A Few Reasons Why I'm Slightly Less Than Fond of the Holiday Season

Or some things I could have lived without.

1. My dad finally admits what I've long suspected: He's a registered Republican. Dad's another of the many Republican who never voted for Bush. So just how did our Decider-in-Chief get elected? Never mind.
   
2. My sweet civilian sister is still somewhat xenophobe. (Fortunately my equally sweet Gulf War vet sister is not).
   
3. A guest in someone's home should not find a used condom on their bathroom sink. Eewwww!

AF

Touch Me I'm Still Sick

Still not feeling too perky.

However, I am extremely impressed that the assembled Italians know every word to this classic slice of Mudhoney. Italians are so cool.

Let there be rock!

AF

Touch Me I'm Sick

I've been sick hence no new posts. Some interesting topics on tap so stay tuned...




Merry Christmas, a belated Happy Hanukkah, a kick ass Kwanzaa, a super Solstice or whatever it is you do.

Cheers,

AF

Outrage Overload

So much outrage, so little time. I have a couple of posts in progress.

While you're waiting, Scott Horton has three typically genius posts at Harper's No Comment blog: Voltaire on the Danger of Being Right When Those in Authority Are Wrong, Vladimir Putin: Person of the Year and continued insight into the GOP 's persecutive prosecution of Alabama's former Democratic Governor: Siegelman Accuser Released

AF

Condi Gets The Cold Shoulder

MSNBC: Snub for Rice over Turkey airstrike on Iraq

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, has suffered a setback in her effort to reduce the fall-out from Turkey's recent airstrike in Iraq when a prominent Kurdish leader refused to meet her.

Surprise, surprise.

US Turns A Blind Eye As Turkey Bombs Iraqi Kurds

On Sunday, Turkey sent 50+ war planes over the northern border of Iraq to bomb suspected PKK camps. Top Turk General Yasar Buyukanit sez the US gave Turkey the green light:

America last night opened Iraqi airspace to us. By opening Iraqi airspace to us last night America gave its approval to the operation.

Mebbe we did or mebbe we didn't. According to the Guardian, an unnamed US official offers a typically cryptic reply:

We have not approved any decision. It is not for us to approve. However, we were informed before the [air strikes]. (Emphasis added)

What the fucking fuck? It is not for us to approve?!?! C'mon. Our NATO ally Turkeu launches a substantial attack on our long time Kurdish allies in Iraq's most stable region. The US allows Turkey to violate Iraqi airspace. But we had nothing to do with it, didn't approve of it and claim we couldn't do anything to stop it. No one in their right mind believes this.

Deathly allergic to integrity, diplomacy and leadership, George Bush has cut what is perhaps the worst, most dangerous deal in a Presidency marred by many dangerous deals. Remember Turkey's rumored invasion of Kurdistan? In his infinite wisdom, George told PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan that, in return for halting Turkey's imminent full-scale invasion, the US would allow "limited cross-border strikes."

Now 50+ war planes does not a "limited cross-border strike" make. It's not as though Turkey is dropping water balloons from bi-planes folks. The US didn't just sell the Turkish Air Force 246 F-16s, We gave Turkey a goddamned F-16 factory.

President Bush is crazier than a shit house mouse. How on earth can anyone believe the US endorsement of "limited" Turkish air raids on Kurdistan somehow improves this extremely volatile situation? Nothing could be further from reality. Perpetually oblivious to history, the Bush Administration seems unaware that Iraqi Kurds will not ever forget their betrayal at the hands of Bush I. Tens of thousands of Kurds were killed as Saddam's Revolutionary Guard crushed the rebellion. In the humanitarian crisis that followed, an estimated 1000-2000 Kurds died each day. All the while the US twiddled it's thumbs.

Understandably, Kurdistan is seething with rage at the Bush Administration for allowing Sunday's TuAF attack. Harper's intrepid Ken Silverstein has the deets:

The blowback here in Kurdistan is building against the U.S. government because of its help with the Turkish air strikes. The theme is shock and betrayal. The Kurds see themselves as the only true friend of the Americans in the region, and the only part of Iraq that is working, and are especially hurt by the attack.

The Bush Administration has committed a diplomatic and tactical blunder of epic proportions.

AF

More on Sunday's attack from Time.

Update #1: NYT - Iraq Leaders Denounce Bombings by Turkey

Update #2: NYT - Rice in Baghdad as Tensions With Turkey Rise
Can somebody give Condi a map? Baghdad is in Central Iraq. Kirkuk is in Northern Iraq.

Update #3: AFP - Turkish incursion overshadows Rice visit to Iraq

Update #4: AP - Officials: Turkey withdraws from Iraq
The Turks sent "hundreds of troops" over the border Tuesday AM.

Update #5: AFP - White House won't condemn Turkish incursion in Iraq
Perino: "Let's wait and see what is actually happening on the ground there before we comment."

Update #6: AP - US military not told of Turkey bomb plan
Is this the truth or is Turkey helping US cover their ass? It's irrelevant. The Kurds aren't buying it.

My Big Problem W/AFP's "Qatif Girl" Pardon Story

Apparently French news agency AFP story broke this story.


I take great exception with how AFP mischaracterized the US response to this woman's increased sentence:

The sentence against the 19-year-old girl had drawn criticism of the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom from key ally President George W. Bush.

