Blogging for Freedom

By Lizette Alvaraz, NY Times, July 7, 2008: "Most nights when Anthony Klecker, a former marine, finally slept, he found himself back on the battlefields of Iraq. He would awake in a panic, and struggle futilely to return to sleep. Desperate for sleep and relief, Mr. Klecker, 30, drank heavily. One morning, his parents found him in the driveway slumped over the wheel of his car, the door wide open, wipers scraping back and forth. Another time, they found him curled in a fetal position in his closet. Yet only after his drunken driving caused the death of a 16-year-old cheerleader did Mr. Klecker acknowledge the depth of his problem: His eight months at war had profoundly damaged his psyche.

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"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course "Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned "Titanic". I'll give you a sound bite: "Throw all the bums out!" You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

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"The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. This series of articles examines commonplace aspects of the American justice system that are actually unique in the world. Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations.

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When a crime is committed, authorities look first at the people who benefit the most.  Our government has been taken over by criminals and the leader of the pack is Dick Cheney.

It has finally become public how very far Cheney and his gang will go to keep the secrets secret.  The Iraq War - a crime against humanity - is Dick Cheney's special project.  Decades in the making, the Iraq War benefits Halliburton to the tune of billions of dollars in military defense contracts.   Dick Cheney interest in Halliburton is "deferred" (like his service to the military during his youth....) meaning the money is being held in trust for him until he leaves office. 

Now, he's saying the Vice Presidency is not part of the Executive Branch and therefore his office is exempt from oversight and accountability.  He will do anything and everything to keep those docs secret.  He knows the evidence is there and as soon as  soon as we know the truth we will have no choice but to impeach him. Then he should stand trial for profiting from his war crimes.

Although, now that Halliburton has moved it's headquarters to Dubai we may never know the truth.

This is absolutely remarkable.  Read the article here:  "Agency is Target in Cheney's Fight on Secrecy Data". 

Cheney has pulled off a coup and we just don't know it yet. 

As of Memorial Day 2007, we have lost 3455 Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, Fathers, Friends, Neighbors, Co-workers. Bless them all, their families and loved ones.  Let's work to bring the rest of them home safely. 

The business of the devil is to march mankind into doom and darkness.  Dick Cheney stood on an American warship in the Persian Gulf - 150 miles off Iran sovereign coast - yesterday and warned (threatened) that the US would not tolerate Tehran's unruly behavior.  From the Washington Post, "...the US will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, close off vital sea lanes for oil supplies or control the Middle East."

Cheney is following the "Plan".  Take down Iraq,  then Syria, then Iran.  Force, invasion, destruction and death - the United States has become the global bully.  Problem is, reality has a way of veering it's head. Iraq is a hell-hole. We are losing our precious blood, resources and reputation every minute we allow this war to continue.

Listen to our "leaders"! They are determined to get us into war with Iran. How provocative does Cheney have to be to solicit an incident or event that catapults us into armed confrontation with one of the world's largest, strongest standing armies?

This is insane behavior. Any success from Iraq will result from the cooperation of the factions that make up the Iraqi parliament.  We insist that they talk, negotiate, compromise with their adversaries in order to form a unified central government. Yet, the United States refuses to do the same - the Bush cabal is so arrogant and righteous, they make it known it's "their way or the highway".

More dead in Iraq reported today. An entire patrol, alone in the desert, was ambushed. Five dead and three missing.   US losses in Iraq 05.12.07 is 3393 

The McClatchy Washington Bureau has created an online resource of reporting on veterans and military health issues. The "Wounded Warriors" web site, features stories from the McClatchy Washington Bureau and McClatchy newspapers around the country as well as columns by military affairs columnist Joe Galloway.

