Antiwar.com Blog

I hadn’t even originally planned on doing a blog entry this week, but I can’t pass up a chance like this:

Timeline on Jonathan “call me Jack” Idema:

July 7: Three Americans and four Afghans arrested for operating private prison

July 8:One of these men is identified as Jack Idema. An early report from Afghan officials says Afghan prisoners were hung by their feet.

July 9: Idema claims he’s the inspiration behind George Clooney’s Role in Peacemaker

July 21: Idema Says he was working with the knowledge of the DoD. His Trial begins,the US military denies knowing anything about what he was doing.

July 23: Idema’s lawyer claims to have video proof he was working with the US. This is at first questioned, but later US Military spokesman Major Jon Siepmann admits that they did indeed receive prisoners from Idema’s group. They claim this was an isolated incident and they had no idea of anything else he was doing.

July 27: Knight-Ridder releases a story about Jack Idema’s career as a part-time journalist.

August 6: Idema’s dubious history is discussed in the article.

August 11: Idema’s lawyer complains that he can’t get a fair trial in Afghanistan.

August 16: Idema’s trial is delayed for a week when he claims the FBI is withholding evidence that could prove his innocence. The FBI agrees to hand over the huge collection of files relating to Idema and his group.

August 23: After a week, Idema complains that he hasn’t been given access to everything, and that the documents would prove he was working for the US Army. The defense shows video of Afghanistan’s former Education Minister congratulating Idema and his group for capturing “terrorists” and promises to help them continue their work. One of Idema’s cohorts, Mr. Caraballo enters the courtroom with a crutch, and badly bruised feet. The prosecution claims he “slipped”.

August 24: The US investigates the treatment of Idema’s men while in custody, and decides that it was acceptable.

August 25: The US once again denies any contact with Idema outside the single incident with the prisoners reported on July 23. They claim Idema had delusions of grandeur, and that any contact he claimed was entirely in his head.

August 26: The Department of Defense, after over a month of denials, finally admits that they were in contact with Idema, and that Acting Director of Security Heather Anderson had telephoned him.

This obviously isn’t over, but at the month and a half mark, I thought it would be a good time to review. I don’t know if the Pentagon is in contact with a lot of would-be A-Teams, but how could it take them nearly two months between the time of the initial arrest and the time where they finally remembered “oh yeah, we called him?”

And at any rate, why lie (multiple times at that) about it? The story barely registers on the mainstream American press’ radar. The average American barely cares about the vast amount of torture the US military has performed itself… surely the whole truth about Jack Idema can’t be that serious a threat.

THE UNPOLITICAL ANIMAL: How political science understands voters

The most widely known fact about George H. W. Bush in the 1992 election was that he hated broccoli. Eighty-six per cent of likely voters in that election knew that the Bushes’ dog’s name was Millie; only fifteen per cent knew that Bush and Clinton both favored the death penalty.

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When people are asked whether they favor Bush’s policy of repealing the estate tax, two-thirds say yes—even though the estate tax affects only the wealthiest one or two per cent of the population. … What is most remarkable about this opinion is that it is unconstrained by other beliefs. Repeal is supported by sixty-six per cent of people who believe that the income gap between the richest and the poorest Americans has increased in recent decades, and that this is a bad thing. And it’s supported by sixty-eight per cent of people who say that the rich pay too little in taxes.

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NPR‘s All Things Considered recently completed a six-part series on the relationship between the West and Middle East. On top of being a good historical overview, the series essentially demonstrates the ill-effects of “blowback.” The last part of the series concludes that American intervention is to blame for Islamic terrorism targeting the US. Below are links to each part of the series where the audio links are found:

The Crusades: Two Centuries of Holy War

The Rise of the Ottoman Empire

Europe Carves Up the Middle East

World War I and its Aftermath

The Rise of the U.S. in the Middle East

The Clash with Islam

When I put up my last post, I was worried that the punchline – a reference to Rush Limbaugh’s comparison of Abu Ghraib torture to fraternity pranks – might be a little overplayed. Thank God for torture prober James Schlesinger, who again invoked this appalling analogy at today’s press conference:

“There was sadism on the night shift at Abu Ghraib, sadism that was certainly not authorized,” Schlesinger said. “It was kind of Animal House on the night shift."

Most media outlets are treating the report [pdf] as a major slap to the Pentagon, with headlines full of "sadism" and Rumsfeld’s tarnished reputation. The Animal House remark shows how seriously the U.S. government takes Abu Ghraib. If these probes are only going to trivialize torture, then it would be better to just call them off now, save the money, and retain some vestige of shame.

Eric Garris, Webmaster of Antiwar.com, was interviewed on Saturday by radio host Scott Horton, aka Philip Dru: Administrator , for his new show. Eric took a few calls, and had spirited debates with a Vietnam vet, and someone who thinks that the U.N. wasn’t tough enough on Iraq. Eric also addresses the hot topic of Pat Buchanan’s TV persona/written words.
The interview can be heard by downloading the mp3, or copy-pasting it into the File/Play URL tab of any media player software, including, but not exclusive to WMP, RealPlayer, or Winamp. The bandwidth is 3.2k/sec, well within the limits of any dial-up connection. Also, check out Scott’s last interview with Eric, from May 2003.

How does an occupying force amuse itself in a country where booze, dope, and hookers are hard to come by? From today’s Washington Post:

An Army investigation into the Abu Ghraib prison scandal has found that military police dogs were used to frighten detained Iraqi teenagers as part of a sadistic game, one of many details in the forthcoming report that were provoking expressions of concern and disgust among Army officers briefed on the findings.

Earlier reports and photographs from the prison have indicated that unmuzzled military police dogs were used to intimidate detainees at Abu Ghraib, something the dog handlers have told investigators was sanctioned by top military intelligence officers there. But the new report, according to Pentagon sources, will show that MPs were using their animals to make juveniles — as young as 15 years old — urinate on themselves as part of a competition.

Somebody really needs to ask Bush and Kerry whether this exceeds standard Skull & Bones hijinks.