Riza's Iraq Trip NOT A Boondoggle

Appearing at The Blogging Curmudgeon, My Left Wing, and the Independent Bloggers' Alliance. A Pentagon panel has cleared Paul Wolfowitz in its investigation of his involvement in his girlfriend's Iraq junket. Paul Wolfowitz, while serving as deputy secretary of defense, personally recommended that his companion, Shaha Ali Riza, be awarded a contract for travel to Iraq in 2003 to advise on setting up a new government, says a previously undisclosed inquiry by the Pentagon's inspector general. The inquiry, as described by a senior Pentagon official, concluded that there was no wrongdoing in Wolfowitz's role in the hiring of Riza by the Science Applications International Corporation, a Pentagon contractor, because Riza had the expertise required to advise on the role of women in Islamic countries. The investigators also found that Wolfowitz, now president of the World Bank, had not exerted improper influence in Riza's hiring. Earlier this week, Science Applications International said an unidentified Defense Department official had directed that she be hired. She had been a World Bank employee for five years at the time. That Wolfowitz's girlfriend was hired by DOD contractor SAIC to go to Iraq was reported in the New York Times earlier this week. The Defense Department directed a private contractor in 2003 to hire Shaha Ali Riza, a World Bank employee and the companion of Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense, to spend a month studying issues related to setting up a new government in Iraq, the contractor said Monday. The contractor, Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC, said that it had been directed to hire Ms. Riza by the office of the under secretary for policy. The head of that office at the time was Douglas J. Feith, who reported to Mr. Wolfowitz. After her trip to Iraq, Ms. Riza briefed members of the executive board of the World Bank on efforts to rebuild after the American invasion and specifically on the status of Iraqi women, according to Ms. Riza’s supervisor at the time. As was the fact that the assignment took her well outside of her World Bank job's purview. It was not clear why the Pentagon specifically asked for Ms. Riza to travel to Iraq. At the time, however, the World Bank did not have a relationship with Iraq. Normal bank rules do not allow the bank to provide economic assistance to an area under military occupation. Ms. Riza’s trip raised concerns among some bank officials, who said they did not know under whose auspices she had traveled to Iraq at a time when it was against bank policy for its officials to go there. Bank officials said, however, that after the ouster of Mr. Hussein, the Bush administration tried to get the bank to help assist in the redevelopment of Iraq and that it was trying to involve the United Nations in the occupation to provide a rationale for the bank’s assistance. The irony is just a tad hard to miss. This maneuver issued from the same neoconservative cabal that moved heaven and earth to destroy Ambassador Paul Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame Wilson because of supposed nepotism. But then, Wilson's findings in Niger discredited a key element in their plan for war in Iraq. Time magazine's Matthew Cooper has written that he was told by Karl Rove on July 11 "don't get too far out on Wilson" because information was going to be declassified soon that would cast doubt on Wilson's mission and findings. Cooper also wrote that Rove told him that Wilson's wife worked for the agency on weapons of mass destruction and that "she was responsible for sending Wilson." This Washington Post reporter spoke the next day to an administration official, who talked on the condition of anonymity, and was told in substance "that the White House had not paid attention to the former ambassador's CIA-sponsored trip to Niger because it was set up as a boondoggle by his wife, an analyst with the agency working on weapons of mass destruction," as reported in an Oct. 14 article. Of course the nepotistic boondoggle charge was as false as the rest of the case for war. Over the past months, however, the CIA has maintained that Wilson was chosen for the trip by senior officials in the Directorate of Operations counterproliferation division (CPD) -- not by his wife -- largely because he had handled a similar agency inquiry in Niger in 1999. On that trip, Plame, who worked in that division, had suggested him because he was planning to go there, according to Wilson and the Senate committee report. The 2002 mission grew out of a request by Vice President Cheney on Feb. 12 for more information about a Defense Intelligence Agency report he had received that day, according to a 2004 report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. An aide to Cheney would later say he did not realize at the time that this request would generate such a trip. Wilson maintains that his wife was asked that day by one of her bosses to write a memo about his credentials for the mission--after they had selected him. That memo apparently was included in a cable to officials in Africa seeking concurrence with the choice of Wilson, the Senate report said. So if you're trying to keep up with the logic here, it's pretty simple. Fact finding missions that advance the Administration's aims are good, even if they are recommended by the paramours of those who undertake them. Fact finding missions that disprove the Administration's assertions are bad, even when they come at the behest of officials other than the spouses of those who undertake them. So bad that the White House feels fully justified in assassinating the character of both husband and wife, ruining the wife's career, and undermining the CIA's efforts to track WMD. It comes down to priorities. Indeed, the White House continues to affirm its support of Mr. Wolfowitz, in spite of nepotistic machinations that have resulted in a massive job promotion and, it appears, the highly unusual action of granting security clearance to a foreign national, who holds no other such classification. Riza, who is not a U.S. citizen, had to receive a security clearance in order to work at the State Department. Who intervened? It is not unusual to have British or French midlevel officers at the department on exchange programs, but they receive security clearances based on the clearances they already have with their host governments. Granting a foreign national who is detailed from an international organization a security clearance, however, is extraordinary, even unprecedented. So how could this clearance have been granted? State Department officials familiar with the details of this matter confirmed to me that Shaha Ali Riza was detailed to the State Department and had unescorted access while working for Elizabeth Cheney. Access to the building requires a national security clearance or permanent escort by a person with such a clearance. But the State Department has no record of having issued a national security clearance to Riza. As of this writing, Wolfowitz still has his World Bank job. That may change as the World Bank's board expands its investigation of Wolfowitz to include the hiring and contracts of his closest advisers. Apparently he's surrounded himself with Bush Administration insiders. Did I mention that the position Wolfowitz finagled for his lady love reports to the Vice President's daughter? I've said it before. I'll say it again. It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