Nothing could be further from the truth (see Our Leader's Response to Saudi Rape Atrocity). Asked about his recent conversation with King Abdullah, Bush said "I don’t remember if that subject came up." Bush didn't have to broach the subject because Abdullah “knows our position loud and clear.” In other words: "I don't think I have to tell him what I think 'cuz I think he already knows what I think I think." So, in the absence of any sort of diplomacy are we to believe that Bush communicates with King Abdullah (and perhaps other heads of state) telepathically? Bush must have sensed that his comments didn't cut it. As he does with such alarming frequency, Bush veered sharply into the Strange. He turned the subject from the Saudi case to a creepy hypothetical situation involving one of the Bush daughters.

This "telepathic diplomacy" hasn't prevented the Bush Administration from trying to assume some credit for her "pardon." Per AFP (my emphasis in itlalics).

Casey said he was not aware of any specific US contacts with King Abdullah on the move, but added Washington had "made quite clear what our views were on this subject" through its embassy in Saudi Arabia and in its public statements.

In stark contrast to previous administrations, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Rice and Ambassador Fraker said little and did nothing to urge King Abdullah to address this blatant miscarriage of justice. A few weak "public statements" were made not by top Bush officials but rather through their surrogate spokespeople: Dana Perino and Tom Casey. Please. We, the American people, don't take them seriously. There's no reason to believe the King of Saudi Arabia does either.

AFP was lazy. They peddled a perception rather than the truth.

AF

Saudi King Pardons "Qatif girl" Gang Raped In Sectarian Hate Crime

Per French news agency AFP, Saudi King Abdullah has "pardoned" the 19 year-old Shiite woman AKA the Qatif girl who was brutally raped by 5 Sunni men.

I've discussed this case at length in my series Saudi Law Can't Punish Female Victims Too Harshly & Gay Sex Is OK As Long As It's Rape By Married Men Also Raping A Woman Parts I, II and III. Though this "pardon" may be the most transparent kind of PR ploy, a kind of justice has been served.

It's justice served late and begrudgingly. The only way this could happen is due to three extraordinarily courageous people: the woman, her husband and her lawyer. Each stood up to a strict patriarchal theocracy. This was without precedent amongst those strict fundamentalist Sharia-governed Muslim countries i.e. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, etc.

Unable to properly present his case in any way whatsoever, this woman's lawyer went public with details of this atrocity and her mistreatment at the hands of the Saudi Sharia courts. Most of the world was outraged. The Sunni judges retaliated. The court increased her punishment as well as that of her attackers. Still these rapists weren't punished to the fullest extent of the law. More AFP:

A rape conviction carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but the court did not impose it due to the "lack of witnesses" and the "absence of confessions," the justice ministry said last month.

I guess the rapists' cell phone video didn't count.

That she had to be pardoned at all when she did nothing wrong begs the question: Will this have any effect on the Saudi's historically poor treatment of women or is this a one off? Could this be a kind of Tiananmen Square moment for Saudi women? I live in hope but I doubt it. The first key indication will be how she is regarded by other women her community. Will she be treated as one worthy of respect or as a pariah?

King Abdullah wants this story to disappear already. His government botched this case from the start and he knows it. Years will pass before we will know if this case has any long term impact on Saudi law or culture. Other than the extremely rare exception, the Saudi legal system is entirely self-reporting. We normally only know what the Saudis want us to know and when they want then want us to know it.

We'll be watching...

AF

Anger Is The New Black

Anger is the new black. I wanna trademark the phrase. My mind's eye sees a brisk trade in T-shirts and coffee mugs. Alas and alack, it is not to be. Money's too tight to mention. I'll settle for repeating it. A lot.

Anger is the new black. I coined the phrase commenting on the incomparable Digby's post here. She was talking about CNN's Jack Cafferty. On Thursday, apparently having mixed his meds, Cafferty had a spectacular xenophobic conniption. Digby dissects the whole sordid incident and the "new" style MSM champion. So I won't bother. She kicks her post off thusly:

I can't tell you how sick I already am of the latest incarnation of the angry, white male "star" as personified by Dobbs, Cafferty and lately (god help us) Matthews.

Hear, hear. It's the rare media types like Olbermann and Stewart who use their platform to rail against injustice, hypocrisy and corruption. Dobbs, Matthews and the other bargain basement Howard Beale's have a different intent. As alpha males competing to lead the MSM's howler monkey troop, they seek the shortest path to tap into our collective zeitgeist. Their very livelihood depends on it.

In Cafferty's case, it's his inconsistency I found maddening. Sure, his rants were often on target but his misses were absolutely excruciating. Even on a good day, Cafferty veered dangerously close to just every other howler monkey in the troop. With this whole lotta shrieking going on, it can be impossible to hear a specific simian above the din. When you can, it's frequently not good news. Since his rabid xenophobic meltdown Cafferty can howl all he wants. I'm not listening. He's dead to me.

Anger is the new black. We live in angry times. We live in desperate times. The average Joe yearns for someone to blame for this mess -- so long it the "accountability trail" doesn't lead back to them. They prefer to pretend they bear no responsibility for electing amoral officials, cheering for an unjust disastrous war or their reckless personal behavior.

MSM howler monkeys hope to cash in on this antipathy. They'd be well advised to keep their paws inside their cage.

AF

He's Never Met A Country He Didn't Want To Bomb

Henry Kissinger on the Iran N.I.E.