Banner hung out window of Senator's office at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor, Maine on March 7, 2007; click image for blog coverage (Kelly Bellis photo)
Iraq Occupation Project protesters were acquitted today on a March 7, 2007 trespass charge at the Bangor office of Maine U.S. Senator Susan Collins
This is an incredible example of nullification and total repudiation by a public jury of the position of Senator Susan Collins and all other elected representatives who have continued to vote to fund the reprehensible war in Iraq. I will defer any further personal commentary until post-verdict statements of the six are available.
Note: Of twelve arrested that day, six elected to play out the entire trial process.
Below I am reposting the video I shot just prior to the occupation and arrests at the office of Senator Collins on March 7, 2007. See also THESE PHOTOS shot by Kelly Bellis that day.
These are not guilty men. Senator Collins belongs in this van.
VIDEO: March 7, 2007 Occupation Project visits prior to stop at Collins's office:
VIDEO: March 7, 2007 Shetterly statement:
VIDEO: March 7, 2007 Rawlings statement:
VIDEO:Statements from four of the Bangor Six one day prior to not guilty verdicts, April 29, 2008, from event at the Bangor Public Library arranged by independent candidate for U.S. Senate, Laurie Dobson:
the "surge" has shifted techniques of domination across Iraq from the direct application of violence against insurgents to indirect spatial incarceration, multiplying archipelagos of externally alienated and internally homogenous ethno-national enclaves through walls and checkpoints, under a blanket of aerial surveillance.
I've often noted this comparison and occasionally posted remarks about Israeli-like tactics employed by the U.S in Iraq. This piece begins by laying out exactly what those population-control measures are, something complete lost on 99% of Americans. But, how effective will these crimes be? The U.S., like Israel, has set itself up to be a state "permanently at war with much of the Arab and Muslim world." Niva sees this as a trap, likely to have very bad long-term consequences for both the U.S. and Israel.
Posted by The Owl on Apr 30 at 01:59. Filed under: Iraq
This is an op-ed from today's Bangor Daily News. I'm taking the liberty to post it in its entirety. Katrina is a regular at our Peace & Justice Center. The piece is excellent and fills out in much detail what is suggested in THIS Maine Owl post.
I might add that it is not just Collins who wants to shift the blame for the failure of the occupation onto the Iraqis. Many Democrats are perfectly happy to do the same while promoting the notion that it is the Iraqis oil revenue that should be attached, not our tax dollars, to pay American contractors in Iraq. This is an outrage.
Katrina Bisheimer: Don't shift the cost of war to Iraqis Monday, April 28, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
Sen. Susan Collins has endorsed legislation that would restrict future reconstruction dollars to loans instead of grants in an effort to make Baghdad pay for more of the costs of the U.S. combat mission and reconstruction in Iraq. Shifting the costs of the war to Iraq should not make the war more acceptable to us. The human cost of the war will remain the same. We are actually an occupying power, so it seems simply wrong to even consider using Iraq?s oil revenue to pay for our combat costs. Should Iraqis have to help pay for us to drop bombs on them? Instead, we should consider compensating for the death of innocent Iraqi civilians on par with U.S. soldiers, not the mere $2,500 we offer their loved ones.
Sen. Collins? endorsement also demonstrates a misunderstanding about the occupation and U.S. policy in Iraq and the consequences of those policies on reconstruction efforts and the responsibilities of an occupying power under the Geneva Convention. Before the occupation,
The story linked above is an important follow-up on THIS disussion that appeared in Maine Owl in February. At that time, I was interested in the infamous 2002 "Dodgy Dossier" that was the basis of many inflammatory pre-Iraq-war statements from a variety of officials, including President Bush, who in September 2002 said, "The regime has long-standing and continuing ties to terrorist groups, and there are al Qaeda terrorists inside Iraq."
A World of Fantasy and Half-Truths: Spinning Saddam
After prolonged bureaucratic labor the latest report of the Iraqi Perspectives Project (IPP) finally made it out to the larger world. Its primary conclusion, which has been making headlines since news of it was first reported March 10 by Warren Strobel of McClatchey Newspapers, is that an exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents and several thousand hours of audio and video footage, archived in a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) database called Harmony, that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion, has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network.
That's the word from the Pentagon itself. Isenberg does the important work of explaining why 180-degree spinning within the halls of wingnuttia currently going on about this report is dead wrong.
Posted by The Owl on Apr 25 at 12:54. Filed under: Iraq
US to Release Iraqi Prisoners, Teach Them About Islam
The Wall Street Journal reports US commanders in Iraq have begun releasing hundreds of Iraqi prisoners after concluding the military?s detention policy might be harming US goals in Iraq. The US is currently holding about 23,000 Iraqis, many without charge. The US military has begun building a pair of large halfway houses in Taji and Ramadi, where detainees will undergo vocational training. The Wall Street Journal reports the US military also plans to teach religious courses to the former prisoners about how to be a moderate Muslim. Imams will be brought in by the military to teach courses that highlight the Islamic precepts that bar the killing of innocents and offer alternative interpretations of jihad. [emphasis added]
Somehow I get the feeling that Iraqi Muslims will not respond well to the "re-education" efforts of their occupiers.
Muqtada and the Mahdi Army A Cleric, a Pol and a Warrior
By PATRICK COCKBURN
The iraqi government has decided that the moment has come to crush the Mahdi Army and the followers of Muqtada Sadr once and for all. Despite its failure to eliminate his militiamen in Basra at the end of March, the government, with American backing, is determined to try again, according to senior Iraqi officials.