Take back the Knut

The things I miss when I'm at work during the day. Demetrius posted this story in the comments to this thread at Howard-Empowered People yesterday Berlin's polar bear cub Knut receives death threat BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's celebrity polar bear cub Knut has received an anonymous death threat, causing alarm at Berlin Zoo on Thursday and prompting heightened security. Top-selling Bild newspaper said the zoo had received a hand-written fax from a suspected animal hater with the words: "Knut is dead! Thursday midday." ...to which Markos replied "If you're going to be an adorable baby bear in a zoo you should expect this kind of thing. Knut should just toughen up..." ;) That's a funny guy I married. And he was a sweetie to design this logo for the upcoming blogswarm.

Log Cabin Polar Bears

Gonzo

Wow. Poor Alberto’s performance was pretty ghastly, wasn’t it? The great American humorist Will Rogers once said, “Hey, stupidity got us into this mess, why can’t it get us out?” I don’t know, maybe the overwhelmed and under-prepared Attorney General thought that playing dumb would work. Why not? It got him the job in the first place, didn’t it? Which probably explains why the creepy little toad looked so confused when his angry, hard-eyed inquisitors weren’t putting up with his lies, half-truths, amnesia, and limp denials this time. They didn’t want to hear his bullshit. “Jesus,” I thought to myself when it was finally, mercifully, over. “This punk almost got elected to the Supreme Court.” Man, talk about dodging a bullet. But then, Alito and Roberts make up for it, huh?

Gonzales Caliente Tequila!

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SCOTUS: We Need More Dead Baby Jokes

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Why is anybody surprised?

I know it's not polite to say "I told you so," but is it okay to say "I drew you so"? CLICK FOR MORE Really, did anybody not know this was coming? We knew who Alito was when he was nominated. Yes, we were threatened with the "nuclear option," but was that ever more than just a threat? And if it was, what would have changed? Either way, we get Alito. Failing to use the filibuster under threat is the very same thing as not having it at all. And really, do you think the Republicans were willing to risk a filibuster-proof President Clinton, or Obama, or Gore? CLICK FOR MORE So we just decided to "keep our powder dry," for the next fight, as if we weren't right smack in the midst of the single biggest abortion fight we would ever see. Would we have lost? Perhaps, but at least there would have been no question who was responsible. Now, instead, we see craven cowards berating the very Court they helped, through inaction, to create. CLICK FOR MORE Why did we accept nomination hearings in which the nominee said absolutely nothing? Why didn't anybody stand up and say "answer the damned question, Judge, just answer the damned question?!" CLICK FOR MORE So here we are, working our way backward to where we started, lo so many years ago. Women will die because the Supreme Court elected Bush. Women will die because of 9/11. Women will die because Democrats had to wait in line for hours in Ohio. And women will die because our own Democratic Senators refused to fight the fight, assuring themselves that we would have lots of lovely dry powder to turn over to the victorious Republicans at the end of the war. CLICK FOR MORE

