongside every day.

We'll take care of your hotel and airfare -- all you need to do is spread the word about our fearless magazine by midnight tonight!

--Katrina

143 years of history fill these halls...

Albert Einstein. Eleanor Roosevelt. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hunter S. Thompson. Emma Goldman. The Nation has known them all.

Every morning when I open the door at Nation headquarters, I think, "They were part of this…and now I am."

It's an exciting feeling, and today I'm writing you with a special way that we want to share it with you. There's no better way to get a feel for what it's like to work for America's longest running weekly than to come see for yourself.

How would you like to spend a day at The Nation?

We'll take care of airfare and accommodations -- all you have to do is tell a friend (or a few friends) about The Nation, and you'll be entered to win a one-of-a-kind day with us in New York.

Just make sure you spread the word by midnight tonight.

We know this isn't the kind of prize you see too often. But we felt this was a perfect way to offer something special to our supporters while we encourage new folks to join The Nation community. I think that there might be some people -- like you -- who love what I love about The Nation, and would find a schedule like this pretty great:

I'll never forget the first day I set foot in The Nation's offices. Over 140 years of progressive history filled those halls. I was moved by the burden and challenge of upholding this great magazine's legacy -- and guiding it into the future.

It's people like you who have helped grow The Nation from a small abolitionist paper to an outspoken sounding board of the progressive movement. That's not the end of the story though. I like to think that in some small way, we're building upon that legacy each day we're in the office.

By spreading the word about The Nation to a friend (or two, or three) you'll not only support our commitment to courageous news -- you'll get a chance to win this once-in-a-lifetime prize.

We promise to make it an unforgettable day. Thank you in advance for telling your friends about The Nation.

Sincerely,

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Go Wesley is what I say.  Keep it up.  In case you missed it, Wesley Clark appeared on Face the Nation and once again dished it out to McCain like he did last month on the Joe Scarborough show. 

The McCain campaign is whining about it. Right! Obama should listen to them and not attack his opponent's only claim to fame.  They wish. 

I hope Clark keeps dishing it out.

Here is an excerpt from the LA Times:

" . . . Appearing on the CBS chat show "Face the Nation," Clark -- who has rated prominent mention as a veep prospect both because he was a strong Hillary Clinton  supporter and his credentials on the national security front -- backed off not one bit from his previous characterization of McCain as "untested and untried" as an executive leader.

Pressed on that quote by moderator Bob Schieffer, Clark said that "in the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk, it's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. ... He hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. ..."

Pressed further by Schieffer, Clark then delivered perhaps the day's marquee quote:

"I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

The McCain campaign responded quickly, teeing up Clark as a surrogate for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and blasting away:

"If Barack Obama's campaign wants to question John McCain's military service, that's their right. But let's please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics. The reality is he's proving to be a typical politician who is willing to say anything to get elected, including allowing his campaign surrogates to demean and attack John McCain's military service record."