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August 2007

2007.08.31

Changing of the guard

So much has happened over the month of August.  If you were gone on vacation, you missed the beginning of the end of what has been a dreadful era in Washington.  Today was Karl Rove's last day.  A few days ago, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation.  Earlier on Friday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that he would step down.  His deputy Dana Perino will take over.  John Warner, the elder statesman who recent has distanced himself from Bush's Iraq policy, will not seek reelection in 2008.  All of these changes come in the midst of yet another sex scandal involving a closet Republican.  Larry Craig, the Senator involved, will likely resign.

This Labor Day weekend pretty much marks the beginning of the countdown to the end of this brand of leadership in Washington.  Populism is back.  In both presidential fields, the populist candidates are the rock stars -- Barack Obama and John Edwards on the Democratic side, and Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul on the Republican end.  The establishment is crumbling in the wake of its own clumsiness, and quite frankly because they have failed to get anything done except for dragging up the national debt, supporting a failed foreign policy, and making us less prepared to respond to disasters.

We are approaching the end of the line.  It will be important to evaluate the 2008 presidential, Senate, and House candidates closely, and pick populist leaders to run our government for years to come.  Let's hope we learned our lesson.

US Embassy worried about Iraqi political corruption

Going ministry by ministry, the US Embassy in Iraq lays out the corruption that is going on in high levels of the Iraqi government.  The Nation magazine obtained a copy, and reported on it this week.  This is where our tax money is going:

The Ministry of Health, according to the report, "is a sore point; corruption is actually affecting its ability to deliver services and threatens the support of the government." Investigations involving the Ministry of Oil have been manipulated, the study says, and the "CPI and the [Inspector General of the ministry] are completely ill-equipped to handle oil theft cases." There is no accurate accounting of oil production and transportation within the ministry, the report explains, because organized crime groups are stealing oil "for the benefit of militias/insurgents, corrupt public officials and foreign buyers."

The list goes on: "Anticorruption cases concerning the Ministry of Education have been particularly ineffective….[T]he Ministry of Water Resources…is effectively out of the anticorruption fight with little to no apparent effort in trying to combat fraud….[T]he Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs is hostile to the prosecution of corruption cases. Militia support from [Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr] has effectively made corruption in the Ministry of Transportation wholesale according to investigators and immune from prosecution." Several ministries, according to the study, are "so controlled by criminal gangs or militias" that it is impossible for corruption investigators "to operate within [them] absent a tactical [security] force protecting the investigator."

The Ministry of the Interior, which has been a stronghold of Shia militias, stands out in the report. The study's authors say that "groups within MOI function similarly to a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) in the classic sense. MOI is a 'legal enterprise' which has been co-opted by organized criminals who act through the 'legal enterprise' to commit crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, bribery, etc." This is like saying the mob is running the police department. The report notes, "currently 426 investigations are hung up awaiting responses for documents belonging to MOI which routinely are ignored." It cites an episode during which a CPI officer discovered two eyewitnesses to the October 2006 murder of Amer al-Hashima, the brother of the vice president, but the CPI investigator would not identify the eyewitnesses to the Minister of the Interior out of fear he and they would be assassinated. (It seemed that the killers were linked to the Interior Ministry.) The report adds, "CPI investigators assigned to MOI investigations have unanimously expressed their fear of being assassinated should they aggressively pursue their duties at MOI. Thus when the head of MOI intelligence recently personally visited the Commissioner of CPI…to end investigations of [an] MOI contract, there was a clear sense of concern within the agency."

Over at the Defense Ministry, the report notes, there has been a "shocking lack of concern" about the apparent theft of $850 million from the Iraqi military's procurement budget. "In some cases," the report says, "American advisors working for US [Department of Defense] have interceded to remove [Iraqi] suspects from investigations or custody." Of 455 corruption investigations at the Defense Ministry, only 15 have reached the trial stage. A mere four investigators are assigned to investigating corruption in the department. And at the Ministry of Trade, "criminal gangs" divide the spoils, with one handling grain theft, another stealing transportation assets.

