I was planning to go with one recipe today but ended up deciding to go with another when I checked the e-mails. Ginger wrote this morning. She asked what to do when your garden problem was that you were overrun with eggplants? (Be thankful, for starters.) She listed all the recipes she knew for eggplants and was looking for one that was quick on baking or stirring time.
I love eggplant. I love it baked, I love it stuffed. I've used it as a meat substitute in recipes and used it along with meat in some recipes over the years. But she's also got a lot of onions in her garden. (I e-mailed back wondering where she lives? I'm assuming in the south or southwest judging by the top five producers in her garden.)
So I'm going to share a recipe that I make for myself from time to time. It's easy and nothing to worry over.
You're going to cut the ends of the egg plant off and remove the skin. (I use a knife but I have an aunt whom I'll assume is more devoted to egg plant than even I am -- she uses a potato peeler to remove the skin.) Then slice it into cubes. Place the cubes in a skillet with olive oil, stir around to coat the cubes evenly and let set while you chop up one onion (you can also slice the oinion if you'd prefer a different texture). You can then chop up two tomatoes on a cutting board or open a 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes.
Turn the stove burner on to a low-medium heat. Stir the egg plant for approximately 3 minutes. Add the onions and the tomatoes with juice. Stir a few times while allowing it to cook for five minutes. Add some fresh pepper and stir (salt if you'd like). Serve hot (and with some shredded cheese on top if you'd like).
For an egg plant recipe, that's very easy and the only thing I didn't see listed by Ginger. You can use diced tomatoes in a can with various spices (canned with the spices) or you can add some of your own spices. (Oregeno is one I enjoy.) It's quick and easy (and Ginger, I also e-mailed you a pickling recipe because I know you aren't going to be able to cook or give away all the egg plant your garden's producing).
I love all the e-mails but my favorite in 2006 was from a family member of a war resister. When I read that (and it went to my "junk" folder so I was about a week late in reading it), I had several thoughts. My first thought was, I do not do as much to note war resisters as I should. I strongly support war resisters and I've tried to make that very clear here but I read that wonderful e-mail and thought, "Oh, this should have gone to someone else." I called C.I. and read the e-mail over the phone. On Saturdays when I don't think I'll have time to blog (today for example), I'll remember that e-mail and make the time.
A war resister is doing a really brave thing and a very lonely thing. He or she is saying no to an illegal war and saying it very clearly. They're also saying it in at a time when others they've trained with are going along. That may not result in a lot of support. During Vietnam, the stories I would hear were of how they'd test it out on those they were with. Maybe as a joke, maybe just straight out. And by the reaction, they'd know how honest they could be. I don't know if anyone tests it out these days to that degree.
But I do know there's not going to be this overwhelming support from anyone who is in the military with you. That's because it's always easier to just go along.
If you make the decision to resist, you aren't just making a decision for yourself, you're forcing others to ask questions about themselves. Bob or Bobbie saying, "I'm resisting," means others have to think about it. They may immediately reject the idea. They may heap scorn on you. But it does put a question mark into their own lives.
Resistance is very powerful and it's also very hard for anyone to do. Those who find the strength to do so have my respect. Some resist in this country and some go to Canada. The ones who go to Canada do so knowing that there will probably not be a safe return to this country. If they do return, they'll most likely be arrested and that will be the case forever. In the current climate, it's very unlikely that the next president will do anything to offer even the limited amnesty that Jimmy Carter did when he was president. (Gerald Ford really did nothing for war resisters. Gerald Ford is a joke, was a joke.)
Someone who hits on the topic of war resisters is C.I. and this week two articles were highlighted in the snapshot. The start of the week had one where a woman was quoted. I read that and was just shaking my head in agreement with C.I. and realizing that not only do most in the press refuse to support war resisters, they refuse to call out nonsense. The woman is with a group that represents C.O.'s. That is a form of war resistance. I appreciate those who receive C.O. status.