“The First Annual Camp Casey Peace Awards were presented amid laughter, tears and standing ovations from an overflow crowd at the Spill Bar on 6th Street on Thursday, April 5. One day following the third anniversary of the date her son, Casey, was killed in Iraq, Cindy Sheehan expressed her enduring sorrow and her enduring gratitude to those who came to her side in the first hours of her stand at the check point of the Bush Ranch in Crawford, Texas in August, 2005 when she posed the still unanswered question, "For what Noble Cause?" When more than 13,000 supporters from around the country traveled to Crawford over the course of that month to join Cindy, the Camp Casey movement was born. (article by Austin American-Statesman Blogs makingpeace.)

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"Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush’s early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal.

A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.  In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership 

He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.

“I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things,” he said. He added, “I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”

In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him.

He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.

Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.

“I’m a big believer that in part what we’re called to do — to me, by God; other people call it karma — is to restore balance when things didn’t turn out the way they should have,” Mr. Dowd said. “Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election.”

rest of article  by  Doug Mills/The New York Times

In the 1970's my mother-in-law had brain surgery to remove a tumor at Walter Reed Hospital.  Even then, I can remember the deplorable conditions of the rooms and antiquated equipment.  Rust and dust and mold were easily noticeable.  When my mother-in-law required a second surgery we made sure it was not done at Walter Reed. 

Fast forward to 2007 when the top brass of the military are "shocked" and "surprised" at the physical conditions of their military medical facilities - even their flagship Walter Reed.  Yesterday, March 4, witnesses testified as to their personal first-hand experience living the nightmare of military bureaucracy and sub-level medical and rehabilitative care.

Mold does not grow overnight.  Paint peels at a predictable rate when water drippage is constant. Lt. General Kevin Kiley, M.D., (above left) was the officer in charge from 2002 to 2004 when he was replaced by Maj. General Geaorge Wheightman (right above) who has held the post for the last six months. (For complete details see NY Times article "Soldiers testify to lawmakers over poor care at Walter Reed" by Michael Lud)

Patients, family care-takers and advocates and staff all testified that these problems had been brought to the attention of many levels of command.  One mother testified that she spoke to everyone she could and still got the run-around.  Patriotic soldiers are given only rudimentary instructions as to their future appointments.

From the New York Times article:

"Wearing a black eye patch, Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon described how he was struck in the head by a round from an AK-47 in November 2004 during a firefight near Ramadi, causing a traumatic brain injury and the loss of an eye.

Within a week of the injury, he was released to outpatient treatment, Sergeant Shannon recounted.

Despite being extremely disoriented, he said, he was given a map and told to find his own way to his new residence on the hospital’s sprawling grounds. He wandered into a building and received directions.

He then waited several weeks wondering whether anyone would contact him about additional treatment, eventually calling people himself until he reached his case worker.

He told of languishing in the hospital’s bureaucratic system that evaluates soldiers for continuing in active duty or becoming medically retired, and what benefits they should receive. His paperwork, he said, was lost repeatedly, forcing him to start over several times.

Specialist Jeremy Duncan, one ear shredded by a makeshift bomb, told of the moldy living conditions in Building 18.

“It wasn’t fit for anybody to live in a room like that,” Specialist Duncan said.

Annette L. McLeod, whose husband, Wendell, returned from Iraq with a head injury, spoke emotionally of her distress during his treatment.

“My life was ripped apart the day my husband was injured, and having to live through the mess we’ve had to live through at Walter Reed has been worse than anything I’ve had to sacrifice in my life,” Mrs. McLeod said through tears.

Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said he was “extraordinarily angry and embarrassed” by the living conditions at the hospital, reported prominently last month by The Washington Post. His brother, Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, a senior medical officer, has now been named to command Walter Reed. The Army officials said extensive repairs were being made to deal with the deplorable conditions at one of the facilities on the hospital campus, Building 18, in which soldiers getting outpatient treatment at the hospital were found to be living in crumbling rooms soiled by mice, cockroaches and mold. Most of the soldiers living there, they said, have now been moved.

Accusations about shoddy treatment received by wounded soldiers at the prominent hospital, which is the centerpiece of the military’s medical system, have touched a public nerve and deeply embarrassed the military in the past few weeks. The Bush administration has been thrown on the defensive, and members of Congress have been quick to express outrage."

We should all be ashamed.