los anjalis

…oh wait, we can. Is it just me, or is even the mainstream media in the US documenting the Gaza massacre and its aftermath in a more journalistic manner? Like, photos of people being shelled, photos of the destruction, the actual effects of a war?

Anyway, check out these extensive photos taken during a whole week of the massacre. They were on the front page of MSNBC all day yesterday. Imagine if we saw photos like this from all the various wars going on in the world (including America’s unjust occupation and bombing of Iraq with some estimated 1 million Iraqi civilians killed). We’d kick the asses of people who were pro-war and diplomacy would be the RULE.

Army Unit to Deploy in October for Domestic Operations

Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.

This unit’s supposed to be deployed in October 2008, but i SWEAR, i SWEAR i saw these guys last month — masked as riot police at the Republican National Convention, using “so-called nonlethal weapons to subdue unruly crowds”.  It didn’t go too well, as I last understood.

So this is what i’m wondering… Why now?  Where is this greater threat, or this perception of greater threat, coming from?  What’s the need for this internal deployment?  Who called these guys in?

Jon Stewart: 19 people flew into the towers. It seems hard for me to imagine that we could go to war enough to make the world safe enough that 19 people wouldn’t want to do harm to us so it seems like we have to rethink a strategy that is less military-based, in general.

Jon Stewart interviewed former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair this week. This above is part of the interview (the full interview is available on the daily show’s website). As I watched the full interview, I found myself increasingly angry at this likeable Tony Blair. I know, i just KNOW that he’s smarter than how he came off, that he knows as well as any others that the move to war in Iraq was a big sham, that the evidence behind all of it was completely created out of nothing. And yet he STILL says in this interview that Al Qaeda was in Iraq and that’s why we invaded. STILL says it. But you can see him becoming more and more miffed and flustered at Jon Stewarts questions. He finds himself going in circles at one point and catching himself in a lie, which makes him more flustered. But the most interesting piece was what blogger Dahle called the Jon Stewart Doctrine (at min 7:25 in this video):

Stewart: 19 people flew into the towers. It seems hard for me to imagine that we could go to war enough to make the world safe enough that 19 people wouldn’t want to do harm to us so it seems like we have to rethink a strategy that is less military-based, in general.

(cross-posted at Cure This)

On Memorial Day, Helen Benedict writes about the challenges facing our women warriors as they return home from duty. She follows up with a strong call to action. From “For Women Warriors, Deep Wounds, Little Care”:

Women make up some 15 percent of the United States active duty forces, and 11 percent of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly a third of female veterans say they were sexually assaulted or raped while in the military, and 71 percent to 90 percent say they were sexually harassed by the men with whom they served.

This sort of abuse drastically increases the risk and intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder. One study found that female soldiers who were sexually assaulted were nine times more likely to show symptoms of this disorder than those who weren’t. Sexual harassment by itself is so destructive, another study revealed, it causes the same rates of post-traumatic stress in women as combat does in men. And rape can lead to other medical crises, including diabetes, asthma, chronic pelvic pain, eating disorders, miscarriages and hypertension…

As women return for repeat tours, usually redeploying with their same units, many must go back to war with the same man (or men) who abused them. This leaves these women as threatened by their own comrades as by the war itself. Yet the combination of sexual assault and combat has barely been acknowledged or studied…

As the more than 191,500 women who have served in the Middle East since 2001 return home, they will increasingly flood the Veterans Affairs system. To ask those who need help for post-traumatic stress disorder to turn to a typical Veterans Affairs hospital, built in the 1950s and designed to treat men, is untenable. Women who have been raped or sexually assaulted often cannot face therapy groups or medical facilities full of men.

Wow. This is so true. There aren’t many women patients at VA hospitals and clinics. The facilities are often limited and specifically and traditionally for men, and they’re hardly equipped to treat women dealing with PTSD or sexual abuse. The urgency of this cannot be understated.