But I really agreed with C.I.'s point, phrased more nicely than I'm about to, that woman needs to butt out. She does not work with war resisters who go to Canada and her ill informed and uninformed remarks were not helpful. The reporter was writing about war resisters in Canada. He never should have called her for a remark. But having taken the call, the woman should have explained, "That's not really my field. Let me suggest an organization for you." Instead, she wanted to gas bag and offer that no one should go to Canada, that it's not like during Vietnam (what is, dear, what it is?) and that the best thing to do (in her mind) was come back to the US. I now loathe that organization, the one she represents. I'm actively requesting that C.I. remove it from the permalinks at The Common Ills. (Only C.I. links to it.) (C.I. is considering it and it will probably be dropped today if there's time.) I've noted before that my husband and I have friends who went to Canada during Vietnam. I ran that by the wife of one (who is still married to him and they both live in Canada) to make sure my reaction (and C.I.'s) weren't exceptions.
She said the woman is "a fool" and should "shut her damn mouth." She reminded me of something I'd forgotten from that earlier period: there were 'helpful' ones like the woman saying the same thing during Vietnam, saying, "You shouldn't move to Canada, you should stay here or come back and face the music or firing squad." My friend said things were harder in terms of getting refugee status; however, she wouldn't be surprised if that is either overturned (there's growing support for war resisters in Canada) or if another avenue to citizenship was created. "As bad as things are, the fact remains that the government has yet to toss anyone out of the country," she pointed out.
She said the status was the only difference and the woman's remarks were insulting and misguided not just for today's war resisters but for the ones who went to Canada during Vietnam. "We started over. Put in that we had been married for about two months and this really wasn't planned" moving to Canada "on our part until two weeks before we did it. We were both against the war. His number came up and he was going to go. He said let's get engaged and I was for that and must have been a little more than he guessed because he said, 'Well, hell, let's get married.' So we were engaged for only a few days and then we were married. We were both against the war and I think I was the one who raised the fact that I would wait for him to get back but I didn't want to and I didn't want to worry that he'd come back in a coffin. I said, 'This is stupid, you don't believe in the war.' And I was griping to everyone, remember, and someone said 'There is Canada.' The second that was said, it seemed like the answer. We didn't expect to ever return. We packed up the Volkswagon and drove to Canada. The only bad thing was I didn't like the cities which were a little too crowded from the way I pictured it in my head. So we ended up, after about six months or so, moving out of the cities. We lived in the same home ever since, raised our children here, become grandparents here. What that woman reminds me of, actually, is Jerry Ford and his nonsense that he offered which is come back to the US and we'll see if we're going to toss you in prison or give you some form of limited amnesty. He was an idiot. You have to be an idiot to pardon Richard Nixon. And you have to be an idiot, like ___ [the woman] to say that war resisters in Canada should just pack up and return. What they are doing today is forcing a nation to make some choices. Canadians aren't serving in Iraq. This isn't an illegal war we're taking part in. And we can take some pride in that and pat ourselves on the back and get real comfy about it. But today's war resisters are forcing us, as a nation, to ask ourselves about our own role. The woman sees none of that and she's, frankly, a fool. Today's resisters have made an impact in their own country and by bringing the fight to Canada, they're impacting two countries. As the war continues, the US needs some form of support in the global community to continue. It won't be in the form of soldiers. And Canada's never sent any. But is Canada going to do more than that? That's the issue war resisters are placing on our tables here. And just raising that issue makes it harder for the fool-in-chief in the White House. But if Canada is forced to start granting asylum, that will make things even harder for the US. They are the northern neighbor, bordering the US. They have tremendous power in that regard. War resisters today are forcing Canada to explore using that power. We have a conservative government but I really don't think that matters on this issue. I don't think it matters that our prime minister wants to be close with the White House. The ball is rolling and if it keeps gathering speed, the government's going to be forced to deal with it and that will be a mighty rebuke to the White House and their illegal war. The conversations that are taking place are happening because of the presence of the war resisters. They are really impacting three countries, the US by leaving, Canada by arriving and Iraq by refusing to serve there. That woman, that fool, doesn't know the first thing she is talking about and should shut her mouth."
My friend, who was one of my closest friends beginning in sixth grade when we ended up in the same school, actually has experience to speak of. The woman with that organization didn't know what the hell she was talking about. Her words didn't reveal compassion, caring or awareness. They were idiotic and ill informed. Her support goes to C.O. and while I can support both (and others), she seems only willing to support one group. I see her as unhelpful as the Katrina vanden Heuvel led edition of The Nation. Those who struggle force us all to ask questions and I support war resisters.