Markos, you're fired

I guess it all depends on what you consider to be "obscene". I'm not overly fond of "f-bombs", and tend to use them sparingly, if at all. But I'm less fond of hypocrisy, double standards, and community rules that are applied idiosyncratically. Today, Maryscott O'Connor posted a response to the Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban on so-called "Partial Birth Abortions". It was filled with righteous outrage, and, yes, there was that f-word in the title. As discussed in the post I just linked, and in this follow-up, there is no stated *rule* at Daily Kos that profanity in diary titles is forbidden, only that it is "strongly discouraged". Markos changed the title of Maryscott's diary and removed it from the recommended list, even though well over 200 community members had recommended it. Just enforcing the rules he's set for his blog? Hardly. Or at least, hardly in any sort of consistent, unbiased manner. Stormbear found plenty of evidence of diaries with that same offending word that were posted in the past year. But I don't need to delve into all of that, as a number of people already have that covered. I will say that, in my humble opinion, this is a pretty clear example of some misplaced priorities. "Naughty words" in diary titles are a big deal, but death and rape threats against a females tech blogger can be dismissed as not worthy of your serious consideration? Not worthy of *any* effort on your part to discuss what positive steps you *would* be willing to support? Now, to me, *that* is pretty darn obscene. This all came on the heels of Don Imus being fired for his racist, sexist remarks, and somebody (sorry, I can't remember who, or where) said it was too bad we couldn't fire Markos. Guess that *would* be hard to do, since we never actually "hired" him. But, be that as it may, I've seen him and his site quoted by lazy reporters as "the view from the left". So, even though I never consented to "hiring" him as our spokesperson, I hereby announce that I am (symbolically) firing him. Representatives of the media, and Democrats seeking to do legitimate "netroots outreach", kindly take notice.

Mainstream media is STILL ignoring positive stories coming from Iraq!!!

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Online Abuse Gender Gap

As I was just commenting here, I'm working some overtime hours this week and won't have as much time for posting. But I thought this comment by Hardheaded Liberal at My Left Wing was a good one, and worth a quick front-paging before I go: Markos probably has heard and accepts that rape, like domestic violence, is about power and domination over women (or vulnerable men in prisons). But in any event he doesn't understand that threats of violence have the same function of "keeping women in their place" and supercharging the belief of the bully (online or other) that he has a "natural right" to do whatever he wants to to keep any woman "in her place." A lot of education is needed for some progressive bloggers, but those of us who understand the reality should be polite to progressives who still have a lot to learn. Let Markos apologize if he realizes that he should, but let him figure that out himself -- after he has seen the arguments as well as the rants and rhetoric. The Ku Klux Klan found that threats of violence were very effective in depriving the freedmen of the franchise after the Army was largely withdrawn from occupying the Old Confederate States after the Hayes-Tilden election in 1876. And when threats didn't do the job, the KKK simply burned out the families of local African-American leaders (killing entire families) and/or lynched the leaders. Online threats, cyber-stalking, physical stalking, domestic abuse, are all forms of violence against women. And these forms of violence have the same purpose as the suppression of freedmen and the suppression of conflicting groups in Iraq -- that is, to establish hierarchy, here to render women subordinate and vulnerable. Markos is just one of many males who does not recognize clearly enough (if at all), the huge gender gap between women and men in perception of sexual harassment and sexual abuse. It is similar to the huge gap between African-Americans and all other ethnic communities in perception of the state of race relations at any point in time: Many surveys I have seen over the years show that, e.g., when 80% of whites think race relations are good, roughly 80% of African-Americans will report that race relations are poor. I've been a civil rights lawyer for 35 years. But it has only been in the last 15 years, when sexual harassment cases have became a major feature of employment law/civil rights law practice, that I have seen example after example of predatory males (bullies all) demeaning the women they work with in every conceivable way. Markos also is apparently not aware of how many women become hyper-vulnerable in childhood or adolescence. Molestation, incest, step-father rape, and other sexual abuse drives large numbers of young women into the world pursued by demons of guilt, shame and self-hatred because they have been victimized by sexual abuse. Just as many African-Americans were cowed into subservience by all the social constraints of America's proto-apartheid, large numbers of women live on a narrow edge between confidence/self- respect and impotence/self-blame. It does not take an immediate threat to their persons to push them over the edge onto the side of impotence.