Four years into this misadventure, and this is the best we can do?  And no, the answer is not to stay the course for another four years.  When you mistakes, you learn from them -- let's learn from these mistakes by getting out.

Just how bad it is in Basra

Picphoto083107basra It is certain that in the White House's Iraq report next much, which fittingly will be given on September 11th, the Administration will cling to the alleged successes in Al Anbar Province.  Of course, that is only one of 16 provinces in the war-torn country.  Bush will certainly not, however, be able to dispute the disturbing situation that is currently unfolding in Southern Iraq.  Basra is falling to rivaling Shiite gangs.  To make matters worse, the Brits are pulling out.

The violence in Basra could soon rival the level that we've seen in Baghdad:

An all-out, Shiite-on-Shiite conflict could plunge the oil-rich and mainly Shiite south of Iraq into chaos that could rival — or even surpass — the bloodshed across Baghdad and the center of the country for more than four years.

While Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army recently suspended operations in Baghdad, they continue to push for power down south.  Here are the major players:

The major players in the power struggle in the south are the Mahdi Army militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq, the country's largest Shiite political party and the patron of the Badr militia.

Security forces in the region are known to be dominated by supporters of the Supreme Council, led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, whose family has been locked in a long-running competition with al-Sadr's family over leadership of Iraq's Shiites.

The rivalries boiled over into deadly clashes Monday and Tuesday in the holy city of Karbala during a major Shiite religious festival. Dozen of people were killed.

So in other words, you have political factions represented in parliament that are fighting amongst one another.  It is the Iraqi equivalent of the DLC going to war with progressive bloggers.  Al-Sadr and Abdul-Azis al-Hakim are both Shiites, but they have different agendas.

On top of that, two provincial governors down south have been assassinated in recent weeks.  With the British leaving at the end of this year, the White House has yet to explain its strategy for keeping the south from falling.  Don't expect anything new in Petraeus' testimony.  Just expect a lot of questions from lawmakers.

You can't just resign and get away with perjury

Picphoto083107gonzales Alberto Gonzales is not out of the woods just yet.  The Inspector General at the Justice Department is investigating whether the former Attorney General perjured himself in front of Congress in July.  In other words, the career professionals inside the government might try to make an example out of him:

The disclosure, by Glenn A. Fine, the department’s inspector general, came in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and was the first official confirmation that Mr. Gonzales was under investigation within the executive branch over the truthfulness of his testimony. The committee’s chairman, Senator Patrick J. Leahy , Democrat of Vermont, had requested the inquiry this month.

For weeks, lawmakers from both parties have questioned whether Mr. Gonzales told the truth in sworn statements to Congress on a number of issues, including his involvement in efforts to preserve the National Security Agency's program  of wiretapping without warrants, as well as his role in last year’s dismissals of several United States Attorneys  for what appeared to be political reasons.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) sent out a press release thanking the Inspector General for his efforts.

Maybe the real question worth asking is whether Gonzales resigned because he thought it might lessen the chances of him being investigated.  Glenn Fine does not care.  Gonzales tarnished the reputation of a department whose purpose is to oversee the enforcement of US law.  A lot of career professionals who worked their entire lives to be part of that agency are angry.  Gonzales will not get off easy.  He will probably have to testify.

In the end, this is all about precedent.  If we let this kind of behavior fly, future Administrations will engage in similar behavior and say, "Gonzales did it and there was no wrongdoing found, so this must be fine as well."  A precedent needs to be set that lying in front of Congress, purging US attorneys for political reasons and stomping on our civil liberties is not only unacceptable, it is criminal.

Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories that might not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