In the snapshot below, C.I. highlights an article and I wanted to pull from that as well. This is from Ian Munro "US military deserters seek refuge in Canada" (Australia's The Age):
BEFORE he deserted the US Marines, Dean Walcott rode shotgun on besieged convoys to Baghdad and spent a second Iraq tour setting up military communications.
Even though he was in no imminent danger of returning for a third deployment, he took a Greyhound bus to Canada.
He is one of dozens of US military deserters hoping to be granted refugee status in Canada under the rule of the United Nations Charter on Refugees.
It was not Mr Walcott's combat experience but his time in a military hospital in Germany that prompted his desertion.
His route north followed a path taken decades earlier by tens of thousands of Vietnam War draft dodgers and deserters, to Toronto and the War Resisters Support Campaign.
Mr Walcott was in Landstuhl military hospital when the hideously burned survivors of the 2004 Mosul mess tent bombing arrived. Some, he says, resembled nothing so much as a lump of coal, still screaming in pain despite the tide of morphine coursing through them.
"Seeing people in that suffering and pain, if you are going to do that to your country's soldiers and sailors, then there's got to be a damn good reason, not just the abstract like this one was," says Mr Walcott, 25.
He grew tired of trying to answer the questions of young reservists, recovering from the loss of limbs, who wanted to know what the heck the war was about.
That was the second article on war resisters that C.I. highlighted this week. In that article, people speaking actually knew something about the topic. I also want to take a second to applaud C.I. for the online and offline work done in support of war resisters. In a time when there seems to be so much less courage (I'm contrasting today and Vietnam), C.I. consistently stands as one of the strongest voices and it would probably be much easier to practice the shameful silence that The Nation does. Contrast what Howard Zinn wrote for the Fourth of July with the embarrassing, creepy and craven Katrina vande Heuvel who felt the need to pin up flags and rush to assure readers that, basically, "Here at The Nation we are as patriotic as anyone and we did an issue in 1991 on patriotism. We've been opposed to some wars but we supported other. I am babbling like a school girl fool because I am one. Maybe my husband, who was once my professor, will explain to me later what I should have written because I'm the biggest fool in the nation and at The Nation. I destroy the magazine week after week by watering it down and make it weaker. Wave the flags with me because the best way to be left is to echo the right." I despise Katrina vanden Heuvel and all of today's cowards who couldn't take a stand on a subway with all the other seats taken. Katrina vanden Heuvel would elect to sit on the floor. She benched the powerful voice of the magazine long ago. It's really past time that The Nation benched her. May her own personal hell be one of silence, may she be condemned to live in the silence she's created at the magazine.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" from Friday:
Friday, July 20. 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the death toll mounts, a military judge sends the message that even if you're convicted in the killing of an innocent Iraqi you won't get any prison time, and the latest wave of Operation Happy Talk is Operation Push-Back.
Starting with war resisters. Ian Munro (Australia's The Age) explores the "estimated 250" US service members who have self-checked out and moved to Canada and zooms in on Dean Walcott and Phillip McDowell. Munro writes, "Mr Walcott's life was up-ended in 2004 at a military hospital in Germany when burns survivors from the Mosul mess tent bombing were shipped in." Like Walcott, McDowell served in Iraq before deciding to self-check out. Munro quotes McDowell stating, "I believed everything the Government told us about weapons of mass destruction, that there were links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. I was aware of the international opposition to going in, but growing up I always trusted my government" and reports, "By the end of his tour he saw the war as wrong, illegal and counterproductive, and was disturbed by the treatment of some prisoners. But he thought he was clear by the middle of last year when his enlistment expired. Then the army called him back. With his family's support, he and his partner Jamine took the Canada option in Ocotber." Jeffry House tells Munro that he estimates the number of war resisters in Canada to be 250 and, "Some don't want to go through the war resisters because they are a political group. Some people want to make the point about their concern but don't want to be part of a campaign." House represents many including Kyle Snyder, Joshua Key and Jeremy Hinzman. Lee Zaslofsky of the War Resisters Support Campaign tells his story, how he self-checked during Vietnam and moved to Canada -- where he's lived ever since and happily (to refute some of the nonsense offered earlier this week by a spokesperson for a group that does not represent self-checkouts) and he estimates there are hundreds who have self-checked out from today's illegal war and moved to Canada.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Jared Hood and James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Yesterday, Elaine (Like Maria Said Paz) noted that alleged 'withdrawals' pushed by Democratic leadership in the US Congress some how tend to factor in leaving troops in northern Iraq and the effects the Kurdish separatist movement has on neighboring Turkey which has its own Kurdish separatist movement. Today on Democracy Now!, Amy Gooodman and Juan Gonzales addressed the issue with the independent journalist Scott Peterson (Peterson reports for The Christian Science Monitor which actually is an independent publication and structured as one). As noted before, Turkey has an upcoming election and the tensions flaring between the regions has only increased -- whether or not for electoral gain is for someone else to determine. The region of northern Iraq has its own elections coming up which will determine its autonomy and with very little coverage from Western media, Kurdish flags have been planeted, families run off and those belonging to religious minorities have been either run off from the region or killed. Turkey alleges and identifies the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) as a terrorist organization and has argued that it is granted harbor in northern Iraq. Mortars have been exchanged and, on at least one occassion, Turkish troops have recently entered northern Iraq. From the broadcast:
JUAN GONZALEZ: Scott Peterson, this allegation by Turkey that the United States is indirectly assisting the PKK, is there any evidence of that, given the fact, obviously, that the -- isn't the PKK really a more, historically more of a leftwing insurgency, a secular insurgency that would be unlikely to be supported by the United States?
