Another right wing blog swarm

How can they write blogs when they're obviously too stupid to breathe? Glenn reports on the latest attack - on Larry Johnson this time.

First the Ex-Generals - Now the Soldiers

Many in the military recognize the debacle in Iraq for what it is. However, because they're aware of the consequences of speaking out while on active duty, we've only been hearing open criticism from retired officers. Now a brave soul, an Army private in Bagdad, tells it like it is in a graphic and touching memo from the front.

Now I am still here in this country wondering why, and having to pick up the pieces of what is left of my friend in our room. I would just like to know what is the true reason we are here? This country poses no threat to our own. So why must we waste the lives of good men on a country that does not give a damn about itself? Most of my friends here share my views, but do not have the courage to say anything.

Read the whole thing - and let's hope that this soldier isn't the last to speak out and that Americans will be just as brave in supporting his right to speak truth to power. Perhaps Private Hudson will even stiffen the backbone of our Congress critters. You might consider sending yours a link to this essay!

No big surprise here.

Mentioned earlier that Riverbend of Bagdad Burning blog had finally thrown in the towel and was leaving Iraq - something a lot of folks are doing if they have the means to get out. That includes physicians. So what is the government doing? "Iraq Reimposes Freeze on Medical Diplomas In Bid to Keep Doctors From Fleeing Abroad." Yup, the same thing Hussein did to keep MD's in tow. Yet another sign of progress for the American occupation.

Hussein built a fine medical system in part by withholding doctors' passports and diplomas. Although physicians can work in Iraq with a letter from a medical school verifying their graduation, they say they need certificates and transcripts to work abroad.

It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were better before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Electricity in Baghdad was more reliable; sectarian hostility was rare; Iraq was safe -- except for the many victims of Hussein's tyranny. But rarely has the government embraced a policy that so harshly evokes the era of dictatorship. To some students and doctors, the diploma decision, like Iraq's crumbling medical system, provides clear proof of the government's helplessness and the nation's decline.
[---]
The Iraqi Medical Association, with which all physicians must register to practice, estimates that at least one-third of the country's 40,000 or so doctors have fled to Jordan, Syria and other countries.
[---]
Only about 25 percent of students are able to attend classes daily, Araji said. The rest, kept away by explosions and gunfire and roadblocks, use lecture notes to study at home and show up only for exams.
[---]
"Let's put it right: What was happening in Saddam's time was better than what is happening now," said the official, who said he did not want his name published out of fear for his life. "There was order. There was discipline. This we are losing."

But not to worry - GW's surge will take care of this little problem.

Breaking our military

A disturbing report from AFP.

A mental health advisory committee conducted a study of almost 1,800 combat troops stationed in Iraq and found mental health and morale problems - worse among those with lengthened deployments and repeated deployments to Iraq. Although the study was completed in November, it wasn't released until now (in censored form) and only because some of the contents had been leaked.

Among the findings:

-- About 10 percent of soldiers surveyed reported mistreating non-combatants or damaging their property when it was not necessary;
-- Less than half of the soldiers and marines would report a team member for unethical behavior;
-- More than a third of all soldiers and marines reported that torture should be allowed to save the life of a fellow soldier or marine.

Morale among soldiers was worse than Marines who have shorter deployments (6 months). The team recommended shorter deployments and longer periods between deployments. Obviously, the Pentagon isn't listening. Interesting, too, that this report came from a foreign news service. Time for the blogosphere to push it to Congress and into the MSM.

Supporting our troops doesn't = pushing them to the breaking point, destroying character, or instilling guilt and shame by normalizing behavior and thinking that's far less likely to occur in benign environment. The prevalence of PTSD tells the story.

The Great Republican Debate

Well, it’s over. The Republicans and their groveling fan, Tweetie, have done their testosterone-laced thing. And what a sorry state the GOP is in if this is the best they can produce. The star of the evening (drum-roll)…. Ronald Reagan. Wonder if having to resurrect the dead president to establish credibility (forget Iran-contra!) bodes well for their future.