At the moment, the Department of Veterans Affairs operates only six inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder programs specifically for women. And although all 153 department-run hospitals will treat women, only 22 have stand-alone women’s clinics that offer a full range of medical and psychological services…

Women are the fastest-growing group of veterans, and by 2020 they are projected to account for 20 percent of all veterans under the age of 45. Not all of these women will have suffered sexual assault, but many will have medical or psychological needs that conventional department hospitals cannot meet.

The Department of Veterans Affairs must open more comprehensive women’s health clinics, designate more facilities for women who have endured both combat and military sexual trauma and finance more support groups specifically for female combat veterans. The best way to honor all of our soldiers is to do what we can to help them mend.

An important call to action.

And an open question — what resources are available and what organizations are working on this issue?

I think I’ve watched this video now 6 times in a row. And cried each time because it’s so damn funny. And as my brother shares, it gives us hope. Hope — that Obama can wipe the floors with McCain if it’s the two of them running against each other for President. It also contrasts the positive WE message of Obama against the cynical dottering i’mtakingyoutohellwithme McCain message (while giving us a taste of how out of touch McCain is with reality). Thank you, smattering of Los Angeles area comics, writers, and musicians, for putting this together.

The best line is the one at the end, “McCain 08: Like Hope, But Different.”

Watch it!

I present to you, the awe-inspiring and shock-and-awe-ing quotes from McCain speeches, featured in the video:

The work that we face in our time is great
in a time of war
and the terrible sacrifices it entails
the promise of a better future is not always clear
there’s gonna be other wars
I’m sorry to tell you there’s gonna be other wars
there’s gonna be a lot of combat wounds
and my friends it’s gonna be tough
and we’re gonna have a lot to do
That old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?
Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb…
I’m still convinced that withdrawal means chaos
and if you think that things are bad now
if we withdraw–you ain’t seen nothing yet
was the war a good idea, worth the price in blood and treasure?
It was a good idea
President Bush talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years
Maybe a hundred, that’s fine with me
I don’t think Americans are concerned if we’re there for a hundred years, or a thousand years, or ten thousand years.

Compare these, my friends, with the video and lyrics from the song “Yes We Can”.

Have I mentioned how much I love creative folks making and freely distributing video?

(cross-posted at Cure This)

Iraq to Catalina Island, Salee Allawe and her father. Photo by Allen Schaben, LA Times.

The 10-year-old girl lost her legs in what her family said was a U.S. air strike on the outskirts of Baghdad last November. Salee, who was discovered by her mother dragging herself over a pile of bricks, helped identify the remains of her 13-year-old brother and her best friend, who were killed in the same incident.

Salee recently was fitted with mechanical knees and prosthetic limbs at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville, S.C. Her sponsors wanted to give her a happy memory before she returns to her war-torn country next Monday.

So they brought her and her father to Catalina Island…

Her companions included Mahmood and two people who raised most of the funds to bring Salee to the United States in July for corrective surgery: social worker Ann Cothran of Greenville, N.C., and Cole Miller, founder of Los Angeles-based No More Victims, a grass-roots organization dedicated to assisting Iraqi children injured in the war.

“There are thousands of Salees in Iraq,” Miller said. “I don’t consider this charity. It’s responsibility.”

Salee’s story is so tragic, but this outpouring of love and medical care is so beautiful.  Providing health care for victims of American attacks abroad is the mission of his group No More Victims (NMV). Here’s a moving video where he addresses privilege, our ability to provide healthcare, and the potential of individuals and communities to take action together:

Cole Miller is uplifting in his analysis. Americans are banding together — there are NMV groups around the country. The organization has also begun sending medical supplies to Iraq and other countries (you can donate money online).

And on an entertaining note, Salee Allawe (the girl discussed above) whispered to her translator while on Catalina Island:

“I want to be a photographer when I grow up. But don’t tell anyone because all the kids I know want to be doctors.”