SCOTT PETERSON: Well, the PKK really disappeared as an organization for the past five or six years. In 1999, its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was captured by the Turks, in fact. And in his first appearance in court, Ochalan said that the PKK had made a number of mistakes during the fifteen-year separatist war, that they should now try and work within the state and with state structures to find recognition of Kurdish rights and recognition of Kurdish culture. And he also said that they're no longer fighting for a separate Kurdish state. So those were all quite important changes that really kind of took the wind out of the PKK sails for many years. What we've seen in the last year or two now is a surge of PKK activity in terms of attacks -- certainly in terms of attacks that the government attributes to the PKK, and those are both in Ankara, others also in Istanbul, some targeting civilians and many targeting also soldiers, especially in Kurdish areas in southeast Turkey. Now, of course, the issue of who is supporting the PKK is a very thorny one, because, of course, the PKK remains on the list of terrorist groups, as officially designated by the US State Department. The United States has identified and chosen a special envoy specifically for countering the PKK. That's the title of Joe Ralston, General Joe Ralston. And so -- and, of course, the US denies that it is giving any support to the PKK, but from the Turkish point of view they say, Wait a minute, there are American forces who control all of Iraq, and therefore since the PKK has bases in northern Iraq, that means that by definition there are -- you know, that the US is somehow involved, if nothing else, in turning a blind eye. And you've also got apparently safe haven given to the PKK by Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq. And the reason for these latest accusations or allegations is, just in the past ten days or so there was a press conference that was purported to be from four PKK members who had fled northern Iraq. They appeared in Ankara at a press conference wearing masks and saying, we have just fled, that PKK militants are leaving their bases, expecting a Turkish invasion, and that also they had witnessed, they say, American troops actually offloading weapons at PKK bases for the PKK. And I have spoken to senior Turkish police officers who feel that the entire story is concocted, and I'm sure that would be the American view, too, but, again, it really does raise a lot of popular questions in the minds of Turks.