Tommy Thompson looked and sounded like he’d just rolled out of bed; Brownback had a very weird aura; McCain, backing off a bit from his war mongering, seemed worn out and over the hill; and Giuliani’s contortions to explain his unpopular positions made him seem not ready for prime time. Gilmore and Huckabee looked reasonable in comparison.

And then there was the "star" of the evening: facile, smooth articulate, Ken doll, Mitt Romney. Whoever said he’d make a good news anchor had it about right. Made me a bit sad when I thought about his straight-talking, shoot-from-the-hip Dad. But then again, maybe the Boston Globe's Swidey was right and Mitt overshoots a bit in trying to avoid George Romney’s mistakes.

The most heartening news from the debate? Only three of them don’t believe in evolution!

Thinking about who won in the end, decided I’d have to pick (half in jest) a guy I didn’t know too well before – Ron Paul. Looking around this morning, seems my quirky pick was a popular one. Who woulda thunk it? The supposedly “crazy” one seemed the sanest on the stage. Guess when a Goldwater GOP’er looks good, that says it all.

Follow-up on attempted bombing of women's clinic

"There's terrorism and then there's terrorism." called attention to the attempted bombing of an Austin women's health clinic that performed abortions. A man has now been charged with the crime and moiv presents an insider's look at the cultural context in which it occurred. My sense is that there's little general understanding of how some "culture of life" proponents contribute to a culture of death and destruction (in addition to supporting wars and the death penalty).

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED DAY!

Atrios looks back.

E&P has more of the retrospective on the NYT coverage.

And the Report Card.

Gonzogate gets worse and worse

Seems as though the firing of US Attorneys for apparently political reasons was just the tip of the iceberg. Now we learn that, in March 2006, Gonzales gave authority to two young and inexperienced aides, Sampson and Goodling, to hire and fire most non-civil service staff in the DOJ. The secret order was neither filed in the Federal Register nor included in the documents provided to the House and Senate committees investigating the firing of the US Attorneys. Murray Waas has the story.

The existence of the order suggests that a broad effort was under way by the White House to place politically and ideologically loyal appointees throughout the Justice Department, not just at the U.S.-attorney level. Department records show that the personnel authority was delegated to the two aides at about the same time they were working with the White House in planning the firings of a dozen U.S. attorneys, eight of whom were, in fact, later dismissed.
[...]
The roles that Sampson and Goodling played in removing U.S. attorneys and selecting new ones drew fire from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who cited their youth, their scant prosecutorial experience, and their lack of law enforcement credentials. Goodling was a 1999 graduate of televangelist Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law and had worked at the Republican National Committee as an opposition researcher. Sampson had tried one criminal case while at Justice and had worked as a counsel for Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and then for the White House counsel's office before rapidly ascending to become Gonzales's chief of staff.
[...]
Robert Litt, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general under former President Bill Clinton, said in an interview that during the Clinton presidency "it was routine that senior appointments in the department would be vetted by the White House. Appointees were often placed by the White House." Such a process is typical under most presidents, Litt said, because they "want to ensure that their administration's policies and priorities are carried out."

But Litt also called Gonzales's secret delegation of authority to Sampson and Goodling unprecedented. It was distressing, he said, that many of the most sensitive appointments at the highest levels of the Justice Department were to "be made by these two people with no law enforcement experience... that this extraordinary authority was being delegated to these two young puppies," and apparently without much input by more-experienced and less-partisan officials.
[...]
At the bottom of the delegation order, this note appeared, in all capital letters, referencing the Federal Register: "INTERNAL ORDER-NOT PUBLISHED IN F.R."

There's lots more in the Waas piece.

How refreshing to find that the Senate Judiciary chair, Patrick Leahy, is on top of things. The chutzpah of this administration has been astounding. But then, with their dreams of a permanent Republican majority and a rubber stamp Congress, guess they never expected to have any oversight.