 

Woohoo! Didya hear that? Los Angeles is the largest city in the US to pass a resolution against the war. Who you callin’ vain? It’s exciting — the city of West Hollywood already voted for a resolution like this, and now it’s big bad Los Angeles’s turn:

LA City Council Adopts Resolution To End Iraq War; Resolution Calls For Withdrawal Of All U.S. Troops From Iraq (msnbc.com)

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday calling for an end to the war in Iraq, making it the largest city in the nation to make such a call.

“Today the city of Los Angeles is sending a message loud and clear -end the war in Iraq,” Councilman Bill Rosendahl said, drawing cheers from an anti-war audience packing the council chamber.

“We are calling for an immediate and complete withdrawal of United States military personnel from Iraq,” said Rosendahl, who introduced the resolution. “We have lost too many of our young men and women to this illegal and unjust war.”

The resolution passed on a 12-2 vote, with Dennis Zine and Greig Smith dissenting. Councilman Jose Huizar was not present for the vote.

Rosendahl said that among the more than 3,500 members of the military who have died in Iraq, 409 came from California, including 115 from the Los Angeles area and 25 from the city.
“Supporting our troops does not mean keeping them in Iraq,” he said. “Supporting our troops means taking them out of this war and bringing them home.”

Rosendahl said the expense of fighting the war has meant that more than $4.5 billion in tax revenues have been diverted from Los Angeles.

“This war has diverted funds that could be used for important domestic needs that would improve the quality of life for Los Angeles residents,” he said.

Ok, so Los Angeles ain’t ALL vain. Damn straight it ain’t. I love this city. Even though the average price of an alcoholic beverage in Los Angeles ($10.66) has now surpassed the average price of same in New York City ($10.12), the city of West Hollywood is representin’ patriotically, because the folks there care about the future of our country:

WEST HOLLYWOOD, July 17, 2007 (KABC-TV) – West Hollywood has taken a stand on the war. The City Council is the first in southern California to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

The council unanimously approved the symbolic, non-binding resolution Monday night. The resolution claims Congress and the country were given false intelligence to lead the U.S. into the war in Iraq.

Other charges include orders to spy on Americans, and stripping Americans of their constitutional rights.

It’s about time. Leave it to the gay, hedonistic community of West Hollywood to take SoCal to task :> Rawk! I believe there are 7 cities in California alone that have passed a similar resolution. Anyone know of other cities in Los Angeles that are deliberating on similar resolutions? I’ll find out if my town of Culver City is.

And in the meantime, know of any resolutions to cap the price of a basic alcoholic beverage in this charge-what-we-like city? What about amendment number 45 to the bill of rights — “every person shall be reserved the right to enjoy an alcoholic spirit or beverage for less than $4, and make fun of those who enjoy the same for over $10.66″ — remember that one?

…and a strong conscience. From Barbara Lee’s Statement on the Passage of the Iraq Accountability Act:

“Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Obey, Jim Clyburn and the Democratic leadership deserve credit for recognizing this and for doing something that the Republican Congress refused to do for the last four years, namely to confront the Bush administration over their failed policy in Iraq and to commit to bringing that policy to a responsible end. That is a very important step.

“As someone who opposed this war from the beginning, I have voted against every single penny for this war and found myself today in the difficult position of having to choose between voting against funding for the war or for establishing timelines to end it.

“While as a matter of conscience I cast my vote against the funding, I hope that this passage of this bill marks the beginning of the end of the Iraq war, but the real fight still lies ahead. Congress will continue to have to confront the issue of this war and occupation, and I am committed to continuing to push to fully fund the safe withdrawal of our troops from Iraq at the earliest practicable date and for timelines for withdrawal that are backed up by the appropriations power that the Constitution grants to Congress.”

Now that is what I call graceful. Representative Lee rocks.  Note to Dems: it IS possible to have both a conscience AND a strong policy.  You ain’t seein’ no flip-floppin’, goin’ where the money is, publicly apologizing for your 1994 health plan, or being against a war you’re fully trusting Bush on — here in Lee’s camp.