Elections in Turkey take place Sunday and for more on that you can read Scott Horton's latest piece in today's Christian Science Monitor. In addition, Katharine Kendrick (Turkish Daily News) reports that political parties in Turkey have forgotten to court one group: "recent Turkish citizens." Some context re: the conflict between northern Iraq and Turkey. The US administration is attempting to lay the groundwork for a potential attack on Iran with a lot of loosely sourced claims which -- at best -- if true would only demonstrate that some Iranians have involvement in Iraq. The US administration uses that unproven link to argue that the Iranian government, therefore, must be assisting. In Bite Back In Your Own Ass news, Today's Zaman reports that not only has Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdulla Gul declared that the US is arming the PKK in Turkey but also: "The US Department of Defense has launched an investigation into US-registered weapons sent to the Iraqi army ending up in the hands [of] the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) based in northern Iraq."In addition, the paper reports, "Former members of the PKK escaping from mountain camps in northern Iraq recently gave testimony in which they told securities authorities and prosecutors they had seen US trucks delivering arms to PKK camps." By the US administration's 'logic' with regards to Iran, Turkey should be drawing up their battle plans. Reuters reports that Turkey was shelling northern Iraq. Meanwhile the Turkish Daily News reports conflicts between Turkey and Austria after Austraia refused to arrest "Ali Riza Altun, a founding member and the chief financial operator of the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States" when he surfaced in Austria this month before moving on to northern Iraq.Turning to England, the United Kingdom's Military of Defence announced: "It is with profound sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the deaths of one serviceman from 504 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force and two servicemen from 1 Squadron RAF Regiment on Thursday 19th July 2007. They were killed in an indirect fire attack on the Contingency Operating Base in Basra, Iraq." Robin Stringer (Bloomberg News) noted that British forces are "the second-largest contingent of the American-led coalition in Iraq." ICCC lists the total number of British troops who have died in Iraq since the start of the illegal war at 162. ITV News reports that 126 of the deaths are classified as having "died in action" while the BBC reports the three deaths come after the announcement that "british troops in Iraq will be cut to 5,000 by the end of 2007." Michael Evans and Fiona Hamilton (Times of London) observe that the three deaths come "ten days after three British soldiers were killed in the same area of southern Iraq" Earlier this week, Sean Rayment (Telegraph of London) reported, on a new study by the Royal Stastistical Society that "found the death rate of British troops has now surpassed that of Americans, following a sustained upsurge of violence in the southern city of Basra."
Turning to the United States, today on KPFK's Uprising, Sonali Kolhatkar spke with Erik Leaver of IPS (Institute for Policy Studies) on the topic of empire, Iraq and more topics addressed in the new report [PDF format warning] "Just Security." With regards to Iraq, the first step, stressed repeatedly, is getting all foreign troops out of Iraq. Kolhatkar brought up the demonizing the administration is attempting to do with regards to US Senator Hillary Clinton. As The Chicago Tribune reports: "Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, accused Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) of aiding the enemy by calling for contingency plans for a troop pullout. 'Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq,' Edelman wrote in reply to Clinton's May inquiry. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines called Edelman's letter 'outrageous'." The demonization of Clinton for reqeusting information on contingency plans (which do already exist) is part of a full out assault by the administration, a push-back effort attempting to resell the illegal war long after the majority of Americans have turned against it and are calling for a withdrawal from Iraq.
That's why, yesterday, US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, did a song and dance (via video link) for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Wally ("THIS JUST IN! THAT'S A CROCK!") and Cedric ("It's a Crock") covered it in their joint-post. Crocker was selling the 'fear' because the administration knows to get what they want, honesty doesn't work; however, if they can scare the American public, they might stand a shot. Starting with the Crock which existed to sell the fear (as did all parts of the marketing). Reneee Schoof (McClatchy Newspapers) reports US Senator Richard Lugar asked, "Are you planning for an eventual change of mission or redeployment of American forces in Iraq?" But Crocker refused to admit a Plan B existed or was being created. Thom Shanker and David S. Cloud (New York Times) report that Crock said the benchmarks weren't being met and probably wouldn't. Cloud's whines were laughable since the US administration created the benchmark talk long before Congress even considered legislation on it. But with more bad news coming, they needed to stall with something. Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) would be reporting today, "A committee directed by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and President Bush to accelerate the transfer of security responsibility to Iraq's army and police has warned that Iraq is lagging in a number of categories. The quarterly report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, says the Finance Ministry is blocking the Iraqi military from spending $660 million to build a logistical network; that militias are an obstacle to handing over to Iraqis responsibility for security in three mainly Shiite Muslim provinces; and that competition among rival security organizations has prevented the country from settling on a national security structure."
None dare call it progress. Which is why the big talking point is "Forget September, We Need To Wait Until November." As Kat noted last night, the new 'deadline' is supposed to November. Barbara Slavin's "General: September too soon to assess Iraq" (USA Today) noted that "the number two" (in Iraq), Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, was leading that pushback. Shanker and Sanger (New York Times) report, "Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters that while he would provide the mid-September assessment of the new military strategy that Congress has required, it would take 'at least until November' to judge with confidence whether the strategy was working."To really make the push, Bully Boy left DC and the national press corps hoping to yet again get soft press from local outlets. James Gerstenzang (Los Angeles Times) reports the stop yesterday was Nashville to the always hyper-enthused audience of a local Chamber of Commerce, "Such visits draw little national attention, but the out-of-town stops gain extensive local coverage sought by the White House to counter the steady beat of the Iraq war on news pages, websites, television and radio. And they provide a backdrop of a White House seeking, city by city, to portray the president as focused on the breadth of his job and not just the war."
