Rape of Iraqi Women by U.S. Occupation Forces

Politics

BUSHAPOLOGY

Lyin’ bastard: “It’s a stain on our country’s honor and
our country’s reputation.” — President George W. Bush
on war prisoner abuse.

The misery of Iraqi men and women — both within and outside of the prison system — continues at the hands of the U.S. occupation forces, and all President Bush can do is tell the world that his Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, is a great man who defends the interests of the American people.
And, even in the face of the photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse which have been all over the media for the past week; a visceral attack on the Bush administration by former counterrorism director Richard A. Clarke, just six weeks ago; chaos and internecine warfare occurring within the senior ranks of the White House; and even as the U.S., and the world, braces itself for new disturbing accounts of Iraqi prisoner abuse, a full 46 per cent of the American people support their President, and the job he is doing.
Maybe the following revelations will cause a few among those 46% to reconsider their opinion of Bush.
From Talk Left: Sydney Australia’s Indy Media has photos allegedly depicting Iraqi women being raped by U.S. Military Intelligence personnel and private U.S. mercenaries in military fatigues.
Update: Although VanRamblings took down the photos alleging rape of Iraqi women by U.S. forces earlier this month, as we are no longer certain that the photos are not, in fact, real, the photos have been reposted. We would ask that you read the note at the top of the photo linking page.

Mel, The Man For The Mouse House?
Mel Gibson To Take Over Disney?

Cinema



The New York Post’s Richard Johnson is reporting that “A consortium of mysterious European investors has approached [Mel] Gibson about a possible takeover of Disney now that Comcast has thrown in the towel.”
The Defamer speculates: European, mysterious, loaded, and loves Gibson? Is even the Vatican coming after Eisner now?
While The Daily Kos says, “Seriously, though, could you imagine Disney being added to the right-wing nutjob empire? We might as well let Rev. Moon buy them out and make Mickey his disciple.”

World Food Prices Set to Rise

Environment, Food & Health



At the same time we’re being hit by increased prices for gas at the pump, the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute (EPI) reports that world food prices are set for a dramatic jump in the coming year.
According to the group’s calculations, four successive shortfalls in annual grain harvests have reduced the world’s carry-over stocks to their lowest level in 30 years, amounting to only 59 days of consumption. That is 11 days short of the 70-day level that is traditionally considered the minimum needed for food security.
The last time global stocks were so low in the early 1970s, wheat and rice prices doubled with disastrous consequences for millions of the world’s poor. A similar pattern may be asserting itself now, according to Lester Brown, EPI’s founder and president, as basic food and feed commodities are on the rise.
Brown says that the challenge of rebuilding the stocks to the 70-day consumption level will be very difficult to overcome, particularly if early indications for the winter wheat crop, which was planted last fall, are not hopeful.

Iraq: The Prisoner Abuse Scandal
How the Abu Ghraib Photos Got Out

Politics


COURT-MARSHALL: Lieut. Calley was convicted in 1971 for murder at
My Lai in the last high-profile court-martial of an American soldier.

According to a story published in the New York Times, the father of Ivan Frederick, one of the prison guards now charged with Iraqi prisoner abuse, fearful that his son would be a scapegoated, contacted his brother-in law, William Lawson, who contacted “retired Colonel and muckraker David Hackworth,” who put the father in touch with the ‘60 Minutes II’ producers.

The irony, Mr. Lawson said, is that the public spectacle might have been avoided if the military and the federal government had been responsive to his claims that his nephew was simply following orders. Mr. Lawson said he sent letters to 17 members of Congress about the case earlier this year, with virtually no response, and that he ultimately contacted Mr. Hackworth’s Web site out of frustration, leading him to cooperate with a consultant for “60 Minutes II.”

60 Minutes II says: “We heard about someone who was outraged about it and thought that the public should know about it.”
And as has been reported througout the weekend, reports indicate that there’s more to come: “Officials said that the photographs showing psychological or physical abuse numbered in the hundreds, perhaps more than 1,000, with Mr. Rumsfeld hinting Friday that more may come out.”