“…not the one you wish you had” — Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio)

Remember when Bush met with top Republican leaders and Trent Lott said the following?

“No, none of that,” Lott told reporters after the session when asked if the Iraq war was discussed. “You’re the only ones who obsess on that. We don’t and the real people out in the real world don’t for the most part.”

Who did you think we were, scumbag? Eat your words now!

From Lott: Bush barely mentioned Iraq in meeting with Senate Republicans, by CNN’s Ted Barrett:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush barely mentioned the war in Iraq when he met with Republican senators behind closed doors in the Capitol Thursday morning and was not asked about the course of the war, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said.

“No, none of that,” Lott told reporters after the session when asked if the Iraq war was discussed. “You’re the only ones who obsess on that. We don’t and the real people out in the real world don’t for the most part.”

Lott went on to say he has difficulty understanding the motivations behind the violence in Iraq.

“It’s hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these people,” he said. “Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israeli’s and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.”

Wow. The mere fact that an actual Senator in the United States Senate can say this and not be ripped out of his post and shamed is infuriating. Iraq, torture, these are the moral issues of our time, these are the issues that a majority of Americans are so very concerned with right now.

Obviously this is not the first assasine, racist, anti-human rights, ignorant comment this dude has made, let alone actions he has taken, but FOLKS, Lott has been in Congress for THIRTY-THREE YEARS. This guy, and so many others in his position (white republican senators or congresspeople) are so out of touch with reality it’s bizarre. THIS is exactly why I’m so pissed at Dems in general (and looking for some good new blood in and outside of the party, at this point i’ll vote for anyone who has principals and has a track record, whether republican, democrat, green, libertarian, etc). We’ve had opportunity after opportunity (as if God herself handed them personally to us) to shame these racist, anti-human rights, anti-AMERICAN, war-mongering folks and we have done NOTHING in response (I’m talkin’ *we* as in the party of Dems, i’m not putting down the amazing work that so many individuals and organizations are doing).

How do we use these pieces of fodder to our advantage? Someone on another blog suggested taking these words or video and playing them on ads at election time to show that (many) republicans don’t actually care about the war, or that they don’t have a basic college education. Any other creative ideas? We need to capitalize on their bullshit while we can.

And to the rest of the world, I’m sorry that Lott thinks he can say things like “I think it’s hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these [Iraqi] people.” He didn’t speak for me, nor did he speak for the majority of the country. And he needs to go to high school, or college, wherever they teach world politics 101. Embarassing.

Ok, so much else to report on — hopefully I’ll get a few minutes to blog a bit over the weekend. I’ve got much to write about Ani Difranco in concert, Massive Attack in concert, a sweet new weekly spoken word event just blocks from my house, and a reportback from 1 year post hurricane katrina that I went to tonight (including exciting discussions on movement-building among brown and black people).

THE seconds just before a life is smashed are filled with ordinary things.

On the morning of Sept. 15, 2005, Muaad Hadi was on his way to a wedding. The highway was hot and crowded. His mind was filled with thoughts of work.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m., a convoy of police cars drew up behind the minivan of guests. Mr. Hadi, a 26-year-old Shiite, told the driver to pull over. As he spoke the words, an explosion, meant for the police, punched through the van and changed his life forever.

If wars had faces, the one in Iraq would look like Mr. Hadi’s. Open and hopeful at the beginning. Creased with disappointment as years passed. He and the other Iraqis from Baghdad pictured here are victims of fighting that has come from all directions in the last three years. They pay the price of the war with their arms and their legs. The toll is far higher for Iraqi civilians than for American soldiers. They account for 70 percent of all deaths. Their families, too, pay a price…

Then, on that day in September, 12 bombs went off like popcorn all over Baghdad, scattering lives and punching holes in families. Mr. Hadi could barely see for the smoke. The air smelled of gasoline. A friend he had been sitting beside was dead. His legs would not work. He was missing his left hand. A stranger placed him in the back of a police truck, along with the bodies of the dead.