The pushback comes as Nouri al-Maliki's promise that Iraqi troops would be ready to take over responsibilities in Iraq is revealed to be just one more bad sales pitch. CBS and AP report Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser, did everything but sing Don Henley's "Not Enough Love In The World" as he declared that promise was no more: "We had hopes and intentions to take over security in all provinces and command of all army divisions before the end of the year. But there are difficulties and challenges that appeared along the way, in arming, equipping, recruiting and training our armed forces."
Al-Rubaie droned on about how difficult it was "to predict a certain time." A difficulty al-Maliki wasn't bothered by in April. And the endless, illegal war that doesn't result in the puppet or his masters getting upset has now claimed the lives of 52 US service members this month and the lives of 3631 US service members since the start of the illegal war (ICCC). The number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war gets closer to one million but no reason for a puppet government, hidden away in the Green Zone and protected and flattered by foreign forces and government, to care too much.
In the real world . . .
Bombings?
Jenan (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Diyala mortar attack that injured eleven. Reuters notes a Baghdad roadside bombing that injured a police officer. DPA reports, "An Iraqi civilian was killed in a US helicopter attack in Mosul . . . The Iraqi civilian was killed and five others wounded Friday morning when a US helicopter bombed a residential area in Mosul" and two of the injured were children while two more women.
Shootings?
Jenan (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 person was shot dead in an attack on a car in Baghdad (three were wounded) and notes 2 more shot dead in Al Muqdaya suburb and 2 women shot dead "in Nawfal" and that an attack in Al Wajehia has left numerous people displaced and at least 5 dead -- Jenan also notes that on Wednesday "gunmen attacked Waheda Abd Al Muhsan Member of Salahudding governorate council. The gunmen shot her convoy when she was going to Tikret."
Corpses?
Jenan (McClatchy Newspapers) reports and that a corpse was turned over to Al Muqdadya hospital while, yesterday, the corpses of Zena ans Suha Khusai (sisters kidnapped two days prior) were discovered in Mosul. Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi (New York Times) report that 17 corpses were discovered in Baghdad yesterday.Turning to legal news. Yesterday, we noted that Trey A. Corrales and Christopher P. Shore were each charged with the murder of an Iraqi civilian on or around June 23rd. Today, AP reports that Albert Corrales Sr. has stated his son is innocent (though "he hadn't talked to his 34-year-old son about the death") and quotes him stating, "I think that it's wrong because the people he supposedly shot, they were terrorists and he was under orders to clean them out, and he did." In other father and son legal news, Michael Vick (19-year-old) and James Vick (44-year-old) have both been charged. Lindsay Wilcox (KLTV, Tyler, TX) reports that the father's been held by authorities since May while the son "was arrested at DFW Airport [Dallas, TX] on Tuesday after returning home from Iraq" and that the two men are charged in the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl and a nine-year-old girl who had been foster children in the Vick home during 2003 and 2004. Cindy Mallette (Tyler Morning Telegraph) spoke with Sgt. Wendell Wilcher of the Anderson county's sheriff's department who stated that "the Army released Michael Vick from his Iraq duties after the sherrif's department obtained a warrant for his arrest. He said the Army is considering Vick's status and may discharge him at some point in the future." Paul Stone (The Palestine Herald) also spoke with Wilcher who has been interviewing other children who stayed with the Vicks and states there will be more names added: "There's definitely going to be more than two. We may have a considerable amount of children. It's hard to say." AP notes the bail for each man is set at $300,000 and that Michael Vick is "assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington." On Wednesday, marine Trent Thomas was found guilty in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad who was dragged from his home, bound and murdered. Thomas was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to murder by a jury of his military peers. Although he could have been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, the military judge instead decided murder, lying, and more was no big deal. AP reports Trent Thomas' 'punishment' is to be discharged from the military and face a reduction in pay. And? That's it. No prison time for the man convicted by his peers in the murder of an innocenct civilian.
iraqlos angeles timesdemocracy now
amy goodmanjuan gonzalez mcclatchy newspapersusa todayned parkerthe new york timesthom shankerdavid e. sangerthe chicago tribunekats kornercedrics big mixthe daily jot
the new york timesrichard a. oppel jr.
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