  • (SOCIAL ISSUES) A judge in Polk County ruled that Iowa's law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional.
  • (HOMEFRONT) One in eight 9/11 rescue workers are afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder.
  • (WAR) Army officials will investigate more than 18,000 contracts awarded in the last four years to see if there was any fraud.
  • (WAR) The Pentagon's inspector general is launching an investigation into the military's inability to account for missing weapons.  This investigation was launched following the news that Kurdish militants used US weapons to attack Turkey.
  • (WASHINGTON) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is opening the door to a possible compromise with Republicans on a bill to end the war.  "I'm not saying, 'Republicans, do what we want to do.' Just give me something that you think you would like to do, that accomplishes some or all of what I want to do," Reid said.
  • (CORRUPTION) In the interrogation video that was released on Thursday, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) was accused by the police officer of lying to him: "I don't disrespect you but I'm disrespected right now, and I'm not trying to act like I have all kinds of power or anything, but you're sitting here lying to a police officer."
  • (2008 RACE) On the Late Show with David Letterman, Hillary Clinton joked that Bill Clinton would be her vice presidential nominee if the constitution were different.  "Believe me," she joked, "he looked into that."
  • (2008 RACE) Many 9/11 rescue workers are still upset that Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani will attend the 9/11 memorial because it reeks of political pandering.  According to the Washington Post, 'Groups called the 9/11 Firefighters & Families for Truth, WTC Families for Proper Burial, 9/11 Parents & Families of Firefighters & WTC Victims, and September 11th Advocates said Giuliani has "perpetuated his 'grand illusion' of hero rather than account for the failures.'"
  • (POLL) Iowa Democrats (Time): Edwards - 32%, Clinton - 24%, Obama - 22%, Richardson - 13%.
  • (POLL) If you look at the numbers on a graph, Bill Richardson is surging faster than any other Democratic candidate in Iowa.

If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about it yesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories in the comment box.

Blue Nightowl Clips

As we post in the middle of each night, here are some of the popular political clips making their rounds on the blogs at this hour:

  1. Hillary Clinton on Late Show with David Letterman.  CNN shows a small excerpt of the interview.
  2. Bush voter turns to Dennis Kucinich.
  3. The GAO report on Iraq was leaked because of fear Bush would alter it.
  4. The GOP's summer of scandal.

More clips on Friday.  The Blue Radar will be posted at 4 AM ET.

2007.08.30

Audio of Larry Craig police interrogation

Today, police in Minnesota released this audio of the police interrogation following the arrest of Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who plead guilty for engaging in lewd behavior with an undercover cop in a men's bathroom.  Craig, a person in position of public trust, waited more than two months before telling his colleagues and American taxpayers about what happened.  The interrogation here immediately became an argument:

Is this hard to believe?  As explained yesterday in an exclusive report on CNN, police bust people all the time in public places for what they refer to as "cruising."  Corporate executives, lawyers and all sorts of people have been caught:

Video: Hardball: David Schuster Takes a Look at Bush's "Bad Week"

David Schuster (in my opinion one of the better reporters out there) runs down GW's week from hell. Hurricane Katrina, Senator Craig, Alberto just to name a few of the contributing factors.


Hardball -David Shuster Takes a Look at a Bad Week for Bush

It may have been a rough one for Bush, but compared to what the people of New Orleans went through and many continue to go through, it was a walk in the park.

GAO: US missed all but 3 of 18 benchmarks in Iraq

Picphoto083007iraq1 A report long-awaited by most analysts, due to its more objective nature than the Petraeus testimony, finds that the situation in Iraq continues to get a failing grade.  A draft of a GAO report that will be released next week shows that 15 of the 18 benchmarks for success have not been met:

The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congress in final form Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver its own new benchmarks report the second week of September, along with congressional testimony from the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They are expected to describe significant security improvements.

The draft provides a harsh assessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S.-led counteroffensive to secure Baghdad. "While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced," it states. While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. It also finds that "the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."

"Overall," the report concludes, "key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds," as promised. While it makes no policy recommendations, the draft suggests that future administration assessments "would be more useful" if they backed up their judgments with more details and "provided data on broader measures of violence from all relevant U.S. agencies."

A report conducted last month by the White House found that 8 of the 18 benchmarks had been met.  So what are the 18 benchmarks that the Administration set?  Here is the list.

This comes on the heels of the news that Bush will ask Congress for at least $50 billion more in war funding.