Ten months later, he spends his days lying on a narrow bed with a blue sheet in his mother’s living room in Shuala, a poor Shiite neighborhood. He must be helped to the bathroom. The woman he wanted to marry has moved on. She never told him she didn’t want him, but “I sensed what she wanted to say,” he said, his voice urgent and sad.

from The Instant When Everything Changed, by Sabrina Tavernese, in the NYTimes.

This is a reminder to myself to never forget the daily human toll of this war. And that more than 70% of those who are dying are Iraqi civilians. Yes, let’s bring our troops home, yes we should never forget the now thousands of american soldiers who’ve died in this war, but we canNOT afford to forget that most of the people dying or being maimed (physically or emotionally) are Iraqi civilians. Everyday this battle wages, more innocent people die unnecessarily.

Accompanying the article is a photoseries by Farah Nosh who photographed and documented stories of Iraqi civilians who had lost limbs in the war. There’s a link to it from the article.

Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, has an album out with his personal music (i was going to say “solo” but he mentioned that he doesn’t like using that term). Lindsay points out the BBC article with some backstory on his track “Harrowdown Hill”, and how Yorke states that it’s the angriest song he’s ever written. Wiki, Wiki, Wikipedia has more on David Kelly, the subject of the track here.

Don’t walk the plank like I do
You will dispensed with, when you’ve become
Inconvenient

Up on Harrowdown Hill, Where you used to go school
That’s where I – That’s where I’m lying now
Did I fall or was I pushed? Did I fall or was I pushed?
And where’s the blood? Where’s the blood?

… Can you see me when I’m running? Can you see me when I’m running?
Away from them, Away from them
I can’t take the pressure, No one cares if you live or die
They just want me gone, they want me gone

The rest of the tracks are equally brilliant, less angry, but definitely beautiful and political. He supposedly just used a laptop and his voice (many sounds reminiscent of radiohead’s album “Kid A”). So there’s hope for my laptop music experiments (though there’s no hope for my voice, i’ll have to do without that…)

And now my brother and I are blasting some unreleased tracks from his upcoming (july release) album, Eraser, throughout the house. (of course we’ll buy the album when it comes out too).

I’ve been following Riverbend’s commentary as an Iraqi woman experiencing the various Iraqi wars. Her writing really moves me and has served as one of my constant reality checks about what’s going on in Iraq. Check out her blog — Baghdad Burning.

Her latest post, from last week, is about Zarqawi’s death, here’s a bit of it:

So ‘Zarqawi’ is finally dead. It was an interesting piece of news that greeted us yesterday morning (or was it the day before? I’ve lost track of time…). I didn’t bother with the pictures and film they showed of him because I, personally, have been saturated with images of broken, bleeding bodies…

“A new day for Iraqis” is the current theme of the Iraqi puppet government and the Americans. Like it was “A New Day for Iraqis” on April 9, 2003 . And it was “A New Day for Iraqis” when they killed Oday and Qusay. Another “New Day for Iraqis” when they caught Saddam. More “New Day” when they drafted the constitution… I’m beginning to think it’s like one of those questions they give you on IQ tests: If ‘New’ is equal to ‘More’ and ‘Day’ is equal to ‘Suffering’, what does “New Day for Iraqis” mean?

How do I feel? To hell with Zarqawi (or Zayrkawi as Bush calls him). He was an American creation- he came along with them- they don’t need him anymore, apparently. His influence was greatly exaggerated but he was the justification for every single family they killed through military strikes and troops…

So now that Zarqawi is dead, and because according to Bush and our Iraqi puppets he was behind so much of Iraq’s misery- things should get better, right? The car bombs should lessen, the ethnic cleansing will come to a halt, military strikes and sieges will die down… That’s what we were promised, wasn’t it? That sounds good to me. Now- who do they have to kill to stop the Ministry of Interior death squads, and trigger-happy foreign troops?