Category: News

Long, long ago I first heard the song “What’s my mission now? Fight the Devil!” by Gary Clail’s Tackhead Sound System. It was written in the 1980s but it seems to get more relevant every day.

There’s an extended sample in that song of a guy talking, some military brass describing an interview with some political types:

We can’t do this, and we can’t do that, and we can’t do that, and finally one of them stood up and said, “Well, what the hell CAN you do?”

The answer to that is, “Well, we can kill people and destroy things in the name of the United States.” [laughter] My God, you can’t say that. But that’s what we do! [more laughter] And if you don’t want that done, don’t send in the military.

Don’t send in the military and say, ‘Oh, my God, you hurt someone!” Of course we did. That’s what you sent us there to do.

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century…

( MSNBC: ) Two units that were not involved in Friday’s fighting advanced on the mosque, one moving around the back and the second, accompanied by Sites, from the front. Sites said he could hear gunfire from inside.

Sites was present when a lieutenant from one of the units asked a Marine what had happened inside the mosque. The Marine replied that there were people inside.

“Did you shoot them?� the lieutenant asked.

“Roger that, sir,� the second Marine replied.

“Were they armed?� the lieutenant asked.

The second Marine shrugged in reply.

Sites saw the five wounded men left behind on Friday still in the mosque. Four of them had been shot again, apparently by members of the squad that entered the mosque moments earlier. One appeared to be dead, and the three others were severely wounded. The fifth man was lying under a blanket, apparently not having been shot a second time.

One of the Marines noticed that one of the severely wounded men was still breathing. He did not appear to be armed, Sites said.

The Marine could be heard insisting: “He’s f—ing faking he’s dead — he’s faking he’s f—ing dead.â€? Sites then watched as the Marine raised his rifle and fired into the man’s head from point-blank range.

“Well, he’s dead now,� another Marine said.

When told that the man he shot was a wounded prisoner, the Marine, who himself had been shot in the face the day before but had already returned to duty, told Sites: “I didn’t know, sir. I didn’t know.�

That’s what we do. And if you don’t want that done, don’t send in the military.

Times Online – Sunday Times

AN executive jet is being used by the American intelligence agencies to fly terrorist suspects to countries that routinely use torture in their prisons.

The movements of the Gulfstream 5 leased by agents from the United States defence department and the CIA are detailed in confidential logs obtained by The Sunday Times which cover more than 300 flights.

Countries with poor human rights records to which the Americans have delivered prisoners include Egypt, Syria and Uzbekistan, according to the files. The logs have prompted allegations from critics that the agency is using such regimes to carry out “torture by proxy” — a charge denied by the American government.

Remember, the CIA is too liberal for this President. He’s cool with torture — just appointed the torture apologist to head the Increasingly Ironically Named Department of Justice — but you have to torture suspects and come up with answers which do not embarrass him if you want to remain in his good graces.

Does this make anyone else all queasy?

Newsday:

WASHINGTON — The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss,
to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President
George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the
conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to
knowledgeable sources.

“The agency is being purged on instructions from the White House,” said a
former senior CIA official who maintains close ties to both the agency and to
the White House. “Goss was given instructions … to get rid of those soft
leakers and liberal Democrats. The CIA is looked on by the White House as a
hotbed of liberals and people who have been obstructing the president’s
agenda.”

The biggest noise up till this point has been about magical Bush-vote inflation in Jeb-land — Florida. But apparently in Ohio one of the last counties to report, which clinched the Bush vote, counted its votes in secret (which is highly irregular) on the basis of bogus terrorism concerns.

Awesome video account of this and other Ohio problems on MSNBC, video courtesy of duffyb at mac.com.

Very worth your while. Quicktime.

Words like “tampered with” and “cover-up” come up a lot.

Also a really accessible guide to the Florida irregularities.

And Nader is championing a recount! GO NADER! GO NADER! GO NADER!

Also a story about the Congressmen (incluing John Conyers, D-MI) championing an investigation by the GAO.