Blue Blogs: Worthy Mentions from the Liberal Blogosphere

Here are what some of the liberal blogs are posting:

Independant The Independent: (Via The Raw Story) 'Man Faces Execution for Being in Car with Killer' - A 30-year old man, Kenneth Foster, is set to be executed today for a murder which he not only did not commit, but which the authorities in Texas accept was carried out by another man in 1996. The trial judge, the prosecutor, and the jury that sentenced Mr Foster to die admit that he did not murder the victim Michael LaHood. But, under a controversial "law of parties", in Texas an associate of a perpetrator can be found co-responsible in a capital case. The law imposes the death penalty on anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred.

The murder occurred as Foster was sitting in a car some 30 metres away with three other passengers – but prosecutors said there was a conspiracy to commit the crime and therefore he deserved a death sentence. Since Foster's original trial, the other passengers – none of whom was tried under the law of parties – have testified that Foster had no idea a shooting was going to take place. Read on...


My_left_nutmeg My Left NutMeg: 'How to Really Save New Orleans' -  Any discussion of rebuilding New Orleans must take into account this alarming reality: New Orleans is sinking.

"The city will be completely surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico just 90 years from now. ... That's the projection, because we are losing land on the Mississippi Delta at a rate of 25 to 30 square miles per year. That's two acres per hour that are sinking below sea level," says [Tim] Kusky, [a professor of earth sciences at St. Louis University].

That process could only be slowed, in theory, by massive restoration of wetlands.

The geological forces that, over the centuries, created the area we now know as New Orleans were drastically changed in the 20th century by levees along the Mississippi River. These levees diverted the silt, sediment and nutrients that created the Mississippi Delta out into the continental shelf. Without the steady flow of sediment, the Mississippi Delta - including New Orleans, the wetlands and barrier islands - will likely disappear under water by the end of this century.

It's already happening, with devastating effects: Read on...


Cl Crooks & Liars: 'Homeland Security Expert Asks: What could we do with $456,278,478,000?' - It’s hard to get an accurate estimate because the [cost of occupying Iraq] mounts so rapidly every minute. Can’t help wondering how much farther along the [Gulf Coast] rebuilding would be, how much more could be spent to improve public education, insure the 43 million Americans without health insurance, ad nauseum. Great legacy you’re leaving, George.

National Security budget priorities.  Chart from The National Priorities Project.


Tpm TPM Muckraker: 'Prosecution: Siegleman Obstructing Justice From His Cell' - Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) has already been convicted of a crime, and he and his co-defendant are in jail pending an appeal of their convictions. But according to a prosecutor on the case, Siegelman's efforts at getting his conviction overturned have crossed the line into obstruction of justice.

Speaking during a hearing for former Siegelman aide Nick Bailey, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Feaga said Siegelman and Scrushy had been doing things from behind bars to "manipulate events" - acts that could be considered a crime.


Huffpo The Huffington Post: 'UPDATED: Carlson claimed that after incident in a public bathroom, he assaulted the man who "bothered" him' - On the August 28 edition of MSBNC Live, hosted by MSNBC general manager Dan Abrams, Tucker Carlson, host of MSNBC's Tucker, asserted, "Having sex in a public men's room is outrageous. It's also really common. I've been bothered in men's rooms." Carlson continued, "I've been bothered in Georgetown Park," in Washington, D.C., "when I was in high school." When Abrams asked how Carlson responded to being "bothered," Carlson asserted, "I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and ... hit him against the stall with his head, actually." Read on...With VIDEO

My Comment: I'd like to know Carlson's definition of "bothered", is it "coming on to you", or "grabbing you" ? In my opinion, if you assault someone for "hitting" on you, that's just "bashing"


Think_progress Think Progress: 'White House Preparing Strategy To 'Water Down' Pessimistic Reports From Iraq' -  The Washington Post reports that a draft version of the Government Accountability Office’s upcoming report on Iraq will deliver a “strikingly negative” assessment of the situation in Iraq. The report contradicts the administration’s claim that sectarian violence is decreasing, stating that “the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged.”

The leaked draft version of the report was sent to the Post by an individual who was concerned the White House may try to “water down” its conclusions. The concern comes on the heels of a report that Gen. David Petraeus “softened” the judgments of the recent National Intelligence Assessment on Iraq and comments by Rep. Tom Davis that the White House would probably “tweak” the “Petraeus report.” The Post explains: Read on...


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