Antiwar.com Blog

The BBC reports that at a demonstration sponsored by the Uzbek government in support of Supreme Leader Islam Karimov, one of the spear-carriers sported a placard emblazoned with this slogan:

“Human rights activists are enemies of the motherland.”

Among all the news about the self-outing of ‘Deep Throat,’ this news has gotten only a brief mention:

In 1981, Ronald Reagan granted a presidential pardon to Mark Felt for illegal actions against antiwar activists, including break-ins. Reagan said that Felt followed procedures he

believed essential to keep the Director of the FBI, the Attorney General, and the President of the United States advised of the activities of hostile foreign powers and their collaborators in this country. They have never denied their actions, but, in fact, came forward to acknowledge them publicly in order to relieve their subordinate agents from criminal actions.

Four years ago, thousands of draft evaders and others who violated the Selective Service laws were unconditionally pardoned by my predecessor. America was generous to those who refused to serve their country in the Vietnam war. We can be no less generous to two men who acted on high principle to bring an end to the terrorism that was threatening our nation.

Those who study history know that the Cointelpro activities supervised by Mark Felt were not limited to surveillance and burglary. During that period, the FBI actively interfered with the internal politics of dissident groups, including starting and inflaming factional struggles. There were many local groups that were under the total control of FBI infiltrators.

Reagan’s comparison of peaceful dissent and the illegal actions of the FBI is outrageous.

FT has come up with some military recruitment numbers that are more specific than ones I’ve seen before:

By the end of April the army had attracted only 35,926 soldiers towards its goal of 80,000 for the year ending in October. Figures for reserves were even worse: 7,283 towards the target of 22,175.
[…]
Since attacking Afghanistan in 2001 the US has suffered more than 1,800 deaths. Another 13,000 have been wounded, including 6,600 so badly that they were unable to return to duty.

All of which makes these idiots look even stupider than they normally do:

Yes, that’s the Prince of Darkness himself addressing a FReaker Rally of about 50 people in DC lusting to bomb Iran into democracy. Fortunately for the rest of the planet, they’ve already wrecked the only invasion force at their disposal and none of them would dream of suiting up themselves.

Operation “Lightning” has supposedly been launched and the first casualties have been a 3 Iraqi guards killed by an insurgent car bomb at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil on Palestine Street in Baghdad and a British soldier killed by a roadside bomb in the Sadrist stronghold of Amara.

Oil Wars makes an interesting point about the so-called “cordon” of some 40,000 Iraqi troops backed by the Americans around Baghdad:

This is just so off the wall on so many levels. First, even if they did seal off Baghdad how exactly does that help them? There are just as many insurgents inside Baghdad as there are outside. So what is this going to accomplish – insurgent Ali in Baghdad won’t be able to visit his cousin, insurgent Omar, over in Ramadi?

Secondly, given that the U.S couldn’t even cordon off Fallujah properly and most of the insurgents there got out what makes anyone think that 40,000 Iraqi government troops can effectively cordon off Baghdad? Lets keep in mind out of any given 40,000 Iraqi troops probably at least 20,000 of them are working for the insurgents. Not to mention, if you have all these troops spread out to make a circle around Baghdad they will have to be in small isolated groups that will make easy pickings for the insurgents. Lets see how long the 40,000 saps who get assigned to this detail agree to put up with that.

Quite frankly, this shows that things in Iraq are in even worse shape than I had thought.

Pre-destruction, Fallujah was a town of 300,000 souls, 70-90% of whom were thought to have fled before the cordon went up. Baghdad is a city of 5 million. Do the math.

UPDATE: Well, things are off to a predictable start:

• Before dawn, insurgents attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in Youssifiyah, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Baghdad, killing nine soldiers and injuring one, said Dr. Dawood Al Taaei of nearby Mahmoudiya hospital.
• Gunmen killed two police sergeants employed by the Iraqi Cabinet in a drive-by shooting Sunday in Dora, said police Capt. Firas Qaiti.
• Another two police commandos were killed and five injured in a car bomb blast at 11 a.m. (0700GMT) at Madain about 20 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police Col. Selam Mehmood.
• A suicide car bomber, apparently targeting a U.S. convoy, exploded his vehicle Sunday and killed two Iraqis and injured nine others in northern Iraq, said police Brig. Sarhat Qadir.

  The attack happened near the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Tuz Khormato, south of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, said Qadir.

John Cole is going on my blogroll for this series of posts.

John Cole
Rick Moran
John Cole

It’s a treat to read such a well argued conservative criticism of the idiotic arguments by Malkin, Hewitt and Barber. I can’t remember how I came across this, so if it was your blog, sorry for the lack of credit.

Shades of the Massad witch hunt at Columbia: This post at Lenin’s Tomb relates a situation developing at SOAS, University of London. Here’s hoping some publicity will help head off a looming disaster.

Today’s New York Times (print edition) has a full-page advertisement on page 5 from the Council for the National Interest Foundation headlined:

AIPAC’s Agenda is Not America’s

The ad is well-done and makes excellent points, including: ISRAEL, STOP SPYING ON AMERICA! I cannot remember an explicit anti-AIPAC ad ever running in a mainstream paper.

The ad is signed by two former Congressmen, Paul Findley (R-Illinois), Paul “Pete”
McCloskey (R-California), and former Senator James Abourezk (D-South Dakota).

Read the ad.