Working to Halt Online Abuse

I was thinking of the whole issue of online abuse and harassment this morning as I was scrambling to leave for work on time. And I had this "Aha!" moment--or maybe more accurately a "Duh!" moment. Took a lot of self control to head out the door rather than tossing up a post before I left. It amazes me that anyone who is a self-proclaimed "gate-crasher" would have a thought process so limited and lacking in creativity that he sees this as a choice between adopting an onerous blogger code of conduct and dismissing the issue entirely. People will likely remind me that said gate-crasher has a new baby and he's operating under sleep deprivation conditions. Fair enough. But the question would then be, what excuse do all of his supporters--both the vocal ones and the ones who simply remained silent on this issue--have for not asking the question, "If we agree that the Blogger Code of Conduct is not a good idea, what other ideas can we come up with?" Anyway, as I was grabbing my jacket and tripping over pets this morning, I thought about the fact that many blogs have a publicly displayed Privacy Policy. (I've even seen one in orange.) I think it is the least one could do to have a publicly displayed Anti-Harassment Policy. It could be as simple or as detailed as the blog owner desires. But I think it is completely reasonable, for starters, to expect that the posting of *death threats* on a blog would not be allowed. And, if such threats were somehow posted, the blog owner(s) would remove the threatening material as quickly as possible. Click the graphic below to visit Working to Halt Online Abuse, a volunteer organization that was founded in 1997 to fight online harassment through education of the general public, education of law enforcement personnel, and empowerment of victims.

Virginia Tech - Baghdad Annex

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A lot of kids need their REAL daddies and mommies to come home

I just saw this at Crooks and Liars: The troops want to “finish the job”? Apparently that's what Bush said in a speech today. Steve at C&L adds: ...last week, once soldiers started hearing about Bush extending their tours, there were “outbursts of anger and frustration laced with dark humor.” Specialist Rodney Lawson, to no one in particular, said, “If I get malaria, I get to leave, right?” Earlier today, I saw an essay in the Columbus Dispatch (originally from the New York Times News Service) entitled Flat Daddy leaves mommy deflated. Alison Buckholtz, the wife of a Navy pilot and mother of two small children shared her thoughts on having a "Flat Daddy"--a life-size cutout of her husband's likeness--in her home. ...He was a fake husband whose frozen cheerful expression -- the same dimpled grin I'd fallen for on a steamy August evening at a cafe in Washington -- gave me no comfort. He only reminded me of what I was missing. But Ethan and Esther loved hanging out with Flat Daddy, so I couldn't take him out of their lives. Instead, whenever I needed a reprieve, I'd put him in the upstairs office, where they never went, and then I'd feel guilty and immediately return him to the family room. One morning, we headed off to my son's preschool, where that day another 4-year-old was giving a presentation about his dad, who was stationed in Iraq for the year. But Ethan refused to enter the room, crying hysterically and clinging to me as I tried to leave. When the teacher explained to him that the little boy was going to talk about his daddy because he missed him, Ethan started screaming, "But I miss my daddy!" I offered to go home to get Flat Daddy. My son looked at me as if I had lost my mind, then burst into a fresh round of crying: "Flat Daddy's not real" was all he could say. Flat Daddy was no substitute for an ongoing conversation about how real Daddy's absences were affecting us. Watching my son come unglued forced me to see that Flat Daddy wasn't fooling anyone. Ms. Buckholtz goes on to say that she admires the creativity and generosity of the people who are offering Flat Daddies (and Mommies) to the families of those serving in the military overseas, but "it's all in how it works for each family". She came to realize that, for her own family, a better solution was to tuck Flat Daddy away in a corner of the guest room, and spend more time talking with the kids about how real Daddy's absences were affecting them. I can't help but think that I'd like to see Flat Daddies and Mommies sent to the people who are pushing to continue this war. I want them to have to look at those faces every day, and be reminded that they are actual human beings who are being kept from their families, and who are missing important milestones as their children grow up.