It is a dangerous strategy for both Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and the U.S. Sadr remains one of the most powerful and revered leaders of the Shiite community -- and the Shiites make up 60% of Iraq. What's more, the 34-year-old Sadr is not exactly the mercurial "firebrand" or "renegade" cleric portrayed by journalistic cliche-mongers; rather, he has repeatedly shown himself to be a cautious and experienced political operator. ...
In other words, the U.S. strategy in Iraq is shifting. It's evolving into a "hearts and minds" effort. But as Cockburn points out again and again, the Americans are half-assed. They don't understand the cultural depth of the Iraqi people and the notion that resistance to the cultural destruction the Americans have brought can't just be wiped away by trying to eliminate Sadr and doing a little re-education.
Cockburn's book, Muqtada, is an amazing, revealing path through Iraqi history and consciousness. Highly recommended.
Posted by The Owl on Apr 18 at 17:02. Filed under: Iraq
Damn it! The ungrateful wretches don't collaborate enough in their own occupation!
Basically, I'll just say what Gerald said. The news story this is based on is an AP release that also appeared on the front page of the Bangor Daily News, under the title "Collins behind effort to end Iraq's free ride." The Boston Globe posted it with a nice little graphic:
Iraq's financial free ride may end By Anne Flaherty
Associated Press Writer / April 15, 2008
WASHINGTON?Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war. From the fiercest foes of the war to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up more of the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the shattered country.
"I think the American people are growing weary not only of the war, but they are looking at why Baghdad can't pay more of these costs. And the answer is they can," said Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Nelson, a Democrat, is drafting legislation with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana that would restrict future reconstruction dollars to loans instead of grants.
This just indicates a certain desperation going on underneath the occupation. It is a colossal failure and people like Collins know it.
Now with the credit crisis and the economy nosing into a dive, it's getting a little harder to hang all the paper they've been using (off budget) to pay for the damn thing. No wonder Democrats and Republican alike in the U.S. covet the oil money. Yes, the Democrats are just as politically craven on this, for the most part unwilling to look in the mirror to assign blame for who is responsible for the taking and destruction of Iraq. It's just too easy to shift blame to the Iraqis.
I am pleased to make these available at peacecast.us and as a BitTorrent download. DIVX-encoded video of "Debris and Diaspora: Iraqi Culture Today", packed along with the audio from the noon talk is available in a BitTorrent version. (What's a torrent? See HERE for information. You must install client software in order to download files shared as torrents.)
These are gripping talks that paint a devastating picture of what has happened to Iraq and its people. The tragedy of Iraq hits home for Sinan. It once was a country with great potential that has been eviscerated by America and its "student," Saddam Hussein. It is rare in America to see Iraq from an Iraqi point of view. Sinan Antoon helps us do that. Highly recommended.
SINAN ANTOON is an Iraqi-born poet, novelist, and translator. He studied English literature at Baghdad University before moving to the United States after the 1991 Gulf War. He did his graduate studies at Georgetown and Harvard where he earned a doctorate in Arabic literature.
His poems and essays (in Arabic and English) have appeared in various journals and publications around the world, including as-Safir, an-Nahar, al-Adab, and Masharef, as well as The Nation, Middle East Report, al-Ahram Weekly, Banipal and the Journal of Palestine Studies. He has published a collection of poems, (A Prism; Wet with Wars, Cairo 2003). A translation of his poems appeared in English in May 2007 by Harbor Mountain Press entitled ?The Baghdad Blues.?
His debut novel I`jam: An Iraqi Rhapsody (published in Arabic in Beirut in 2003) was translated and published in English in May, 2007 by City Lights Books. It was chosen by Kirkus Reviews for its special edition on debut fiction ?2007: New and Important Voices.? His poetry was anthologized in Iraqi Poetry Today. He has also contributed numerous translations of Arabic poetry into English. His co-translation of Mahmud Darwish?s poetry was nominated for the PEN Prize for translation in 2004.
Antoon returned to his native Baghdad in 2003 as a member of InCounter Productions to co-direct/produce a documentary About Baghdad about the lives of Iraqis in a post-Saddam occupied Iraq. He is a senior editor with the Arab Studies Journal, a member of Pen America, a contributing editor to Banipal and a member of the editorial committee of Middle East Report. Antoon is currently an Assistant Professor at New York University.
Sinan Antoon spoke in 140 Little Hall on the University of Maine Orono campus Thursday, April 3, 2008. The program was sponsored by the Maine Peace Action Committe with support from Student Government at the University of Maine and the Dean of Students Programming Funding Board.
The brief music excerpt you hear in the background is from a performance by Iraqi musician Amer Tafiq recorded for the film, About Baghdad.
Posted by The Owl on Apr 09 at 16:36. Filed under: Iraq
This is a ten-minute excerpt from a longer speech, text below. Keep up the pressure, Senator!
KBR embroidered towel: 4x the cost, but "doesn't matter," the taxpayer has it covered
Here is another installment on Iraq waste by North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan. This stuff makes me just as mad as the Senator and I am an enthusiastic supporter of his campaign. Below I can reproduce his floor speech because it appears in the Congressional Record. HERE is a reference to an article by Donald Barlett and James Steele in Vanity Fair magazine that provides much detail about the Pentagon's so-called Iraq "accountant" operating out of a home in San Diego that Senator Dorgan discusses in the speech. More later...
Maine Owl is a news, comment & nature photography blog. The Owl is proprietor. He is a long-time peace & justice activist now residing in the Bangor, Maine area. Ms. Owl occasionally blogs here as Tammy. Our team also is enhanced by Gerald, formerly of Turn Maine Blue and now of the smashing blog Dirigo Blue.