Michael Moore to GOP: "Did Ya Miss Me?"

Cross-posted at Diatribune, My Left Wing and BlueSunbelt Heeee's baccckkkk! Yep, it’s time, folks. In fact, it’s past time, in my humble opinion. Just when everyone could use a little break from all the perennial lies, obfuscation and hypocrisy doled out from the White House and their agents of doom, everyone’s favorite flaming liberal, (and super-scourge of the Bush administration) Michael Moore, is set to release his new film, “Sicko” at the Cannes Film Festival next month. Theatregoers and DVD buyers everywhere, don’t let the sophomoric title fool you. After two-years in the making, “Sicko” promises to be every bit as provocative -- every bit as real -- every bit as offensive to the rapture-seeking/conservative/fundamentalist/fascist wannabe Republicans and their benefactors as was Moore’s 2004 unexpected mega-hit, “Fahrenheit 9-11,” the biggest moneymaker of all time for a documentary film. This time, however, instead of taking on the Bush administration head on, Moore takes aim at some of its biggest enablers, namely, HMO’s and big drug companies. In what the New York Post deems a “stunt,” Moore takes ailing Ground Zero responders from New York to Cuba to show Castro’s socialized medicine is superior to the U.S. health-care system. I happened to come across this article in Sunday’s New York Post. Being of the progressive persuasion, the Post’s not one of my regular reads, but I do enjoy an occasional dose of sheer rightwing tomfoolery, and for that, the NYP is all too culpable. (where do these people come from anyway?) But the sick sojourn, which some say uses ill 9/11 workers as pawns, has angered many in the responder community. "He's using people that are in a bad situation and that's wrong, that's morally wrong," railed Jeff Endean, a former SWAT commander from Morris County, N.J., who spent a month at Ground Zero and suffers from respiratory problems. A spokeswoman for the Weinstein Co., the film's distributor, would not say when the director's latest expose would hit cinemas or provide details about the film or the trip. Responders were told Cuban doctors had developed new techniques for treating lung cancer and other respiratory illness, and that health care in the communist country was free, according to those offered the two-week February trip. Ok, let’s review. Michael Moore offers to give a group of New Yorkers -- suffering for years from cancer and various respiratory maladies and are experiencing little or no relief from their own government -- a two-week, all expense paid trip to Cuba in search of decent, low cost health-care, and rightwing news rags like the New York Post try to make it sound like some kind of an overblown publicity stunt. Is there anything these guys won’t try to spin into anti-left rhetoric? Apparently, Castro’s Cuba has made great strides in the advancement of biotechnology, and has recently started to export its cancer treatments to 40-countries around the world. As a result, according to the AP, even the anti-Castro U.S. government granted an exception to its economic embargo against Cuba, allowing a California drug company to test three cancer vaccines developed in Havana, in 2004. Of course, the Post just had to head out to the streets of the big apple and find ill 9-11 workers who rejected Moore’s offer. Regardless, some ill 9/11 workers balked at Moore's idea. "I would rather die in America than go to Cuba," said Joe Picurro, a Toms River, N.J., ironworker approached by the filmmaker via an e-mail that read, "Joe and Mike in Cuba." After helping remove debris from Ground Zero, Picurro has a laundry list of respiratory and other ailments so bad that he relies on fund-raisers to help pay his expenses. He said, "I just laughed. I couldn't do it." Another ill worker who said he was willing to take the trip ended up being stiffed by Moore. “Stiffed by Moore? Yeah right, I bet that’s just how it all went down. I almost believe it… NOT! Again, I ask: where do these guys come from? And, I say this to Michael Moore: “Rock on, Michael! Keep on exposing the lies, hypocrisy and greed of this administration and their corporate cronies.” As for “Sicko,” so far, the Weinstein’s, distributors of the film, are hush-hush about the U.S. release date for the film. I’ll admit I don’t know much about it and I’ll wait for the movie before I pass judgment on Cuba’s social medicine program, but in case you’re looking for more information, here’s a few links: Wikipedia Runet.edu Answers.com Peace

Today's Talking Points

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Words

It was the slur heard 'round the world. No, Don Imus didn't say the N-word, but he didn't have to. Most of us who aren't members of his neo-Nazi, White Supremacist Sons of the KKK fan club knew what the nasty old fossil and his idiot sidekicks really meant to say. "Nappy-headed hos" and "Jigaboos" are just nicknames. Surprisingly, Don Imus was fired for his verbal assault on the Rutgers women's basketball team, as sponsors fled from his program like cockroaches when a light is turned on. Not so surprisingly, we're already hearing heartfelt testimonials from the shock jock's apologists, pleading for us to show forgiveness. Uh-uh. No, not this time. I'm tired of cowards with a microphone hiding behind the First Amendment. This wasn't a fearless trailblazer like Lenny Bruce who was harassed, arrested, and finally banned from performing in public. This wasn't the controversial Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour being cancelled by CBS. This wasn't the subversive Bill Hicks being censored by David Letterman. This wasn't a joke, this was a mugging. Whenever I hear a stupid white man vomit the word "nigger", or any other racist slur, it feels as though a dirty-fingered bum with a bad cold has suddenly grabbed me like a napkin and blown his nose. I still hate the word, and I hate the smug white sons of bitches who casually delude themselves into thinking they have a right to use it. You don't. Yeah, I'll admit that you're exercising your freedom of speech. Legally, you're entitled to that. Morally, however, as an African-American male, I feel that you're exploiting your white male privilege. That's not "freedom"; that's acting out a mental disorder you inherited from your ancestors who imprisoned hundreds of thousands of innocent Africans centuries ago and brought them here. But you don't own that word anymore, because you don't own me anymore. Believe me, African-Americans know what happens when white people forget we're human beings and treat us like we're their property: Although Martin Luther King is an American icon today, I'm old enough to remember when the great civil rights leader was vilified, tossed in jailed, spied upon by the FBI, and assassinated because he was a nigger. I remember Clifford Grover, Eleanor Bumpers, Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Michael Stewart, Abner Louima, Sean Bell, and all of the other human targets who found themselves on the wrong end of a cop's billy club or "warning shots," and were brutalized and killed because they were niggers. I remember the men, women, and children of New Orleans who, after Katrina had cruelly taken away everything they ever knew, drowned or slowly starved to death in front of the whole world, because they were niggers. Uh-uh, "nigger", "nappy-headed hos" and "jigaboos" aren't just words in the African-American community, It's a burglar alarm. It's telling me that somebody who hates me is knocking down my front door. That old saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is a dangerous fallacy. When I hear the word "nigger," I know the damned sticks and stones are gonna be close behind, followed by an angry mob armed with nooses, knives, brass knuckles, baseball bats, guns, and a search warrant. Remember Cabaret, the brilliant Oscar-winning musical by Bob Fosse? The Kit Kat Klub, a sleazy cabaret in Berlin during the 1930s, is used by Fosse as a grim mirror to reflect the gradual corruption of Germany before World War II. As the Nazi Party grew in power, the "comedy" routines on stage became more viciously anti-Semitic. And I'd bet you money there were "good" Germans who didn't think it was a big deal. What's the matter, you don't have a sense of humor? Whenever an ugly racist slur turns into a punchline, look out. Not only isn't it funny--it's deadly.

Oooh--pretty!

I linked to a page of fractal images after visiting one of BBspot's Daily Links to see Windows Splash Screens from 1.01 to Vista. And that turned out to be *exactly* as interesting as it sounds, but on one of those pages there was a thumbnail link to the fractal image pages. And some of those are quite pretty. Enjoy.

This would be funny if we had sane foreign policy.

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Toys

Books are still my favorite toys. It makes it easy for people when it’s my birthday or those other special occasions when I get free stuff. Other than CDs or DVDs, you want to make me smile? Give me a book. So, of course, whenever I go to somebody’s place for the first time, I automatically steer myself towards their playground, and take a look at what toys they have. This time, however, thanks to this clever video I discovered, this gentleman has brought his playground to me. Think of it as an online Toys ‘R’ Us store for bookworms. Let’s play.